November 11, 2004
TOYOTA AND RED BULL CHEEVER RACING ANNOUNCE IRL ENGINE SUPPLY AGREEMENT
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. and Red Bull Cheever Racing announced today that they have reached an agreement for Toyota to supply Indy Racing League (IRL) engines to Red Bull Cheever Racing beginning in 2005.
The agreement provides Toyota with an additional proven winner in the IndyCar Series. Since its formation, the Red Bull Cheever team has six IndyCar triumphs to their credit. In addition, the team earned the highest-finish by a Chevrolet-powered entry in 2004 with a third at Texas.
“Eddie Cheever Jr. has proven himself as a winner both on the track as a driver and now as a team owner, and we look forward to a winning combination with Red Bull Cheever Racing,” said Jim Aust, Toyota vice president of motorsports. “We believe that the addition of another strong two-car team will greatly enhance our title hopes in 2005.”
Cheever has similar thoughts as the team prepares to launch a two-car effort with Alex Barron and IndyCar Series newcomer Patrick Carpentier, both former Toyota Atlantic champions. Red Bull will be the primary sponsor on each of the two cars.
"We have one mission at this team, to win races," Cheever said. "This partnership with Toyota is vital to achieving our goals to win races and the championship."
For Barron, the partnership is a homecoming of sorts, as the two-time IRL winner returns to a long standing relationship with Toyota that extends back to his winning the Toyota Atlantic Championship title in 1997. He began his Indy car career the following year with Toyota and 2004 will mark his fourth season racing with Toyota power since winning the Atlantic title.
“It’s a great feeling to be back with Toyota, said Barron. “The Red Bull Cheever team continues to get stronger and with the addition of Toyota power, we have everything ready to go after a championship together in 2005.”
Although far from a rookie, 2005 will mark Carpentier’s first season of IRL competition. After taking the Toyota Atlantic crown in 1996, he was the CART Rookie of the Year in 1997 and evolved into a consistent championship contender in recent seasons – placing in the top three of the Champ Car point standings in two of the last three seasons. The popular Canadian won Champ Car races in each of the last four seasons.
“We have not only added a strong team with Red Bull Cheever Racing, but two exceptional drivers, Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier. Both are capable of winning a championship,” said Aust.
Toyota teams have won 13 of the 32 IndyCar Series races the manufacturer has competed in, and earned poles in exactly one half (16) of the events. In addition, in 2003 Toyota powered both Indianapolis 500 champion Gil de Ferran and series champion Scott Dixon, and earned the IndyCar Series engine manufacturer’s championship.
November 08, 2004
Lexus Makes A Championship Debut in Grand American Rolex Series
With two championships, five wins and 11 poles in Lexus’ debut season in the Grand American Rolex Series, it’s been a hugely successful rookie campaign for the manufacturer.
The season was topped off with Max Papis and Scott Pruett driving their CompUSA Ganassi Racing Lexus to a dominating victory to clinch both the Driver’s and Team championships at the season-ending Lexus Grand American 400 at the California Speedway.
"We’ve enjoyed more success in our first season than we ever would have imagined and winning the championship at our own Lexus Champions Weekend was the icing on the cake,” said Lexus Vice President of Marketing Mark Templin. "Racing is all about partnerships and we’ve been tremendously fortunate to partner with some great teams and drivers. In addition, the Rolex Sports Car Series has given us an excellent platform for us to demonstrate the performance potential of our passenger car V8 engine.”
In addition to winning the championship, Papis and Pruett combined to win a record 11 pole positions in 12 races. The duo also combined to win a series-high four races and finished either first or second in seven of the final 10 races, while also earning top-10 finishes in every contest this season. Their #1 CompUSA Lexus led more than twice as many laps as any car in the series.
“It has been a tremendous year winning the Grand-Am Championship in the first season for both CompUSA Ganassi and Lexus,” said Papis, a two-time Rolex 24 champion. “We had some fantastic competition out there, but Lexus really stepped up and gave us another great engine for the last race and we were able to leave the competition racing for second-place.”
As important as it was to win a championship with Papis, Pruett and the Ganassi Racing team, it was just as important to see all of the Lexus-powered teams enjoy success in 2004 with five different Lexus-powered cars finishing on the podium in at least one race this season.
While not reaching the highest rung of the victory podium, Jimmy Morales and Luis Diaz did combine to give the #02 CompUSA Lexus six top-five finishes on the season including three top-five finishes in the final four races. Morales finished sixth overall in points, while Diaz placed 10th.
The Doran-Lista Racing team also proved to be a consistent contender throughout the season and became the second Lexus-powered team to win this season when Didier Theys and Jan Magnussen drove to victory at Watkins Glen in August. The team registered five top-five finishes for the season and barely missed putting Lexus into the Winner’s Circle at the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona where they finished second. While racing with three different co-drivers during the season, Theys positioned himself eighth in the final points standings.
At the beginning of the season, few outside of the Toyota Atlantic Championship circles knew what to expect from Michael Shank Racing, but by season’s end, the small Ohio-based team had established itself as a legitimate contender on the way to placing fifth overall in the team points race. After a strong fourth-place finish at Daytona, Oswaldo Negri and Burt Frisselle stepped into the Lexus-powered Doran and registered eight more top-10 finishes in the season’s final nine races, including a season-best second at Watkins Glen in August.
In addition to the four teams that campaigned the full season, CompUSA Ganassi Racing also entered a third car for the season finale Lexus Grand American 400 with IndyCar Series stars Scott Dixon and Darren Manning becoming the fifth Lexus-powered team to earn a podium finish in 2004 with a strong third-place effort.
For the season, Lexus-powered cars won five races, 11 pole positions and secured 11 additional top-three finishes for a total of 16 podium finishes. The Lexus engine used in the Grand-American Rolex Sports Car Series is developed from the LS/GS/SC production engine.
November 03, 2004
LEXUS CHAMPIONS SCOTT PRUETT AND MAX PAPIS TO APPEAR ON SPEED'S WIND TUNNEL
Fresh off winning the 2004 Grand American Rolex Series championship with a win at this past weekend's Lexus Grand American 400, Scott Pruett and Max Papis will appear on tonight's Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain at 10 p.m. ET on SPEED Channel.
Pruett and Papis drove their CompUSA Ganassi Racing Lexus to four victories and a series-record 11 pole positions on the way to the title in Ganassi Racing's first season of sports car racing.
For Pruett, the Rolex Series Daytona Prototype championship is his seventh series title after previously winning three Trans-Am championships, two IMSA GTO titles and an IMSA GT Endurance title. He has won races in virtually every discipline - including Indy cars, IROC stock cars and IMSA GTP.
After numerous victories in both sports cars and Indy cars, the title marks the first major series championship for Papis. The two-time Rolex 24 champion was in his first season with Ganassi Racing.
WHAT: Scott Pruett and Max Papis On Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain
WHEN: Wed., Nov. 3 at 10 p.m. ET
WHERE: SPEED Channel