Champ Car's New Era

You've got to hand it to Kevin Kalvoven and crew. They've taken a race series that was completely on life support (and headed to Oregon to end it all) and put it back on the right track, so to speak. Part of their vision was a spec chassis and engine, to both keep costs down and ensure competitive balance. For the past two years, that's meant Cosworth V-8s and left over Lola (mostly) chassis from Champ Car's glory days.

I'm not really a fan of that ideal, particularly for what bills itself as as top-level race series, but it has produced some really interesting racing. And now, Champ Car is ready to take the next step down that road with a purpose-built spec Champ Car. Cosworth V-8s will continue to provide power, but the chassis will be built by Panoz (nee Elan Motorsports Technologies). The new package will be lighter and narrower than the current cars and have a revised aero setup, to provide better passing opportunities. I wish they'd have taken some suggestions from a recent Racer magazine piece and rounded off some of the car's edges and widened the bodywork a bit, to help avoid cut tires and wheel-to-wheel contact. Nonetheless, it's a solid step forward for Champ Car. The car debuts for the 2007 season.