Champ Car, which has merged with the Indy Racing League (IRL), held its final race at the historic street circuit in Long Beach, California.
The field was a blend of IRL drivers who were driving for points in the new series and drivers who were unsure of their futures, hoping to impress IRL team owners in hopes of getting a ride.
IRL driver Justin Wilson made a great start and won the sprint to the first turn, taking the lead on the first lap and stretching it out. However his engine died after only a few laps, leaving him stranded.
Will Power took over the lead after Justin Wilson dropped out, and was not challenged for the rest of the race.
Some people posited that the IRL drivers would take it easy and try to finish in the points rather than fight hard for the lead, and that the drivers who needed contracts would push hard. This turned out to not be the case, as everyone's racing spirit took over and every driver tried to win.
On lap 48, Graham Rahal, who was running in fourth (and who already has an IRL ride) tried to pass Frank Montagny (who is hoping to win a contract) while Montagny was passing a lapped car. Rahal tried to force his way inside and then tried to hold the outside line to grab the inside for the next corner. Realizing he could not hold the outside line, Rahal tried to push his way back inline ahead of Motagny. Rahal struck Motagny, bounced off and spun around, luckily not getting rammed by oncoming traffic.
Long Live IRL
In its last hurrah, Champ Car Racing ran on the venerable streets of Long Beach, as Formula One, Le Mans, CART, and various other series have for so many years. Champ Car has merged with the Indy Racing League, and cancelled its 2008 schedule, with the exception of Long Beach, where it had contractual obligations.
Champ cars differ from IRL cars in several important ways. One major difference is the power plant—IRL uses Honda's 3.5 liter injected V8, while Champ Car uses turbocharged Cosworth V8 engines. The Honda engines produce a bit less power, but are much cheaper and last longer.
Champ cars have two tire options—a harder, longer-lasting compound and a short-life, high-adhesion tire that gives teams to temporary advantage with possibly quicker laptimes, but might necessitate an extra pit stop for a tire change late in the race.
All IRL cars run on the same tire compound at each race. This makes setting up the car simpler, and also costs less—which should mean that more teams can afford to run IRL.
Champ Cars also have what is called a "Push-to-Pass" button—a switch that increases engine power by 50 horsepower for up to 60 seconds, by electronically raising the turbo boost from 41.5 to 44 psi and adjusting ignition timing and fuel flow to match.
However, Champ cars lack a fuel-mixture adjustment knob, which IRL cars have. Champ Car drivers can only adjust fuel economy with the gas pedal.
Fuel management is an important aspect of modern auto racing. Stretching fuel enough to shorten or eliminate pit stops can give drivers a race-winning advantage—so long as the drivers' fuel-conservation efforts don't leave them so far back in the pack that they're out of the running.
Another important difference between Champ Car and IRL were the courses. Champ cars ran primarily on road and street circuits, while IRL's schedule is dominated by ovals.
Now Champ Car is part of IRL—there is only a single series. However, for this one event, there are two separate races: the Twin Ring Motegi race in Japan and the Long Beach Grand Prix. Both count for overall series points, and drivers have the option of where to compete.
For many drivers, whose teams opted not to move to the new, combined series, this race might be the last Indy Car race of their careers. These drivers need to put in exceptional performances in order to impress team owners, in hopes of getting a contract.
Other drivers, who have rides in the IRL series, are possibly not as interested in winning as they might be in simply finishing the race to earn points for the series.
Rahal did a creditable job of keeping the car running. He spun around and headed back into the fray, but now at the back of the pack—Rahal lost eight places in those few seconds. This youthful bit of excess enthusiasm ruined what had been a promising ride for Rahal, who was hoping to follow up his first Indy car win at the previous race in St. Pete.
After rejoining the pack, Rahal showed his skill by running the fastest laps of the race, turning in a single lap of 1:44.206, almost half a second faster than anyone else. However, he was not able to make up the distance back to the leaders.
Motagny drove a careful but very quick race, conserving his Power-to Pass seconds until the end. On lap 70, Montagny used his Power-to-Pass button to get by Tagliani to take second. Tagliani had only three seconds left, while Montagny had 49 seconds worth of extra boost. Tagliani fell back steadily, finishing seventh, while Motagny drove masterfully to finish second, five seconds behind Power but 11 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Mario Dominguez, who is also hoping to land an IRL ride.
Graham Rahal provided a final bit of excitement. On the final lap, Rahal pushed hard in turn nine, hit some of the nasty bumps for which Long Beach is noted, and lost rear traction, spinning around and wedging himself permanently into the tire barrier, dropping from seventh to thirteenth place.
On the whole, an anticlimactic and almost depressing finish to the final race of a now-defunct series. Compared to the amazing events IRL has been running, it seems all the more certain that the future of open-wheel racing in America is safe and secure in the hands of the Indy Racing League.
