2008 Champ Car season


The 2008 Champ Car World Series season would have been the 30th season of the series and the fifth instance of the Champ Car World Series. It was scheduled to begin on April 20, 2008 and end on November 9 had the open wheel unification not occurred. The season, with the sole exception of the Long Beach Grand Prix, was canceled on February 21, 2008 because of the buyout of Champ Car by the rival IndyCar.
The Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton and the Gold Coast Indy 300 were retained and transferred to the IndyCar Series schedule. The schedule included what would have been the first Monterey Grand Prix since 2004 and the supposed debut of the Champ Car Grand Prix of Spain. Some of the Champ Car races were scrapped.
Later on, Toronto, Houston, Road America, Portland, and Laguna Seca would also be revived by the unified series.

Races

The 2008 Champ Car schedule was announced in November 2007 before the unification announcement
RndDateRace NameCircuitCity/Location
1April 20 Toyota Grand Prix of Long BeachStreets of Long BeachLong Beach, California
2April 27 Grand Prix of HoustonJAGFlo Speedway at Reliant ParkHouston, Texas
3May 18 Champ Car Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna SecaMazda Raceway Laguna SecaMonterey, California
4June 1 Champ Car Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit ZolderCircuit ZolderHeusden-Zolder, Belgium
5June 8 Champ Car Grand Prix of Spain at Circuito Permanente de JerezCircuito de JerezJerez de la Frontera, Spain
6June 22 Champ Car Grand Prix of ClevelandCleveland Burke Lakefront AirportCleveland, Ohio
7June 29 Champ Car Mont-TremblantCircuit Mont-TremblantMont-Tremblant, Quebec
8July 6 Steelback Grand Prix of TorontoExhibition PlaceToronto, Ontario
9July 20 Rexall Grand Prix of EdmontonEdmonton City Centre AirportEdmonton, Alberta
10July 27 Champ Car Grand Prix of PortlandPortland International RacewayPortland, Oregon
11August 10 Road America Grand PrixRoad AmericaElkhart Lake, Wisconsin
12September 14 Champ Car Grand Prix of Holland at TT Circuit AssenTT Circuit AssenAssen, Netherlands
13October 26 Gold Coast Indy 300Surfers Paradise Street CircuitSurfers Paradise, Australia
14November 9 Gran Premio Tecate Presentado por BanamexAutódromo Hermanos RodríguezMexico City, Mexico

The following teams and drivers were expected to compete for the 2008 Champ Car season. All teams would have used a Cosworth 2.65-litre turbocharged V8 engine, a Panoz DP01 chassis, and Bridgestone tires.
TeamNo.DriverPrimary Sponsors
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing1 Justin WilsonMcDonald's
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing2 Graham RahalHole in the Wall Camps
Forsythe/Pettit Racing3 Paul TracyIndeck
Forsythe/Pettit Racing7 Franck MontagnyIndeck
Minardi Team USA4 E. J. VisoPDVSA
Minardi Team USA14 Robert DoornbosOzJet
Team Australia5 Will PowerAussie Vineyards
Team Australia15 Matt HallidayWalker Racing
Rocketsports Racing8 Enrique BernoldiSangari
Dale Coyne Racing11 Bruno JunqueiraDale Coyne Racing
Dale Coyne Racing19 Mario MoraesSonny's BBQ
KV Racing Technology21 Alex TaglianiPKV Racing
KV Racing Technology22 Oriol ServiàPKV Racing
Pacific Coast Motorsports29 Alex FiggePacific Coast Motorsports
Pacific Coast Motorsports96 Mario DomínguezVisit Mexico City
Conquest Racing24 Franck PereraARES
Conquest Racing34 Nelson PhilippeARES