Forsythe Championship Racing To Close Doors

By RacingNation Crew
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Updated: February 28, 2008

In a surprising move to some, others not, Neil Micklewright of Forsythe
Championship Racing announced today that they are not making the
transition to the reunified IndyCar Series.

Statement from Neil Micklewright, VP of Operations for Forsythe
Championship Racing Ltd., LLC:

“Forsythe Championship Racing is announcing today the cessation of its
racing operations. After 13 years of competition in CART and the Champ
Car World Series, the team has been unable to secure the necessary
sponsorship to be able to compete in the Indy Racing League IndyCar
Series in 2008. Forsythe Racing Inc., the parent company of FCR, will
participate in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Champ Car
finale, with drivers to be announced.”

“It simply comes down to finances,” said Neil Micklewright, VP of
Operations for FCR. “We’ve been unable to find sponsorship, and so
Forsythe Championship Racing is done.

“We will be taking part in the Long Beach Grand Prix to fulfill our
legal obligation to the track. We’ll have at least three cars, maybe
more.”

SpeedTV.com reported, “The Long Beach entries will be run by Forysythe
Racing, the team’s Atlantic Series arm, which will continue operations.
Canadian James Hinchcliffe and Mexican David Garza, who logged the
fastest and second-fastest times, respectively, in a recent open test at
Sebring International Raceway, will drive for the team in the 2008
Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda.
Tracy, who has driven for Forsythe in Champ Car since 2003 (when he won
the series title with the team), was uncertain about his next move, but
emphasized that the unified IndyCar Series remains his top priority. ”

The report added, “Since that meeting, a lot has changed of course, but
I thought that with that same kind of spirit in the team, we could have
challenged for victory at the Indy 500. I believe I’m one of the best
oval drivers in the country, and with the strong crew that we had in
place, we could have been contenders. “Right now, I need to quickly
regroup, regain my composure and then start looking for another ride –
and I mean in IndyCar. The team may be done, but I’m ready to go
racing.”

The question is, what happens to Champ Car icon, Paul Tracy?

Paul Tracy did tell SpeedTV’s Robin Miller that he does want to join the
reunified IndyCar ranks. “I want to be part of this new league, I want
to run at Indianapolis again and I want to stay in open wheel racing,”
said Tracy, who learned by a phone call that Gerry Forsythe was shutting
down his team and would not be competing in the unified Indy Racing
League. This is the first time in my career I’ve not known what I’m
doing and it’s pretty late in the deal to just find this out. “But I’m
hoping I can still find something competitive.”

Tracy found out about Gerry Forsythe’s decision today, “I got a call
from Neil (Micklewright, president of Forsythe Racing) this morning and
he said, ‘I’ve got some bad news for you,'” related Tracy from his home
in Las Vegas. Neil said he’d been trying to get a hold of my manager
but he was having a colonoscopy today. That’s ironic ’cause that’s what
I feel like I got.”