Champ Car Launch Schedule 7-9

[Dov]

quote:
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Subject: 2004 Champ Car Season Premiere Schedule
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 18:09:50 -0500

To All Champ Car Media:

The 2004 Champ Car Season Premiere will take place March 7-9 in Long Beach, California. Press conferences along with team, sponsor and driver announcements will take place Monday and Tuesday afternoon at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach, which is located at 333 E. Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90802.

Below, please find a schedule for Monday and Tuesday. All events, with the exception of Tuesday's fan activities, will take place in the Westin. The fan fest will be on the arena floor of the Long Beach Convention Center and is open to the media.

All media members that have sent a response confirming their
attendance have been placed on the credential list. Check-in will be at Champ Car registration in the Westin Hotel beginning Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. outside of the Shoreline Room, located on the 1st floor (lobby level). You will need to speak with Nicole Norris or Cathie Lyon in order to obtain your wristbands.

ONLY PHOTOGRAPHERS THAT HAVE REQUESTED STUDIO SPACE FOR SUNDAY'S PHOTO SHOOTS WILL BE ABLE TO ATTEND THE SUNDAY ACTIVITIES. THERE WILL BE NO MEDIA AVAILABILITY DURING THE SUNDAY PHOTO SHOOTS.

Please send any questions to Champ Car News Manager Eric Mauk at <mailto:Emauk@XXXX.XXX>Emauk@XXXX.XXX or call 317-XXX-XXXX Wednesday or Thursday. From Friday on, I can be reached on my cell phone at 317-XXX-XXXX.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR 2004 CHAMP CAR SEASON PREMIERE

Monday, March 8 - All events Monday and Tuesday with the exception of the Fan Fest will take place at the Westin Hotel in Long Beach

10:00 a.m. - OWRS partners press conference

10:45 a.m. - Rollout Herdez team, make driver and sponsor announcement

11:30 a.m. - Forsythe Racing press conference

12:15 p.m. -1:00 p.m. - Lunch with Toyota Atlantic drivers, brief Q&A with drivers, President Vicki O'Connor

1:15 p.m. - Rollout Rocketsports, make driver and sponsor announcement

2:00 p.m. - New Champ Car support series announcement

2:45 p.m. - Manufacturer opportunity with Ford

3:10 p.m. - Manufacturer opportunity with Bridgestone

3:45 p.m. - Rollout PK Racing, make driver and sponsor announcement

7:30 p.m. - Patrick Carpentier and Alex Tagliani to participate in
ceremonial puck drop at Monday night's NHL game at the Pond in Anaheim

Tuesday, March 9

9 a.m. - Press conference with Champ Car Racing Operations to discuss new competition rules for 2004

9:30 a.m. - Long Beach promoter press conference

10:00 a.m. - Team Rahal press conference

10:45 a.m. - Fernandez Racing car unveiling

11:30 a.m. - Rollout for Newman/Haas cars, make driver and sponsor
announcement

12:30 p.m. -1:30 p.m. - Lunch with Trans-Am cars and drivers,
Executive Director John Clagett

1:45 p.m. - RuSPORT car unveiling

2:30 p.m. - TV press conference

5:00 - 8:00 Fan festivities including pit stop demonstration (5:00 -
5:30)

[Dov]

Where's Walker, Conquest, Fittipaldi and Dale Coyne Racing Teams????

[Tim Northcutt]

My question, too, Dov....

Unless they are focusing on the high-profile teams in the Series....

Let's wait and see...I'm not going to read anything negative into this....

[Tailwind]

I'm going to be glued to my computer for the first part of next week. I hope some of the forum memebers who have been planning to get together out there will have computer access and can give us on the spot updates.

Come on Monday...

[racinthestreets]

Thanks for the post Dov. It appears that some of the teams may not be ready to present their team and car at that date. It is going to be a long slow grind until 4-18 IMO.

[codename_47]

One thing.....that TV press conference...

Is that a press conference that is going to be ON TV, or a press conference that's going to be ABOUT TV, ie, their deal for this year? :confused:

Or both?

[Hazza]

11:30 a.m. - Forsythe Racing press conference

3rd Car, Corona, Rodolfo Lavin - it could happen! If not ask them about it

[Dov]

http://www.cart.com/News/Article.asp?ID=7541

INDIANAPOLIS (March 3, 2004) – The fans of the Champ Car World Series that continue to flock to the race course in record numbers will get their first chance to see the cars and stars of the 2004 series at next week’s Champ Car Season Premiere in Long Beach, California.
The season premiere event begins on Monday, March 8 and will feature two days of press conferences where teams, sponsors and drivers will unveil their 2004 plans to the media. The media may get first crack at the stars of the series, but the two-day event will wrap up with a tribute to the Champ Car fans.

“Our fans are always incredibly supportive of our series and we want to give them a chance to get a little closer to our teams and drivers,” said Champ Car President Dick Eidswick. “We are also very excited about doing this in Long Beach, where we will kick off the 2004 Champ Car season on April 18 with the 30th anniversary of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which has long been one of our marquee events.”

The fan gala will take place in the arena of the Long Beach Convention Center from 5-8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9. The festivities will include a chance to meet and greet the drivers of the series, along with a chance to see some of the cars that will do battle along the 2004 campaign. Series partners Bridgestone, Ford and Cosworth will be on hand with displays as well, as will the Toyota Atlantic Championship and Motorock Trans-Am Series.

“We're delighted that Champ Car chose Long Beach as the site for its Season Premiere," said Jim Michaelian, president and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach. "This will be a great opportunity for all our fans to get a close-up look at many of the exciting things that Champ Car has to offer in 2004.”

Giveaways and autograph sessions as well as interactive displays will be available. Engineers from the teams and manufacturers of the series will be on hand to educate the fans while drivers will also participate in interview sessions throughout the event. There will also be a pit stop demonstration from 5:00-5:30 outside the arena where fans can get a first-hand look at the action.

[indycool]

Dov, another site posted that Walker, Conqueste, Fittipaldi and Coyne do not yet have their programs together.

[macdaddy]

Do you think that they're going to be unveiling a new logo?

[Liz]

Well, did anything happen yesterday? I can't find any news about it.

[cartpix]

Yesterday was just photo shoots. No interviews.

Jeff

[Liz]

Has anything happened today, then?

[indycool]

Word that seems to be drifting out on the forums, whether accurate or not remains to be seen, is:

1. There are 10 cars out there.
2. Villeneuve is back rumored with Forsythe. Carpentier is reportedly out and Lavin gets a third one there with Corona dollars.
3. Schedule will be 14 races plus TBA's at South Africa and Las Vegas (according to C'web, which has Mexico City on a Thursday and a season closer on Thanksgiving Day). (was in Las Vegas for the Cup race over the weekend and nobody IN THAT TOWN has even heard the slightest rumble about an OWRS race there).
4. Hunter-Reay's deal with herdez is NOT done.
5. 13 cars for Atlantic at this point.
6. Firman and others are out there scouting.
Time will tell.

[macdaddy]

Villeneuve to Forsythe would certainly explain what just happened to Carpentier. And suddenly it wouldn't seem such a "PR-disaster". We'll find out soon enough, I'm sure. In fact, it might even shed some light as to why Pollock stepped down from another team.

But I'll believe it only when I see it.
Even then, I might not believe it!

[Liz]

Has anybody actually seen him in Long Beach?

[Liz]

And why isn't Cart.com updated with any of this? I update our site every time I get a sniff of news!

[Mags]

Originally posted by Liz
And why isn't Cart.com updated with any of this? I update our site every time I get a sniff of news!

Because Our Site is the best??

[macdaddy]

Yeah, the lack of news on CART's website has interested me, too.