It was announced this afternoon that Team Rahal/Letterman is adding a 
second full-time car to their IRL IndyCar Series effort, starting with the
Japan Indy 300 on April 15-17, 2004.  They will also be adding a third car
for the race in Japan, as well as the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.
 
In addition, it was also announced that they will be ceasing their ChampCar
World Series operations immediately.
 
It is not clear at this point whether or not Michel Jourdain will stay
in ChampCar, or if he will drive in the IRL for Rahal.  Rahal's ChampCar
sponsor, Gigante, is expected to remain in ChampCar with another team.
 
A driver and sponsor package for the second IRL car will be announced
shortly.  Roger Yasukawa, last season's ROY runner-up, has already been
announced as the driver for the third, Japan/Indy, entry.
 
Rahal stated, during a press conference today, that the team felt there
was more of a competitive advantage to running a two-car operation in
the same league, and that attempting to run a single-car effort in
three different leagues (including Toyota Atlantics) was too much of a
drain on team resouces.
 
A press release from OWRS, the ChampCar sanctioning body, states that
Rahal has reaffirmed his commitment to his two-car Toyota Atlantic
Series team, as well as making a commitment for an entry in the new
Formula BMW feeder series.  Both are ChampCar feeders.
 
I would expect to see a press release soon from the IRL regarding this news.
 
Mike
 
##MMR 2.61#.  (copied MP MMR 2.61#, was  3-18-04 #RN_INDYCAR#) 


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