16 Champ Car races likely for 2006

UPDATE #2 Look for the 2006 Champ Car schedule to be released on or about August 1st. We hear the Philadelphia, PA race deal won't be done by then, but that does not mean it won't be added later. We hear Mario Andretti, who is from Pennsylvania of course, is helping make the Philadelphia race a reality. Beijing is still a go and we keep hearing Houston mentioned. We hear Portland will probably get to keep their race because the city is starting to come around and the event made positive gains in all areas. Mark C. 06/23/05 A reader writes, Do you really think they will release a schedule in August for 2006? They have been announcing a new chassis and engine package for three years! As far as I can see the transporters are newer than the race cars. Tim DeCesaro Dear Tim, The answer is yes to both. Mark C. 06/22/05 In this ChampCar.ws article, series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven talks about future plans, but pretty much confirms what he had said previously. He predicts that the 2006 schedule will be released in August and it will contain 16 races, up from 14 this year. We know one new race is China, and we'll go so far as predicting on a hunch another new one might be Philadelphia.

He repeats what has been said about a new Champ Car in 2007, but retaining the same engine. He does hint at talks with Honda other than unification talks and that statement reminds us of the rumor from one of our spies that Honda had a 2.65L turbo on their dyno in California. Hmm……

He also hints at upgrades in performance for the Atlantic cars and we suspect that means a new Cosworth engine badged by someone other than Toyota that pumps out over 300 HP. He does not go so far as to mention a new chassis for that series and we question whether the teams can afford all new equipment.