Review Champ Car World Series 2004 – 2008

The final years of the Champ Car World Series

Review Champ Car World Series 2004 – 2008 is a reference publication dedicated to the final five seasons of the Champ Car World Series, from 2004 to 2008. A short but particularly significant period in the history of American open-wheel racing, these were the final years of the championship before its reunification with the Indy Racing League.

Following the end of CART in 2003, the championship continued under the name Champ Car World Series from 2004 onward. This new period saw the emergence of a particularly talented generation of drivers, while the championship continued to develop across street and road circuits in North America and internationally.

The book brings together the data from the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons, making it possible to find race results, drivers, teams, circuits and key statistics from this period. Each season can be consulted as part of a single archive, providing a coherent overview of the championship’s final years.

This period is inseparable from the dominance of Sébastien Bourdais. The French driver won four consecutive Champ Car titles from 2004 to 2007, one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of the championship. Official INDYCAR records list Bourdais as the Champ Car champion in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

But Champ Car during this era was about far more than its champion. Paul Tracy, Justin Wilson, Bruno Junqueira, A.J. Allmendinger, Oriol Servià, Will Power and many other drivers shaped the final seasons of the championship. The results allow their performances to be followed race by race and their place within this particular period of American open-wheel racing to be measured.

The championship was also evolving within a complex institutional landscape. Since 1996, American open-wheel racing had been divided between the championship descended from CART and the Indy Racing League. For twelve years, two competing championships developed in parallel, each with its own teams, drivers, circuits and schedules.

On February 22, 2008, the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series finally announced their reunification for the 2008 season. The merger brought an end to this long period of separation and reunited the two major branches of American open-wheel racing.

The 2008 season therefore represents a unique chapter. Champ Car ceased to exist as an independent championship following the reunification, while several of its teams and drivers moved into the unified series. The final Champ Car World Series race took place at Long Beach on April 20, 2008, with Will Power taking the victory.

Review Champ Car World Series 2004 – 2008 preserves this transitional period, from the first season under the Champ Car name through to the championship’s disappearance in 2008.

The book’s primary value is documentary. Results, drivers, teams, circuits and statistics are brought together in a single publication, allowing this period of racing history to be consulted efficiently and preserved in a physical archive rather than remaining scattered across different digital sources.

The book also places the final five Champ Car seasons within the broader history of American open-wheel racing. It naturally complements archives covering CART, the Indy Racing League and the IndyCar Series, preserving the data from a championship that played a major role in the history of North American open-wheel racing.

For Champ Car enthusiasts, fans of Sébastien Bourdais and Paul Tracy, or anyone wishing to revisit the final years of a championship that no longer exists, Review Champ Car World Series 2004 – 2008 provides a dedicated physical archive of its final era.

Five seasons. A generation of drivers. The final chapter of the Champ Car World Series.