It’s not easy for a series as rich in tradition and history as the Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda to reinvent itself. After years of consistently producing some of the top talent in all of motorsports, Atlantic certainly seemed to find a comfort zone. But in order for the series to continue to grow and flourish, changes needed to be made. Thanks to the creative ownership group of the Champ Car World Series and the remarkable cooperation of the Atlantic sponsors, teams and suppliers, the series has undergone a dynamic transformation this off-season.
Now fully under the Champ Car banner, the Atlantic Championship bid farewell to longtime sponsor and engine supplier Toyota at the end of the 2005 season. The series has created an all-new competition package better designed to prepare drivers to compete at the highest levels of racing. Exciting new relationships with series engine partners Mazda and Cosworth have opened up new doors while trusted longtime partners Swift Engineering and Yokohama have worked hard to help create the new breed of Atlantic cars.
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The list of Atlantic graduates over the past 32 years reads like a "who’s who" of open-wheel racing royalty. Rahal. Vasser. Villeneuve. Sullivan. Andretti. Rosberg. Tracy. Hornish. Wheldon. Every one of the aforementioned drivers used the series as a springboard to legendary careers in open-wheel racing worldwide, and it is that heritage that has given the Champ Car Atlantic Championship the right to declare itself "the premier open-wheel driver development series in North America."
As it should be, the Champ Car World Series has reaped the most benefits from drivers with previous Atlantic experience. Ten of 28 Champ Car series championships have been won by former Atlantic competitors, including three-time Champ Car champion Bobby Rahal, 1988 champ Danny Sullivan, two-time champion Al Unser Jr., ’95 titlist Jacques Villeneuve, 1996 champion Jimmy Vasser and 2003 champ Paul Tracy. Michael Andretti, the 1983 Atlantic champion, parlayed his Atlantic success into a career that made him the winningest driver in Champ Car World Series history and earned him the 1991 series crown.
Atlantic graduates also accounted for 176 Champ Car victories through the end of the 2005 season, or 41 percent of all Champ Car races have been won by drivers who used Atlantic as their stepping stone. With a talented crop of recent Atlantic grads in the series, led by 2004 Champ Car Rookie of the Year and 2003 Atlantic champ A.J. Allmendinger, 2004 top Atlantic rookie Andrew Ranger, ’04 Atlantic grad Ronnie Bremer and last year’s Atlantic sensation Katherine Legge, look for that number to grow even larger in the years to come.
However, the open-wheel racing success of Atlantic graduates does not stop with the Champ Car World Series. Two former Atlantic competitors, Keke Rosberg and Jacques Villeneuve, have claimed the world’s biggest racing prize, the Formula One World Championship. Likewise, the winningest driver in Indy Racing League history and the Indy Car series’ only two-time champion, Sam Hornish Jr., came up through Champ Car Atlantic. Dan Wheldon, the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner and the 2005 IRL series champion cut his teeth in Atlantic competition. Buddy Rice, the 2000 Atlantic champion and 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner, also rose through the Atlantic ranks as did 1999 IRL champion Greg Ray, 2005 IRL Rookie of the Year Danica Patrick and a host of other Indy Car race winners.
Heading into its 33rd season in 2006, the series is poised to continue churning out top-level prospects for racing team owners. The series features a 12-race calendar with popular stops throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and unsurpassed television coverage in the U.S. and Canada via SPEED Channel.
There’s no doubt that the Champ Car Atlantic Championship has seen many talented drivers and teams pass through its ranks over the past 32 years. The series is poised to continue that tradition in 2006 and beyond.
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