Forsythe Championship Racing was an American racing team that competed in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing. The team won the 2003 championship with driver Paul Tracy.
History
1981–1985 Forsythe Racing began sponsoring Lee Brayton's entry for his son Scott in 1981. Forsythe later started his own team, racing in CART part-time in 1982 with Héctor Rebaque and Danny Sullivan who drove for the team in the 1982 Indianapolis 500 and finished 13th and 14th, respectively. Later that season Rebaque won at Road America. Before Indy, Sullivan finished third at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Also that season Al Unser Jr. made his CART debut for the team at Riverside International Raceway and finished fifth. Moderate success continued from 1983 to 1985, most notably with rookie driver Teo Fabi who won four races in 1983, and started on the pole position at Indianapolis.
1994–1997 The team returned in 1994 as Forsythe-Green Racing with co-owner Barry Green, but by the next year the two had split and Green took their driver Jacques Villeneuve and Canadian cigarette sponsor Player's LTD to his new Team Green and won the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and CART championship. Forsythe reunited with Teo Fabi in a full-time effort in 1995 with Combustion Engineering sponsoring their team. Forsythe did keep sponsor Player's LTD for his Indy Lights team and Canadian Greg Moore brought home the 1995 Indy Lights championship for Forsythe. Moore tested a Champ Car for Team Penske late in 1995 so Forsythe quickly signed Moore to run their single 1996 Champ Car entry with Player's moving back from the Team Green squad as Villeneuve who was contracted to race for them for 1996 had his contracted brought out by Williams to race in Formula One that year. Moore would drive with Forsythe for the five seasons in total, one in Indy Lights where he would win 10 of 12 races, and four in Champ Car until his death at the end of the 1999 season. In Champ Car, Moore would capture five wins and place a best of fifth in the 1998 points standings, all with Forsythe Racing.
1998–2008 In 1998, the team expanded to two cars by adding Patrick Carpentier to the all-Canadian squad. Carpentier would drive for Forsythe through 2004 when he was hired by Cheever Racing of the rival Indy Racing League for 2005. Patrick captured five wins with the team. For 2000, Forsythe tabbed rookie Alex Tagliani to drive alongside Carpentier. In three seasons, Tagliani scored three poles and five podiums but no wins, so Alex was replaced by veteran Paul Tracy for the 2003 season. Tracy would win seven races on his way to bringing Forsythe its first CART championship in CART's final year of operations. In 2006, Mario Domínguez, who had replaced Carpentier, was fired mid-season and Forsythe brought in displaced American A. J. Allmendinger. Allmendinger proceeded to win his first three races with the team, his first Champ Car victories. Allmendinger was teammates with Paul Tracy who finished fourth in points in 2004 and 2005 after his championship-winning season. However, Allmendinger and the team were not able to come to terms for 2007 and Allmendinger announced he would be going to NASCAR Nextel Cup with Team Red Bull. Forsythe would later announce Dominguez's return to his team on March 30. Dominguez, however, was replaced by Oriol Servià on a race by race basis until Servia was hired full-time. For the 2008 season, Jerry Forsythe and former RuSPORT owner Dan Pettit, were to merge their teams into Forsythe/Pettit Racing to field at least two cars.Malsher, David. Pettit joins Forsythe as RuSPORT close, autosport.com, November 26, 2007 However, changes brought about the unification of open wheel racing into the IndyCar Series. This made competitive racing financially unviable in the eyes of Forsythe and he elected not to race in the IndyCar Series in 2008. The team's Atlantic operation, Forsythe Racing continued to contest that series through the end of the 2008 season and the team fielded three of the team's Panoz DP01 chassis in the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.Racer Staff, Forsythe Championship Racing Ceases Operations , SpeedTV.com/Racer Magazine, February 28, 2008
On July 15, 2008 Forsythe Racing announced that they would return to the Firestone Indy Lights Series grid in 2009. According to additional reports, Forsythe Racing were close to finalizing IRL IndyCar Series and American Le Mans Series programs for 2009, according to team manager Ken Swieck. Swieck confirmed that Forsythe intended to compete in both series rather than choosing one or the other.Phillips, David. Forsythe plan IRL and ALMS for '09, Autosport.com, July 19, 2008 However, Forsythe never fielded any entries in either series.
Statistics The Forsythe team and its derivatives have amassed 34 CART and Champ Car victories and single championship in 2003 with Canadian Paul Tracy.
Drivers who competed for Forsythe A. J. Allmendinger (2006) Patrick Carpentier (1998–2004) Kevin Cogan (1984) Mario Domínguez (2005–2007) Corrado Fabi (1984) Teo Fabi (1983–1984, 1995) Memo Gidley (2000) Bryan Herta (2000–2001) Howdy Holmes (1985) Tony Kanaan (1999) Rodolfo Lavin (2004) David Martínez (2006–2008) Franck Montagny (2008) Greg Moore (1996–1999) Jan Lammers (1985) John Paul Jr. (1985) Héctor Rebaque (1982) Buddy Rice (2006) Oriol Servià (2007) Danny Sullivan (1982) Alex Tagliani (2000–2002) Paul Tracy (2003–2008) Al Unser Jr. (1982) Jacques Villeneuve (1994) Lee Bentham (1997-1999)
Racing results
Complete CART / Champ Car World Series results (key) (results in bold indicate pole position) (results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 1982 March 82C Cosworth DFX V8t Héctor Rebaque32 13 DNS 18 25 DNP 20 115th48 Danny Sullivan33 3 2122nd28 Al Unser Jr. 521st30 1983 INDYMarch 83CCosworth DFX V8t Teo Fabi33 20 26 4 3 15 15 1* 2 1* 3 25 1* 1*2nd146 1984 INDY March 84C Cosworth DFX V8t Teo Fabi33 Ret Ret Ret 12 3 Ret 1325th15 Kevin Cogan 8 10 DNQ17 Lola T800 Corrado Fabi Ret 10 6 Ret28th11 Kenneth Acheson DNQ0 1985 INDY Lola T900 Cosworth DFX V8t Jan Lammers32 5 201133 13 Howdy Holmes 14 10 11 17 13 22 9 10 21 16 21 18 DNS25th12 1995 SFR INDYReynard 95iFord XB V8t Teo Fabi33 16 13 7 3 7 8 4 7 23 9 4 19 4 17 12 19 99th83 1996 MIA RIO SFR LBH NAZ 500 MIL DET TORReynard 96iMercedes-Benz IC108C V8t Greg Moore99 7 18 3 22 2 13 5 20 25 3 4 17 9 23 25 69th84 1997 SFR VAN FONReynard 97iMercedes-Benz IC108D V8t Greg Moore99 4 2 23 16 2 13 1* 1 5 24 23 27 2 18 17 24 137th111 1998 MIA MOT LBH NAZ RIO GAT MIL DET POR CLE TOR MCH MDO ROA VAN LAG HOU SFR FON Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz IC108E V8t Patrick Carpentier33 11 19 28 13 17 15 25 15 9 9 25 8 7 28 27 17 22 9 2619th27 Greg Moore99 2 4 6 3 1 3 13 5 27 25 11 1 22 21 20 21 26 8 25th141 1999 MIA MOT LBH NAZ RIO GAT MIL POR CLE ROA TOR MCH DET MDO VAN SRF FON Reynard 99i Mercedes-Benz IC108E V8t Patrick Carpentier33 7 26 17 14 6 22 9 9 7 22 11 10 23 6 2 9 19 24 2513th61 Greg Moore99 1* 4 8 12 8 6 2 13 18 4 20 23 3 11 26 20 23 16 17 2610th97 Honda HRS V8t Tony Kanaan44 21 6 22* 23 5 7 18 15 22 6 17 1 6 23 11 9 21 9 6 811th85 2000 DET MCH VAN SRF Reynard 2Ki Ford XF V8t Patrick Carpentier32 5 21 3 5 10 5 7 4 14 7 21 24 9 2 19 5 1411th101 Memo Gidley 21 8 1820 Alex Tagliani33 9 4 13* 15 19 22 6 13 16 5 16 9 9 14* 18 23 14 16 22 616th53 Bryan Herta77 426 2001 MTY LBH TXS NAZ MOT MIL DET POR CLE TOR MCH CHI MDO ROA VAN LAU ROC HOU LAG SRF FON Reynard 01i Ford XF V8t Patrick Carpentier32 25 23 C 25 19 17 8 5 26 21 1 2 3 9 16 3 16 10 26 11 1010th91 Alex Tagliani33 21 18 C 22 22 12 21 12 9 2 6 6 7 8 23* 21 14 19 15 3 311th80 Bryan Herta77 16 10 C 21 21 22 15 14 3 18 5 21 25 24 17 27 15 13 12 18 2522nd28 2002 MTY LBH MOT MIL LAG POR CHI TOR CLE VAN MDO ROA MTL DEN ROC MIA SFR FON MXC Reynard 02i Ford XF V8t Patrick Carpentier32 7 19 4 15 5 5 16 10 1* 5 1* 7 15 17 3 16 2 3 43rd157 Alex Tagliani33 5 16 2 19 10 12 7 7 5 7 7 2 11 12 18 4 6 8 108th111 2003 STP MTY LBH BRH LAU MIL LAG POR CLE TOR VAN ROA MDO MTL DEN MIA MXC SFR Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t Paul Tracy3 1* 1* 1 17 12 12 3 2* 2* 1* 1* 15 1* 6 4 16 1* 131st226 Patrick Carpentier32 8 8 6 5 7 3 1* 16 4 7 13 5 2 3 17 6 14 55th146 2004 LBH MTY MIL POR CLE TOR VAN ROA DEN MTL LAG LSV SFR MXC Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t Paul Tracy1 1* 7 17 3 17 5 1* 12 2* 4 10 18 4* 104th254 Rodolfo Lavín3 10 13 9 18 9 14 15 2 11 11 12 4 15 1314th156 Patrick Carpentier7 4 4 2 4 16 3 16 14 9 2 1* 3 16 63rd266 2005 LBH MTY MIL POR CLE TOR EDM SJO DEN MTL LSV SRF MXC Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t Paul Tracy3 2 15 1* 3 1* 16 3 2 16* 8 17* 17 34th246 Mario Domínguez7 5 13 7 4 17 13 5 5 2 10 4 18 129th198 2006 LBH HOU MTY MIL POR CLE TOR EDM SJO DEN MTL ROA SRF MXC Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t Paul Tracy3 17 2 4 16 7 16 2 5 15 6 2 10 47th209 David Martínez 922nd13 Mario Domínguez7 4 3* 6 14202 A. J. Allmendinger 1* 1* 1* 3 7 1* 17 1 16285 Buddy Rice 1023rd11 2007 LSV LBH HOU POR CLE MTT TOR EDM SJO ROA ZOL ASN SFR MXC Panoz DP01 Cosworth XFE V8t Paul Tracy3 3 10 1 15 14 5 11 12 10 17 9 511th171 Oriol Servià 2 42377 11 7 9 10* 6 3* 4 6 8 Mario Domínguez 9 17 678 David Martínez 10 1420th18
The Firestone Firehawk 600 was canceled after qualifying due to excessive g-forces on the drivers.
Complete IndyCar Series results (key) Year Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2008 HMS STP MOT LBH KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO EDM KTY SNM DET CHI SRF Panoz DP01 Cosworth XFE V8t Paul Tracy31151 Franck Montagny72NC— David Martínez378NC—
Run to Champ Car specifications. Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
IndyCar wins