2004 Champ Car season

The 2004 Champ Car season was the inaugural season for the Champ Car World Series. It began on April 18, 2004 and ended on November 7 after 14 races. The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford Drivers' Champion was Sébastien Bourdais. The Rookie of the Year was A. J. Allmendinger.

The open-wheel racing organization CART, Inc. had operated until 2003. After that year's season, the series declared bankruptcy and was liquidated in an Indianapolis courtroom in January 2004. Three team owners who had participated in the CART series, Gerald Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven, and Paul Gentilozzi, purchased the series' liquidated assets and resurrected it as the Champ Car World Series for the 2004 season.

Drivers and teams

The Ford-Cosworth XFE, a 2.65 liter turbo V8 engine remained the exclusive power plant for the reorganized Champ Car series. Bridgestone remained the exclusive tire supplier as well. They also continued the marketing agreement that branded the series Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. The following teams and drivers competed in the 2004 Champ Car season.

From CART to Champ Car

The assets of the bankrupt Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (CART) organization were awarded to Open Wheel Racing Series, LLC in the Indianapolis courtroom of Judge Frank Otte on January 28, 2004. A bid from Indy Racing League owner Tony George was rejected, thus...
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