Quotes of the week

UPDATE As the Champ cars pulled into the pits at the end of Sunday’s Long Beach GP and the whine from their turbo Cosworth engines fell silent, a forty-year era in American racing came to an end. Turbocharged engines have defined Indy car racing since the mid-sixties and helped make the cars number among the most powerful and spectacular race cars on earth. The turbo’s signature, high-pitched whine helped provide Indy car racing with an identity and a mythical image as the most demanding cars to drive and race. Now, the turbo has vanished from the scene and yet many fans at Long Beach last weekend expressed their hopes that the turbos will return when the IRL launches its new formula in 2010 or 2011. And in the paddock and garage area the feeling is virtually unanimous that turbocharged engines and big horsepower must be a feature of the new formula if it is to inspire emotions and attract fans, engine manufacturers and car builders to what everyone hopes will be a new start to the deeply damaged world of Indy car racing. Gordon Kirby, Journalist

"I had so much support, it was incredible. It's almost as if I was racing in Mexico. So that was great and I was happy to give all the fans that were screaming my name a good result. I was just happy to be there and I feel honored to be on the last Champ Car podium ever. It had been my dream to race in Champ Car and I started in 2002. It's a very sad moment right now that this was the last Champ Car race in history. This is where I made my name, where I made my career, and this is what gave me what I have, but I think it's the best thing for open-wheel racing. The future is very bright and even though I'm very sad that Champ Car has ended. I'm happy because the fans are going to be the winners when they watch one IndyCar race with all the stars, the great teams, and the great names out there in one race. I hope to be part of that as well, the future starts right now for me." Mario Dominguez, Champ Car and soon to be IndyCar driver

"I had my first race here with Dale Coyne in 1991," said Tracy. "It was my first win in 1993, and I don't know how I'm going to feel after all this. I guess this could be my last race here as an open-wheel driver. This isn't really how I want my career to end. But it was a great event, there were big crowds in the paddock, big crowds in the stands even for qualifying, it was like the mid-90s again. There was tremendous fan support, and a lot of well-wishes for me, which feels nice." Paul Tracy, Champ Car driver

"This has been a great, great weekend and Long Beach is a great, original street race event – it's a crown jewel in every sense. It's with mixed emotions that we look forward, but I honestly believe that this is only the start. What we've done is in the best interest of the fans and the sport, and we have a lot of work to do now. We have to publicize the great young drivers like Graham (Rahal), Will (Power), and Danica (Patrick). These are new names to a lot of the motor racing fraternity but they're names that are going to be around for a long time, and they're names that will help build the credibility of the sport." Kevin Kalkhoven, Champ Car and IndyCar team owner

"Ever since I joined Champ Car my career has been good," he said. "I was given a great opportunity by (Team Australia boss) Craig Gore and I took it and ran with it. I love Champ Car racing and it's great to win here in Long Beach for the last race. It's really pretty special to be honest." Will Power, Champ Car and IndyCar driver

The prevailing feeling this week from drivers involved in the Champ Car World Series finale Sunday was that the DP01 used by Champ Car is simply a faster, better car than the Dallara used in the unified Indy Racing League. "Like Oriol [Servia] was saying (Friday), he was saying that comparing the two cars, the Champ Car is much faster, lighter, more downforce, quicker and more fun to drive," Tagliani said. "I think they reached the point where they had the perfect product, affordable and with the best event (Long Beach) all over North America to go racing with. And for some political issue it's really unfortunate that it's not going to move forward and we'll have to wait a couple of years before the IRL series reaches where Champ Car was, actually." Alex Tagliani, Champ Car driver

Scott Goodyear: Danica, I was watching you drive at Milwaukee and saw you driving a really ill handling car. The rear kept kicking out and you just kept keeping your foot into it. I thought, "This girl can certainly drive as good as any other guy out there."

Danica Patrick: "Well thanks, but to be honest, we had traction control. I was really just leaning on the traction control so whenever it started to step out, I would just keep my foot in it and let the traction control do the work." ESPN2 Interview at end of Champ Car TV broadcast

04/20/08 “The big problem is that we pitted when we shouldn’t have. The GAINSCO car was good, good enough to work our strategy the way we wanted to and get by the No. 01. We had a battle there, and that is not what I expect out of Memo, but I guess in his home country in front of all of his fans, he gets pretty desperate. I’ll forgive him this time, but I’ll punch his teeth out next time." Jon Fogarty No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley after the Mexico City Grand-Am race

"Well, since she is out of contention, her team is just gambling that MAYBE if it goes green the rest of the race (50 laps), we might see Danica Patrick on top of the podium." Scott Goodyear, IndyCar TV announcer on her top off fuel stop under yellow on lap 148