Atlantic

Newman/Wachs Racing - new 2006 team

CHAMP CAR TEAM OWNER AND LEGENDARY ACTOR PAUL NEWMAN PARTNERS WITH FRIEND AND FELLOW RACER EDDIE WACHS TO FORM NEWMAN/WACHS RACING ATLANTIC TEAM INDIANAPOLIS (November 3, 2005) -- After more than 20 extremely successful seasons as a team owner ...

Published: Nov 4, 2005, 11:23 PM

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CHAMP CAR TEAM OWNER AND LEGENDARY ACTOR PAUL NEWMAN PARTNERS WITH FRIEND AND FELLOW RACER EDDIE WACHS TO FORM NEWMAN/WACHS RACING ATLANTIC TEAM

INDIANAPOLIS (November 3, 2005) -- After more than 20 extremely successful seasons as a team owner in the Champ Car World Series, Paul Newman is bringing his act to thie Atlantic stage. The legendary actor will team up with his longtime friend and former racer Eddie Wachs to form the Newman/Wachs Racing team. The squad plans to field a two-car effort in the 2006 Champ Car Atlantic Championship Presented by Yokohama.

After partnering with Carl Haas in 1983 to create the Newman/Haas Racing Champ Car team, Newman has helped guide Champ Car's winningest active team to nearly 90 race victories in 23 seasons. Newman/Haas just captured its sixth Champ Car title with Sebastien Bourdais' victory in Surfers Paradise, Australia on October 23.

While Newman hopes to continue his team's success at the Champ Car level, he will join a wealth of motorsports expertise at Newman/Wachs Racing as he strives to bring that same winning attitude to the Atlantic ranks next season. The Academy-Award winning actor met Eddie Wachs when both men were racing in the Can-Am series in the early 80s. Wachs, who also raced in Trans-Am, Super Vee and at the SCCA pro level, has remained close friends with Newman over the years and the two have decided to band together and form their own team. Their goal is to develop young racing talent in North America's top open-wheel development series.

Joining Newman and Wachs on the team will be former Formula 5000 competitor Michael Brockman, SCCA Trans-Am legend Horst Kwech and former Atlantic engineer and team owner Ove Olsson. Between them, the racing veterans bring nearly 200 years of experience on the track.

"This effort is an opportunity for all of us to give something back to the sport in the development of a new class of drivers," said Wachs. "There's a lot of knowledge on this team and we want to be able to share that knowledge and pass on the torch to some up-and-coming racers."

Newman/Wachs Racing will be headquartered on Chicago's North Side and Olsson, whose Olsson Engineering team competed for six seasons in the Atlantic championship beginning in 1996, will serve as team manager.

"This is an exciting time in the Atlantic series and we're happy that our team can be a part of it," said Newman. "We'll obviously be focused on driver development, bringing a keen interest and an expressed desire to train and groom the next generation of champions in our sport."

Newman/Wachs Racing is currently scouting young racing talent and the squad expects to start testing prospective drivers in January. The team will run Swift 014.a chassis in off-season testing before taking possession of its two new Swift 016.a/Cosworth/Yokohama Atlantic cars in early March.

The Champ Car Atlantic Championship continues to be the premier open-wheel development series in North America. The championship is noted for its long history of graduating its stars into Champ Car competition and has helped produce past Champ Car champions Paul Tracy, Jimmy Vasser, Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan, Michael Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve. Current Champ Car competitors Alex Tagliani, Andrew Ranger and Ronnie Bremer are also established Atlantic graduates along with 2004 Champ Car Rookie of the Year and 2003 Atlantic champ A.J. Allmendinger. In 2006, competitors will fight for the 12-race championship and the unique $2 million Champ Car series champion's bonus. For more information on the Atlantic series, please visit www.champcaratlantic.com.

-atlantic-

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