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P
R E S S .
R
E L E A S E
FedEx
Championship Series
Fontana
Race
Number 20 of 20
Marlboro
500
Presented By TOYOTA
California Speedway
A
Sad Weekend in the Desert Closes the 1999 CART Season
November
2, 1999
Santa Ana, California
The CART family is in mourning at the loss of one of its brightest and
most liked stars. Talented, brave and popular Greg Moore died in a
crash in the early part of the Marlboro 500 in Fontana last weekend. All
of us at AAR considered him a wonderful friend and a great ambassador of
our sport. We are sending our heartfelt condolences to his family.
Almost at the same
time another member of the CART community passed away. Walter Payton,
all-time football great, CART team owner and all around wonderful man and
personality, succumbed to a devastating illness. We are sending his family
our deepest feelings of sympathy.
The weekend meant another sad farewell of a different kind for AAR and Dan
Gurney. Our 16-year relationship with Toyota came to an end. It
started in 1982 with Dan doing TV commercials for the introduction of the
Toyota Supra in the United States, which led to a long and successful
racing association. During that time we won 3 constructor's and three,
driver's championships together, 51 victories in all in the GTO and IMSA
GTP sports car series, including the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours
of Sebring (twice). At the height of our success, we went into the Toyota
Champ car engine development program and fielded a 2-car team beginning in
1996. Some very difficult but rewarding years in this highly competitive
arena followed. Our contract with Toyota ran out at Fontana. We would like
to take this opportunity to thank Toyota for their generous support in the
past and say a fond farewell to our friends in the Toyota family. Our
thanks and appreciation also go to our sponsors, Castrol, Denso, Jockey,
Degree and Goodyear, to our fans who had faith in us and supported our
effort through thick and thin, and the press who treated us fairly
throughout.
Ironically the same weekend also saw the end of our Goodyear
relationship which started in 1964 and has continued ever since. Goodyear
has withdrawn from open wheel racing for the time being.
We would like to pay tribute to our drivers who helped in the engine
development program with dedication and grace: Juan Manuel Fangio II, PJ
Jones, and in more recent times Alex Barron, Vincenzo Sospiri, Gualter
Salles, Raul Boesel and Andrea Montermini, all of them talented drivers
and great gentlemen who performed with courage in difficult circumstances.
We are indebted to Robby Gordon, who not only was the highest finishing
Toyota-powered car in Fontana, scoring in the points (11th) but became a
great friend and champion of the Eagle chassis. What a fitting ending. His
gesture of presenting his "feathered" helmet to Dan after the
race as a goodbye present will always be remembered.
AAR intends to stay in the racing business and will announce its future
plans within the next 4 weeks.
For
further information contact All American Racers at
(714) 540-1771 |
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