| 2008 Champ Car season | |
|---|---|
| Champ Car World Series | |
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| Season | |
| Races | |
| Start date | |
| End date | |
| Awards | |
← 2007
2009 (ICS) →
| |
The 2008 Champ Car World Series season would have been the 5th season of the Champ Car World Series and 30th season of the series dating back to the 1979 formation of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). It was scheduled to begin on April 20, 2008, and end on November 9. The season was canceled on February 21, 2008, because of the buyout of Champ Car by the rival IndyCar Series, resulting in the reunification of American open-wheel racing.[1]
As the IndyCar Series was already scheduled for a race in Japan the same weekend, the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which also could not be moved, was run as originally planned, with teams that had been part of Champ Car in 2007 participating in Long Beach using the same Champ Car rules and vehicles as the previous season but still receiving IndyCar rankings points. The race was treated as a farewell to the Champ Car World Series, and won by Will Power. The following year, the event fully became part of the IndyCar schedule.
The Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton and the Gold Coast Indy 300 in Australia were also retained and added to the IndyCar Series schedule.[1] The schedule originally included what would have been the first Monterey Grand Prix since 2004 and the planned debut of the Champ Car Grand Prix of Spain.
Later on, Toronto (2009), Houston (2013), Road America (2016), Portland (2018), and Laguna Seca (2019) would also be revived by the unified series.
The 2008 Champ Car schedule was announced in November 2007 before the unification announcement.
The following teams and drivers were expected to compete for the 2008 Champ Car season. All teams would have used a Cosworth 2.65-litre turbocharged V8 engine, a Panoz DP01 chassis, and Bridgestone tires.
| Team | No. | Driver(s) | Primary Sponsors |
|---|---|---|---|
 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
|
1 |  Justin Wilson[2]
|
McDonald's |
| 2 | Graham Rahal[2]
|
Hole in the Wall Camps | |
| Forsythe/Pettit Racing
|
3 |  Paul Tracy
|
Indeck |
| 7 |  Franck Montagny
| ||
| Minardi Team USA
|
4 |  E. J. Viso
|
PDVSA |
| 14 |  Robert Doornbos
|
OzJet | |
 Team Australia
|
5 | Will Power
|
Aussie Vineyards |
| 15 |  Matt Halliday
|
Walker Racing | |
| Rocketsports Racing
|
8 |  Enrique Bernoldi[3]
|
Sangari |
| Dale Coyne Racing
|
11 | Bruno Junqueira
|
Dale Coyne Racing |
| 19 | Mario Moraes
|
Sonny's BBQ | |
| KV Racing Technology
|
21 | Alex Tagliani
|
PKV Racing |
| 22 |  Oriol Servià[4]
| ||
| Pacific Coast Motorsports
|
29 | Alex Figge
|
Pacific Coast Motorsports |
| 96 |  Mario Domínguez
|
Visit Mexico City | |
| Conquest Racing
|
24 | Franck Perera[5]
|
ARES |
| 34 | Nelson Philippe
|
David Martínez was a test driver for Pacific Coast Motorsports.|
American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
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| AAA |
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| USAC |
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| CART |
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| CCWS |
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| IRL |
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| IndyCar |
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Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons. | |
