That year, the race was the final one under Champ Car regulations, as preseason the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series had announced their merger, which produced what is now known today as the NTT IndyCar Series. Since each of the original series had their obligations to fulfill that year, IRL raced at Motegi in Japan that weekend, while Champ Car raced at Long Beach, utilizing the Panoz DP01-Cosworths for the final time.
Last weekend’s latest edition was the 39th time the race had run with Indy car as the main event. The inaugural event in 1975 had Formula 5000 as its main feature while from 1976 to 1983, Formula 1 was the headliner.
