Andretti buys stake in Team Green

The outfit, which is one of the biggest in the CART Championship Series, will now become known as Andretti Green Racing. Team founder Barry Green will take a step back to hold a consulting role. Andretti will run the team and continue to drive, with Barry's brother Kim Green and Kevin Savoree joining him as his two primary partners.

It is anticipated that Andretti will run cars in CART's arch rival series, the Indy Racing League, which Green's engine partner Honda is switching to for next year. But the 39-year-old claims that a decision has yet to be taken as the team's sponsors need to be consulted.

It is possible that the team will run cars in both CART and the IRL. Team Green returned to the Indianapolis 500, the IRL's key event, for the first time this year since the series split in the mid-1990s.

"Barry and I have been talking about this since the end of last year and we signed a letter of intent at Long Beach," said Andretti. "No decision has been made as to where we will be racing. We just wanted to get this put down and we will work on the sponsorship side of it to see which way we go."

The deal should not leave Scottish Champ Car ace Dario Franchitti out of a drive. Andretti has stated that he wishes Franchitti and his other team-mate Paul Tracy to remain on the driving strength.

One possible scenario would be for Franchitti and Tracy to continue in Champ Cars, with Andretti heading to the IRL. British American Racing test driver Anthony Davidson is also waiting in the wings following his impressive run with the team last week at Elkhart Lake.