Champ Cars to run at night

The Milwaukee oval will host the first-ever CART night race on the evening of Saturday May 31, with the Cleveland race following on Saturday July 5.

Milwaukee race organiser and CART team owner Carl Haas said: "We are excited to have the chance to create a new, exciting atmosphere for the devoted fan following that we have built over the years. We have made a lot of changes to the facility in the past 12 months and I can think of no better way to show those changes off than to literally cast the lights on them."

Players/Forsythe driver Patrick Carpentier said: "I'm really excited about the move to a night race. I've never raced at night in my career, but I go see other forms of racing such as the World of Outlaws and it's a really great show. The [Cleveland] track is so wide open that it should be even better for us at night and will definitely add more excitement to it. I'm sure it will be every bit as exciting for the fans as it will be for the drivers."

It was also announced that CART and the organisers of the Cleveland race have extended their agreement to stage the race on the runways of the Burke Lakefront Airport for an extra five years.