Tracy determined to find new drive

Forsythe Championship Racing announced today that they had been unable to secure sponsorship to join the unified American open-wheel series and would cease operations.

"I'm in shock and I'm very, very disappointed," Tracy told speedtv.com. "I haven't spoken to Jerry (Forsythe) since our meeting last December, but I think I can say we both left that meeting feeling renewed, invigorated and ready to go racing.

"Since that meeting, a lot has changed of course, but I thought that with that same kind of spirit in the team, we could have challenged for victory at the Indy 500.

"I believe I'm one of the best oval drivers in the country, and with the strong crew that we had in place, we could have been contenders.

"Right now, I need to quickly regroup, regain my composure and then start looking for another ride - and I mean in IndyCar. The team may be done, but I'm ready to go racing."

Tracy was on a long-term contract with Forsythe, having driven for the outfit since claiming the 2003 Champ Car title.

The team's Atlantic series arm Forsythe Racing will run at least two cars in the Long Beach race - which will be the final appearance for the Champ Car Panoz DP01s - and will also continue to run their Atlantic programme.

Forsythe's vice-president of operations Neil Micklewright said that the IndyCar Series' less-restrictive rules meant that the team would have required a larger budget than than if Champ Car had continued.

But he did not rule out a return in 2009 if funding could be found.

"With the IndyCar rules being so much more open, for things like damper investment, flanged wheels and wind tunnel time, we'd have been running around at the back unless we'd have spent a hell of a lot more money. Without sponsorship, that wasn't going to happen," Micklewright told speedtv.com.

"I'm going to try and keep a core group going so that we might try and run IndyCars in 2009 - I believe that is still a possibility. But again it's dependent on sponsorship."