2006 Champ Car Season - Drivers and Teams - Mid-season Changes

Mid-season Changes

• Dutchman Nicky Pastorelli was announced as Rocketsports Racing's "full-time" driver on April 28. Pastorelli was a test driver for Jordan Grand Prix in 2005 and in October 2005 had been originally introduced as the third driver for the team which was renamed Midland F1 Racing after the 2005 season, but that opportunity fell through in December when one of Pastorelli's investors backed out of the deal. It would not be the last time Nicky would have sponsorship problems.

• On June 9, following the race at the Milwaukee Mile, the RuSPORT team announced that they were replacing A. J. Allmendinger with Cristiano da Matta. The change was surprise, as Allmendinger had been the cornerstone of the team since its founding in 2002. The Champ Car series was temporarily left without an American driver.

• On June 12 Forsythe Racing announced that they were parting company with Mario Domínguez. Domínguez had crashed on this opening lap of the Milwaukee race, taking out himself and his teammate Paul Tracy as well as Bruno Junqueira. The series stewards penalized him for the crash, stripping him of the points earned for his 14th place finish. Two days later the open seat was filled as A. J. Allmendinger was announced as Domínguez's replacement at Forsythe, a pairing that was quickly rewarded with victories in the following three races starting at Portland. Meanwhile, Domínguez moved to Dale Coyne Racing to take the seat vacated by da Matta.

• Rocketsports Racing expanded back to a two-car team beginning with the Portland race. Atlantic series veteran Tõnis Kasemets became the first Champ Car driver of Estonian descent. Kasemets was initially slated to run six races for the team, but would only end up running five races.

• Rocketsports Racing reverted to a one-car team at Toronto when one of Nicky Pastorelli's sponsors defaulted and his #8 car was not run. The sponsorship problem was solved in time for the next round in Edmonton.

• On August 3 Cristiano da Matta was seriously injured after colliding with a deer during testing at Road America. While da Matta would eventually recover, the crash ended his open-wheel racing career. RuSPORT did not run da Matta's #10 car again until the final two rounds of the season when IndyCar veteran Ryan Briscoe made his Champ Car debut at his home race, Surfers Paradise.

• Antônio Pizzonia returned to Rocketsports Racing as the driver of the #18 car for the race in Montreal. Pizzonia would go on to sit out the Road America round in favor of Tõnis Kasemets, but would finish out the remainder of the year for the team in the #18 car.

• Mario Domínguez found a home at his third race team for the year by signing up to join Rocketsports Racing before the Elkhart Lake race weekend, taking over the #8 car from Nicky Pastorelli. Dale Coyne Racing replaced Domínguez in the #19 car with Euroseries 3000 driver and one-time Minardi F1 tester Juan Cáceres of Uruguay.

• German Andreas Wirth, the third place finisher in the 2006 Champ Car Atlantic season, took over the Dale Coyne #19 car at Surfers Paradise and also finished the season with the team at Mexico City.

• On October 24, following the race in Surfers Paradise, A. J. Allmendinger announced that he would drive for Team Red Bull in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series in 2007. On October 27 the Forsythe Racing team announced that Allmendinger would be replaced by 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice for the final race of the season in Mexico City. This would be Rice's only career Champ Car start.

• On October 31, the Forsythe Racing team announced that they would run a third car in Mexico City. Mexican David Martínez, a veteran of the Atlantics series, was signed to make his Champ Car debut driving the #33 car.

• Paul Tracy did not race in the final round in Mexico City after he broke his right scapula in an alcohol-fueled accident that was alternately reported as happening on either an ATV or a golf cart. David Martínez ended up making his Champ Car debut driving Tracy's #3 car instead of the #33 he was originally slated to drive.