Autoblog

"In anything like this there are winners and losers and all the Champ Car teams were the losers." These are the words of Paul Stoddart, the racing team chief who campaigned his Minardi team last year in Champ Cars and previously in Formula One. Stoddart's words echo those of departed multiple champion Sebastien Bourdais; Minardi is just one of the Champ Car teams that won't be making the switch to IRL next season following the merger between Indy and Champ Cars.

In fact, most of the major teams from the Champ Car World Series won't be making the jump. As we reported earlier, Forsythe can't afford the reinvestment. Neither can Walker Racing. Newman Haas Lanigan Racing will, however, while former Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven will give it a shot, but, like Stoddart, is also looking for a way into Formula One. With the former Minardi F1 team, now known as Toro Rosso, up for sale, and Super Aguri looking not long for this world, they may have a chance. Where that leaves Champ Cars, on the other hand, is looking like little more than a footnote in American racing history as this "merger of equals" is shaping up to be about as equal as the one that dissolved between Daimler-Benz and Chrysler.

[Source: GrandPrix.com, Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty]

We present you with another big gallery of photos from the weekend's activities in Long Beach. Besides the Champ Cars, ALMS, and Toyota Pro/Celebrity races we've already covered, the Long Beach GP hosted Formula D, Champ Car Atlantics, and Speed World Challenge GT racing. We were there on Friday during practice and captured some images to share with all of you. Next year we hope to get an earlier start to secure some credentials so we can get access to pit lane and head-on shots along the fence line. But for now we have these tower shots and some random pics from around the grounds.

Right on the water, with the Queen Mary and various cruise and cargo ships in the distance, there is a definite charm to this temporary street course that has hosted Formula 1, CART, Trans-Am, Can-Am, Rolex and ALMS over its 33-year history. Close to Hollywood, this is the racing event most likely to attract celebrities on the Champ Car schedule. Between practice sessions and races, fans had a lot of other things to keep them occupied. Minardi has a special two-seat formula car that allows passengers to experience 180-mph thrills, for just $10,000 a go. There are also rides and vendor booths everywhere, making the place feel like a community carnival as much as a racetrack.

Click one of the images below to go to our gallery. We also had one of our readers pass along a link to his own gallery of incredible shots from Saturday. Make sure you check them out. Thanks for sharing them, Mark!