Champ Car teams dropping like flies following IRL merger

"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]