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The TACH Report: Rahal to Retire after 1998, Petersen Museum Unveils Discovery Center, Carpentier Joins Moore on CART Team

21 November 1997

Three-time PPG CART driving champion Bobby Rahal will quit racing after the 1998 season and concentrate on being a team owner. There will not be any tag day benefit dinners for the 24-time CART winner and runner-up in over-all race earnings ($16 million); he will 1. manage his CART team (Bryan Herta), 2. field a PPG Dayton Indy Lights team, 3. have an interest in a NASCAR Truck series entry, and 4. he has Honda, Lexus, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz car dealerships.

Bobby, son of ex-racer and successful food broker Mike Rahal, won the Indy 500 in 1986, the 24 hours of Daytona in 1981 and the 12 hours of Sebring in 1987. He has 246 Indy Car starts, and 1998 will bring that total to 260. When the bespecktacled librarian-ish appearing Rahal takes his final CART laps at Fontana California Speedway next fall, his sponsor Miller Beer is going to put on a ring-a-ding going away bash. The likeable shoe has also created the Bobby Rahal charitable organization: he and Miller will be making contributions during 1998.

The finest automotive museum in the U.S., Petersen in Beverly Hills, CA, is opening a 6,500 sq ft Children's discovery center, which will be an interactive "hands on" learning center for kids. May department stores put up $1 million for the exhibit, which will tell kids how cars are made, driven, and maintained. For more info, www.petersen.org.

In CART, Forsythe racing has announced signing Patrick Carpentier to join fellow Canadian Greg Moore for the 1998 season. Carpentier earned 1998 rookie of the year honors with the Bettenhausen team.

One of the finalists in the Team Green academy class of 1997 is Alex Gurney, son of racing great Dan Gurney.

Acknowledged as the training ground for IRL drivers, FF2000 has announced an aggressive career options package that will put 100 grand on the table for incentives and prize money. The deal includes an engine package for the 1999 season.

Bill Maloney -- The Auto Channel