CART: Greg Moore's Number Retired from CART Competition
26 November 1999
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
The Championship Auto Racing Teams team owners voted unanimously last week to retire car number "99" as a tribute to driver Greg Moore, who lost his life in an accident in CART's season finale at California Speedway on Oct. 31.
The number "99" joins the number "14" of all-time Champ Car victory leader A.J. Foyt as the only retired numbers in Championship Auto Racing Teams history.
Moore was a four-year veteran of the FedEx Championship Series, all with the Player's Forsythe Racing Team. He earned five victories and five pole positions during his career and owns the distinction of being the youngest race winner in CART history following his 1997 victory at The Milwaukee Mile at age 22 years, 1 month and 10 days.
He also won the 1998 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota at Michigan Speedway in a race which featured a Champ Car-record 62 lead changes, and was one of a record 10 race winners during the 1999 FedEx Championship Series campaign, having won the season opener from the pole at Homestead.
It is a commonly held misconception that Moore campaigned number "99" in honor of National Hockey League superstar and fellow Canadian Wayne Gretzky. In fact, "99" was significant to Moore because it was the number on his first license issued by the Westwood Karting Association.
"Everyone felt that we should retire the number '99' as a mark of respect for a fallen hero of our sport," said CART President and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Craig. "Greg Moore left a permanent impression on the FedEx Championship Series in his all-too-brief tenure with us. It seems only proper that we assure him a permanent legacy by retiring the number which became a symbol for his success."
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