Instead, Danny Sullivan, the defending CART champion, has been hampered by a broken arm suffered at Indianapolis.
He has won an Indianapolis 500 and is a former CART champion.
On June 9, 2006, RuSport announced that Allmendinger would be replaced by 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta.
The other drivers of the MP4/8 were Michael Andretti, a recent American CART champion, and Mika Häkkinen.
Mid-way through the season, the team replaced Allmendinger with 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta who moved over to the team from Dale Coyne Racing.
Juan Montoya, the 1999 CART champion and the defending champion here, finished fourth in a Toyota-powered Lola.
Zanardi, the defending CART champion, finished 1.4 seconds behind Vasser and now trails Moore by 1 point in the series standing after 4 of 19 races.
Starting from the back of the grid, Alex Zanardi, a former Formula One driver and twice a CART champion, was more than happy with the decision.
Juan Pablo Montoya was the 1999 CART champion, but when he raced at Indy for the first time and won in 2000, he was still considered by definition, a "rookie."
Wilson Fittipaldi is the older brother of CART champion and double Formula One world champion Emerson Fittipaldi.