'Dinger Dropped for da Matta!
June 9 , 2006

In a shocking move, RuSPORT announced today that A.J. Allmendinger, the 2004 Roshfrans Rookie of the Year, has been dropped by the team in favor of 2002 Champ Car Champion Christiano da Matta.

A.J. has been with us since we created RuSPORT late in 2002," said team owner Carl Russo. "During that time, we won the 2003 Formula Atlantic Championship and the 2004 Champ Car Rookie of the Year together. However, as RuSPORT and A.J. have progressed, we believe a different environment will help A.J. to grow even faster, and so we have made this very difficult decision. We expect that A.J. will be a winner in any category he competes in. We thank him for all his efforts and we wish him well in the future."

This surprise move marks the second year in a row Dale Coyne Racing has lost a top driver to one of the higher budget teams in the series.  Last year Coyne lost Oriol Servia to Newman Haas Racing, as he was called on to replace the injured Bruno Junquiera.

"I would like to thank Dale Coyne for giving Cristiano the opportunity to display his desire, competitiveness and professionalism in front of all of us, this season," said Russo. "I would like to also thank Dale for allowing Cristiano to join RuSPORT at this time. As for Cristiano, all I can say is a former champion with enormous experience is joining our team at a time when we are pushing to win the Champ Car driver's championship, and that can only bode well for our chances. As all are aware, Cristiano is a true champion on and off the race track and we welcome a competitor of this caliber to the RuSPORT family."

"To say this is a great opportunity would be an understatement," said da Matta. "This is my sixth season in Champ Car. Only in two of the previous five seasons have I felt like I could fight for a race victory every time I went to the track. Now, I can say I have that opportunity again with RuSPORT. I'm looking forward to getting started, and I plan to make the most of this opportunity. I want to thank Dale Coyne and the entire team at Dale Coyne Racing for all of their hard work, and I would also like to thank Carl Russo and everyone at RuSPORT for giving me the chance to compete in the #10 Champ Car."

At this time there has been no announcement as to a replacement for da Matta in the #19 Sonny's BBQ Lola, or on A.J. Allmendinger's future in the series.

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