2008 Atlantic Championship season
| 2008 Atlantic Championship season | |
|---|---|
| Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda | |
| Season | |
| Races | 11 |
| Start date | April 20 |
| End date | October 3 |
| Awards | |
| Drivers' champion |
 Markus Niemelä
|
The 2008 Atlantic Championship season was the thirty-fifth Atlantic Championship season. It began on April 20, 2008 and ended on October 4, 2008. Despite the merger of Champ Car's premier series with the Indy Racing League, the Champ Car owners continued to own and operate the Atlantic Championship under a new legal entity, Atlantic Racing Series, LLC. Champ Car continued to sanction the first two events of the season at Long Beach and Laguna Seca with the remainder of the season running under IMSA sanction. The Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda Drivers' Champion was Markus Niemelä driving for Brooks Associates Racing.
The original 12-race 2008 Atlantic Championship calendar, which featured many supporting runs during Champ Car World Series events, had to be scrapped as a result of the 2008 open-wheel reunification announcement. The Long Beach, Laguna Seca, Edmonton, Mont-Tremblant and Road America races, which had been part of the Champ Car schedule before reunification, remained in the calendar. The Road America races were changed, as the American Le Mans Series' Generac 500 weekend meet was changed from one to two races (a Saturday and Sunday race). The Edmonton race, now part of the IndyCar Series, also switched to a two-race format. The original races at Trois-Rivieres and Miller were not affected, since the Quebec race was part of the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres (which also features the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series), and the Utah race was conducted as part of the Rolex Sports Car Series Sunchaser 1000 weekend. On April 3 a revised post-reunification schedule was released featuring 11 races including the seven weekends that were kept (with two races at Edmonton and Road America), and two new races, one at New Jersey and a second Road Atlanta (as a support race to the Petit Le Mans).
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