Fontana, CA -- The CART race scheduled for Sunday at California Speedway has been cancelled because of the rampant wildfires in the southern part of the state.

The California Speedway management made the decision on Tuesday after discussions with CART officials, who were hoping to run the season-ending King Taco 500. The track is 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

"Our thoughts are with those families dealing with the disaster in Southern California and we hope for a speedy end to the situation," said CART President and CEO Christopher R. Pook. "Our diligence in pursuing the continuation of the race was only to ensure that we had exhausted every option available to us. CART Champ Car regrets that the event has been cancelled and we offered to explore every possible avenue, including running the event on Monday or Tuesday at Phoenix International Raceway -- which is owned by California Speedway's parent company International Speedway Corporation -- or running at the California Speedway track sometime next week, allowing us to run this race in a safe manner and have a proper end to the 2003 season."

The cancellation will put an end to the 2003 Champ Car World Series season at 18 races, meaning that Bruno Junqueira will finish as the runner-up to champion Paul Tracy, who clinched the title last weekend in Surfers Paradise, Australia.