Momentum for Champ Car began to turn in the aftermath of Rahal's exit when his driver, Michel Jourdain, Jr., announced that he and his sponsor, the Mexican supermarket Gigante would not follow Rahal to the IRL.
Supermercados Gigante competed with several other chains, such as Soriana, Comercial Mexicana, Chedraui, Wal-Mart H-E-B, Falabella, Cencosud and D&S.