In 2003 Indy Racing League adopted the name IndyCar Series, after a settlement with CART prohibiting its use had expired. Several former CART teams brought their full operations to the IRL, most notably major squads Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Green Racing, as well as former CART engine manufacturers Toyota and Honda. For the 2003 season, Dallara rolled out the new IR-03 chassis. It was third-generation Dallara Indycar which would later become the de facto “spec-car” in the series and was used in minor modifications (IR-04 and IR-05) until 2012 when it was replaced by Dallara DW12. In 2003 Jaques Lazier returned to Team Menard after his 2002 crash. But again he was let go, this time after the Indy 500. Lazier signed on with A. J. Foyt Enterprises for the next four races, but funds failed to materialize for the remainder of the season and he was left on the sidelines.

The scale model was produced as Team Menard promo edition to be given out to Menard Inc. employees as gifts. The manufacturer of the model is not indicated on the model or on the packaging. Most probably the model was made by Ertl.

SeasonSeriesEvent
2003IndyCar Series
Driver No.Entrant
Jaques Lazier2Team Menard
ChassisEngineCar Name
Dallara IR-03ChevroletMenards / Johns Manville
Scale ManufacturerCollection
1:43Ertl?Team Menard Promo
Cat. No.QualityRarity