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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002


I, Christopher R. Pook, certify that:

         1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of
                  Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc.;

         2.       Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
                  statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
                  necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
                  circumstances under which such statements were made, not
                  misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

         3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
                  financial information included in this report, fairly present
                  in all material respects the financial condition, results of
                  operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for,
                  the periods presented in this report;

         4.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I are
                  responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure
                  controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
                  13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) for the registrant and have

                           (a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures,
                  or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
                  designed under our supervision, to ensure that material
                  information relating to the registrant, including its
                  consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others
                  within those entities, particularly during the period in which
                  this report is being prepared;

                           (b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
                  disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this
                  report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the
                  disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the
                  period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

                           (c) disclosed in this report any change in the
                  registrant's internal control over financial reporting that
                  occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter
                  (the registrant's fourth quarter in the case of an annual
                  report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
                  to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over
                  financial reporting; and


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         5.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I have
                  disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
                  control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors
                  and the audit committee of registrant's board of directors (or
                  persons performing the equivalent functions):

                           (a) all significant deficiencies and material
                  weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over
                  financial reporting, which are reasonably likely to adversely
                  affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize
                  and report financial information; and

                           (b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
                  management or other employees who have a significant role in
                  the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

Date:    May 15, 2005


/s/ Christopher R. Pook
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Christopher R. Pook
Chief Executive Officer