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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; and

                        (b)     [*]

                        (c)     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

                        (d)     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

        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


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                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: August 12, 2005

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

* - Temporarily modified to eliminate certain references to internal control
over financial reporting until the compliance date for management's internal
control report and related attestation.



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