In autumn 1984, Carl Haas had successfully negotiated a sponsorship deal with Beatrice Foods for Haas's entry into the Formula One World Championship. At the urging of Beatrice Foods' CEO, Jim Dutt, Haas dropped sponsor Budweiser and took on Beatrice as title sponsor of their Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) IndyCar team. With the aid of Beatrice, later that year Haas announced an engine supplier for the program. Ford was in the process of developing a turbocharged V6 engine (known as the TEC) as a replacement for their aged naturally aspirated Cosworth DFV V8 which was no longer able to successfully compete with its turbocharged competitors. The deal was announced to last for three seasons, with Haas being the exclusive receiver of the new engines. As part of the announcement, former World Champion Alan Jones announced his return from retirement to drive the team's first car in 1985, his first time in the sport since Long Beach in . The development of the GBA engine at Cosworth was documented for Channel 4's "Equinox" series and broadcast on TV in 1986.