Printable View
All the press I've seen re Shell/Penske, only mention "Shell returning to the Indy 500". Now obviously I know that one race carries probably more weighting and that headline would probably turn more heads than "Shell returning to Indycar", but I haven't seen anything that actually states the #3 car will be Shell-Penzoil (or whatever) for the WHOLE series. I may well have missed something though!
You have not. As of now, the only plans are for the Indy 500 in 2011. More races may follow, but nothing planned as of yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Oli_M
Bold is set-
Andretti Autosport
Marco
Danica
RHR
No word on who will fund RHR, but the Snapple/Dr. Pepper rumors are not correct. They were tied into the 7/11, and the hope is they might still might be primary for some races.
Penske Racing/Team Penske Racing
Power
HCN
Briscoe
Target Chip Ganassi
Dixon
Dario
Ganassi/Prudhomme Racing
Rahal
Kimbal
Should be announced soon. Team coming together, and looks like all the funding is in place. Shop is in Brownsburg, about 20-30 minutes from the Ganassi shop. Good staff being put together...
A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Vitor
KVRT
Sato
Mutoh/Viso
Ride buyer ~3
KV Renta Team-Mutoh trying to get money togerther, Viso seems to have some funding as well.
Panther
TBD
Still looking or an american. Wheldon might be back, at a reduced cost.
de Ferran Dragon Racing
TBD/TK
Money is an issue- TK would be in, save for his current salary demands, which he deserves.
HVM
SDS
Money a big issue here.
Conquest
Bag
TBD
Money is also an issue here
FAZZT
Tagliani
Tung
Newman Hass
Servia
Hinch
Good things on the horizon.
Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
Wilson
Conway
TBD 2
Wheldon might be considered if he has some funding.
Sarah Fisher Racing
Carpenter
Money brought in from TG.
Dale Coyne Racing
Ride buyer 1
Ride buyer 2/?
Viso or Mutoh could end up here as well.
Team 3G
LOL
Like I said last year, will not happen. Team owes to much money.
Rahal
No one-
Not very likley, and the truck seen on the road is for Rahal's Legacy Historic series, not ICS. Lets not have another bunch of "Swift" trucks spotted like we had after the Swift Champcar went away.
Walker
Trying hard!
Fingers crossed that DW can come up with something.
So who are we waiting on now?
Tony Kanaan
Rafael Matos
Graham Rahal
Charlie Kimball
Dan Wheldon
James Hinchcliffe
Oriol Servia
JR Hildebrand
Paul Tracy
In no particular order. Who else should we expect to hear from?
Panther is testing at PIR today. Anybody know who with?
Drove past Firebird on my way to God forsaken Tucson the other day and reminded me of the days when teams would be testing there almost non-stop this time of year.
One of my favorite photos of all time is from a series of photos taken during Ayrton Senna's Penske test at Firebird. In the photo, Ayrton is holding court and Paul Tracy appears to be listening intently, while Emerson Fittipaldi looks on.Quote:
Originally Posted by TURN3
Now, as we discuss the prospect of GP2 also-rans coming onboard, photos like that sort of depress me.
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? :(
Someone at TF says it's Hildebrand per an email from Panther.Quote:
Originally Posted by TURN3
Quote:
Originally Posted by TURN3
It's JR, from his twitterQuote:
JRHildebrand I'm down at PIR testing with @PantherRacing, had a really solid day. Nothing set for next year, pretty excited just to be back in a car!
I think it would take a lot to keep JR out of a seat at Panther in 2011. Just the feeling I'm getting.
Where there's smoke, there is usually fire.
Some info on Carpenter's deal with SFR (from an interview I heard tonight):
-He brought NO money to get this ride. He was asked point blank and you could tell by the response that he was telling the truth. If any additional races are added, he will have to come up with some sponsorship. He says one more race is almost assuradly going to be added with others still possible.
-He and Sarah/Andy have already discussed engineers and potential hires. But he is staying out of that. Its their team.
-No equipment is coming over from Vision. TG is in the process of selling the remaining chassis's before they become obsolute by 2012.
-Fuzzy's Vodka could still be in the picture, but the races they were interested in sponsoring were already taken by Dollar General.
-Sounded like Panther wasn't a sure thing for 2011 for him; which is why he called Sarah and jumped on this deal.
BTW, look for AFS (Gary Peterson's team) to partner up with an existing team for the Indy 500. Don't be surprised if Sarah's team isn't the team and they run a 2nd car (although the car and most of the money would come from AFS) in a AFS/SFR entry. But there are other teams involved as well, so SFR is just one in the mix.
Carpenter shopped around for a ride, and DID bring money to the table. That is a 100% fact and is based on what they were offering others, and what they have done in the past. They did not have enough for the entire season, but had some funding. His funding and SF's funding allowed them to look at mroe races.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scotty G.
The good news is, SF runs a class operation, and Ed has done quite well on the ovals, especially Kentucky. With Ed, Graham, Marco, RHR, Danica all having firm rides next year, and the good potential for JR, Kimbal to join them, the series could have a decent amount of Americans racing next year.
I believe that the Dollar General money was enough to run the nine races and pay some salary. So Ed probably doesn't need any money to run that program. If he had brought money, they would be running more races.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vintage
Yep.
This is basically the same deal that Sarah had last year with DG.
If SFR runs more races, Sarah will have either found more money or Ed will have to find more money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scotty G.
OK, so which one of you who is so certain of their "facts" has anything to back up their assertions?Quote:
Originally Posted by EagleEye
Gary
Does it matter?Quote:
Originally Posted by garyshell
Whether Ed paid for his ride or not it doesn't really matter. My bet is he might be bringing some associate sponsorship to the team like DEEM engineering that was on his car at Indy last year
Does it matter?Quote:
Originally Posted by garyshell
Whether Ed paid for his ride or not it doesn't really matter. My bet is he might be bringing some associate sponsorship to the team like DEEM engineering that was on his car at Indy last year. Or his connection to Fuzzy might allow Sarah Fisher racing to run two fully-sponsored cars at Indy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by garyshell
Sarah had a 9 race deal in 2010 (although Graham Rahal ended up running one of the races) with DG.
Sarah has a 9 race deal in 2011 with Carpenter driving with DG.
Its the same deal. Hildebrand turned her down and he wouldn't have brought any money either. Ed was the 2nd choice to replace Sarah in 2011.
If additional races are added, then its possible that Ed would have to find money to do those races. Or Sarah may find it herself.
Ed is not bringing much more then his helmet bag to this deal. No Vision people. No Vision equipment (unless SFR buys it from TG). This is Sarah and Andy O'Gara's team and Ed is their driver that they chose for the partial-season deal that they have with their sponsors.
Now as MDS pointed out, Ed's relationship with Fuzzy's Vodka could result in SFR running a 2nd funded car at Indy and a few other events. As Ed pointed out the other night, the couple of other events Fuzzy's might be interested in sponsorsing were already taken by Dollar General. I am sure Indy is at the top of that list.
Sarah also could be in line to partner with Gary Peterson as well at Indy for his effort. But there are a couple other teams also possible as well that could end up with AFS.
Still a lot to sort out. Only thing for certain is that Jay Howard will not ever return to SFR in any capacity.
It matters only in the context of whether or not he is a ride buyer. Not to suggest that it puts any sort of stigma on him, but if he isn't, might this signal a new trend with owners picking riders on merit and seeking the funding themselves.Quote:
Originally Posted by MDS
Having said that, it might just signal how Sarah plans to run her organization. And good for her, if that is the case. It might not be a trend yet, but if it's true, it might signal a crack in the business model.
Gary
I hope you are right (despite EagleEye's statement). See my comment to MDS above.Quote:
Originally Posted by Scotty G.
Gary
Which backs up the talk all of us had last year, speaking of SFR's operation. Class, professional, and hard working. The way it is SUPPOSED to be. Coughs, AA & KV...in particular.Quote:
Originally Posted by garyshell
Scotty, just out of curiosity what is it about Jay Howard that people dont like?Quote:
Originally Posted by Scotty G.
i've seen you post some things before about how he is very unpopular in the paddock and that it comes from his off the track actions, can you shed any light on this? Did it have anything to do w/ his situation at Roth in '08?
all we see if the PR stuff that makes him look like a great guy.
A couple of months ago Junior Strous told on dutch television that he will drive for HVM next season. The plan was to drive the road courses on the second half of the season this year, that was until SDS destroyed a car. I haven't heard anything about it since then. But I guess it is still on?
Here are the Facts:Quote:
Originally Posted by garyshell
-TG provided funding to start Vision Racing for Ed. Prior to that, TG provided funding to Cheever when Ed raced there.
-TG provided funding for Ed to be in a car last year.
-TG was "shopping Ed" to various teams, which included funding.
How much of the TG's funding was offest by money they raised (Fuzzy's vodka, etc.)? I do not know.
I would be shocked that they would shop him around with the promise of funding, only to pull that back with SFR. SFR required additional funding to move forward....
If you review some of the reports from motorsports writers on those who were paid to drive last year, Ed was not listed.
Ed is an extremely nice person. He has done well, at times. He does not thrash equipment, and he is an American. But, like Marco, he is driving because of those who are backing him finanically (his family).
It's not like Sarah Fisher had a bevy of drivers to choose from. Yes a number of drivers talked with them but only as a "Safety" team. Sarah Fisher racing is like that local college you apply to in case everything else fails. J.R. Hildebrand and J.K. Vernay did not consider SFR their first choice, or probably even their second choice.
Ed may or may not have brought money to the table but he was the only driver willing to commit before the New Year. I don't know for a fact by Dollar General probably wanted a deal done by a certain date and if they waited for another driver to come available they might have lost Dollar General. Even if he brought money signing an early deal allows them time to find more money for more races.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EagleEye
Most of that might be true.
But SFR had a 9 race deal with DG in 2010 (with Sarah driving) and SFR has a 9 race deal with DG in 2011 with Ed driving.
He is not bringing any substantial money (if any money at all) to this DG portion of the deal. If more races are added, then he would likely have to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MDS
SFR and DG had ZERO interest in JK Vernay. And why would they? He was lost last year on ovals in Lights. And SFR cares about oval racing.
Plus DG wouldn't want a French driver anyway. They want American drivers.
Can't comment on what happened with Roth, but lets just say Jay made no friends with SFR last year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Otto-Matic
Not sure who was at fault, but they were as glad to see him go away and his few race deal end, as he likely was happy to leave them.
Just a real bad marriage between ride-buyer driver and race team.
Robin Miller says JR Hildebrand to be confirmed tomorrow, and Rahal+Kimball to be confirmed Thursday.
Bold is set-
Andretti Autosport
Marco
Danica
RHR
No word on who will fund RHR, but the Snapple/Dr. Pepper rumors are not correct. They were tied into the 7/11, and the hope is they might still might be primary for some races.
Penske Racing/Team Penske Racing
Power
HCN
Briscoe
Target Chip Ganassi
Dixon
Dario
Ganassi/Prudhomme Racing
Rahal
Kimbal
Should be announced soon. Team coming together, and looks like all the funding is in place. Shop is in Brownsburg, about 20-30 minutes from the Ganassi shop. Good staff being put together. Kimbal looks set for a full time ride, but we'll see how things are on Thursday. I met Charlie early in his karting career, and later when he was racing F2000 at Road America. I have always been impressed with him, on and off the track, and I hope the funding comes together.
A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Vitor
KVRT
Sato
Viso
Ride buyer ~3
KV Renta Team-Mutoh trying to get money togerther, Viso seems to have some funding as well. Viso's funding is coming along, and might trump Mutoh. Mutoh could be here, or DR or gone. Some peg TK here, but the team has not paid a driver since they had Power.
Panther
JR Hildebrand
MDS was one of the first to place JR here. They were looking for an American and it looks like they have a good one. I have never met him, but look forward to having him in the series.
de Ferran Dragon Racing
TK
Money is an issue- TK would be in, save for his current salary demands, which he deserves. TK wants $3 million, but may have to take a pay cut. The music is still playing, but not many rides remain.
HVM
SDS
Money a big issue here.
Conquest
Bag
TBD
Money is also an issue here. Look for two paying drivers.
FAZZT
Tagliani
Tung
Newman Hass
Servia
Hinch
Team testing Servia and Hinch, and is working on funding for both drivers in 2011.
Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
Wilson
Conway
TBD 2
Wheldon might be considered if he has some funding.
Sarah Fisher Racing
Carpenter
Money brought in from TG.
Dale Coyne Racing
Ride buyer 1
Ride buyer 2/?
Viso or Mutoh could end up here as well.
Seriously this is the best silly season in almost a decade. Other than the litany of announcements everything should be wrapped up by Mid January when the NHR and Hinchcliffe deal should be announced. The hold up is the broadcast schedule announcement. Last year was Dec. 1 last year and from what I hear this year's schedule won't be announced until after the NBC/Comcast merger, read into that what you will. Supposedly the Canadian sponsor is waiting on the TV package and the second car's sponsorship is waiting on the Canadian deal to be signed.
I don't expect to see announcements from KVRT and Coyne until testing while Conquest and HVM will probably keep their same drivers as last year.
The free agent market is ratcheting up as the seats start to dwindle. Alex Lloyd, Pippa Mann, Oriol Servia, Tomas Sheckter, Tony Kannan, Dan Wheldon Adam Carroll, Paul Tracy are fight for rides with some new names Fairuz Fauzy (Potentially at KV in a 4th car) and Andy Soueck. Also there are probably three or four deals with drivers and teams lined up and are waiting on sponsorship.
Hildebrand was officially confirmed by Panther today.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chamoo
Bold is set-
Andretti Autosport
Marco
Danica
RHR
No word on who will fund RHR, but the Snapple/Dr. Pepper rumors are not correct. They were tied into the 7/11, and the hope is they might still might be primary for some races.
Penske Racing/Team Penske Racing
Power
HCN
Briscoe
Target Chip Ganassi
Dixon
Dario
Ganassi/Prudhomme Racing
Rahal
Kimbal
All set, but we shall see what the actual team name is. Graham will be living in Indy during most of the season, and this is a welcome addition.
A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Vitor
KVRT
Sato
Viso
Ride buyer ~3
KV Renta Team-Mutoh trying to get money togerther, Viso seems to have some funding as well. Viso's funding is coming along, and might trump Mutoh. Mutoh could be here, or DR or gone. Some peg TK here, but the team has not paid a driver since they had Power.
Panther
JR Hildebrand
MDS was one of the first to place JR here. They were looking for an American and it looks like they have a good one. I have never met him, but look forward to having him in the series.
de Ferran Dragon Racing
TBD/TK
Money is an issue- TK would be in, save for his current salary demands, which he deserves. TK wants $3 million, but may have to take a pay cut. The music is still playing, but not many rides remain.
HVM
TBD
Money a big issue here. While tehy would love to have SDS back, they look set to run a ride buyer.
Conquest
TBD
TBD
Money is also an issue here. Look for two paying drivers.
FAZZT
Tagliani
Tung
Newman Hass
Hinch
TBD/Servia/TK
Hinch should be set, and the team is looking at securing the funding for the second car. Servia would be the first choice, but if they hit teh funding jackpot, TK could come to play
Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
Wilson
TBD1
TBD 2
Wilson set, and several are looking at teaming with him next year. Weldon has made noise, but for all the wrong reasons, and would need some funding. Conway could be back, if the funding is available.
Sarah Fisher Racing
Carpenter
Money brought in from TG.
Dale Coyne Racing
Ride buyer 1
Ride buyer 2/?
Viso or Mutoh could end up here as well. Not sure about Milka, but the biggest check wins!
Driver Roundup-
TK-
Wants $3 million or so for a top flight ride. He trying to get funding from Brazil that he can take to a top team, but those rides are full so De Ferran would be the best pick, as would Newman Haas.
Weldon-
It might be hard for anyone to bite on Weldon, since he under performed and is suing his former team. I think he will be at Indy for someone, maybe even Foyt, but I think he will not have a seat for the season. He has dropped his asking price, but may need to secure funding.
SDS-
If TK does not end up at Deferran, and SDS is out at HVM, look for Simona to drive full or part time, for Deferran or KVRT Rent a Ride operation.
Viso-
Has funding, and should return to the KVRT Rent a Ride team, but could take his funding to DR as well. Might also find a way back to HVM.
Speedy Dan Clarke-
Working with Walker to secure funding. It would be great to have DW back int eh series.
The press conference is going on, its confirmed, Graham and Charlie Kimbal at at a Ganassi B-Team with Service Central and Novo Nordisk. Kimball will drive the 83 and Graham will be in the 38, which is probably where the rumors of Red Bull got started since Chip just snagged their traditional numbers.
Happy for the announcement in many levels (including 2 more places back you know who will be most of the time :D ). But what's going on with number selections these says? Neither looks right in an Indycar and they both look slow before even getting on track! Its a perceptual think for me...sorry.Quote:
Originally Posted by MDS
This has been the best Silly Season in a decade, new qualified drivers who want to build a career in Indy Cars, new sponsors including some Fortune 500 companies.
de Ferran/Dragon Racing
2 Tony Kannan? Alex Lloyd? Simon Pagenaud HP (They're cheaper than TK and more accomplished than Rafa)
Team Penske
3 Helio Castroneves Shell (Indy and several other races)/AAA of SoCal (Long Beach and Texas)
6 Ryan Brisco Izod
12 Will Power – Verizon Wireless
Panther Racing
4 J.R Hildebrand National Guard (R)
KV Lotus Racing
5- Takuma Sato Lotus
8- E.J. Viso? Lotus/PDVSA?
15 Oriol Servia?/ Hideki Mutoh?/Paul Tracy?
32 Fairuz Fauzy?
Andretti Autosport
7 Danica Patrick Go Daddy
11 (I'm hearing there will be a fourth car, but not sure who)
26 Marco Andretti Venom Energy Drink
37 Ryan Hunter Reay
Target Chip Ganassi
9 Scott Dixon – Target
10 Dario Franchitti – Target
38 Graham Rahal – Service Central brands
83 Charlie Kimball- Novo Nordisk (R)
AJFE
14 Vitor Meria ABC Construction
Walker Racing
55?- Dan Clarke/Johnathan Summerton
Dale Coyne
Seriously who knows, but this seems like a likely landing place for someone like Sebastian Saavedra or possibly Jonathan Summerton. Also Alex Lloyd might be back.
18 ???
19 ???
Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
22 Justin Wilson Z-Line designs
24 Conway?/Tracy?/anyone with a check?
Conquest Racing
34 Bertrand Bagguette
36 Tomas Sheckter?
FAZZT Race Team
33 Ho Ping Tung (R)
77 Alex Tagliani B&W Speakers/Hot Wheels of Canada
HVM Racing
78 Simona De Silvestro
Newman Haas Racing
They're waiting on sponsorship deals to be signed, they could be back with a vengeance in 2011 or just survive. They're moving forward like the deals they have in the work will be done and they apparently have some new associates signed already. Also I'm just guessing at the numbers because the cars weren't numbered at the Seabring test.
02 Oriol Servia/Tony Kannan?
06 James Hinchcliff (R)
Part Time
Sarah Fisher Raciing
67 Ed Carpenter Dollar General
de Ferran Dragon Racing
21 Davy Hamilton HP (Indy, Texas one or two others)
Bryan Herta Autosport
Wants to do Indy and as many as five other races
Free Agents
Oriol Servia
Robert Doornbos
Alex Lloyd
Hideki Mutoh
Dan Wheldon
Fairuz Fauzy
Sebastian Saavedra
Simon Pagenaud (He's not trying as hard as the other but I've heard his name linked to Walker, de Ferran Dragon and Coyne.)
Jonathan Summerton
I'm curious how this satellite team for Chip will be compared to his main team. Do you think the cars will be as competitive and running up front, or because it's a satellite team the cars won't be of that top tier quality?
During the press conference Chip said they were adapting a Hendrick Model where they have two teams in one shop and then two teams in another nearby shop. Both Novo Nordisk and Service Central are big multi-year deals so they need to be competitive off the bat. I would expect Graham to be stronger than Kimball for a while, but I have to think the expectations for both drivers is that they would win a race in 2011.
Good news from Ganassi, countering the drop in car count that we seem to be having so far in the off-season :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by TURN3
I know what you mean - bring back the old numbering system where the cars were numbered according to where they finished the previous season!
And its a rubbish theory, but in my mind the lower the number the quicker the car. I can see why NHL went with 02 and 06 rather than say 62 and 66
Asides from Andretti Autosport, I don't think we have seen a drop off in car counts yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikki Katz
We haven't heard from the 2nd and 3rd tier teams yet. KVRT is potentially going to be at 4 cars, AA could still be at 4 cars according to rumors, FAZZT is looking at 2 cars.
Teams like HVM, DeFerran Dragon, Conquest and DCR will come through with atleast 1 if not 2 cars.