IndyCar Silly Season Thread - Page 4

JohnSSC · 13 Oct 2008, 00:24 (Ref:2310631)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alwaysfirst

The latest rumours seem to be that Marty Roth has folded his team, keeping only 3 members of staff on. I'm not sure how much truth is in this yet...but if it is the case then I can't say I'm surprised. It seems to be the case that if Marty can't drive for his own team then nobody will. I can't say I blame him but I do feel for John Andretti & Jay Howard, both of whom deserve a much better chance.

At least the Matos news is good news. If he's not ready now then he will never be. 4 championships in the last 6 years including both of the feeder series isn't bad going & of the drivers not currently in the ICS he's surely got to be one of the most qualified for the ride. I look forward to seeing him do well...

One could be cruel and say that Marty couldn't drive for the team when it was in existence...I feel bad for Jay. John Andretti has had his chances.

mountainstar · 14 Oct 2008, 17:08 (Ref:2312341)

I think the champcar fillers helped prop the field up for a while, but I think before long we will be back to car numbers of early 2008. All I am hearing is cuts, cuts, cuts and unhappy sponsors and teams. There are rumors of quite a few layoffs coming.

Tim Northcutt · 14 Oct 2008, 19:52 (Ref:2312461)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

One could be cruel and say that Marty couldn't drive for the team when it was in existence...I feel bad for Jay. John Andretti has had his chances.

The Indianapolis Star's motorsports writer, Curt Cavin, has stated in his blog that Roth had his license pulled by the Series and because of it, he was infuriated has chosen to sell the team. cavin has not been able to get comments from Roth or the Series thus far.

Here is the link:

http://blogs.indystar.com/racingexpert/

Look at the October 10th Blog...

madman16 · 27 Oct 2008, 03:15 (Ref:2321465)

I think pulling the license was a bit harsh. Maybe it could be put to him that he's not good enough to drive himself but they're quite happy for his team to be involved. Clearly with the influx of new drivers from CC etc guys like Roth are going to find themselves out of the series.

Hope Power is back in 09..........and PT (just for spice)

slick42 · 16 Dec 2008, 23:06 (Ref:2356480)

So what do you guys think the possibility of AJ Allmendinger in Indy if he doesn't get picked up by a team in NASCAR.

Theres not many seats left in Sprint Cup for next year so i think he may have to look elsewhere unless he's willing to drive for a second rate team

I know it's not likely but it's possible

Flyin Ryan · 16 Dec 2008, 23:34 (Ref:2356494)

Quote:

Originally Posted by slick42

So what do you guys think the possibility of AJ Allmendinger in Indy if he doesn't get picked up by a team in NASCAR.

Theres not many seats left in Sprint Cup for next year so i think he may have to look elsewhere unless he's willing to drive for a second rate team

I know it's not likely but it's possible

He's stated before he's only focusing on NASCAR. Supposedly he was going to get the 4th Gillette car after Gillette bought Petty, but it looks like today those talks broke down and it may not come off.

slick42 · 16 Dec 2008, 23:38 (Ref:2356495)

according to the speed boards if it does happen it'll only be a three car team.

It's gonna be interesting to see it unfold.

Flyin Ryan · 17 Dec 2008, 00:57 (Ref:2356514)

Quote:

Originally Posted by slick42

according to the speed boards if it does happen it'll only be a three car team.

It's gonna be interesting to see it unfold.

The plan I read was that Gillette promised a car to Reed Sorenson, and supposedly Gillette would buy Petty and Sorenson would get the #43 car. That would leave the #10 car open, which Allmendinger ran after being let go from Red Bull late in the year, and he could race in that car.

And I read the same thing as you afterward apparently. That stated, if this does not occur and the Petty car disappears or goes partial season or Gillette buys Petty and remains a 3-car team, that would only leave 37 full-time cars, meaning 6 open spots are out there for races, so Allmendinger could get one-offs and such or partial season rides, albeit at a drastic pay cut.

I don't think Allmendinger cares much for Indycars to be honest. If you remember the circumstances under which he left, if he came back there'd be a lot of crow-eating going on.

Alwaysfirst · 10 Jan 2009, 19:43 (Ref:2368979)

Its been a while since this was properly updated. Just in case anybody hasn't managed to keep up with the state of play here's a rough idea of what is going on...

Highly Likely/Confirmed Entries

Andretti-Green
Tony Kanaan (Confirmed)
Danica Patrick (Confirmed)
Marco Andretti (Confirmed)
Hideki Mutoh (Confirmed)

Penske
Ryan Briscoe (Confirmed)
Helio Castroneves or Sebastien Bourdais or Justin Wilson or Ryan Hunter-Reay or Will Power or Tomas Scheckter or Santa or the Yetti. Just about anybody who doesn't have a ride & even some that do have been linked with this seat...which still depends very much on how Helio's trial goes.

Ganassi
Scott Dixon (Confirmed)
Dario Franchitti (Confirmed)

Newman/Haas/Lanigan
Graham Rahal (Confirmed)

Vision
Ed Carpenter (Confirmed)

Panther
Dan Wheldon (Confirmed)

KV Racing
Oriol Servia or Mario Dominguez or ?
Will Power or Justin Wilson or ?

Luczo Dragon
Rafael Matos (Confirmed)

Foyt
Vitor Meira (Confirmed)

Dreyer & Reinbold
Buddy Rice (Unconfirmed, but highly likely)
Milka Duno (Unconfirmed, but highly likely)

Coyne
Bruno Junqueira?

HVM
EJ Viso (Confirmed)
Robert Doornbos or Daniel Clarke or Nelson Philippe or Tomas Scheckter or ?

Conquest
Alex Tagliani (Confirmed)
Jaime Camara or Nelson Philippe or Richard Philippe or ?

3G Racing
Stanton Barrett (Confirmed)

Possible Entries

Newman/Haas/Lanigan
Robert Doornbos or Justin Wilson or Ryan Hunter-Reay or ? (all dependant on sponsorship)

Vision
AJ Foyt IV or John Andretti or ? (dependant on Vision finding a few more sponsorship $ which could be tricky at the moment)

Coyne
Mario Moraes or ?

Rahal Letterman
Ryan Hunter-Reay or Alex Lloyd or Bruno Junqueira or ? (Rahal has run out of money & unless some more is found this entry is looking unlikely)

Sarah Fisher
Sarah Fisher (all dependant on sponsorship. This could be a full time entry, part time or non-existant)

PCM/Rubicon
Tomas Scheckter or Max Papis or Giorgio Pantano or ? (PCM & Rubicon have apparently joined forces & funds and are planning a full schedule. An announcement regarding the link-up & the driver is expected soon. They have confirmed though that they have no intrest in Mario Dominguez in the future)

Longshot Entries

Walker
Paul Tracy or Will Power or ? (nothing heard from here for a while & its unlikely anything will be)

Panther
Anthony Davidson or Mike Conway or Giorgio Pantano or ? (just possible if one of the drivers brings a big cheque...but very unlikely)

Philippe Racing
Nelson Philippe or Richard Philippe or ? (Nelson Philippe is apparently in the process of buying op all of Roth Racing's equipment & may be planning a partial schedule if funds allow...but then again he might not...)

Foyt
Franck Perera or ? (a partial schedule for Perera is still on the cards but looking ever-less likely)

Fernandez
Giorgio Pantano or Jacques Lazier or ? (a definate ridebuyer seat. Fernandez reportedly wants this to happen but it would be dependant on full sponsorship...)

One off Entries

Rahal Letterman
Ryan Hunter-Reay or Alex Lloyd (if Rahal withdraws from the IRL an Indy run with either RHR or Lloyd is still possible)

Andretti-Green
Franck Montagny or ? (Franck has been doing a lot of testing for AGR & has said that while chances of a full time schedule are less than slim Indy is still possible.

Foyt
Franck Perera or Pablo Donoso or ? (all dependant on funding but AJ does have a history of extra entries at Indy)

Dreyer & Reinbold
Townsend Bell or Giorgio Pantano or ? (Bell is acting as driving coach to Duno (why they don't just employ a driver who can already drive the damn car is beyond me) & so is most likely to get this ride if it happens)

Vision
AJ Foyt IV or John Andretti or Bryan Herta or Davey Hamilton or ? (if TG only runs one full time car then an extra 2 at indy is possible. If not then only 1 extra if any is likely. That ride would probably go to Herta is he is their driving coach)

Sarah Fisher
Sarah Fisher or Darren Manning or ? (If Sarah can afford a full schedule then she may add an extra car at Indy. If not then she'll probably just try to be there herself)

3G Racing/Beck/Curb/Agajanian
Roger Yasukawa or Giorgio Pantano or ? (They've said they'll add an extra car for Indy but who knows at the moment???)

Hemelgarn
Buddy Lazier or ? (The usual Indy one-off???)

Luczo Dragon
Tomas Scheckter or Giorgio Pantano or ? (A second car rumoured for Indy but would probably be a ridebuyer if it happens)

Forsythe
James Hinchcliffe or David Martinez or ? (supposed to be a 2 car effort but it has gone very quiet lately & will probably only be a one off at Indy if it does happen at all this year...)

There are a few others for Indy (Schmidt, Guthrie/Meyer, KVR (Vasser), Team Leader) & any teams that have recently been 2 car efforts that go down to 1 car may bring out another entry for the big race, but that is still a long way off yet & these are very uncertain times for racing...

DanicaFan · 12 Jan 2009, 08:03 (Ref:2369756)

Well, here is some latest news coming out of Indy this weekend...

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing is rumored to have signed Robert Doornbos and trying to get a sponsor for a 3rd car and sign Sebastien Bourdais. They currently have Graham Rahal as well.

My Take On this..

Bad Moves. I know Doornbos is bringing sponsorship with him, so that would be the only reason why NHL would be signing him over Justin Wilson. And then having them try to pick up Bourdais over Wilson doesnt make sense either.

Justin Wilson is a proven driver. He improved greatly the 2nd half of the season. Nothing against Doornbos and Bourdais, but these will be rookies coming into the IRL and especially on the ovals. Justin will fare out better than both of these 2 will if these moves happen.
And Doornbos was practically signed with HVM Racing, so Im not sure what happened there.

The other rumor mill is that KV Racing is picking up Mario Moraes. Their other driver is Oriol Servia.

My Take On This...

Another bad move. Why they wouldnt keep Will Power instead of picking up Mario is unclear to me. I think Will is a better driver.

The last rumor is that Team Penske may announce a replacement for Helio Castroneves as early as this week.

My Take On This..

I hope not but I may have to face the facts that he may not race next year.

DanicaFan · 12 Jan 2009, 08:18 (Ref:2369761)

And the last rumor I forgot to add..

And last rumor...The Philippe family has purchased Marty Roth's equipment and will run sons Nelson and Richard as "Team France" in the 2009 season.

My Take On This

Good news. It's always good to see more teams and drivers. Hopefully they can be somewhat competitive if this move is true.

F3L · 12 Jan 2009, 11:48 (Ref:2369872)

Wilson & Power really need to be kept in the Championship after last year. I would also like Montagny as I feel he is extremely fast. We do need Americans which I reckon is the sole reason for NHL keeping Rahal and would be the reason Penske pick up RHR if they do. Bourdais back would be good although I wish him to have another F1 season and see what comes from it.
Nelson buying Roth is excellent as while they are not always the fastest they are great people and will enhance the paddock. Doornbos is fast as well and these mentioned drivers will kill of Carpenter and Foyt ( John Andretti...) after a year but hopefully by then we will have a new batch of American drivers coming along. Would love Pantano to come on board after winning GP2 this year and beating prospective F1 drivers. Lights? Anna Beatrice will make it but maybe 2010, Battistini as well.

Tim Northcutt · 12 Jan 2009, 17:31 (Ref:2370057)

KV Racing made it official today...Mario Moraes will drive one of their cars this season

Alwaysfirst · 12 Jan 2009, 17:55 (Ref:2370071)

Well that a little unexpected...& bodes badly for Power. A shame but thats racing...

Simon Speichert · 12 Jan 2009, 21:56 (Ref:2370227)

I love the idea of a Team France in Indycar. It'd be great to just see Nelson, as Richard's already signed up for British F3. As soon as I read it I had "Ree-kee Boo-bee" ringing through my head. Perrier sponsorship, anyone?

cos · 12 Jan 2009, 22:30 (Ref:2370254)

Announcement from Penske due tomorrow according to AR1.

BootsOntheSide · 12 Jan 2009, 22:48 (Ref:2370266)

Pragmatically we have to accept that Servia + Moraes is better than Servia + nothing, which was more likely in the current climate. Same goes for NHR - Doornbos showed potential in ChampCars and F1, but Wilson looks the better driver, especially after a year in which he gradually improved. Team France has to be thought of as two unexpected extra cars, regardless of the mediocre pedigree of all those involved. If they're as bad as Roth, the IRL can intervene.

Alwaysfirst · 13 Jan 2009, 00:19 (Ref:2370309)

Since when has Nelson Philippe been a mediocre driver? Maybe in his first couple of years in the US when he was just 17 but I hardly think he can be described like that anymore. He's as good as at least half the current crop of Indycar drivers IMO. I would agree though that I'm not sure that the team will do his talents much good, at least not in its first year...

DanicaFan · 13 Jan 2009, 05:13 (Ref:2370369)

The announcement is made by Penske. Will Power will be replacing Helio Castroneves until the trail is over and it can be resolved.

I am suprised he got the nod over Justin Wilson or Ryan Hunter-Reay. Maybe this means that these 2 have full-time rides already.

**gomick** · 13 Jan 2009, 07:40 (Ref:2370405)

motorsport news only has moraes signing for pkv... where is this penske/power signing?

cos · 13 Jan 2009, 07:51 (Ref:2370408)

http://www.indystar.com/article/2009...217/SPORTS0107

**gomick** · 13 Jan 2009, 08:07 (Ref:2370413)

cheers cos

good to see "aussie kev" at pkv looking after will

fomoco · 13 Jan 2009, 08:30 (Ref:2370422)

Will at Penske, great news, now Aussie Kev can ditch Aussie Graig and get back to racing , albeit with a few dollars short.

**GTRMagic** · 13 Jan 2009, 09:00 (Ref:2370435)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanicaFan

The announcement is made by Penske. Will Power will be replacing Helio Castroneves until the trail is over and it can be resolved.

I am suprised he got the nod over Justin Wilson or Ryan Hunter-Reay. Maybe this means that these 2 have full-time rides already.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Australasian Motorsport News NEWSFLASH 130109

POWER TO JOIN BRISCOE AT PENSKE

AUSSIE driver Will Power is to stand in for Helio Castroneves in Team Penske’s
IndyCar team – partnering Ryan Briscoe – while the Brazilian’s Tax Evasion court case takes place.

A formal announcement from Team Penske is expected overnight (4am Australian time), although team president Tim Cindric has informally confirmed the arrangement.

Castroneves’ court case (scheduled for March) could last a week, or some
months. While it is relatively clear what Power’s position will be if Castroneves
is unable to return to the team, what happens if the verdict is ‘Not Guilty’ and
the Brazilian returns to race is unclear – although it is being suggested that
Power would remain, in a testing role, possibly racing a third car on occasions.

The news also confirms that Power’s relationship with Team Australia (KV
Racing) has come to its end.

Newsflash was sent by email to subscribers of the webservice, so no link available....

F3L · 13 Jan 2009, 09:29 (Ref:2370449)

Come on KV, sign Wilson. Servia is a great guy but Wilson is faster.

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