IndyCar/CART/Indy Racing League driver/team moves that never materialised

[Shawn19]

Inspired by the recent thread concerning driver moves in the BTCC that never came to pass, I figured just as well to form an IndyCar spin-off of this ,of which there's no shortage of them.

Some examples include :
- Dutch touring car racer and Formula Nippon champion Tom Coronel tested for Della Penna in early 2000 with a view to a second entry fielded by John, but that was scruppered due to a lack of funding.

- NASCAR Cup Series racers Johnny Benson and Ted Musgrave were contacted by squads from the Indy Racing League to drive for them in 1999, though the identity of these teams are unknown.

- GP2 series driver and current ETCR racer Luca Filippi was scheduled to race for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2012 for 12 rounds beginning with the Indy 500, but insufficient funds meant it would take two more years before Luca would get his chance with RLL.

If you have any almost-moves you want to share, feel free to post below!

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Originally Posted by Shawn19

Inspired by the recent thread concerning driver moves in the BTCC that never came to pass, I figured just as well to form an IndyCar spin-off of this ,of which there's no shortage of them.

Some examples include :
- Dutch touring car racer and Formula Nippon champion Tom Coronel tested for Della Penna in early 2000 with a view to a second entry fielded by John, but that was scruppered due to a lack of funding.

- NASCAR Cup Series racers Johnny Benson and Ted Musgrave were contacted by squads from the Indy Racing League to drive for them in 1999, though the identity of these teams are unknown.

- GP2 series driver and current ETCR racer Luca Filippi was scheduled to race for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2012 for 12 rounds beginning with the Indy 500, but insufficient funds meant it would take two more years before Luca would get his chance with RLL.

If you have any almost-moves you want to share, feel free to post below!

Alright then, the late Justin Wilson was due to test for Newman-Haas Racing and was in the frame for a 2003 race seat until he signed for Minardi in F1.

Christian Klien was offered a Red Bull-backed seat at PKV Racing for 2007 but he turned it down and the seat went to Neel Jani.

[AnonymityRules]

International F3000 teams Arden and the short-lived Brand Motorsport looked into the possibility of branching out into the Champ Car Series in 2003. The latter intended to bring back Nicolas Minassian.

André Lotterer was also in the frame for a 2003 Champ Car drive.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Norberto Fontana could have been in the 1996 Chip Ganassi seat that went to Alex Zanardi.

[AnonymityRules]

When Nigel Mansell joined Newman-Haas in 1993, his original intention was to stay at NHR until the end of 1995, of course he left after a disappointing 1994 season.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Adam Pecorari was in the frame for a Champ Car seat at one point. I think it was 2005.

Jos Verstappen looked into the possibility of switching to Champ Car in 2005 and, I think if memory serves me correctly, 2006 when it was clear there was no way back into F1 for him.

[AnonymityRules]

Giorgio Pantano in the 2003 Champ Car Series - https://fampeople.com/cat-giorgio-pantano_3

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Originally Posted by AnonymityRules

International F3000 teams Arden and the short-lived Brand Motorsport looked into the possibility of branching out into the Champ Car Series in 2003. The latter intended to bring back Nicolas Minassian.

André Lotterer was also in the frame for a 2003 Champ Car drive.

Could the Arden rumour have had anything to do with the fact that they were running Townsend Bell in F3000 that year and he had previously contested the 2001 and 2002 CART Seasons?

[AnonymityRules]

Originally Posted by Nononsensecapeesh

Adam Pecorari was in the frame for a Champ Car seat at one point. I think it was 2005.

Jos Verstappen looked into the possibility of switching to Champ Car in 2005 and, I think if memory serves me correctly, 2006 when it was clear there was no way back into F1 for him.

Yes, Pecorari was in the frame to drive for Jensen Motorsport in the 2005 Champ Car Series, the team eventually hired Fabrizio Del Monte and only contested the first round.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Nico Hulkenberg has just turned down a potential switch to Indycar for 2022.

[AnonymityRules]

The 2008 Champ Car Season obviously as a result of the series merging with what was then the Indy Racing League.

The Driver Line-up (at least according to Wikipedia) would have been as follows:

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing - Justin Wilson & Graham Rahal

Forsythe/Petit Racing - Paul Tracy & Franck Montagny

Minardi Team USA - Ernesto Viso & Robert Doornbos

Team Australia - Will Power & Matt Halliday

Rocketsports Racing - Enrique Bernoldi

Dale Coyne Racing - Bruno Junqueira & Mario Moraes

KV Racing - Alex Tagliani & Oriol Servia

Pacific Coast Motorsports - Alex Figge & Mario Dominguez

Conquest Racing - Franck Perera & Nelson Philippe

[Shawn19]

Portuguese single seater/later touring car racer André Couto tested for Dale Coyne Racing in early 2000 with a view to a potential race drive.

[AnonymityRules]

Originally Posted by Shawn19

Portuguese single seater/later touring car racer André Couto tested for Dale Coyne Racing in early 2000 with a view to a potential race drive.

Mario Dominguez tested for Herdez in 2000 though he would not drive for them until 2002.

[S griffin]

Barrichello was linked to driving one of the Andretti Green cars at the 2003 Indy 500 in place of the injured Franchitti

[Nononsensecapeesh]

In 2005, Emerson Fittipaldi tried to resurrect his Fittipaldi-Dingman team that had contested the 2003 Season with Tiago Monteiro, had this succeeded then Jos Verstappen was in the frame to drive for them.

[S griffin]

Heinz-Harald Frentzen did have talks with Rahal (I think) for 1999, before signing with Jordan in F1

[Nononsensecapeesh]

The late Greg Moore would have moved to Penske for 2000

The late Tony Renna would have moved to Chip Ganassi for 2004

The late Dan Wheldon would have returned to Michael Andretti's team for 2012.

[Shawn19]

For 1999, Chip Ganassi Racing wanted Helio Castroneves to replace Williams-bound Alex Zanardi, but his manager Emerson Fittipaldi blocked the move as CGR ran Honda engines whilst he believed Mercedes-Benz was the better motor. Eventually he would wind up dragging a car that pretty much blew up in more than half the races that year.

[Shawn19]

In late 1996,Tom Kristensen, J.J Lehto, F3000 star Jorg Muller and Patrick Carpentier tested for Bettenhausen Motorsports at Sebring - the #16 car would go to Carpentier the following year.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Luis Garcia Jr. and Michael Krumm were the Dale Coyne Racing in 2001 but the team only lasted a couple of races that year.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by Nononsensecapeesh

The late Greg Moore would have moved to Penske for 2000

The late Tony Renna would have moved to Chip Ganassi for 2004

The late Dan Wheldon would have returned to Michael Andretti's team for 2012.

Indeed, Wheldon actually signed for Andretti the morning of that fateful Las Vegas race

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Indeed, Wheldon actually signed for Andretti the morning of that fateful Las Vegas race

Would Jeff Krosnoff have continued if not for his fatal crash in 1996?

[AnonymityRules]

Johnny Herbert tried to pursue a career Stateside after retiring from F1. He only got as far as trying and failing to qualify for the 2002 Indy 500.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

Ferrari designed the 637 chassis for the 1987 Indy Car season.

[Nononsensecapeesh]

The 1968 Indy 500 would have been the US Open Wheel Racing debut of Mike Spence if he hadn't been killed in practice for the event.