Foyt Chooses Honda

A.J. Foyt Racing announced today on an INDYCAR teleconference that'll be running Honda engines in 2012.

"I am really looking forward to working with Honda next year,” said team owner A.J. Foyt. “I think they will provide us with the best engines in 2012 because they have the best resources … their facility in California is unbelievable. I was very impressed!

The other thing is that I really enjoy working with the Honda management team. I think they have been very fair and honest with our team and you don’t see that too often in this day and age. When people treat us right, I don’t forget that.”

Foyt became just the third car owner to announce their engine partnership for next season, joining Chip Ganassi Racing on the Honda bandwagon. Roger Penske announced at the Chevrolet press conference late last year that Penske Racing will be running the GM power-plant with the new formula.

“A.J. Foyt is a living legend in American racing, and it’s an honor to announce the continuation of our association in the IZOD IndyCar Series,” said Erik Berkman, president of Honda Performance Development

The next generation Indy Car will take to the track for testing over the next few months.

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O2 Racing Technology Appeal Denied

2-weeks after the suspension of O2 Racing Technology and owner Mark Olson by INDYCAR through the end of 2012, the ruling was upheld Friday.

Accused of violating multiple rules when they, according to INDYCAR, attempted "to impede the conduct of the event by encouraging others to breach contracts with INDYCAR and withdraw from the David Hobbs 100." O2 Racing Technology withdrew from the Milwaukee Firestone Indy Lights event following their accusation that INDYCAR's FIL Tech team had allowed cars on track knowingly with illegal setups.

Team owner Mark Olson denied the allegations that he violated rules following the announcement of the suspension on June 29th, saying in part, "We did participate in public and private discussions with INDYCAR officials, team owners and drivers with regard to the integrity of the championship, but we never once encouraged or even suggested to anyone that they withdraw from an event."

Both O2 Racing and Mark Olson's appeal, which was filed July 5th, to the suspension was heard by Firestone Indy Lights Race Director Tony Cotman on Thursday, July 14th in Indianapolis. The following day INDYCAR announced that the ruling will be upheld and the suspension will stand.

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Q&A With Martin Plowman

Following his announcement late last week that he'll be running the #17 AFS/Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry in three races later this season, Martin Plowman sat down to talk about how the deal got put together, the tracks, 2012, and more....

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SSM & AFS Partner To Field #17 Entry

UPDATE: Firestone Indy Lights veteran Martin (Plowey) Plowman has confirmed on Twitter that he'll pilot the #17 AFS/SSM entry at Mid-Ohio, Sonoma and Baltimore.

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Sam Schmidt Motorsports and AFS Racing announced today a partnership to run the #17 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc. entry for the remainder of the season, starting at Mid-Ohio.

“This is a fantastic win-win for both AFS Racing and Sam Schmidt Motorsports,” said team owner Sam Schmidt. “In our pursuit to develop partnerships and relationships to enable the team to compete with two full-time entries in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2012, we have secured sponsorship for select races starting with Mid-Ohio, but we didn’t have the equipment or personnel to facilitate the program. Obviously, Gary Peterson and AFS Racing did.”

AFS Racing made their IZOD IndyCar Series debut earlier this season running the first four events at St. Pete, Barber, Long Beach, and Brazil with Raphael Matos. The team attempted but failed to qualify for the 33-car field in Indianapolis.

"It will be fun to race with Sam and his team instead of against them for a change,” said AFS owner Gary Peterson. “What is that old saying? If you can’t beat them, join them. Sam and I have had a long, competitive relationship as the two top Firestone Indy Lights teams. We’re both former drivers and team owners, so we can relate to each other. One of Sam’s best qualities, which I share, is his passion to win and succeed."

The driver of the #17 SSM/AFS driver will be announced at a later date.

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Tue./Wed. Developments

- The IZOD IndyCar Series is returning to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California in 2012, more HERE.

- 20-year-old Sao Paulo native Bruno Andrade has signed on with Bryan Herta Autosport to run the #29 William Rast entry in this weekend's Toronto 100 Firestone Indy Lights event.

- Peter Dempsey has signed with Andretti Autosport to compete alongside teamate Stefan Wilson in Toronto. Dempsey ran with O2 Racing Technology earlier this season before the team withdrew from the remaining events and was later suspended threw 2012.

-Honda's new 2012 Civic Si Coupe will become INDYCAR's new Safety Car beginning this weekend in Toronto. The Johnny Rutherford piloted car is equipped with modifications to the seat/harness, brake system, aerodynamic body kit, and wheels/tires.

- HOLTEC International, a supplier of equipment and systems for the energy industry, will become an associate sponsor for HVM Racing, Simona De Silvestro and the #78 entry for the remainder of 2011.

- Along with their logo on the #14 entry at the season finale and a Vitor Meira autograph session at their Hotel & Casino, AJ Foyt Racing and the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino have signed a promotional partnership for the October 16th IZOD IndyCar World Championship. The special room rates for fans are also available with the promotion ($49 on Thursday, Oct. 13, $99 on Friday, Oct. 14 and $109 on Saturday, Oct. 15.  All rooms must be booked by September 30th) can be purchased online HERE or by calling 800-634-3454 and mentioning the code ‘INDY11’.

26-Car Toronto entry list

Toronto Livery Updates

#3 Helio Castroneves - Penske Truck Rental
#6 Ryan Briscoe - PPG
#8 Paul Tracy - Make A Wish
#10 Dario Franchitti - Target
#26 Marco Andretti - Dr. Pepper
#27 Mike Conway - @FollowAndretti
#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay - DHL

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IndyCar Returns To Fontana, ISC

The IZOD IndyCar Series and Auto Club Speedway in Southern California announced today that the open-wheel series will be returning to the 2-mile paved oval in 2012, confirming Robin Miller's report on Speed.com over the weekend.  Planned as a night race, the addition of Auto Club Speeday also pulls it's owner International Speedway Corp. (ISC) back into the Series. INDYCAR dropped all ISC tracks from their 2011 schedule, but a return to ISC owned Chicagoland and Watkins Glen are possible as well.

"We feel the time is right to bring IndyCar racing back to Auto Club Speedway," said INDYCAR CEO, Randy Bernard. "We want to maintain the diverse line-up of ovals on our schedule and the addition of Auto Club Speedway adds a great venue that was built for the high-speed, wheel-to-wheel excitement of IndyCar racing under the lights."

The IZOD IndyCar Series previously raced at the track from 2002 to 2005, before dropping the poorly attended track from the 2006 schedule.

"This facility was built to host open-wheel racing and Auto Club Speedway has arguably hosted some of the most exciting races in Indy car history," said Gillian Zucker, president, Auto Club Speedway. "We look forward to building on the area's history and tradition of open-wheel racing with new records and new races beginning in 2012."

It's unclear if the the Firstone Indy Lights Series will make the trip west for their own event.

Tickets for the night race go on sale September 12th.

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