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Chaves Confirmed To '500' Ride With New Team

The worst kept secret in INDYCAR was finally announced...

Napa Returns With Rossi

A.J. Foyt Racing announced...

Carpenter Signs Pigot

Ed Carpenter Racing announced...

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Jourdain, Howard Land '500' Rides, Other Notes

Jourdain, Howard Land '500' Rides:

Each with two Indianapolis 500 starts - 15-years apart - Michel Jourdain Jr. and Jay Howard have both landed rides for Indianapolis.

Running for the first time since 1996, Jourdain will pilot the #30 Office Depot Mexico Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda alongside teammate Takum Sato.

"I know it is a huge challenge to drive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after so long and with this type of cars, but I hope that I will feel at home in a few days," said the 35-year-old driver.

Jourdain last ran American Open-Wheel splitting his 155 starts between INDYCAR and Champ Car, winning two events in 2003.

After missing the show in 2008 and 2010, Jay Howard will attempt to make his second straight Indianapolis 500, this time behind the wheel of a Michael Shank Racing entry.

"We have the sponsor package in place, and we believe Jay is the kind of driver who could really shine in the 500," said team owner, Michael Shank. "The challenge remains for us to acquire the right to utilize a engine to practice, qualify, and race in the Indianapolis 500. We look forward to making everything final, and will be making announcements regarding the program when appropriate."

MSR Indy's sponsorship package will be announced when an engine contract is finalized.

BHA, DRR Part With Lotus


With just five entries for the first three events of 2012, the number of Lotus powered full-time cars will shrink to four for Brazil and just three at Indianapolis.

Bryan Herta Autosport, who announced last week they wouldn't make the trip to Brazil, along with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing have parted ways with their engine manufacturer.

"Our focus is on the Brazil race and we are still a part of the Lotus team. We are excited to go down there," said Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Co-Owner, Dennis Reinbold. "We wish Lotus all of the best going forward. We are in the midst of finalizing our future plans and we are talking to the Series to conclude that process. We will be making a public statement in the very near future."

DRR's single car entry in Oriol Servia will contest Brazil with Lotus.

"We know this will be a tough change mid-season, but we feel it is the best decision for DRR and our partners and we wish Lotus all the best," said team Co-Owner, Robbie Buhl.

Notes:

-INDYCAR has scheduled a protest hearing for General Motors April 26th in Indianapolis. The board of three individuals (One appointed by GM, one by Honda, and one mutually agreed upon by the two parties) will hear Chevy's dispute of INDYCAR's decision to approve Honda's use of a .74 A/R compressor cover for their single turbocharger.

-Lexar will provide primary sponsorship for Dario Franchitti in Brazil.

-Oriol Servia will run WIX Filters primary sponsorship this weekend in Sao Paulo.

-Dollar General will return to sponsor Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing and Josef Newgarden for the Indianapolis 500.

-Tickets for the Celebration o Automobiles Dinner May 12th in Indianapolis are now available. The dinner will include a Q&A with Roger Penske, Rick Mears, Tom Sneva, Bobby Unser and IMS Historian Donald Davidson. Tickets are #125. Find more information at HERE.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

2012 Indy 500 Entry List

34 cars including 3 former winners (Castroneves, Franchitti, Dixon) have entered the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500. 7 Rookies are also attempting to make the field including Katherine Legge, Rubens Barrichello, James Jakes, Wade Cunningham, Josef Newgarden, Bryan Clauson, and Simon Pagenaud.

30 of the 34 rides have a confirmed driver leaving 4 TBA entries. Those yet to be announced rides are:

#21 - Chevy - TBD - TBD - Ed Carpenter Racing
#45 - Honda - TBD - TBD - Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
#99 - Honda - TBD - TBD - Sam Schmidt Motorsports
#TBA - Lotus - TBD - TBD - Lotus-Newman Haas Racing


The full entry list for the 2012 Indianapolis 500...

#2 - Chevy - Ryan Briscoe - Sydney, Australia - Team Penske
#3 - Chevy - Helio Castroneves - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Team Penske
#4 - Chevy - JR Hildebrand - Sausalito, California -  Panther Racing
#5 - Chevy - EJ Viso - Carcas, Venezuela - KV Racing Technology
#6 - Lotus - Katherine Legge (R) - Guildford, England - Lotus-Dragon Racing
#7 - Lotus - Sebastien Bourdais - Le Mans, France - Lotus-Dragon Racing
#8 - Chevy - Rubens Barrichello (R) - Sao Paulo, Brazil - KV Racing Technology
#9 - Honda - Scott Dixon - Auckland, New Zealand - Target Chip Ganassi Racing
#10 - Honda - Dario Franchitti - Edinburgh, Scotland - Target Chip Ganassi Racing
#11 - Chevy - Tony Kanaan - Salvador, Brazil - KV Racing Technology
#12 - Chevy - Will Power - Toowoomba, Australia - Team Penske
#14 - Honda - Mike Conway - Bromley, England - A.J. Foyt Racing
#15 - Honda - Takuma Sato - Tokyo, Japan - Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
#17 - Chevy - Sebastian Saavedra - Bogota, Colombia - AFS/Andretti Autosport
#18 - Honda - Justin Wilson - Sheffield, England - Dale Coyne Racing
#19 - Honda - James Jakes (R) - Leeds, England - Dale Coyne Racing
#20 - Chevy - Ed Carpenter - Indianapolis, Indiana - Ed Carpenter Racing
#21 - Chevy - TBD - TBD - Ed Carpenter Racing
#22 - Lotus - Oriol Servia - Pals, Spain - Lotus-DRR
#25 - Chevy - Ana Beatriz - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Andretti Autosport/Conquest Racing
#26 - Chevy - Marco Andretti - Nazareth, Pa. - Andretti Autosport
#28 - Chevy - Ryan Hunter-Reay - Boca Raton, Fla - Andretti Autosport
#27 - Chevy - James Hinchcliffe - Toronto - Andretti Autosport
#38 - Honda - Graham Rahal - New Albany, Ohio - SC Chip Ganassi Racing
#39 - Honda - Bryan Clauson (R) - Noblesville, Ind - SFHR
#41 - Honda - Wade Cunningham (R) - Auckland, New Zealand - A.J. Foyt Racing
#67 - Honda - Josef Newgarden (R) - Hendersonville, Tenn. - SFHR
#45 - Honda - TBD - TBD - Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
#77 - Honda - Simon Pagenaud (R) - Poitiers, France - SHM
#78 - Lotus - Simona De Silvestro - Thun, Switzerland - Lotus-HVM Racing
#83 - Honda - Charlie Kimball - Camarillo, Calif. - NN Chip Ganassi Racing
#98 - Lotus - Alex Tagliani - Lachenaie, Canada - Bryan Herta Autosport
#99 - Honda - TBD - TBD - Sam Schmidt Motorsports
#TBA - Lotus - TBD - TBD - Lotus-Newman Haas Racing


NOTES:


Chevy Entries - 14
Honda Entries - 14
Lotus Entries - 6

- 13 countries representing: Australia, Brazil, Venezuela, England, United States, France, New Zealand,      Scotland, Japan, Colombia, Spain, Canada, Switzerland
- 8 Americans representing: California, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee
- 4 pole winners (Castroneves, Kanaan, Dixon, Tagliani)
- Youngest - Josef Newgarden, 21
- Oldest - Rubens Barrichello, 39 (Turns 40 before Race Day)
- Most previous starts - Helio Castroneves, 11





Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Rahal On Probation

INDYCAR announced Tuesday afternoon that they've place Graham Rahal on probation through Iowa for 'blocking and initiating avoidable contact' in Long Beach


The 6-race probation stems from the lap 22 incident in the 8th turn where, according to race director Beaux Barfield, Rahal was responsible for the collision that resulted in Marco Andretti's #26 Dallara getting in the air before hitting the tire barrier ending his day.


"Due to the inability of the No. 38 car to continue the race, a review of the on-track actions of Graham Rahal became a post-race issue," said Beaux Barfield, INDYCAR president of competition and IZOD IndyCar Series Race Director.  "All stewards have reviewed the incident and have decided that the on-track actions of Graham warranted probation because of driving that endangers on-track safety and adversely affects competition."


Rahal may protest the penalty.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Beatriz To Run Brazil & Indy

Andretti Autosport announced today the signing of Ana Beatriz to run in Brazil and Indianapolis as a co-entrant with Conquest Racing.

"Driving for Andretti Autosport is the biggest opportunity I've had in IndyCar and my career," said Beatriz.

With sponsorship backing from Ipiranga, Bia will run the #25 as the fourth teammate of James Hinchcliffe, Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay in Brazil and alongside Sebastian Saavedra at Indianapolis.

Although the original rule was to have a cap of 26-cars in Brazil, provisons were made for a 27th.  

"After the decisions had been made, our promoter BAND  asked us to add Ana Beatriz to the field, and we were happy to accommodate that request without limiting the field for the race," Bernard said.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

DW12 IMS Test Photos

UPDATED: Test results

Marco Andretti (C) - 218.625 - 51 laps
Tony Kanaan (C) - 218.439 - 68 laps
Scott Dixon (H) - 218.094 - 56 laps
Helio Castroneves (C) - 216.942 - 56 laps
JR Hildebrand (H) - 216.641 - 45 laps
Justin Wilson (H) - 213.753 - 64 laps
Mike Conway (H) - 212.767 - 65 laps
Takuma Sato (H) - 212.573 - 57 laps
Ed Carpenter (C) - 207.518 - 33 laps


Photos from Wednesday's DW12 test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.







































Nine Cars To Test At IMS Wednesday

Nine cars are set to test new aerodynamic changes to the DW12 chassis in preparation for next months Indianapolis 500 Wednesday at IMS.

Split between 5 Chevy drivers and 4 Honda pilots, Tony Kanaan, Ed Carpenter, Marco Andretti, JR Hildebrand, Helio Castroneves, Justin Wilson, Scott Dixon, Mike Conway, and Takuma Sato are all slated to participate.

The scheduled test from 9am-5pm with an hour lunch from Noon-1, will be open to the public with the South Terrace grandstand and Turn 2 viewing mounds available.

"I'd be disappointed if we didn't get to that 220-222 (mph) range, and that last little bit will come as teams dial the cars in to the track during the week of Indy and 225 is the target," said Phillips

With a minimum weight of 1,535 lbs and generating 550-570 horsepower, teams are permitted to experiment with rear-wing mainplate angles between 0 & -10 degrees, underwing strakes and sidewall extensions, wickers on the front and rear-wing mainplanes & the beam wing as well as the radiator inlet shutters.
If weather cancels the test the cars will return Thursday.