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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...

Friday, March 22, 2013

Tony George Elected To Board


The Hulman & Company announced Friday night the re-addition of Anton "Tony" George to the board of directors

Tony resigned the same position last October citing a conflict of interest. The conflict being the attempted purchase of INDYCAR, the sactioning body of the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights. According to the release, the conflict 'no longer exists'.

Tony George becomes the eleventh member of the Hulman & Company board joining newly re-elected members Mari Hulman George, Nancy George, Josephine George, Katherine George-Conforti, Mark Miles, James Morris, Michael Smith, Andre Lacy, John Ackerman, and Jeff Belskus.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

St. Pete Entry List

1 - Ryan Hunter-Reay - Andretti Autosport
3 - Helio Castroneves - Team Penske
4 - JR Hildebrand - Panther Racing
5 - E.J. Viso - Team Venezuela/Andretti Autosport/HVM
6 - Sebastian Saavedra - Dragon Racing
7 - Sebastien Bourdais - Dragon Racing
9 - Scott Dixon - Target Chip Ganassi
10 - Dario Franchitti - Target Chip Ganassi
11 - Tony Kanaan - KV Racing Technology
12 - Will Power - Tem Penske
14 - Takuma Sato - A.J. Foyt Enterprises
15 - Graham Rahal - Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
16 - James Jakes - Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
18 - Ana Beatriz - Dale Coyne Racing
19 - Justin Wilson - Dale Coyne Racing
20 - Ed Carpenter - Ed Carpenter Racing
22 - Oriol Servia - Panther DRR
25 - Marco Andretti - Andretti Autosport
27 - James Hinchcliffe - Andretti Autosport
55 - Tristan Vautier - Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
67 - Josef Newgarden - Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
77 - Simon Pagenaud - Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports
78 - Simona de Silvestro - KV Racing Technology
83 - Charlie Kimball - Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
98 - Alex Tagliani - Bryan Herta Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

INDYCAR Announces Competition Committee

A new committee was announced today by INDYCAR intended to 'create a formalized communication platform with various industry stakeholders on competition- and technical-related matters'.

"We believe it's important to create a forum for drivers, team owners and manufacturers to have organized and structured input to the series as we look to make important decisions that directly impact on-track competition," said Jeff Belskus, INDYCAR's interim CEO. "The creation of this committee builds a formalized process to vet proposed initiatives with safety and competition always top-of- mind.  Once we receive a recommendation from the Competition Committee, the series will evaluate it from a commercial and business standpoint in order to make a final decision."

The 11-member Competition Committee will be made up of two INDYCAR management reps appointed by Jeff Belskus (One of which will be named committee chairman), two active IZOD IndyCar Series team reps appointed by teams, two driver reps appointed by the drivers, four manufacturer reps appointed one each by Dallara, Firestone, Honda & Chevrolet, and one at-large member appointed INDYCAR CEO, Jeff Belskus.

According to the INDYCAR press release:
INDYCAR will determine the initiatives sent to the committee for review. To make recommendations to the sanctioning body, each committee member will have one vote. Once a majority vote is achieved, the committee chairman will submit the recommendation to the INDYCAR CEO for review. The INDYCAR CEO will then notify the committee of the sanctioning body's final decision.
The Competition Committee will meet several times throughout the year evaluating 'competition-related matters, including rules, technical specifications and safety initiatives'.

INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard announced a similar committee in 2010 designed to choose the next generation formula, resulting in the DW12.

Monday, March 11, 2013

St. Pete Honorees Named


St. Petersburg resident and widow of Dan Wheldon, Susie Wheldon, will wave the green flag at the IZOD IndyCar Series opener March 24th. Holly, Dan's sister, performed the same honors in 2012.

Double-amputee combat U.S. Army Specialist Charlie Lemon has been named Grand Marshal of the event. Lemon, an ambassador to Wish for Our Heroes, will give the "drivers, start your engines" command among other pre-race festivities.

St. Pete resident and Silver medalist from the 2012 London Paralympic games Jen French will ride Honda's 'fastest seat in sports', while American Idol contestant Shannon Magrane performs the national anthem.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Allmendinger Confirmed For Barber & Indy

Team Penske announced today, at an Indianapolis Motor Speedway Press Conference, that A.J. Allmendinger will run the #2 IZOD Chevrolet at Barber and May's Indianapolis 500.

The 31-year-old will be returning to an open-wheel cockpit for the first time since the 2006 Champ Car World Series finale at Surfers Paradise. He won 5 races in '06, including back-to-back-to-back wins after switching teams mid-season to Forsythe's #7 entry where he ran the final 9 events.

Allmendinger left Champ Car following the 2006 season, transitioning the NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series. Competing in 174 races from 2007 to last weekend's event in Phoenix, Dinger brought home five top-5s and 29-top 10 finishes.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back to my roots and racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series,” said Allmendinger. “I have to thank Roger (Penske), Tim (Cindric) and everyone at Team Penske for this opportunity. I think it’s every driver’s dream to race for Team Penske at the Indy 500 and that experience is going to be incredible. I also have to thank IZOD for their support and for giving me a chance to show what I can do. I definitely intend to make the most of it.”

The Californian tested the Team Penske Indy car at Sebring last month, his first time returning to a Penske entry since running the first 17 races of the 2012 Cup season with the organization before being suspended for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy. He has since completed the NASCAR Road to Recovery program and has returned to NASCAR sanctioned events.

“It is exciting to welcome AJ back to Penske Racing,” said Roger Penske. “He obviously went through a tough time last year but he has done everything he needed to in order to get back to racing at the top level of the sport. We have always believed in AJ and his ability and he deserves this opportunity. We think he will be a strong competitor this season in the IZOD IndyCar Series for Team Penske and we look forward to racing with him in the IZOD car at Barber and at the Indianapolis 500.”

Having only five Champ Car ovals under his belt, all between Milwaukee and Las Vegas, Team Penske will likely schedule an April test at either Texas or California to get the Indianapolis 500 rookie driver prepared for IMS's 3-stage Rookie Orientation Program.

With additional events likely to be added to his IndyCar schedule, Allmendinger's next run in an Indy car will be March 12-13 INDYCAR spring training open test at Barber Motorsports Park.