Ninety Days ‘Til May: Who’s In, Who’s Out?
Written by Allan Brewer · January 30, 2006
February first and it’s suddenly ninety days until May, the hallowed month of speed and suspense that leads to the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day. Can the sound of racing V-8’s heard on Georgetown Road and West Sixteenth Street be far behind?
Everybody’s mind is on the car-count: will the Indy Racing League find the sponsorship and financial interest necessary to field the traditional field of thirty-three racers?
Let’s line up the known, and not-so-sure-about, responders for this year’s call to “Gentlemen, start your engines!”
Penske Racing
#3 Helio Castroneves
#6 Sam Hornish
No surprises here…two veterans on a well-funded team, both potential series champs.
Andretti/Green Racing
#7 Bryan Herta
#11 Tony Kanaan
#26 Marco Andretti
#27 Dario Franchitti
#1 Michael Andretti
This mega-team contends by virtue of the laws of probability, notwithstanding their technical expertise and solid sponsorship. Marco’s development should be interesting to contrast and compare to last year’s celebrated rookie female driver.
Rahal/Letterman Racing
#15 Buddy Rice
#16 Danica Patrick
#17 Paul Dana
Dana must be counting his lucky stars after landing in such prestigious company.
Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
#10 Dan Wheldon
#9 Scott Dixon
Can lightning strike twice and Dan Wheldon’s skill and speed translate into a Borg-Warner for Ganassi again?
Fernandez Racing
#8 Scott Sharp
#55 Kosuke Matsoura
Two drivers who are solid and they both have sponsorship, for now.
Vision Racing
#20 Ed Carpenter
#22 Tomas Scheckter
Surprisingly fast at the Phoenix test…some still question if they can they sustain their gains into a long season without mishap or miscommunication.
Now, comes the interesting part: these teams appear in the hunt but the roster is still in pencil.
A.J.Foyt Racing
#14 Felipe Giaffone
Will Larry Foyt return to open-wheel racing in a second car under step-dad A.J., and is Foyt IV game for another year under that same long shadow?
Marty Roth Racing
#25 Marty Roth
Marty is a sure thing for the Pro Series, and is talking 500 for the third year in a row.
Cheever Racing
Sponsorship seems likely, from Crown Royal, for at least the 500; but the driver’s seat may or may not hold Patrick Carpentier, Eddy Cheever’s co-driver at Daytona last week and last year at Indy. Some speculate that Vitor Meira has the inside track here, not Patrick. Not out of the question is two cars on the track if the splash of hard liquor proves generous.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Roger Yasukawa would appear likely to retain his seat here, if the team fields a car, or cars….
Yellow Ribbon Racing
The charity team recently formed with IRL’s blessing has yet to announce drivers. They seem set on fielding two cars for the 500, if not for the whole season.
Panther Racing
What will remain of this team after this coming Saturday’s auction of inventory and material? It’s anyone’s guess as it stands right now.
Finally, on the outside looking in, at this point anyway, are the following drivers and their possible affiliations come May:
Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn Racing)
Jimmy Kite (PDM Racing/Hemelgarn Racing)
Jacques Lazier (PDM Racing/Playa Del Racing)
Alex Barron (Cheever)
Darren Manning
Ryan Briscoe
Christiano Da Matta
Tomas Enge
Ryan Hunter
It may be as interesting this spring to watch what happens in the paddock, as the jockeying for rides and sponsorship becomes frenzied and fast toward the 90th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
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4 Responses to “Ninety Days ‘Til May: Who’s In, Who’s Out?”
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I hate to keep bringing it up but until both racing series’ get together, it will be tough sleding with sponsorship.
ChampCar and the IRL will continue their one-step forward and one-step back dance and that’s not healthy … and the 500 will continue to just hang on.
There can be little doubt that the 500 has suffered in importance in everyone’s opinion, except for the die hard IRL fans and Mr. George. With the loss of competition from engine suppliers, chassis designers, and sponsors, it’s just another spec race.
To return to its roots and traditions the 500 needs to separate itself from ANY series and become open to all competitors with a will to chase the dream. Bring any engine, any chassis, any team or driver, and go for it!
With TG relying on the 500 to prop up half of open wheel racing, and refusing an accommodation with the other half, where are we heading? Right down the porcelain convenience!
At the last 500 I went to (pre IRL), the scalpers prices were triple face and forget about the ticket window. Now you can still get some tickets at the window on the day of the race. Speaks volumes about interest.
George has it right, except that they should say “piston engine “, this long, this wide, and then let the teams go for it.That is what made “Indy”,when T.G. is bankrupt, and if Nascar isnt the buyer of assets then maybe this will happen. Then it will take another 10,15 years to get the excitment that Indy generated in the 60’s and 70’s back so your looking at 2020/2025 if we are lucky!