There have been a few developments this week with the Indy Racing League putting 3 good drivers back behind the wheel.
Grahal Rahal signed a two race deal with Sarah Fisher Racing and Dollar General. The two races that Grahal will run in will the the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Sarah Fisher was instrumental in bringing Grahal in when she found out Rahal was without a ride. Watch for Graham in the March 28 race.
Mario Moreas reached a deal with KV Racing and will be starting in the Sao Paulo Indy 300 tomorrow for the 2010 season. Moraes will the the seventh Brazilian in the race making a third of the starting grid local talent.
Alex Lloyd has signed with Dale Coyne Racing for 2010 and will also be driving in the Sao Paulo Indy 300. Lloyd spent 2009 as the main test driver for Chip Ganassi Racing. Alex did run in the Indianapolis 500 in 2009 and was the fastest part-time driver qualifying in 11th position and finishing in 13th position.
Showing posts with label auto racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label auto racing. Show all posts
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Drivers Start Your Engines
Hard to believe it's March already. With the warmer weather comes my favorite sport next to football, auto racing. No not NASCAR but IRL (Indy Racing League). I went to my first Indianapolis 500 race in 2001 and I've been hooked on racing ever since. Something about the roar of the engines and speeds on the track that gets me sucked in.
I listen to what's going on around the league who's in and who's out and try to follow all of them on Twitter to keep up but there's a new look to the IRL this year; a strong female presence this year. There are 5 females in this years line up with 2 of them being new faces to IRL regulars; Ana Beatriz and Simona De Silvestro. Ana arrives via the Firestone Indy Lights Series and Simona by way of the Atlantic Championship. I'm very excited to see Sarah Fisher making more of a presence each year and now with her own racing team has added a second driver. I look for great things out of Sarah and Jay Howard this year.
The usual fan favorites are back this year too. Penske Racing has brought back Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves. Andretti Autosport (formally Andretti Green Racing) has brought back Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick (who's pulling double duty in some NASCAR races). The team has added a new face in the form of Ryan Hunter-Reay. And then there's the unstoppable Target Chip Ganassi Racing with the dynamic duo of Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. Dan Wheldon is back with Panther Racing and I would expect great things from him building off of last years performance. Hideki Mutoh made it back for 2010 with a new look this year racing with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. After what could have been a career ending injury during the 2009 Indianapolis 500 Vitor Meira is back with A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Davey Hamilton and Raphael Matos are both back racing for de Farran Luczo Dragon Racing. Mike Conway has stayed with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing for 2010 and is now teammates with Justin Wilson who moved over from Dale Coyne Racing.
Some new faces in the IZOD IndyCar Series are Mario Romancini, from the Firestone Indy Lights Series, who is now with Conquest Racing. Takuma Sato comes to the IRL series from the Formula One circuit; he last raced in 2008.
There are a few faces that are missing from this season. Vision Racing doesn't have a team for 2010 leaving Ed Carpenter without a ride. Graham Rahal lost the McDonald's sponsorship leaving him out of the season start. Graham is still modeling for IZOD so he's some what involved in the series but I think he would rather be in the car. Rumor has it that he may have a short deal at the beginning of the season so stay tuned. Mario Moraes and Alex Lloyd are also without rides in the series as of right now. Dale Coyne Racing and Panther Racing could potentially be adding second cars to their line ups so stay tuned to see what they decide to do.
I don't want to make any perdictions before the season starts but if testing last month shows anything, watch out for Will Power and the Penske boys. I'm looking forward to the first race next weekend in Brazil and where a lot of the IRL races got their start.
You can follow me on Twitter at @tamsul. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.
I listen to what's going on around the league who's in and who's out and try to follow all of them on Twitter to keep up but there's a new look to the IRL this year; a strong female presence this year. There are 5 females in this years line up with 2 of them being new faces to IRL regulars; Ana Beatriz and Simona De Silvestro. Ana arrives via the Firestone Indy Lights Series and Simona by way of the Atlantic Championship. I'm very excited to see Sarah Fisher making more of a presence each year and now with her own racing team has added a second driver. I look for great things out of Sarah and Jay Howard this year.
The usual fan favorites are back this year too. Penske Racing has brought back Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves. Andretti Autosport (formally Andretti Green Racing) has brought back Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan and Danica Patrick (who's pulling double duty in some NASCAR races). The team has added a new face in the form of Ryan Hunter-Reay. And then there's the unstoppable Target Chip Ganassi Racing with the dynamic duo of Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. Dan Wheldon is back with Panther Racing and I would expect great things from him building off of last years performance. Hideki Mutoh made it back for 2010 with a new look this year racing with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. After what could have been a career ending injury during the 2009 Indianapolis 500 Vitor Meira is back with A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Davey Hamilton and Raphael Matos are both back racing for de Farran Luczo Dragon Racing. Mike Conway has stayed with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing for 2010 and is now teammates with Justin Wilson who moved over from Dale Coyne Racing.
Some new faces in the IZOD IndyCar Series are Mario Romancini, from the Firestone Indy Lights Series, who is now with Conquest Racing. Takuma Sato comes to the IRL series from the Formula One circuit; he last raced in 2008.
There are a few faces that are missing from this season. Vision Racing doesn't have a team for 2010 leaving Ed Carpenter without a ride. Graham Rahal lost the McDonald's sponsorship leaving him out of the season start. Graham is still modeling for IZOD so he's some what involved in the series but I think he would rather be in the car. Rumor has it that he may have a short deal at the beginning of the season so stay tuned. Mario Moraes and Alex Lloyd are also without rides in the series as of right now. Dale Coyne Racing and Panther Racing could potentially be adding second cars to their line ups so stay tuned to see what they decide to do.
I don't want to make any perdictions before the season starts but if testing last month shows anything, watch out for Will Power and the Penske boys. I'm looking forward to the first race next weekend in Brazil and where a lot of the IRL races got their start.
You can follow me on Twitter at @tamsul. If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.
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