2012 IndyCar silly season - Page 6

Canada ALMS fan · 17 Nov 2011, 20:01 (Ref:2987905)

Am I the only one surprised at the momentum there appears to be regarding entries for 2012?

Really nice to see, especially after Las Vegas. It appears there are a lot of folks who want to come out and play with the new equipment. I thought a lot wouldn't be able to answer the call when it came time to pony up for the new cars. We appear to have a full season count that should be in the high 20's.

Canada ALMS fan · 18 Nov 2011, 22:49 (Ref:2988527)

Okay, correct me if I am wrong or you know better. Here is a prospective list of the 2012 grid (no pie in the sky teams), mostly confirmed and a few highly likely:

Lotus:
Wayne Taylor x 1
HVM x 1
DRR x 2 (3 for Indy)
Mike Shank x 1
Bryan Herta x 1

Chevy:
Penske x 3
Andretti x 3 (maybe 4)
Panther x 1

Honda:
Ganassi x 4
Foyt x 1
Sam Schmidt x 1
RLL x 2

Unconfirmed:
Newman Haas x 2
KV x 2 (3 for Indy)
Dale Coyne x 2
Sarah Fisher x 2 (cars ordered)
Ed Carpenter x 1 (car ordered)
Conquest ??
Dragon ?

We should see almost 30 cars every race if those holds true! Maybe there will be a bump day after all?

D.R.T. · 19 Nov 2011, 00:54 (Ref:2988580)

KV for Chevy

marcostraz · 19 Nov 2011, 08:46 (Ref:2988668)

Wayne Taylor is not in the series yet...

Canada ALMS fan · 19 Nov 2011, 18:37 (Ref:2988833)

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcostraz

Wayne Taylor is not in the series yet...

Are you implying the deal has fallen through?

**GTRMagic** · 19 Nov 2011, 21:52 (Ref:2988896)

Just because someone has ordered a car, it doesnt mean they will take delivery of it...

In one of the press announcements last week, Mr Walker stated that he may get his chassis earlier than planned if the orders in front of his dont choose to take their chassis. Seemed like a very real possibility from the way he was talking.

Meantime.. where is Dale Coyne Racing & Mr Bourdais in all of this? Hopefully in a works Chevrolet deal... ?

Canada ALMS fan · 19 Nov 2011, 22:11 (Ref:2988904)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Just because someone has ordered a car, it doesnt mean they will take delivery of it...

In one of the press announcements last week, Mr Walker stated that he may get his chassis earlier than planned if the orders in front of his dont choose to take their chassis. Seemed like a very real possibility from the way he was talking.

Good point. We see programs in sportscars all the time get announced then never happen. Always dependant on funding of course. And this year, being the first for the new Indycar chassis, there will be no shortage of buyers if someone can't follow through. Larger teams will want spare chassis and smaller efforts such as Indy only efforts will need cars as well seeing as the older cars thankfully cannot be grandfathered.
I would think (with the exception of Newman Haas who is likely going Honda) any teams entering for 2012 that have not announced an engine partner yet will be running Lotus.

mountainstar · 20 Nov 2011, 03:36 (Ref:2989032)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Just because someone has ordered a car, it doesnt mean they will take delivery of it...

In one of the press announcements last week, Mr Walker stated that he may get his chassis earlier than planned if the orders in front of his dont choose to take their chassis. Seemed like a very real possibility from the way he was talking.

Meantime.. where is Dale Coyne Racing & Mr Bourdais in all of this? Hopefully in a works Chevrolet deal... ?

Let's make it clear there are no "works" Chevy and Honda deals.

What there is, is teams that are the main test teams for these deals, but there are no "works" deals.

There are no cash payments, no sponsorships, no driver retainers, no car freebies, nothing.

The only thing teams are getting is Chevy and Honda are taking a loss on the engine leases rather than teams having to pay the real cost plus profit to Chevy and Honda.

**GTRMagic** · 29 Nov 2011, 05:38 (Ref:2992783)

The Lotus "works" deals seem to place engineers inside teams with the blessing and/or funding from Lotus itself, while the teams seem to be assisted by Lotus in securing sponsors Here by co-visiting with teams in their roster.

Sounds a pretty good deal... presuming the engine is competitive

More interesting from that article are the number of teams still without an engine package... including Ed Carpenter Racing, Conquest Racing, Dale Coyne Racing, Dragon...

The way it is worded, these teams and cars are still talking to Honda and Chevrolet... with Dale Coyne Racing the least likely to be a Lotus team.. here's hoping this small squad can get a Chevrolet deal up..

**GTRMagic** · 29 Nov 2011, 05:52 (Ref:2992785)

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcostraz

Wayne Taylor is not in the series yet...

Michael Shank Racing Here seems to have plenty of unknowns in their list.. a few small ones.. like driver, sponsor, engineer...

Hawkwood · 2 Dec 2011, 16:59 (Ref:2994460)

Newman-Haas are out

http://www.newman-haas.com/news2011....rticipation-82

Hawkwood · 2 Dec 2011, 19:15 (Ref:2994519)

I didn't see the whole other thread dedicated to that news... quite embarrassed

**GTRMagic** · 7 Dec 2011, 06:16 (Ref:2996290)

An Update As to the Available Seats

Maybe...

Still no sounds out of DCR

Jacques Rabbit · 7 Dec 2011, 17:37 (Ref:2996583)

You won't hear anything about Dale Coyne Racing until Dale recovers from a fall he took in the shop a while ago.

Tim Northcutt · 7 Dec 2011, 18:20 (Ref:2996605)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jacques Rabbit

You won't hear anything about Dale Coyne Racing until Dale recovers from a fall he took in the shop a while ago.

Dale also usually announces rather late in the game about his drivers. In Champ Car, he would show up at the season opener drop he driver in the seat as he announced who it would be.

Tim Northcutt · 7 Dec 2011, 18:24 (Ref:2996608)

Sarah Fisher has called a news conference at IMS for 2 p.m. today.

She is expected to announce Josef Newgarden as her driver next season.

Some speculate she may announce her engine package as well, but others aren't so sure. She'll probably also talk about how many races they plan to do.

Some say Angie's List will be on her sponsor list to help fund the campaign, but I think she'll announce sponsors on another date so that the spotlight is on her new driver.

The announcement will be streamed live at:

http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/pressroom

Jacques Rabbit · 7 Dec 2011, 20:07 (Ref:2996657)

I've heard that the plan is to get Angie's List, Dad's Root Beer, Jasper Engines, any of Newgarden's backers, and Newgarden's Indy Lights championship scholarship to piece together a full season...not sure how many of those deals are solidified yet, though.

With Newman/Haas done, they're in line to get Honda engines, and given that Honda have been a solid supporter of Fisher, this was probably what they both wanted all along if they could make it happen.

whaletail · 7 Dec 2011, 20:59 (Ref:2996702)

Great news for Josef, he's a lovely kid, so much energy! Good luck to him for his first season in Indycar.

**GTRMagic** · 7 Dec 2011, 21:13 (Ref:2996713)

Quote:

Originally Posted by whaletail

Great news for Josef, he's a lovely kid, so much energy! Good luck to him for his first season in Indycar.

And a new owner/partner for Sarah Fisher Racing too.. Here

**GTRMagic** · 7 Dec 2011, 21:15 (Ref:2996715)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

Dale also usually announces rather late in the game about his drivers. In Champ Car, he would show up at the season opener drop he driver in the seat as he announced who it would be.

I hear that... but this is a brave new world, with new chassis and new engines... it is unlikely that securing both new technical packages can be done in silence... whereas rolling out last year's car with last year's engine... is much arguably easier to do...

Hawkwood · 8 Dec 2011, 17:13 (Ref:2997091)

Pagenaud confirmed with Sam Schmidt:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96695

Good news, I rate Pagenaud very highly indeed

Tim Northcutt · 8 Dec 2011, 18:11 (Ref:2997119)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

I hear that... but this is a brave new world, with new chassis and new engines... it is unlikely that securing both new technical packages can be done in silence... whereas rolling out last year's car with last year's engine... is much arguably easier to do...

Excellent point, GTRMagic...and it looks like these new cars are going to be a handful to get acclimated in and get set up to where they might have some balance...that will take time and testing.

cds_uk · 16 Dec 2011, 18:40 (Ref:3000926)

Katherine Legge has tweeted she has some "HUGE" news coming soon, any ideas?

Tim Northcutt · 16 Dec 2011, 18:50 (Ref:3000933)

Quote:

Originally Posted by cds_uk

Katherine Legge has tweeted she has some "HUGE" news coming soon, any ideas?

It is no secret that she is finalizing a deal to race full time in IndyCar next season and that she has been over here talking with teams to see who might be willing to strike the best deal for her.

That is what the HUGE news will be...The team that she will join and the sponsor that helped her to get there.

Jacques Rabbit · 16 Dec 2011, 21:35 (Ref:3000997)

Her sponsor is TrueCar.com, a car pricing site already backing female drivers Ashley Freiberg (Star Mazda), Shannon McIntosh (USF2000), and Shea Holbrook (SCCA World Challenge), in addition to recently launched heavy TV advertising on cable channels. Curt Cavin said the team would be Dreyer & Reinbold; a Kazakh paper said it would be Dragon.

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