The places remaining thread (merged)

[Team Owner]

Buddy hesitated` on accepting the Beck ride and Greg went to Curb and asked to put PJ in the car. Curb said ok and the deal was done. I heard that Buddy is trying to do a deal with Sam Schmidt for that 66T Penske car. I would rather be in a Penske car than a Beck car if I had a choice.

PJ walled a Menard entry in 2002 and they had to hire Raul Boesel. PJ has marginal talent and the reason for the crash was driver error.

I imagine Greg will keep the setup simple and not too risky and he'll put it in the show. Eddie Cheever said last night he expects there to be 2-3 cars bumped.

[Tim Northcutt]

Questions for you, Team Owner:


This is a list I came up with of drivers that have at least been reported to be here:

Buddy Lazier
Jacques Lazier
Jimmy Kite
John Andretti
Memo Gidley
Roberto Moreno
Robbie McGhee
Oriol Servia
Davey Hamilton
Jeff Simmons (he did take the ROP and passed...)
Luis Diaz (He also took the test...but I believe he runs this Sunday at Mt. Tremblant in the Ganassi Riley DP in Grand Am...can't be two places at once)

At least one other name I haven't heard yet, but would be a good pilot to get:

Richie Hearn (currently he is fielding a Star Mazda Series team that is based at Las Vegas Motor Speedway...they are a support series for the ALMS)

Also the cars that are listed as "TBA" still out there include:

#18 -- PDM
#21 -- Mo Nunn
#23 -- D & R
#44 -- Panther
#66 -- Penske G-Force
#66T -- Penske G-Force

Now for the Questions:

1. Are there other drivers not on that list who have been here that you have seen in Gasoline Alley that are potential candidates to buy into a ride for the ""500"? Who are they???

2. Which of these drivers do you see as "likely" to land something??

Now to cars:

1. Beyond this list of "TBA" cars, do you see any other teams leasing out one of their "T" cars to someone???

2. If YES, what teams would be likely candidates to do this???

3. AGR has all four of their "T" cars listed in the "Bump Day" Q line....would they rune a 5th car????

Thanks!

[Tim Northcutt]

Questions for Team Owner:

1. Are there other drivers not on that list (posted earlier in this thread) who have been here that you have seen in Gasoline Alley that are potential candidates to buy into a ride for the ""500"? Who are they???

2. Which of the drivers who have been in the grages do you see as "likely" to land something??

Now to cars:

1. Beyond the list of "TBA" cars (#18, #21, #23, #44,#66, #66T), do you see any other teams leasing out one of their "T" cars to someone???

2. If YES, what teams would be likely candidates to do this???

3. AGR has all four of their "T" cars listed in the "Bump Day" Q line....would they rune a 5th car????

Thanks!

[Team Owner]

#1 I have only seen the drivers you list

#2 Buddy Lazier
Jaques Lazier
Jimmy Kite
Ritchie Hearn, but only if it's someone elses money
Robbie McGhee
Memo Gidley

1A: Yes.

2A: Foyt and Nunn

3A: I doubt AGR would run a 5th car unless the money was too much to pass up. Remember that 8 days after Indy the haulers have to leave for Texas and if you crash a car during the 500 you only have a certain amount of backups available which for AGR is 1 per driver.

Quoting a former President of the United States " Wouldn't be prudent"

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally posted by Team Owner
#1 I have only seen the drivers you list

#2 Buddy Lazier
Jaques Lazier
Jimmy Kite
Ritchie Hearn, but only if it's someone elses money
Robbie McGhee
Memo Gidley

1A: Yes.

2A: Foyt and Nunn

3A: I doubt AGR would run a 5th car unless the money was too much to pass up. Remember that 8 days after Indy the haulers have to leave for Texas and if you crash a car during the 500 you only have a certain amount of backups available which for AGR is 1 per driver.

Quoting a former President of the United States " Wouldn't be prudent"

Thanks, Team Owner....

This gives me an idea of who the players are anyway.....

and I didn't think AGR would do it, either.....too much to lose with nothing really to gain from it...



Greatly Appreciated!!!!

[Tim Northcutt]

This is an answer to this question that "Team Owner" posted in another thread:

#1 I have only seen the drivers you list

#2 Buddy Lazier
Jaques Lazier
Jimmy Kite
Ritchie Hearn, but only if it's someone elses money
Robbie McGhee
Memo Gidley

1A: Yes.

2A: Foyt and Nunn

3A: I doubt AGR would run a 5th car unless the money was too much to pass up. Remember that 8 days after Indy the haulers have to leave for Texas and if you crash a car during the 500 you only have a certain amount of backups available which for AGR is 1 per driver.

Quoting a former President of the United States " Wouldn't be prudent"
__________________
Money is the fuel of any race team

[BootsOntheSide]

I think AGR will run 5 if they have 4 cars ready. Consdierign taht Herta is only signed as a development driver, they porbably wouldn't view it as a disaster if they only have 3 spares in Texas. And anyone coming in isn't neccessarily any mroe likely to wreck than one of their 4 regulars.

Maybe Cheever will be having a go at bumping someone, judging from his words?

[Tim Northcutt]

Herta wasn't really a development driver for Andretti Green...

Wheldon was until Michael retired after last year's Indy 500....but Wheldon had an Indy seat to get him started in the process...

Herta was brought on as a "substitute" driver...first for Robby Gordon in case he ran into schedule logistics with his NASCAR commitments....

Later, he was retained when Franchitti tested in June and found out his back needed surgery if he was going to race again....thus Herta took his seat for the rest of the year...

Andretti rewarded Herta's sommitment this year by expanding the team to 4 cars to give Herta a ride....

So Bryan is Full-Time with AGR this year....and thus they have four back-ups to lose...

I don't see them taking that risk, either....I agree with Team Owner....

[BSchneiderFan]

Originally posted by climb
INdy is the toughest (albeit most important) race of the year, thus it's unlikely than an untrained 45-year-old may make an attempt.
It wouldn't be very safe IMO.

But think how many Indy Car drivers kept coming back to the 500 after they'd retired from pretty much everything else and were past their best - A.J. Foyt, Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser...

[marcus]

I doubt Eddie would get back into a car , sit back and enjoy retirement I say , bring on some new blood and run a pretty good team , seems straight forward doesnt it ?

[BootsOntheSide]

Perhaps my wording was a little unclear, but I meant that the 4th car for Herta represents an additional entry, which basically allows them to do more development at the track - this is how Michael Andretti put it at the time. The diea is that he'll get riskier setups in practice and deliver more that way, rather than pushing for the title on a strictly even keel.

[BSchneiderFan]

Yet so difficult to do. Racing drivers find it hard to let go.

[Tim Northcutt]

That has been the case with their efforts...at least that's the way it seems....

Sorry that I misunderstood what you were saying...

[racer69]

Even Arie Snr said he would have another go provided the deal was right.

[Team Owner]

I saw the 66T car go thru tech again today and overheard one of the Penske guys say that Roger had maybe worked a deal to lease it to Mo Nunn.

[GP Racer]

I posted this info in another thread, but being that there are a couple of similar threads going on right now, I figured I'd mention it here to.

ESPN/Sportcenter from Indy, interviewed Buddy Lazier, and he confirmed that he has a deal to drive for the Dreyer/Rheinbold team for the Indy 500. The deal was just made, but the details are being worked out quickly, so he may be out on the track as early as tommorrow.

Thats one of the questions answered...

[sgw2]

http://www.indy500.com/news/story.php?story_id=2789

Buddy Lazier is officially in the #23 D&R Dallara-Chevrolet

Inching closer.

[marcus]

we seem to have several threads on basically the same subject guys , so Ive merged the "7 spots left" thread and the "Buddy Lazier" thread into one so we can keep things nice and tisy.

Apologies if posts are a little mixed up , I have no control over that fact.


BTW great to see Buddy lazier land a deal , I hope he does well

[marcus]

so we have 2 more definates in Buddy Lazier and PJ Jones and Greg Ray and Marty Roth are still possible , that takes us to 30 with just 3 more places remaining and they will be filled by...............................................................................

[climb]

possible.., but still to be defined for sure, isn't that?
And time goes by...

[Down F0rce]

Great news for Buddy!

[Down F0rce]

Good news for Mo Nunn if it's true. The fact that the car went through tech would suggest that someone's racing it. Wonder who the driver might be?

[Tim Northcutt]

From Today's Indy Star....

When Lazier was on his way to the D&R garage to seal the deal, he got a phone call from Sam Schmidt, who is trying to pull together a lease with Penske.....

So will Mo Nunn lease one car and Sam the other????

Another note.....

The Greg Ray saga on the $$$ side continues....the Star also reports that the $$$ he owes Honda may end up not getting resolved, and Honda would have four more engines available for possible rides....

A possible taker for those fred-up engines would be Carl Haas....and he could possibly lease Bruno's back-up car out for a second entry....the Super Aguri Fernandez team is another possibility....

To tie up the possibilities on that, Roberto Moreno could have the inside track for a Fernandez entry,

and I see a possible "wild card" coming into the mix if Haas would go for it....Christian Fittipaldi....who drove for Carl Haas in Champ Cars (as we all know)......

I also can forsee some other aspect of Eli Lilly as a potential sponsor for that car (I believe Lilly is a majority owner of PacifiCare....Bruno's sponsor)since Haas has had a realationship with them and Lilly is Headquartered here in Indy...they are a big-time community player and supportive of the IMS....

One Note in the Star that I think is off-base:

They are mentioning Max Papis as a possible driver.....

I don't see that one happening....

He's running for Chip Ganassi this Sunday in Grand Am in the Riley Technologies DP with Scott Pruett...they are in contention for that Series title, so I don't see Mad Max coming to Indy....

If the weather clears, I'll be going to the Indy Star's corporate suite this afternoon to check out the action....I'll post you on waht I see and hear when I return...

[JohnSSC]

Tim, I want your job!! At least if that is what gets you access to the Corporate Suites!

Good summary on what is going on. This could be really interesting to see how the field fills out - particularly the owner/driver combos.

In your opinion, does NHR have the personnel to support a second car?

[Tim Northcutt]

Originally posted by JohnSSC
Tim, I want your job!! At least if that is what gets you access to the Corporate Suites!

Good summary on what is going on. This could be really interesting to see how the field fills out - particularly the owner/driver combos.

In your opinion, does NHR have the personnel to support a second car?

That's the $64,000 question....

But maybe they could pick up Access Motorsports people....they have a good lineup of engineeers and mechanics with a lot of Indy and IRL experience....and those guys would be looking for work....


That's an immediate possibility....