2010 Silly Season

[Alwaysfirst]

Well the silly season seems to be well & truly underway. It looks like there may well be larger fields than this year due to some of the ALMS teams switching to Indycar due to the lack of competition.

A preliminary list made up of many of the rumours that I've heard recently...

Potential Full-time entries (19)

Penske-Helio Castroneves
Penske-Ryan Briscoe
Penske-Will Power
Ganassi-Scott Dixon or Justin Wilson or ?
Ganassi-Dario Franchitti
Ganassi-Danica Patrick
Newman/Haas-Graham Rahal or Robert Doornbos
Newman/Haas-Sebastien Bourdais or Robert Doornbos or Simona di Silvestro or John Edwards or ?
Andretti/Green-Tony Kanaan
Andretti/Green-Marco Andretti
Panther-Dan Wheldon or Oriol Servia or Alex Tagliani or Tomas Scheckter or Adam Carroll or Justin Wilson or ?
Vision-Ed Carpenter
Luczo Dragon-Rafael Matos
KV Racing-Mario Moraes or Paul Tracy
HVM-EJ Viso or Nelson Philippe or Robert Doornbos
Foyt-Vitor Meira
Coyne-Justin Wilson or ?
Dreyer & Reinbold-Mike Conway or Darren Manning or ?
Dreyer & Reinbold-Tomas Scheckter or Roger Yasukawa or Milka Duno or ?

Possible Full-time Entries (17)

Andretti/Green-Dan Wheldon or Ryan Hunter-Reay or Oriol Servia
Andretti/Green-Oriol Servia or Ryan Hunter-Reay or Franck Montagny or JR Hildebrand or Alex Tagliani or Hideki Mutoh or ?
Vision-AJ Foyt IV or Buddy Rice or Tomas Scheckter or ?
Luczo Dragon-JR Hildebrand or Kosuke Matsuura or Marren Manning or ?
KV Racing-Paul Tracy
HVM-Robert Doornbos or Nelson Philippe or Alex Tagliani or ?
Foyt-AJ Foyt IV
Coyne-Franck Perera or Bruno Junqueira or Alex Tagliani or ?
Dreyer & Reinbold-Milka Duno or Darren Manning or Roger Yasukawa
Conquest-Bruno Junqueira or Nelson Philippe or Kosuke Matsuura or Hideki Mutoh or ?
Fisher-Sarah Fisher
Team 3G-Richard Antinucci or Jaques Lazier
Rahal/Letterman-Oriol Servia or Alex Tagliani or Bruno Junqueira or ?
Highcroft-Scott Sharp
Fernandez-Luis Diaz
De Ferran-Takuma Sato or Graham Rahal or Scott Dixon or Hideki Mutoh or ?
De Ferran-Simon Pagenaud or ?

Outside chance full-time/part-time entries (11)

Newman/Haas-Robert Doornbos or Simona di Silvestro or John Edwards or Jonathan Summerton or Alex Tagliani or James Hinchcliffe
KV Racing-Townsend Bell or ?
Panther-Adam Carroll or Giorgio Pantano or Alex Lloyd or Wade Cunningham or Pippa Mann
Dreyer & Reinbold-Roger Yasukawa or ?
Conquest-Buddy Rice or ?
Fisher-Darren Manning or ?
Rahal/Letterman-Hideki Mutoh or Ali Jackson or Jonathan Summerton or ?
Highcroft-Darren Manning or Marino Franchitti or ?
Fernandez-Mario Dominquez or Roberto Moreno or David Martinez or ?
Walker-Alex Tagliani or Dillon Battistini or Stefan Wilson or ?
Sam Schmidt-Alex Lloyd or Ana Beatriz

Part-time entries/Indy one-offs (7)

Team 3G-Jaques Lazier or Richard Antinucci or Stanton Barrett
Sam Schmidt-Wad Cunningham or Ana Beatriz or ?
Apex/Kingdom-Davey Hamilton or Brandon Wagner or ?
Herta-James Davison or Daniel Herrington
Richard Petty-John Andretti or ?
American Spirit-Junior Strauss or ?
Hemelgarn-Buddy Lazier or ?

Other names that I've heard mentioned include Nelson Piquet Jr, Pastor Maldonado, Anthony Davidson, Jay Howard, Lucas di Grassi as well as most of the Indy Lights field, Bruno Senna & the usual couple of NASCAR drivers interested at dipping their toes into the series...

[JagtechOhio]

I don't mean to sound too critical, but that reads like alot of sweat for very little substance.

De Ferran and Fernandez would be great additions, I hope they can do the deals.

[Alwaysfirst]

Well the idea of a silly season thread is to gradually sort through the rumours. What is above are the rumours that I've heard. Based on the lsat decade of silly season threads there will be 20 or so pages without a huge amount of substance. Thats just the way it is. I wish I could post the difinative line-up for next year but I can't & we almost certainly won't be able too until the first race next year.

[gomick]

Seems there is no real extra #'s in the series even though there was a merger - 25 cars would be great...

What ever happened to Stoddart's Minardi Team USA?
Will Forsythe ever be back?
KV Racing run 2 cars?

[DanicaFan]

Yeah, that is a lot of work and speculation there. You can eliminate Robert Doornbos from NHL. He is out from NHL now. Most likely will go to HVM for 2010.

As for Dixon, still under contract with Ganassi for 2010, he is not going anywhere.

[JagtechOhio]

Always, thanks for not taking offense, none was intended.

[Mr Pink]

Originally Posted by gomick

Seems there is no real extra #'s in the series even though there was a merger - 25 cars would be great...

What ever happened to Stoddart's Minardi Team USA?
Will Forsythe ever be back?
KV Racing run 2 cars?

Isn't HVM pretty much what used to be MinardiTeam USA? Or have i gotten it wrong?

[F3L]

Originally Posted by Mr Pink

Isn't HVM pretty much what used to be MinardiTeam USA? Or have i gotten it wrong?

It is the one and same and you can see Minardi colours on a Lola ChampCar at theri work shop in Indy. The other thing is that I hear Battistini is close to HVM and has been looking to put together a deal there for a while but lacks funds at the moment. It is real musical chairs with HVM & Conquest. Wonder where Viso will be next year..

[drdisque]

Dan Wheldon has a multiyear contract with Panther. Unless he buys out his contract/mutually parts ways, he will be in that car next year.

Same deal with Dixon - unless someone buys out his contract, he'll be in a Ganassi car next year.

Same deal with Rahal.

No way Doornbos will be with NHL next year. Those 2 Newman Wachs drivers need a year in Indy Lights before they'll be anywhere close to ready for the IndyCar Series.

I think Doornbos will be in the HVM car next year. I doubt Viso's money will hold out next year. The Venezuelan gov't is very short on Dollars and Euros to pay foreign debts and needs every dollar they can get out of PDVSA instead of spending it on racing.

There won't be a second Vision car unless someone brings a check - it won't be any of those drivers you listed.

Dreyer & Reinbold always manages to put a deal together - however I don't think it will be any of the drivers you listed except perhaps Scheckter. I have a feeling that Conway will be gone after this year.

I think there will be a second Coyne car next year. If you have some funding I think it's definitely the best car available for it.

Considering Junior Strous essentially stiffed PDM/American Spirit out of a few thousand dollars, I doubt he'll be driving their IndyCar next year.

[JagtechOhio]

Doc,

You are a window to behind-the-scenes. Any sources you can share? Thanks!

By the way, I just read your signature line. Amen.

[drdisque]

I'm not an insider. I just follow the sport very closely, read between the lines of every press release and driver and team interview, and subscribe to TSO ( http://www.tracksideonline.com )

Every deal makes a lot more sense when you get to know the motives of the people involved.

[JagtechOhio]

Thanks for the resource Doc, that's another new one on me. Money and politics rule every day, don't they?

[Jonerz]

The persistent rumor of Junqi at Conquest is always worth a second look. Former noted "Crapwagoneer" Nelson Phillipe could be "Driving Green" at HVM in '10 to battle for the rookie of the year honors, complete with his tail between his legs.

Chris

[nycuk]

Originally Posted by Jonerz

The persistent rumor of Junqi at Conquest is always worth a second look. Former noted "Crapwagoneer" Nelson Phillipe could be "Driving Green" at HVM in '10 to battle for the rookie of the year honors, complete with his tail between his legs.

Chris

Nelson Phillipe confirmed for selected outings this season with Conquest, ahead of a possible full season next year.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77558

[JagtechOhio]

Nice avitar!

Perhaps it's a picture of Bachelart, saying "I want my money, man".

[Jonerz]

lol I love Stewie!

Chris

[nycuk]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

Nice avitar!

Perhaps it's a picture of Bachelart, saying "I want my money, man".

Ha! You read my mind..!

[Jacques Rabbit]

My speculations:

Full-Time
N/H/L - 1 car - Rahal
LDR - 1 car - Matos
Penske - 2 cars - Castroneves and Briscoe
Panther - 2 cars - Wheldon and Sharp
KV - 1 car - Moraes
AGR - 2 cars - Kanaan and Andretti
Ganassi - 2 cars - Dixon and Franchitti
HVM - 2 cars - Viso and Doornbos
Foyt - 1 car - Meira
Coyne - 1 car - Wilson
Vision - 1 car - Carpenter
DRR - 2 cars - Conway and Scheckter
Conquest - 1 car - Philippe
3G - 1 car - Antinucci
De Ferran - 1 car - Mutoh
Fernandez - 1 car - ??? hopefully RHR but I doubt it
Total: 22 full-time

Part-Time (as in runs more than just Indy)
Penske - 1 car - Power
Fisher - 1 car- Fisher
Total: 2 part-time

[gomick]

What happened to the Pacific Coast Team? that ran Figge & Dalziel in Champcar?

[drdisque]

Originally Posted by gomick

What happened to the Pacific Coast Team? that ran Figge & Dalziel in Champcar?

Read this: http://pacbiztimes.com/index.php?opt...d=881&Itemid=1

[gomick]

Thats a bit of a hard-luck story for Tyler. You dont often hear of the ones who struggle to succeed & then get screwed over.... Glad his family have stuck together!

[JagtechOhio]

De Ferran announced his 2010 entry today, times two

[Alwaysfirst]

De Ferran's announcement is great but as he's also planning on staying in ALMS its less likely that Highcroft etc will come over as they will still have competition, at least on a team level. Whether Acura stays interested is a completly different matter though...

[gomick]

Good news that de Ferran will have 2 cars... Will Rahal Letterman be back?

[csirl]

Any sign of any top class drivers coming into the series? Indycars needs to start attracting some bigger names if it wants to survive long term.

In years gone by, Indycars/Champcars could regularly attract non-US drivers with some F1 experience - usually guys who failed to stick in F1 after a couple of seasons or experienced drivers looking to prolong their careers. Always drivers who were well known and had pedigree.

The current Indycar field seems to lack the talent of yesteryear. The non-US drivers drifting in nowdays arent even 2nd, 3rd or 4th rate - very few have any sort of meaningful pedigree in motor racing.

If teams are going to import drivers, they should be quality drivers. If the teams cant afford quality drivers, then give young American drivers a break. Importing poor drivers only serves to devalue the series.