There's not much left for one to say about the team that has won the past two IZOD IndyCar Series championships, or the drivers that have combined for the past three, other than the fact that winning is no longer an achievement, it's expected. Such is the case for Chip Ganassi Racing and drivers Scott Dixon (2008 champion) and Dario Franchitti (2007 and 2009 champion).
Ganassi cars won 10 of the series' 17 races last year and took 1-2 in the final standings, with Franchitti on top despite missing a year of competition in a failed NASCAR experiment. The title fight went down to the wire at Homestead, where Franchitti took the honors by conserving more fuel than his teammate - exactly how things played out in 2007 when the two drove for different teams. For the fourth consecutive year, neither Ganassi car finished worse than fourth in points, and for the first time, both Ganassi drivers eclipsed the 600-point total. All in all, the team had a dominant season.
There's not much to say about Ganassi, except that many are hoping he can put together a third full-time car for Graham Rahal. Ganassi admits to having tried to do so, but has cautioned that he isn't made of money. Rahal's sponsor last year, McDonald's, did join Ganassi in NASCAR, however, so there is the distinct possibility that he could pull some strings to reunite the two.
No third car at Ganassi has ever been quite as strong as the first two, but it'd be difficult anyway when the other two cars carry as much clout as Ganassi's lead teams. They may not finish 1-2 again this year, but neither will be any worse than outside the top five, so don't expect much change at the top. Many are saying that the title is Franchitti's to lose, after his successful "defense" despite a yearlong break. He could easily become the first driver to win back-to-back IndyCar titles since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2001 and 2002.
Showing posts with label Sam Hornish Jr.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sam Hornish Jr.. Show all posts
Saturday, March 13, 2010
IndyCar Season Preview: Team Penske
It's hard to believe that the mighty Team Penske has not won an IZOD IndyCar Series championship since 2006, when the since-NASCAR bound Sam Hornish Jr. took the honors in a tiebreaker. Now four years removed from that championship, the Penske operation is hungrier than ever for victory.
As such, Roger Penske has made the decision to expand to a three-car operation for the first time since the team's dominance in 1994. Will Power will join longtime Penske mainstays Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves in a third car, created when Penske shut down its sports car operation.
Power joined the team on a limited basis last year, originally to drive its lead No. 3 Dallara-Honda while Castroneves sorted out legal issues, but that lasted only one race. Penske, seeing Power's talent and cognizant of his 2008 win at Long Beach, put him in a car for that race and the Indianapolis 500. Power came close to winning both races, leading the Captain to further expand his program until an incident during practice at Infineon knocked him out for the year.
Castroneves' highlight upon returning to race action was his third career Indianapolis 500 victory, but it was Briscoe that led Penske for most of the year. A highly consistent season bolstered by three wins and eight runner-up finishes put the Aussie in the title hunt all year, but another mediocre finish at Indy and driver error at Motegi eventually gave the title away. Regardless, many view Briscoe as the lead driver at Penske this year, with Power perhaps the number two.
An additional car and changes in the driver hierarchy are not all that's new at Penske. The 20-year partnership with Marlboro/Philip Morris/Altria is now officially over, and the team will run a new livery this year that is primarily white and black. While it has been a few years since a primary sponsor's name actually appeared on the No. 3 and No. 6 cars, Team Penske's Tim Cindric has never been actively searching for a primary sponsor for the team until now. (Power is backed by Verizon Wireless and is exempt from the search.)
It will be no shock if Penske teams take three of the top five positions in points this year, or finally break through to win Penske's second IRL-sanctioned championship. All three Penske cars paced the field in preseason testing, with Power generally the fastest. The two Aussies may take the fight hard to the rest of the pack for the championship.
As such, Roger Penske has made the decision to expand to a three-car operation for the first time since the team's dominance in 1994. Will Power will join longtime Penske mainstays Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves in a third car, created when Penske shut down its sports car operation.
Power joined the team on a limited basis last year, originally to drive its lead No. 3 Dallara-Honda while Castroneves sorted out legal issues, but that lasted only one race. Penske, seeing Power's talent and cognizant of his 2008 win at Long Beach, put him in a car for that race and the Indianapolis 500. Power came close to winning both races, leading the Captain to further expand his program until an incident during practice at Infineon knocked him out for the year.
Castroneves' highlight upon returning to race action was his third career Indianapolis 500 victory, but it was Briscoe that led Penske for most of the year. A highly consistent season bolstered by three wins and eight runner-up finishes put the Aussie in the title hunt all year, but another mediocre finish at Indy and driver error at Motegi eventually gave the title away. Regardless, many view Briscoe as the lead driver at Penske this year, with Power perhaps the number two.
An additional car and changes in the driver hierarchy are not all that's new at Penske. The 20-year partnership with Marlboro/Philip Morris/Altria is now officially over, and the team will run a new livery this year that is primarily white and black. While it has been a few years since a primary sponsor's name actually appeared on the No. 3 and No. 6 cars, Team Penske's Tim Cindric has never been actively searching for a primary sponsor for the team until now. (Power is backed by Verizon Wireless and is exempt from the search.)
It will be no shock if Penske teams take three of the top five positions in points this year, or finally break through to win Penske's second IRL-sanctioned championship. All three Penske cars paced the field in preseason testing, with Power generally the fastest. The two Aussies may take the fight hard to the rest of the pack for the championship.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
IndyCar.com Undergoes Overhaul
IndyCar.com, the official website of the Indy Racing League, is currently offline for a major redesign and overhaul.
When users visit the site, they are greeted by a splash page for the IZOD IndyCar Series that says "Coming Soon: The new IndyCar.com website will be rolling out of the paddock shortly."
The new website is being built by RacerSites.com, which specializes in designing websites for race drivers and teams. Their homepage features a revolving portfolio of their work, showcasing some of the best websites in the motorsports world. Among the drivers and teams with IndyCar connections featured on their front page are Vision Racing, three-time IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr., and Graham Rahal.
Other IndyCar-related sites in their portfolio belong to Chip Ganassi Racing, Panther Racing, Team Penske, new Firestone Indy Lights team Wayne Taylor Racing, and Al Unser Jr., a two-time open wheel champion with 34 career wins to his name.
The redesign of the website coincides with the implementation of a new IndyCar Race Control engine, which underwent bug testing this past week as the IndyCar Series had its season-opening test session. The timing and scoring tracker should be fully functional and error-free in time for the start of the season in two weeks' time.
When users visit the site, they are greeted by a splash page for the IZOD IndyCar Series that says "Coming Soon: The new IndyCar.com website will be rolling out of the paddock shortly."
The new website is being built by RacerSites.com, which specializes in designing websites for race drivers and teams. Their homepage features a revolving portfolio of their work, showcasing some of the best websites in the motorsports world. Among the drivers and teams with IndyCar connections featured on their front page are Vision Racing, three-time IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr., and Graham Rahal.
Other IndyCar-related sites in their portfolio belong to Chip Ganassi Racing, Panther Racing, Team Penske, new Firestone Indy Lights team Wayne Taylor Racing, and Al Unser Jr., a two-time open wheel champion with 34 career wins to his name.
The redesign of the website coincides with the implementation of a new IndyCar Race Control engine, which underwent bug testing this past week as the IndyCar Series had its season-opening test session. The timing and scoring tracker should be fully functional and error-free in time for the start of the season in two weeks' time.
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