Barber Test Entry List

[Chamoo]

Link Here (http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2010/BMS_Open_Test_Participant_List_2-22-10.pdf)

[Scotty G.]

TBA always finds multiple rides in this sport, doesn't he/she? ;)

Panther not being on the list, can't be a good sign for them. Don't give me the stuff about Sebring either.

Panther was a TG team and are probably struggling with funding.

[chuck34]

What's up with Andretti Autosport number their entries? I've never seen that done before. Why tell the world how you rank your drivers?

And If I was Kanaan I'd be royally p!ssed to be number 3!

[Chamoo]

What's up with Andretti Autosport number their entries? I've never seen that done before. Why tell the world how you rank your drivers?

And If I was Kanaan I'd be royally p!ssed to be number 3!

It could have something to do with paddock placement? I'm not sure, but that was the first thing that came to mind. Does anyone else have any ideas?

[chuck34]

It could have something to do with paddock placement? I'm not sure, but that was the first thing that came to mind. Does anyone else have any ideas?

Could be, but other teams with multiple entries don't have that (Penske, Ganassi, etc)

[NickFalzone]

I think the numbering is simply a reference to how much sponsorship the driver brings. More sponsorship = better racecar.

[speeddurango]

I don't know how you can get a "better race car" out of a spec car. I mean, certainly setup wise better teams know better, but they're essentially in the same team anyway. The number does show the importance of each driver in their team in terms of their maketing value, but really, this is not F1, not in a situation in which a better driver has the priority in using the limited updated parts. Because this is a spec series.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I don't know how you can get a "better race car" out of a spec car. I mean, certainly setup wise better teams know better, but they're essentially in the same team anyway. The number does show the importance of each driver in their team in terms of their maketing value, but really, this is not F1, not in a situation in which a better driver has the priority in using the limited updated parts. Because this is a spec series.

Kanaan does most of the setup for all the teams with Andretti...so I suppose regardless of sponsorship, he is the man there...

[Refutation]

TBA always finds multiple rides in this sport, doesn't he/she? ;)

Panther not being on the list, can't be a good sign for them. Don't give me the stuff about Sebring either.

Panther was a TG team and are probably struggling with funding.

They will be at Sebring, the weather in Alabama is **** this week, so it's probably the better move.

[DanicaFan]

Due to the colder than normal temperatures predicted at Barber this week, FAZZT have opted out of the open tests. They will be at the media day today but no testing. They say they are satisfied with the testing done at Sebring and Homestead in January.

I also heard that Dan Wheldon with Panther Racing will be testing there Friday and Saturday this week instead.

[DanicaFan]

Correction, Dan Wheldon will be testing at Sebring this weekend, not Barber.

[bblocker68]

Anyone firm up the plans on Jonathan Summerton?? He says he'll be there. I thought he was going to Formula 2 to earn his superlicense. Does this mean his ties with USF1's future have been severed? Then again, USF1 has a ton of other things to worry about right now.

[Chamoo]

Anyone firm up the plans on Jonathan Summerton?? He says he'll be there. I thought he was going to Formula 2 to earn his superlicense. Does this mean his ties with USF1's future have been severed? Then again, USF1 has a ton of other things to worry about right now.

USF1 has no future to speak of. I think he has realized that.

[vintage]

On his twitter Summerton is talking about potentially going to Barber, and still thinking about F2 and GP3. I'm guessing he has nothing solid right now, much like others we're discussing. Too bad he's not Brazillian!

[Chamoo]

On his twitter Summerton is talking about potentially going to Barber, and still thinking about F2 and GP3. I'm guessing he has nothing solid right now, much like others we're discussing. Too bad he's not Brazillian!

Just said he wouldn't be testing at Barber because it is too cold, but said he is waiting to see where he will be testing.

[jwhite9185]

Interesting to see a third KV car - Curt Cavin is reporting it will be PT in it.

[Chamoo]

Interesting to see a third KV car - Curt Cavin is reporting it will be PT in it.

Where is he reporting that? He has said that Rossiter is currently a test driver, waiting for the cheque to clear before he can take the third car.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Interesting to see a third KV car - Curt Cavin is reporting it will be PT in it.

Someone ought to notify PT. He was on with Dave Despain on Wind Tunnel Sunday and he said he is right now only getting the Canadian dates and the Indy 500.

[Chamoo]

Someone ought to notify PT. He was on with Dave Despain on Wind Tunnel Sunday and he said he is right now only getting the Canadian dates and the Indy 500.

Someone should notify Curt Cavin what he is reporting lol.

[jwhite9185]

Where is he reporting that? He has said that Rossiter is currently a test driver, waiting for the cheque to clear before he can take the third car.

Cavins twitter post:


KV has 2.5 cars right now (Sato, Viso and Tracy). Rossiter is a test driver, which means his check hasn't cleared.

As there is 3 cars listed for KV with TBA as the driver i guess it could be either Rossiter or PT in the car.

[SUBARUTEAM]

good to see 22 cars testing, plus panther to make 23.
not too bad, we have seen worse in the past - particular with some champcar pre season tests when 10 or 11 cars show up.

[Chamoo]

Cavins twitter post:



As there is 3 cars listed for KV with TBA as the driver i guess it could be either Rossiter or PT in the car.

It will be Rossiter. KVRT are referring to him as a test driver right now as he will be in the third car for KVRT this week.

They are simply waiting for his cheque to clear before signing him.

[Scotty G.]

From his twitter, PT is pissed. :eek:

Can't say I blame him and I agree with him on this issue.

[TURN3]

Yes he is. And Oriol has his back...haven't followed Graham for awhile to get his take. I did send an email with my displeasure to Indycar media relations today.

I'm fine with all these no names and uninteresting drivers getting rides. The problem I have is that it should be in addition to talent and personality. Instead of being the back bone of the series I'd rather see them as role players. Even in baseball you have the Pirates and Royals...if you had no Yankees and Red Sox the interest level goes way down.

[Mark in Oshawa]

The problem is no one wants to pay to put PT behind the wheel, or Graham Rahal. It is NOT the IRL's job to tell sponsors who to sponsor, nor team owners to NOT take money to have PT drive while VISO stands there with a 6 million dollar check.

The fact is this sport is living on bread crumbs, so when the dull Euro or Brazilian has money, they give him the ride.

Is it stupid? OH ya, they will not have the attraction by way of personalities if this continues but the sad truth is something has to change in the economics of this sport. I cant blame Carl Haas for selling the seat if he wants to keep the doors open or ditto for Vasser and Kalkoven. If the IRL has the power and muscle to get PT into a car, or Graham Into a car, then they need the cash. As we saw this last year, we are living in the era where the bottom line is king now at the IRL, and if Spending money on putting drivers Americans like was the key, then TG is an idiot because he had the opportunity and chose to put his unknown son in a car 2 years ago. I don't believe Tony is a total idiot, but the fact is the IRL had the opportunity to put drivers people LIKED into rides if they wanted to spend the money while they still had ratings and didn't do it and THAT is because this sport HAS to survive on its merits. IT cannot be a socialized welfare plan for American or Canadian Drivers.

[TURN3]

The problem is no one wants to pay to put PT behind the wheel, or Graham Rahal. It is NOT the IRL's job to tell sponsors who to sponsor, nor team owners to NOT take money to have PT drive while VISO stands there with a 6 million dollar check.

The fact is this sport is living on bread crumbs, so when the dull Euro or Brazilian has money, they give him the ride.

Is it stupid? OH ya, they will not have the attraction by way of personalities if this continues but the sad truth is something has to change in the economics of this sport. I cant blame Carl Haas for selling the seat if he wants to keep the doors open or ditto for Vasser and Kalkoven. If the IRL has the power and muscle to get PT into a car, or Graham Into a car, then they need the cash. As we saw this last year, we are living in the era where the bottom line is king now at the IRL, and if Spending money on putting drivers Americans like was the key, then TG is an idiot because he had the opportunity and chose to put his unknown son in a car 2 years ago. I don't believe Tony is a total idiot, but the fact is the IRL had the opportunity to put drivers people LIKED into rides if they wanted to spend the money while they still had ratings and didn't do it and THAT is because this sport HAS to survive on its merits. IT cannot be a socialized welfare plan for American or Canadian Drivers.

You are correct. You are carrying on my point in a way that makes sense. It isn't the Indycar's job to tell sponsors who to sponsor. I know the policy has gone away from subsidizing drivers and teams but frankly if they don't put some drivers in seats, Indycar cannot survive. Let the ride buyers come as they have but now as a business you can see where you have holes. A giant hole is Rahal, obviously. The league should step in and say, wait, we cannot sell our product without these missing ingredients. Ditto for Tracy...he's been out of a full time ride for 2 years and he's probably the 2nd most popular active driver to The Danica. I think under these circumstances, the league needs to see it is in their best interest to put what the fans want to see into the mix...a handful of them not just Rahal and Tracy...there has to be enough ROI to run 4 or 5 legit drivers on various teams. I cannot believe the revenues wouldn't increase. Just looking at the races Tracy was in last year, the ratings spiked over same race previous year without him. He in particular puts fans in seats and I think if Rahal isn't in a ride there will be fans that don't show up this year. I know I'm not wrong, so why is it so hard for the league to invest in? Hope I'm making some sense of my point.

[Scotty G.]

TG is an idiot because he had the opportunity and chose to put his unknown son in a car 2 years ago. I don't believe Tony is a total idiot, but the fact is the IRL had the opportunity to put drivers people LIKED into rides if they wanted to spend the money while they still had ratings and didn't do it and THAT is because this sport HAS to survive on its merits.


TG at least put drivers like Townsend Bell, Tomas Scheckter, AJ Foyt IV, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Davey Hamilton in cars in the past few years. And helped countless others (who shall remain nameless, but we can probably guess who they were) race for other teams.

That is a hell of a lot more then most of these owners have done.

[Chamoo]

TG at least put drivers like Townsend Bell, Tomas Scheckter, AJ Foyt IV, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Davey Hamilton in cars in the past few years. And helped countless others (who shall remain nameless, but we can probably guess who they were) race for other teams.

He did do that, and unfortunately in this economy, it needs to be done again. If IMS doesn't really understand this, they are to realize they won't have a series much longer.

Personally, I would had loved to see Izod go to their parent company PVH and try to get Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, Bass, and some of their license brands to piece together 2 or 3 full time drives for guys like Graham Rahal, Paul Tracy, J.R. Hildebrand and finish off the RHR ride at AA.

I wonder if this was something that was attempted. I would think it would be a win-win for PVH to demand their brands sponsor an Indycar. It would help Izod grow the Izod Indycar Series with what is essentially PVH funds, and the brands that did sponsor would get pretty good treatment and a decent ROI.

[TURN3]

He did do that, and unfortunately in this economy, it needs to be done again. If IMS doesn't really understand this, they are to realize they won't have a series much longer.

Personally, I would had loved to see Izod go to their parent company PVH and try to get Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, Bass, and some of their license brands to piece together 2 or 3 full time drives for guys like Graham Rahal, Paul Tracy, J.R. Hildebrand and finish off the RHR ride at AA.

I wonder if this was something that was attempted. I would think it would be a win-win for PVH to demand their brands sponsor an Indycar. It would help Izod grow the Izod Indycar Series with what is essentially PVH funds, and the brands that did sponsor would get pretty good treatment and a decent ROI.

Seems we are on the same page. Nice way of justifying this too...with the various brand names. Excellent idea.

[garyshell]

TG at least put drivers like Townsend Bell, Tomas Scheckter, AJ Foyt IV, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Davey Hamilton in cars in the past few years. And helped countless others (who shall remain nameless, but we can probably guess who they were) race for other teams.

That is a hell of a lot more then most of these owners have done.

However let's be clear here, he did so as a series owner using his families reserves as much as he did this as a team owner.

Gary

[Mark in Oshawa]

I don't disagree with the fact PT and Graham NEED to be part of the picture, but Tony proved it didn't work.

Scott's point was that Tony put all those guys in rides or helped them. THAT is great, but look at all those names...and how many of those move the needle emotionally or figuratively? IT DOESN'T WORK to subsidize people because of their passports for rides. How many Ameircans tuned in to watch Townsend Bell? Nobody outside of friends and family. Davey and RHR? Ryan maybe...but still, if RHR isn't driving tomorrow, would anyone stop watching?

PT isn't there, and he is probably not half the driver he used to be, but what he did was more promotion. No one promoted the series and stirred up the press like PT. Yet HE Cannot get a sponsor. Face the reality guys, it is a real mugs game to subsidize guys you want with the faint hope of getting more ratings. Racing is a business, and a cruel one at that. The economics of this series do NOT make sense and havne't for a decade due to the stupidity of people running the sport. Subsidizing young Graham ( the one guy I would think the IRL would try to help if they had some spare cash )isn't going to change the dynamic. The only way out is a cheaper formula to run coupled with a healthier economy and interesting racing. If the show is dull, it don't matter, and face it, the racing has been fair at best for many races in the last 2 years.

[gofastandwynn]

However let's be clear here, he did so as a series owner using his families reserves as much as he did this as a team owner.

Gary

And to add to the point that Bell & Hamilton both brought Sponsorship along with them (Rock & Republic and HP, which is funny since they are american but they can get sponsors to step up for them).

And Cavin has said that Coyne wants to put Rahal in the Boy Scouts car, but Graham only wants a 1 year deal while Coyne wants 2, so my sympathy for Rahal is a little bit short, plus is look like J.R. Hildebrand will get that ride.

Plus per Simona De Silvestro's facebook account "Can't wait to be back in the team stargate worlds/ HVM indycar tomorrow!!!"

Honestly what the series needs now is purely cash, it need a influx of cash to spend to get drivers in cars so they can be sponsored at discount rates (but that can hurt teams in the long run too).

But as Mark said, since TG is gone it is all about the bottom line for the Hulman-George family right now ad they are not willing to spend $15-20 million a year to get these drivers rides when they haven't exactly improved the ratings & attendance when they were running in the past.

[Scotty G.]

Scott's point was that Tony put all those guys in rides or helped them. THAT is great, but look at all those names...and how many of those move the needle emotionally or figuratively? IT DOESN'T WORK to subsidize people because of their passports for rides. How many Ameircans tuned in to watch Townsend Bell? Nobody outside of friends and family. Davey and RHR? Ryan maybe...but still, if RHR isn't driving tomorrow, would anyone stop watching?




The point Mark, is that Tony at least tried to put some interesting drivers in his cars over the years.

And putting Townsend Bell or Davey Hamilton in a car, won't automatically change things overnight. Won't even do it in a year.

But if you keep a Bell or a RHR (who will be on his 4th team in 2 years) or a Foyt IV or a Rice and about 10 other American drivers in the sport OVER A PERIOD OF TIME, market them (because you know they will be here long-term) and have a few of them have some success (like a Hornish or a Allmendinger did), then Americans would start to take notice.

This is a process. Its a process that this sport has royally botched for YEARS and are paying the price for now.

Having so few Americans in either Indy Car or Indy Lights this year, just shows the sad state this sport is in and how long it will take to dig out. But it better start with what I talked about above. Because if it doesn't, its never coming back.

[Scotty G.]

And Cavin has said that Coyne wants to put Rahal in the Boy Scouts car, but Graham only wants a 1 year deal while Coyne wants 2, so my sympathy for Rahal is a little bit short, plus is look like J.R. Hildebrand will get that ride.




The Coyne rides are nowhere near as good as they were even last year. I don't blame Rahal and Hildebrand for turning them down. Coyne's team could be resorting back to backmarker status. You don't take Duno's cash, unless you are desperate.

[Chamoo]

I think if there is any year to pump cash into PT and Graham it is this year. This is the year Izod will be pumping major advertising into the series. This will be the first time in IRL history that the drivers will be marketed to the people, and if you let Izod put these guys in the public eye, then this will be a major positive.

If we don't show an improvement with Izod this year, Izod does have out-clauses. We can't let that happen.

[V12]

It will be Rossiter. KVRT are referring to him as a test driver right now as he will be in the third car for KVRT this week.

They are simply waiting for his cheque to clear before signing him.

A Brit with money?! :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Placid]

We were hoping for John Edwards to enter the Indy Lights. Instead, he has jump ship to Grand Am.

We hope this does not happen to Hildebrand. Indy Car needs more US drivers.