bblocker68
1st March 2011, 19:04
Twitter said Sam just bought the team via Curt Cavin.
Here's the story from SpeedTV:
One of the best stories of the 2010 IZOD INDYCAR season was a one-car team with a veteran cast and a tiny budget.
And one of the rumors that wouldn’t go away during the past few months was that the FAZZT Race Team might not be able to answer the bell in 2011.
But it appears Alex Tagliani, Rob Edwards and Allan MacDonald have been rescued by longtime Indy Lights owner Sam Schmidt, who is believed to be making a deal to buy this operation.
“All I can tell you is that the No. 77 car will be driven by me all year and there are lots of good things happening,” said Tagliani late Monday night from his home in Indianapolis.
“We’ve been able to keep our whole team in tact and I’m excited to be with such a good group and to have Allan as my engineer for two years in a row.”
Asked if Schmidt was, indeed, the new owner, Tags replied:
“There has been a high level of interest from Sam to get into Indy car and he’s looked at us very seriously.”
It’s not known if original owner Andre Azzi will remain involved or if the team will sport a new name.
Sam Schmidt, left, has turned his SSM operation into an Indy Lights powerhouse. Could the ex-racer now be positioned to take an ownership stake in Tagliani's IndyCar team? (LAT)
Schmidt, whose team captured last year’s Lights’ crown with J.K. Vernay, could not be reached for comment but team manager Edwards was in Las Vegas last week negotiating with the former Indy car driver who was paralyzed in 2000.
Sam Schmidt Motorsports is fielding four cars in the 2011 Lights campaign out of his shop and its likely Tag’s operation will remain in the Indy shop they opened last year.
Schmidt announced last week he would field a car at Indy for Jay Howard but it’s not known whether that will be farmed out to Bobby Rahal or Howard will now run as a teammate to Tagliani. Schmidt will run Townsend Bell at Indy for the second consecutive year, and will also field a car for 2005 Indy Lights champion Wade Cunningham at three rounds.
Despite being a new, one-car team (except for Indianapolis), FAZZT came out of the gate in impressive form last year as Tag qualified on the outside of the front row in the season opener at Brazil. He started eighth at St. Pete, seventh at Long Beach and fifth at Kansas City.
But the team’s best showing came last May when the 38-year-old veteran qualified fifth and broke up the Penske/Ganassi party. Bruno Junquiera made the show on the second day in the second FAZZT car and started 25th while posting the seventh-fastest speed
.
Tagliani led 33 laps at Texas and 30 more at Mid-Ohio where he had a season-best finish of fourth place.
Schmidt last fielded a full-time IRL entry in 2001 with drivers Davey Hamilton, Alex Barron, Richie Hearn, Jaques Lazier and Anthony Lazzaro.
Here's the story from SpeedTV:
One of the best stories of the 2010 IZOD INDYCAR season was a one-car team with a veteran cast and a tiny budget.
And one of the rumors that wouldn’t go away during the past few months was that the FAZZT Race Team might not be able to answer the bell in 2011.
But it appears Alex Tagliani, Rob Edwards and Allan MacDonald have been rescued by longtime Indy Lights owner Sam Schmidt, who is believed to be making a deal to buy this operation.
“All I can tell you is that the No. 77 car will be driven by me all year and there are lots of good things happening,” said Tagliani late Monday night from his home in Indianapolis.
“We’ve been able to keep our whole team in tact and I’m excited to be with such a good group and to have Allan as my engineer for two years in a row.”
Asked if Schmidt was, indeed, the new owner, Tags replied:
“There has been a high level of interest from Sam to get into Indy car and he’s looked at us very seriously.”
It’s not known if original owner Andre Azzi will remain involved or if the team will sport a new name.
Sam Schmidt, left, has turned his SSM operation into an Indy Lights powerhouse. Could the ex-racer now be positioned to take an ownership stake in Tagliani's IndyCar team? (LAT)
Schmidt, whose team captured last year’s Lights’ crown with J.K. Vernay, could not be reached for comment but team manager Edwards was in Las Vegas last week negotiating with the former Indy car driver who was paralyzed in 2000.
Sam Schmidt Motorsports is fielding four cars in the 2011 Lights campaign out of his shop and its likely Tag’s operation will remain in the Indy shop they opened last year.
Schmidt announced last week he would field a car at Indy for Jay Howard but it’s not known whether that will be farmed out to Bobby Rahal or Howard will now run as a teammate to Tagliani. Schmidt will run Townsend Bell at Indy for the second consecutive year, and will also field a car for 2005 Indy Lights champion Wade Cunningham at three rounds.
Despite being a new, one-car team (except for Indianapolis), FAZZT came out of the gate in impressive form last year as Tag qualified on the outside of the front row in the season opener at Brazil. He started eighth at St. Pete, seventh at Long Beach and fifth at Kansas City.
But the team’s best showing came last May when the 38-year-old veteran qualified fifth and broke up the Penske/Ganassi party. Bruno Junquiera made the show on the second day in the second FAZZT car and started 25th while posting the seventh-fastest speed
.
Tagliani led 33 laps at Texas and 30 more at Mid-Ohio where he had a season-best finish of fourth place.
Schmidt last fielded a full-time IRL entry in 2001 with drivers Davey Hamilton, Alex Barron, Richie Hearn, Jaques Lazier and Anthony Lazzaro.