2012 Silly Season Thread

[DanicaFan]

Not sure if there was one started yet so I figured I would get one going. It's definitely that time of year again.

I will first list the confirmed drivers and teams and then a list of speculations. Feel free to add any new developments or updates here too.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing - (Honda Engines) Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, G2(satellite team) - Graham Rahal, Charlie Kimball

Team Penske -(Chevrolet Engines) Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Will Power

Andretti Autosport - (Chevrolet Engines) Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay

Panther Racing -(Chevrolet Engines) JR Hildebrand

Sam Schmidt Racing -(Honda Engines) Simon Pagenaud

HVM Racing -(Lotus Engines) Simona De Silvestro

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing - Josef Newgarden

AJ Foyt Racing -(Honda Engines) Mike Conway

KV Racing Technology -(Chevrolet Engines) Tony Kanaan

Ed Carpenter Racing - Ed Carpenter

Bryan Herta Autosport -(Lotus Engines) Alex Tagliani


Teams with unconfirmed drivers at this time are..

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing -(Lotus Engines) Rumor has Katerine Legge driving for them with Truecar.com as the sponsor.

Dale Coyne Racing - Hopes to return with 2 full-time cars. James Jakes & Sebastien Bourdais highly probable.

Michael Shank Racing -(Lotus Engines) Plans unknown.

Conquest Racing -(Lotus Engines) Plans unknown.

Dragon Racing -(Chevrolet Engines) Plans unknown.

[DanicaFan]

There are quite a few drivers still in the hunt...

Justin Wilson - Could be back with Dreyer & Reinbold, he is sought after pretty strong rite now.
Oriol Servia
James Hinchcliffe
Ana Beatriz
Pippa Mann
Paul Tracy
Vitor Meira
Tomas Scheckter
Jay Howard
EJ Viso
Sebastian Saavedra
Takuma Sato
Townsend Bell

[DanicaFan]

Also Ryan Briscoe will bearing the #2 on his indycar next year, no more #6.

[heliocastroneves#3]

Hope Vitor Meira and Tomas Scheckter will go to KV.

[chuck34]

Also Ryan Briscoe will bearing the #2 on his indycar next year, no more #6.

Why no #6? Hasn't that been a Penske number for a looooong time?

[00steven]

I believe Sato will be in a Rahal car and Hinch will go to AA. As for Justin Wilson???

[DanicaFan]

Why no #6? Hasn't that been a Penske number for a looooong time?

Ryan also got a new engineer and Penske wanted to use the #2 again. They have used that number in the past.

[00steven]

Ryan also got a new engineer and Penske wanted to use the #2 again. They have used that number in the past.
Penske has used 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,12,17,31,66,68, and those are just the ones off the top of my head! So, it's not uncommon for Roger to do this sort of thing.

[chuck34]

Penske has used 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,12,17,31,66,68, and those are just the ones off the top of my head! So, it's not uncommon for Roger to do this sort of thing.

Yeah, I know he's used lots of numbers. But I thought 6 was his (Penske's) number. I'm thinking back to the Donohue days, and my minds eye is always picturing his cars with 6 or 66 on them. It's not really a big deal in the scheme of things, just sort of curious to me. Oh well.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Ryan also got a new engineer and Penske wanted to use the #2 again. They have used that number in the past.

Could it be that Miller wants to extend it's Penske sponsorship into IndyCar?

[DanicaFan]

Justin Wilson has signed with Dale Coyne Racing.

[DanicaFan]

James Hinchcliffe also has signed with Andretti Autosport and will be driving the GoDaddy car.

He has big, big shoes to fill in this ride.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

What does the mayor of Hinchtown think about SOPA? :) Just kidding. Great news if confirmed.

[00steven]

James Hinchcliffe also has signed with Andretti Autosport and will be driving the GoDaddy car.

He has big, big shoes to fill in this ride.

I hope your referring to the late great Dan Wheldon.

[jwhite9185]

Justin Wilson has signed with Dale Coyne Racing.

Figured he would end up back at DRR. Guess that means Sebass won't be back (or going elsewhere) as apparently Jakes has signed for DCR too.

[DanicaFan]

I hope your referring to the late great Dan Wheldon.

No, referring to Danica, the GoDaddy car was her ride.

[SarahFan]

Silly

[heliocastroneves#3]

No, referring to Danica, the GoDaddy car was her ride.

You better refer that to Dan Wheldon, who has gotten 5 poles, 16 wins, 1 championship and 2 Indy 500 wins in his career. That's way better then Danica who was 3 poles, 1 win, a best championship finish of 5th and a best Indy 500 finish of 3rd. I'm not sure if James will be doing that good in his debut year at AA, but he will win many races in the future I think. Also we have to mention, Wheldon won the first ever road course event in the IndyCar Series, and Danica only managed to finish second once due the mistakes of others, and qualified twice on the front row, because she used power steering. :rolleyes:

[SoCalPVguy]

James Hinchcliffe also has signed with Andretti Autosport and will be driving the GoDaddy car. He has big, big shoes to fill in this ride.

Actually they are tiny little shoes to fill.. all he has to to is win twice in 10 YEARS and he will be 100% better than the predecessor... LOL

[SarahFan]

^exactly

[heliocastroneves#3]

Yup, this is the hard truth for Danica fans hehe. When I was a Danica fan sometime ago, and when I was even a member on her fansite (godanica7[dot]com), I also was sometimes saying things like this, and everyone started to talk about her like she is as good as drivers like Senna, Prost or whatever. Freaks. It's even weird how you can get such obsessed by a car number xD.

Ok, enough bashed on Danica for today, lets hope Hinchcliffe will do a good job at AA. Is it already March 25? :D

[DBell]

Figured he would end up back at DRR. Guess that means Sebass won't be back (or going elsewhere) as apparently Jakes has signed for DCR too.

I've read that Puegot want Bourdais to continue with them and have offered him a very nice contract. I bet he signs, if he hasn't already, and it'll be simular to last year, in that any IC races he does will have to work around Puegot schedule.

[Mad_Hatter]

Servia close to DRR deal (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-servia-close-to-dreyer-reinbold-contract/)

Tagliani signs with Bryan Herta Autosport (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96925)

With these two potential combos, who's your preseason front running Lotus Squad so far?


I say, it depends on what kind of engineering dept. DRR returns with for the '12 season. Larry Curry(?) was let go sometime late last year.



Also, there are "rumors" that PT is heading to a team with a bowtie, fwiw...

[Mad_Hatter]

Bad Azz Wilson back to Coyne (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-justin-wilson-returning-to-coyne/) along with Bill Pappas. This is the same combination that won a couple of seasons ago at DCR.

[DanicaFan]

Old news MadHatter, sorry. I already posted about these signings on page 1.

[nigelred5]

So how long before Go Daddy rolls out the "Who's Your DADDY" campaign with Hinch ;)

Danica, in her 7th Idycar season, with one more race, in a very well financed team only finished 12 points ahead of Hinch, in an underfinanced NewmanHaas car in his rookie season. Coincidentally, both drivers finished 12th in their rookie seasons. Hinch will do just fine filling her shoes in the race car. I just hope to #e!! The Go Daddy getups are larger. I really don't want to see Hinch in heels, but I have a very strong feeling with GoDaddy and his sense of humor that's probably coming considering they have repeatedly waived the bikini's in front of Danica in the commercials. ;)

Thanks for the memories Danica....NOW, can we finally move on.

[garyshell]

Old news MadHatter, sorry. I already posted about these signings on page 1.


Well goodie for you. When did this become a contest. BTW if you bothered to even look at the links Madhatter provided, you'd see that the one about Tags was the official announcement of his signing.

Gary

[SarahFan]

Old news MadHatter, sorry. I already posted about these signings on page 1.

You daMan dfan!!

Way to keep everyone on their toes around this place!!!!

Your get my vote for "KING" of the board

[DBell]

Speed says Servia is on his way to Indy for a physical and to sign a contract with DDR. Not the best team, but at least it looks like he'll have a full time ride.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-servia-close-to-dreyer-reinbold-contract/

[DanicaFan]

Speed says Servia is on his way to Indy for a physical and to sign a contract with DDR. Not the best team, but at least it looks like he'll have a full time ride.

AUTO RACING - INDYCAR: Servia Close To Dreyer & Reinbold Contract (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-servia-close-to-dreyer-reinbold-contract/)

Servia deserves a full time ride.

[heliocastroneves#3]

But Scheckter as well! Sadly it's gonna be another part time season for the South African I guess. :(

[DanicaFan]

I like Hinchcliffe but that will always be Danica's GoDaddy car. :(

[heliocastroneves#3]

Well, when I did copy/paste your sentence in word, it asked me to change "Danica's" to "Dan's". The spell control option in Word isn't as bad as I always thought.


Good luck Hinchy!

[Mad_Hatter]

Dfan, yeah I missed your posts, but it's not exactly the same bits... Let's move on.


It's good to see much more hiring based on merit in the paddock.

[00steven]

Good to see Servia get a seat after the great season he had. Looks like he may be paired with Legge, so at least D&R is trying to keep it interesting.

Also, I think it's a great move for Wilson to go back to Coyne. I just hope it's not at the expense of Seabass...

[nigelred5]

I like Hinchcliffe but that will always be Danica's GoDaddy car. :(

Sorry, She's never driven the new car.

Dude, seriously. get over it. Aren't they tripping all over themself about her in the nationwide series forums or something. ;)

[heliocastroneves#3]

And with saying that, Hinch is going to drive the #27 and not the #7. Hope the #7 will ever be for a woman like de Silvestro. Would be awesome if a girl with car number 7 starts to win a lot. :)

Has Servia been confirmed at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, anyway? I had the hope he could go to another team, after the great season he drove.

[DanicaFan]

Here is Dario Franchitti's livery on a 2012 oval setup car. Im not impressed with it. It's very plain.

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/DanicaRules/dario2012.jpg

[heliocastroneves#3]

It's kind of what I expected. Many liveries of 2011 will be just the same this year, but then inverted on the new DW12 chassis.

Here's Hildebrand's car anyway:

http://www.openwheelworld.net/photos/original/oBD6tQMh19689.jpg

[SarahFan]

Will PT land a ride today?

[heliocastroneves#3]

My guess, as for Scheckter.... A full time ride? No! It's sad, I know.

[DanicaFan]

Will PT land a ride today?

I shake the "8" ball and it says..... Highly Unlikely...lol

[SarahFan]

"paul tracy @paultracy3
The emails were flying today , the fax was fired up , and the pen moved across the paper"

[jwhite9185]

Weren't Legge and Servia team mates at KV in 2006? Interesting that they could be teamed up again.

[garyshell]

I shake the "8" ball and it says..... Highly Unlikely...lol

Is that the same "8" ball you used to predict all those Danica wins?

Gary

[Mad_Hatter]

OHHH SNAP!!! (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-bourdais-legge-set-to-form-two-car-dragon-racing-team/)

[00steven]

Great job by Jay Penske! It will be an interesting year with all of the new driver team combos.

[DanicaFan]

Here is the updated chart..

Target Chip Ganassi Racing - (Honda Engines) Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, G2(satellite team) - Graham Rahal, Charlie Kimball

Team Penske -(Chevrolet Engines) Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Will Power

Andretti Autosport - (Chevrolet Engines) Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe

Panther Racing -(Chevrolet Engines) JR Hildebrand

Sam Schmidt Racing -(Honda Engines) Simon Pagenaud

HVM Racing -(Lotus Engines) Simona De Silvestro

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing - Josef Newgarden

AJ Foyt Racing -(Honda Engines) Mike Conway

KV Racing Technology -(Chevrolet Engines) Tony Kanaan

Ed Carpenter Racing - Ed Carpenter

Bryan Herta Autosport -(Lotus Engines) Alex Tagliani

Dale Coyne Racing (Honda Engines) - Justin Wilson. Highly probable for James Jakes to return to the team.

Dragon Racing (Chevrolet Engines) - Sebastien Bourdais, Katherine Legge

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (Lotus Engines) - Oriol Servia


Teams with unconfirmed drivers at this time are..

Michael Shank Racing -(Lotus Engines) Plans unknown.

Conquest Racing -(Lotus Engines) Plans unknown

[DanicaFan]

I couldnt edit the above post so here is the chart again with a couple changes..

Target Chip Ganassi Racing - (Honda Engines) Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, G2(satellite team) - Graham Rahal, Charlie Kimball

Team Penske -(Chevrolet Engines) Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe, Will Power

Andretti Autosport - (Chevrolet Engines) Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe

Panther Racing -(Chevrolet Engines) JR Hildebrand

Sam Schmidt Racing -(Honda Engines) Simon Pagenaud

HVM Racing -(Lotus Engines) Simona De Silvestro

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing - Josef Newgarden

AJ Foyt Racing -(Honda Engines) Mike Conway

KV Racing Technology -(Chevrolet Engines) Tony Kanaan, EJ Viso

Ed Carpenter Racing - Ed Carpenter

Bryan Herta Autosport -(Lotus Engines) Alex Tagliani

Dale Coyne Racing (Honda Engines) - Justin Wilson. Highly probable for James Jakes to return to the team.

Dragon Racing (Lotus Engines) - Sebastien Bourdais, Katherine Legge

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (Lotus Engines) - Oriol Servia

[AussieV8]

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee236/DanicaRules/dario2012.jpg

Wow... Just paint it red and slap some stickers on it. Even I could become an IndyCar livery designer!

I used to like the Target cars when they had the yellow lightning bolt thing down the nose and on top of the sidepods. Then they ruined it by using the mixed white and red colours. Now its even worse :/

[Phoenixent]

Will PT land a ride today?


paul tracy @paultracy3 1h
Ordered helmets today , real happy with how the call went . Going back to where it all started ....

I guess PT is back with Dale Coyne Racing........

[Dr. Krogshöj]

We have 20 confirmed drivers 2.5 months befor the start of the season. Throw in 2 cars from Rahal, 2 from Dreyer & Reinbold, 2 from Coyne, 2 more for KVRT, 1 from Conquest and 1 from Shank, and we'll have 30 cars at St. Pete. A couple of monts ago, there were some posters who said we'll barely see 20.

[jwhite9185]

I guess PT is back with Dale Coyne Racing........

So with Wilson on board, if they can get Tracy too for a whole season that would be a very strong line up.

[garyshell]

We have 20 confirmed drivers 2.5 months befor the start of the season. Throw in 2 cars from Rahal, 2 from Dreyer & Reinbold, 2 from Coyne, 2 more for KVRT, 1 from Conquest and 1 from Shank, and we'll have 30 cars at St. Pete. A couple of monts ago, there were some posters who said we'll barely see 20.

But... but... but... the sky IS falling. It REALLY is falling...

Gary

[Nikki Katz]

If this lineup is true then it's great news for the series.

I'm still very nervous about the finances of the series, but it must be said that this looks completely different to the dying days of CART.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

My guesses for the remaining seats: Viso and Guerrieri for KVRT, Baguette and Sato for RLLR, Wilson and Jakes for Coyne, Servia and Beatriz for D&R. No idea about Shank or Conquest. Tracy, Scheckter, Rice, Bell, Mann, Howard, Lloyd, Plowman, Cunningham presumably still out fishing.

[DBell]

No Indy for Nascar's new bikini model.

NASCAR - CUP: Patrick Plans To Enter Coke 600, Miss Indy 500 (http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-ford-to-unveil-2013-nascar-model-tuesday-sprint/)

I'm crushed. It may take me a few moments to get over this......Ok, I'm good. :s mokin:

[garyshell]

No Indy for Nascar's new bikini model.

NASCAR - CUP: Patrick Plans To Enter Coke 600, Miss Indy 500 (http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-ford-to-unveil-2013-nascar-model-tuesday-sprint/)

I'm crushed. It may take me a few moments to get over this......Ok, I'm good. :s mokin:


Poor Danicafan must be crestfallen.

Gary

[FIAT1]

Oh, no. What are we gona do?

[Chris R]

oh no, the sky is falling, Danica has abandoned us - all is lost...... :p :

[Phoenixent]

This is Great News...... I won't have to mute the sound when thee ABC guys start to talk. The past several year all about danica.. This will be a great year and a Great Indy 500..... :)

[Hoop-98]

PT to MSR.......

[heliocastroneves#3]

And there's some good news for DanicaFan; Danica Patrick will NOT compete at the 96th Indianapolis 500 on May 27th.

Notes: Belle Isle in June -- great locale - IndyCar.com (http://indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indycar-series/51103-notes-belle-isle-in-june-great-locale/)

Check the latest of note below. I already knew it, and I'm not the only one I see... But I hadn't seen it on the IndyCar.com website yet, now it is on it.


For the first time since 2004, we are having an Indianapolis 500 without Danica! :D

[chuck34]

PT to MSR.......

Where did you hear that? Could be cool.

[Hoop-98]

Another silly season thread, reliable IMO, Michael Shank with Lotus.

[DanicaFan]

I knew this was coming and I dont like it. I am going to miss seeing her there this year. The month of May will not be the same, nor will the Indy 500 this year. :(

[heliocastroneves#3]

I can understand how you'd feel. I already felt screwed as a Danica fan when she announced her move to NASCAR, and now she's even not competing in the race which she loved so much. Sorry that I'm saying this, but your Danica is just a *****. In my opinion you're weak when you in the first instance are saying you want to win the Indy 500 and the IndyCar championship, and when push comes to shove you just move on to another series quickly. Well, if she really would've wanted to win the IndyCar championship and the Indy 500, she would never had started doing NASCAR part time. Because she can't win, she moves on... What a weak *****. I can't believe why I have been a fan of her in the past. I wish I would've been a fan of Dan, instead of having been a fan of such a turncoat.

You see DanicaFan? She leaves IndyCar, and now she doesn't even compete at the Indy 500. She's only disappointing you, she doesn't even deserve a fan like you.

[SarahFan]

Another good day to be SarahFan!!

[heliocastroneves#3]

Yes, you're definitely right. Maybe she's not having the results which Danica is having on her IndyCar career summary, but she finished on the podium twice and took a pole position with equipment which was at least hundred or more times worser than Danica was having. Danica didn't perform much better, while she drove for the third best team..... For me it's another good day to be a Hélio fan, but sometimes I just don't understand how I could've ever been a fan of such a turncoat.

[DBell]

Some interesting fodder to add to the late silly season is Rubens is going to test a KV car. It may be nothing or maybe he is reconsidering IndyCar. Nothing like unemployment and forced retirement to make one reconsider their options. Maybe a deal like Seabas had last year, road courses only?

AUTO RACING - F1: Barrichello Sets IndyCar Test In Florida (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/f1-rubens-barrichello-sets-indycar-test-in-florida/)

Also saw on AR1's home page that Dale Coyne has signed with Honda. I didn't see a story at Speed or Autosport to confirm that. If true, then maybe PT is still in the running there with his Honda Canada sponsorship.

[GRW1983]

Seems the latest news is that PT will be having one final season in Indycar with MSR. Although Shank intended to use Lotus engines, that isn't finalised so a Honda engine deal could still be a possibility for this team. Although PT has said it doesn't have to be a Honda, as he only has Personal Services links to Honda Canada. So, Shank could yet have any one of the three engines on offer.

Also, we are still waiting on a number of seats to be confirmed so here a my suggestions for those seats:

KV Racing (3rd car): Rubens Barrichello??? This would be a great move for IndyCar, even if it was only road/street tracks only. A full-time ride depends very much on his wife at this stage as he has promised NOT to race on ovals. Possibly Rubens does road/streets & Vitor Meira on ovals making KV an all-South American line-up.

Andretti (4th car): Things have gone pretty quiet on that front, but Michael Andretti did say that he wanted a veteran driver so, maybe a Townsend Bell, Tomas Scheckter or Alex Lloyd could be a surprise choice for this ride.

Rahal (Both cars): Although no official confirmation as yet, Takuma Sato & Honda will be with this team, and it seems that Jay Howard may be in the 2nd seat. Baguette & Pippa Mann could also be linked as well.

Coyne (2nd car): PT, I thought, was a cert for this ride with the Honda announcement, but if he ends up at Shank, then James Jakes should get another chance.

DRR (2nd car): Ana Beatriz a likely candidate, although Giorgio Pantano, Townsend Bell & Tomas Scheckter drove last year as well so they could land here as well.

Conquest: No driver, no sponsor, no engine & no news. Also, not on the testing list for Sebring. If they do compete this season, Mr (or Mrs) P.A.Y Driver should be driving.

SSM (2nd car): Sam Schmidt still hopes to field a 2nd car, so we shall see on this one. Martin Plowman, Wade Cunningham & AFS were involved last season, so let's see.

Panther (2nd car): Again, hoping to field a 2nd car but they might or might not. Maybe Buddy Rice can land a full time ride or a Vitor Meira could end up here.

If all of these rides materialise, then we'll be looking at a 33-car field. Honda would have Ganassi x 4, SSM x 2, Rahal x 2, Coyne x 2 & Foyt x 1. That would be 11 so if Shank secured a Honda, then that takes them to 12, although Sarah Fisher is also chasing Honda so 13 engines could be possible. Chevrolet would have Andretti x 4, KV x 3, Penske x 3 & Panther x 2. That would be 12, but Ed Carpenter Racing are chasing Chevrolet, so 13 could be possible for them as well. Lotus have factory status for Dragon x 2, HVM x 1, Herta x 1 & DRR x 2, giving them 6. If Shank does switch to Honda, then I expect Conquest to take Lotus engines.

Admittedly, most of this is speculation, but that's why it's called "Silly Season". It'll be interesting to see if certain deals come together or not.

[DBell]

I'm guessing too, but I think Conquest isn't coming back this year in IndyCar. They have only made it through the last couple of seasons by playing musical chairs with pay drivers. The cost of the new car is too much for them to absorb without a pay driver with a bigger check, I think. They obviously found money for sports car racing and I expect that's where they will concentrate their efforts this year.

But then I did also guess that Bourdais would resign with Peugeot for Le Mans. This guess may be as accurate as the Bourdais guess. :)

[heliocastroneves#3]

I hope Baguette finds a ride! He was definitely one of the surprises of last years' Indy 500. :)

[Dr. Krogshöj]

I'm a bit concerned about engine availability. Honda and Chevrolet said they would supply 10 cars. Right now, Honda has Dixon, Franchitti, Rahal, Kimball, Conway, Pagenaud and Wilson. With Sato at RLLR, Tracy at MSR and Jakes in a second Coyne entry, Honda will reach the 10-car limit. Same goes for Chevrolet, if KVRT adds Viso and Barrichello. These are the most likely scenarios imho. That leaves Lotus as the only choice for Carpenter and Fisher. But it was said that Lotus might not be able to supply more than five engines for St. Pete, and they already have five cars (Bourdais, Legge, Tagliani, Simona, Servia).

[FIAT1]

Managing fair competition will be challenge for Indycar first time in a while.

[numanoid]

I'm a bit concerned about engine availability. Honda and Chevrolet said they would supply 10 cars. Right now, Honda has Dixon, Franchitti, Rahal, Kimball, Conway, Pagenaud and Wilson. With Sato at RLLR, Tracy at MSR and Jakes in a second Coyne entry, Honda will reach the 10-car limit. Same goes for Chevrolet, if KVRT adds Viso and Barrichello. These are the most likely scenarios imho. That leaves Lotus as the only choice for Carpenter and Fisher. But it was said that Lotus might not be able to supply more than five engines for St. Pete, and they already have five cars (Bourdais, Legge, Tagliani, Simona, Servia).

I thought I had read that there were exceptions in place for this rule. I think I read it in one of the "new car news" posts. This was back when Lotus was a no show.

Do we have any official news on MSR and Tracy? Shank's teams took first and third in the Rolex 24 hour at Daytona. Justin Wilson was on the winning team. I'd imagine such a win could really help the team finalize their Indycar plans.

[DanicaFan]

Takuma Sato has signed with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He will be driving the #15 car.

[DBell]

Yeah, I saw Autosport had reported that.

Takuma Sato seals Rahal Letterman Lanigan IndyCar drive - IndyCar news - AUTOSPORT.com (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97293)

The article also says the team confirmed that it plans to run a second car. It doesn't say if they mean full or part time.

[Nikki Katz]

Filippi's confirmed in the second Rahal from Indy onwards (when they get an engine) now. I'm glad he's finally signed for at least a partial season, he's a great driver much of the time, if really really inconsistent. There's also talk that his 2011 season turned around when he moved to an Italian team, so if that actually does make a difference then US could be tough. But I'd really like him to at least get a good shot at it.

I wonder if others will join once there are engines free...