INDYCAR: 2012 Season Starting To Take Shape

IndyCar

INDYCAR: 2012 Season Starting To Take Shape

Marshall Pruett polls each team to find out what they have planned for 2012, and also gets an update from a few teams and drivers looking to join the series.

Marshall Pruett | Posted August 23, 2011

Will Team Penske's trio be back for 2012? (LAT)

Although the IndyCar Series rumor mill has yet to gain a full head of steam, there’s still plenty of jockeying and planning going on within the paddock. The wealthier teams know their plans, the mid-level teams are waiting for key engine contracts to be signed and the small teams are hunting for more money from sponsors and paying drivers.

The part-timers and new-team prospects also have plenty going on at the moment in relation to 2012 activities, making for a busy time in American open-wheel racing

SPEED.com spoke with team principals up and down the paddock—and to those who hope to join the paddock next year—to get a preview of how the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series grid might look.

TEAMS

Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine Partner: Honda

“No changes for next year” was Chip Ganassi’s quick response to our question regarding his driver lineup in 2012.

Scott Dixon will continue his relationship with Ganassi that dates back to the 2003 IndyCar season, and Franchitti will return for his fourth season.

Ganassi Racing
Engine Partner: Honda

“Same for Graham and Charlie” was Ganassi’s answer about the fledgling ‘G2’ outfit. Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball will return for the second with Ganassi’s offshoot program.

Team Penske
Engine Partner: Chevrolet

“Our goal is to run three cars,” said Penske Racing President Tim Cindric. “Three is our goal and I can’t see why we’d run any less than two. At this time our eyes are set on running three cars.”

Team Penske is the only confirmed Chevrolet partner to date, and of its three drivers, only Will Power is a lock for 2012. His teammates, Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, have had challenging seasons, to put it mildly, and both have had questions emerge regarding their return.

Castroneves’ commercial appeal is undeniable, and Briscoe has also endeared himself to IZOD and the other sponsors that support the No. 6 entry, giving the team plenty to think about.

Despite that fact, Castroneves has new tax issues to deal with and Briscoe’s deal to return for 2011 was done late in the day, giving the impression his position within the team is unstable, but Cindric says he does not want to part with IndyCar veteran.

“Ryan’s done a good job for us,” he continued. “He’s been a good part of our organization. We’ve typically been a two-car team and it would have been easy to do that this year because we’re having to do a lot of work to keep three cars moving with sponsors. It would have been easier to run two [cars], but with the chemistry we’ve built with the three guys, that’s our preference.”

Andretti Autosport
Engine Partner: TBD

With Danica Patrick set leave her full-time job in IndyCar behind next season, Andretti Autosport could find itself with the most coveted open seat in the paddock for a funded driver.

Team owner Michael Andretti told SPEED.com that despite the change to the lineup, he’d like to keep his current infrastructure in place.

“I would say at this point our ultimate goal is to have four cars,” he said. “That would be a home run. But we have to do it in order. We have to get one done at a time. Nothing is different than any other year, to be honest. Sometime we have cars on one-year deals and those need to be renegotiated, and then we have others that are long-term that roll over. Right now, we’re close to have two cars done, then we’ll move onto the third and then hopefully the fourth. Our ultimate goal is four cars.”

Marco Andretti fills the one completed seat, while Ryan Hunter-Reay hopes to be close to sealing the second Andretti drive, but finances, especially in a post-Danica world, will be tight. Mike Conway has expressed an interest in returning and will likely begin negotiations now that the season is drawing to a close.

Panther Racing
Engine Partner: TBD

Panther Racing will return with JR Hildebrand for 2012 according to team owner John Barnes.

“He’s done a great job for us as a rookie,” said Barnes, “and we’re all looking forward to what we can do together as a team with the National Guard car next year.”

Barnes also said his ongoing quest to add a second full-time entry is gaining momentum.

“We’re working really hard to get that done,” he continued. “We don’t have a second car done yet, but we’re pretty close to being a two-car team for the season. We’ll do a second car at Indy, for sure.”

Newman/Haas Racing
Engine Partner: TBD

Oriol Servia and sponsor Telemundo are expected to return to NHR in 2012. James Hinchcliffe, despite a brief hiccup before the Mid-Ohio race, is getting close to ensuring he returns to the team in 2012.

“Our intentions are to continue with the [current] driver lineup we have next year,” said NHR General Manager Brian Lisles. “Like most teams, we always have overambitious plans for next year. Would we like to run three cars? Yes we would, but we’d be pretty happy if we have the same two we have now. Realistically, that’s where I think we’ll end up.”

Lisles insists the window to sign a third car/driver has a relatively short time span.

“If it happens, it would need to get done this side of Christmas,” he said.

KV Racing-Lotus
Engine Partner: TBD

“I think we’ll look very much the same,” said KV co-owner Jimmy Vasser. “Maybe some small changes. Our plan is to have three cars; that’s our business model. I think you’ll see a lot of familiar faces because we want to keep the dynamic we have going.”

KV ran the SH Racing entry at Indy this year, but SH’s owners have partnered with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing to run Tomas Scheckter at Baltimore.

Vasser says his team had to pass up on the opportunity to run a car for SH at Baltimore (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will run Tomas Scheckter on behalf of SH), but maintains they could work together again in 2012.

“There may be something [for KV] to do with them in the future as they try to grow their program.

The major question for KV and its driver lineup centers on which engine partner it signs. Vasser confirmed the decision will fall between Honda and Chevrolet, but with two loyal Honda subjects in Takuma Sato and Tony Kanaan, it’s likely their return is somewhat contingent on whose badge is on the cam covers.

One of the two drivers, however, expects to have the terms of his return to the team sorted by the end of the weekend.

A.J. Foyt Racing
Engine Partner: Honda

A.J. Foyt will return next season with Honda engines, is having positive discussions with Vitor Meira about the Brazilian leading the team again and hopes to field a second full-time entry, as he told Robin Miller.

“That’s what we’re working on,” he said. “We’ve got a great sponsor in ABC Supply and running a second car would be helpful. Vitor has been great for us and we’ve talked about three or four drivers out there that might make that first car run even harder.”

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Engine Partner: TBD

“We’re trying to finalize our partner group to determine what shape we’re in for next year,” said DRR co-owner Robbie Buhl. “We’ve spoken to both Chevrolet and Honda, but no contracts are signed there, but our plan is to be two cars again. We’d like to do two; we’ll absolutely be one [car], but we’d like to do two and a third for the Speedway if that can be done. It’s just more of a challenge because of the cost of the equipment.

“We would like to run a third car at the Speedway, but it’s not like we’d already have an extra one in inventory. The budget to run a one-off at the Speedway is a lot more than it is right now with new cars on the way.”

Buhl also confirmed that his team, like KV Racing, is talking with SH Racing about continuing their relationship into next season.

DRR made a serious financial commitment during the off-season to improve its overall pace, but as Buhl shared, the results have been hard to come by this year. With Justin Wilson enduring a frustrating season prior to his season-ending crash at Mid-Ohio and Ana Beatriz mired towards the back at most rounds, it’s unknown whether DRR’s current drivers will return to the team.

Both drivers confirmed they have every intention to remain in IndyCar in 2012, but whether that involves signing with DRR will likely wait until the the current season comes to an end.

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