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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Chevy Picks Penske
A source close the negotiations tells SPEED.com that Chevy will announce Roger Penske as its partner when it returns to IndyCar racing in 2012.
The Captain will be back with Ilmor and Chevrolet in 2012. (LAT)
In an announcement that is expected to reveal a partnership between Chevrolet, Ilmor Engineering and Team Penske, SPEED.com has learned that the trio who ushered in Chevrolet's first Indy Car engine in 1986 will be reunited to race together in 2012.
While speculation about GM's choice of a team partner for 2012 previously centered on the reigning series champions, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, a source close the the negotiations tells SPEED.com that Chevy will return with Roger Penske's organization.
The relationship was originally characterized as Chevy selecting Penske, but late in the day on Thursday, another source inside the discussions confirmed that 'The Captain' is the true driving force behind Chevy's return to open-wheel racing.
VIDEO: Watch the live Chevy press conference on SPEED, Friday at 10 a.m. ET
Penske is also expected to be in Indianapolis on Friday morning for the official announcement of GM joining the IndyCar series. Reached Thursday afternoon by SPEED.com, a Team Penske representative said: "No Comment" when asked about Friday's announcement.
Beyond Team Penske, it is unknown how many additional teams GM will look to secure for 2012 and beyond.
Of the current roster of IZOD IndyCar Series teams, Penske, Panther Racing, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, A.J. Foyt Racing, Andretti Autosport (as Team Green), Chip Ganassi and part-timers Sam Schmidt Motorsports have used Chevy power at various times during their tenure in the series.
Penske Racing is partnered with Dodge in NASCAR, yet will represent GM in IndyCar racing, while Ganassi, currently teamed with Chevy in the Sprint Cup series, has yet to decide which engine to use when the IndyCar Series makes its switch to the new turbocharged engine formula for 2012.
Our sources also call for Ilmor Engineering, Honda's current partner for its IZOD IndyCar Series engine program, to break with the Japanese manufacturer and focus solely on Chevy's new 2.4L twin-turbo V6 IndyCar engine. Ilmor had been with Honda since its entry into the Indy Racing League in 2003 and did more than 50 percent of the workload of assembling and re-building engines along with Honda Performance Development.
HPD president Erik Berkman was unavailable for comment on Thursday.
Ilmor, a company started by Mario Illien and the late Paul Morgan in the mid-80s, joined the CART IndyCar series with Penske in 1986 at the Indianapolis 500 and the Ilmor/Chevy went on to capture six consecutive Indy 500s using multiple versions of its engine from 1988-93. Penske replaced the Ilmor/Chevy with Mercedes in 1994 when he scored a dominating victory with Al Unser Jr.
Penske owns a stake in Ilmor, and also serves as a member of its board of directors.
Ilmor returned for the 2003 season with a Chevy-badged naturally-aspirated V8 IndyCar Series engine, and moved on to work with Honda/HPD after Chevy's withdrawal from open-wheel racing at the end of the 2005 season.
How Honda will respond to the loss of Ilmor as a technical partner remains unknown, but with the addition of a second engine manufacturer for 2012, and with the most successful team in the history of Indy car racing as its partner, GM is clearly motivated to dethrone Honda as the top engine manufacturer in IndyCar competition.
SPEED's Robin Miller also contributed to this story.
Tune into SPEED.com on Friday at 10 a.m. ET to watch the 15-minute Chevrolet IndyCar press conference live, and check back later for an exclusive web video from the announcement with interviews and analysis from Miller.
Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com’s Auto Racing Editor and also covers IndyCar and sports car racing for the site. Pruett grew up at ‘Pruett's Olde English Garage,’ his father's shelter for abused foreign cars, and spent his childhood being dragged across the West Coast to help with his dad's amateur racing exploits.
Pruett spent 20 years working in the IRL, CART, IMSA, and most of the known open-wheel feeder series before retiring from active duty in 2001. And in case you were wondering, he isn’t related to Scott Pruett.
Marshall lives in Northern California with his wife Shabral, and can be e-mailed and you can also harass him on Twitter .
While speculation about GM's choice of a team partner for 2012 previously centered on the reigning series champions, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, a source close the the negotiations tells SPEED.com that Chevy will return with Roger Penske's organization.
The relationship was originally characterized as Chevy selecting Penske, but late in the day on Thursday, another source inside the discussions confirmed that 'The Captain' is the true driving force behind Chevy's return to open-wheel racing.
VIDEO: Watch the live Chevy press conference on SPEED, Friday at 10 a.m. ET
Penske is also expected to be in Indianapolis on Friday morning for the official announcement of GM joining the IndyCar series. Reached Thursday afternoon by SPEED.com, a Team Penske representative said: "No Comment" when asked about Friday's announcement.
Beyond Team Penske, it is unknown how many additional teams GM will look to secure for 2012 and beyond.
Of the current roster of IZOD IndyCar Series teams, Penske, Panther Racing, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, A.J. Foyt Racing, Andretti Autosport (as Team Green), Chip Ganassi and part-timers Sam Schmidt Motorsports have used Chevy power at various times during their tenure in the series.
Penske Racing is partnered with Dodge in NASCAR, yet will represent GM in IndyCar racing, while Ganassi, currently teamed with Chevy in the Sprint Cup series, has yet to decide which engine to use when the IndyCar Series makes its switch to the new turbocharged engine formula for 2012.
Our sources also call for Ilmor Engineering, Honda's current partner for its IZOD IndyCar Series engine program, to break with the Japanese manufacturer and focus solely on Chevy's new 2.4L twin-turbo V6 IndyCar engine. Ilmor had been with Honda since its entry into the Indy Racing League in 2003 and did more than 50 percent of the workload of assembling and re-building engines along with Honda Performance Development.
HPD president Erik Berkman was unavailable for comment on Thursday.
Ilmor, a company started by Mario Illien and the late Paul Morgan in the mid-80s, joined the CART IndyCar series with Penske in 1986 at the Indianapolis 500 and the Ilmor/Chevy went on to capture six consecutive Indy 500s using multiple versions of its engine from 1988-93. Penske replaced the Ilmor/Chevy with Mercedes in 1994 when he scored a dominating victory with Al Unser Jr.
Penske owns a stake in Ilmor, and also serves as a member of its board of directors.
Ilmor returned for the 2003 season with a Chevy-badged naturally-aspirated V8 IndyCar Series engine, and moved on to work with Honda/HPD after Chevy's withdrawal from open-wheel racing at the end of the 2005 season.
How Honda will respond to the loss of Ilmor as a technical partner remains unknown, but with the addition of a second engine manufacturer for 2012, and with the most successful team in the history of Indy car racing as its partner, GM is clearly motivated to dethrone Honda as the top engine manufacturer in IndyCar competition.
SPEED's Robin Miller also contributed to this story.
Tune into SPEED.com on Friday at 10 a.m. ET to watch the 15-minute Chevrolet IndyCar press conference live, and check back later for an exclusive web video from the announcement with interviews and analysis from Miller.
Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com’s Auto Racing Editor and also covers IndyCar and sports car racing for the site. Pruett grew up at ‘Pruett's Olde English Garage,’ his father's shelter for abused foreign cars, and spent his childhood being dragged across the West Coast to help with his dad's amateur racing exploits.
Pruett spent 20 years working in the IRL, CART, IMSA, and most of the known open-wheel feeder series before retiring from active duty in 2001. And in case you were wondering, he isn’t related to Scott Pruett.
Marshall lives in Northern California with his wife Shabral, and can be e-mailed and you can also harass him on Twitter .
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