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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Drivers And Teams Working Hard To Finalize Programs
Behind the scenes, some of IndyCar's smaller teams and a few of its drivers have been working frantically to get their respective programs in order.
After a major piece of PT's funding fell through, the CART, Champ Car and IndyCar veteran is back on the hunt for more sponsorship to solidify his plans with Michael Shank. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
The IZOD IndyCar Series is riding a wave of momentum after its State of INDYCAR meetings held Monday and Tuesday in Indianapolis, but behind the scenes, some of its smaller teams and a few drivers have been working frantically to get their respective programs in order.
The anticipated deal between Paul Tracy and Michael Shank Racing appears to have hit a significant snag, with the popular Canadian now working to fill the void left when a major sponsor—one that would have cemented the PT-to-MSR deal this week—backed out at the 11th hour.
Both sides continue to look for budgetary solutions, but seeing PT in Shank’s car at the season-opening race at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is no longer a guarantee. Although its driver/sponsor situation is in a state of flux, progress has been made by MSR program on the engine front. With the team’s Lotus deal now fully confirmed, some of its Ohio-based staff have been assigned to support the manufacturer’s track testing program.
With the need to either get the Tracy situation resolved or find a comparable driver and sponsors in a matter of weeks, it’s unclear whether MSR will begin its IndyCar campaign at Round 1, or at a later date.
Word came late Wednesday night that Tracy, who has made multiple mentions of using 2012 as his farewell season of Indy car racing, is in talks with a Canadian sponsor that could be interested in building a marketing program around PT’s open-wheel swansong.
While Shank continues to work on who he will plug into the cockpit, at least he can say his team has been removed from the “will they or won’t they have an engine” category.
At Sarah Fisher Harman Racing, team owners Fisher and Wink Hartman have the exact opposite problem, as they continue to search for a supply of engines to plug into the back of their Dallara DW12s.
Fisher, whose team won the most recent IndyCar Series race at Kentucky with Ed Carpenter at the helm, signed Tennessee’s Josef Newgarden, the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights Series champion, to lead the program this year. SFHR also has the sponsorship in place to kick of its season at St. Pete.
Yet, despite those distinctions, the series is facing a bit of a PR disaster if one of its most popular owners, its most recent winning team and the shining example of all the Mazda Road To Indy has to offer sits parked at SFHR’s Indianapolis base as the green flag drops on the 2012 season.
Series CEO Randy Bernard is known to be working diligently to aid SFHR’s efforts to procure an engine deal to allow the team to begin its testing and preparations for St. Pete, but unless he’s successful, it’s believed the team could be forced to wait on engines until May’s Indianapolis 500 to make its season debut.
If that worst-case scenario comes true, it’s not clear whether a late start for SFHR will impact any of the team’s season-long sponsorship agreements.
The series is optimistic an engine lease agreement will be reached in time to get SFHR on the grid next month, and an answer on SFHR’s St. Pete engine predicament could come by Friday. But, like MSR, time is also a growing obstacle to consider with the first official practice session of 2012 set to begin in little more than five weeks.
The anticipated deal between Paul Tracy and Michael Shank Racing appears to have hit a significant snag, with the popular Canadian now working to fill the void left when a major sponsor—one that would have cemented the PT-to-MSR deal this week—backed out at the 11th hour.
Both sides continue to look for budgetary solutions, but seeing PT in Shank’s car at the season-opening race at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is no longer a guarantee. Although its driver/sponsor situation is in a state of flux, progress has been made by MSR program on the engine front. With the team’s Lotus deal now fully confirmed, some of its Ohio-based staff have been assigned to support the manufacturer’s track testing program.
With the need to either get the Tracy situation resolved or find a comparable driver and sponsors in a matter of weeks, it’s unclear whether MSR will begin its IndyCar campaign at Round 1, or at a later date.
Word came late Wednesday night that Tracy, who has made multiple mentions of using 2012 as his farewell season of Indy car racing, is in talks with a Canadian sponsor that could be interested in building a marketing program around PT’s open-wheel swansong.
While Shank continues to work on who he will plug into the cockpit, at least he can say his team has been removed from the “will they or won’t they have an engine” category.
At Sarah Fisher Harman Racing, team owners Fisher and Wink Hartman have the exact opposite problem, as they continue to search for a supply of engines to plug into the back of their Dallara DW12s.
Fisher, whose team won the most recent IndyCar Series race at Kentucky with Ed Carpenter at the helm, signed Tennessee’s Josef Newgarden, the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights Series champion, to lead the program this year. SFHR also has the sponsorship in place to kick of its season at St. Pete.
Yet, despite those distinctions, the series is facing a bit of a PR disaster if one of its most popular owners, its most recent winning team and the shining example of all the Mazda Road To Indy has to offer sits parked at SFHR’s Indianapolis base as the green flag drops on the 2012 season.
Series CEO Randy Bernard is known to be working diligently to aid SFHR’s efforts to procure an engine deal to allow the team to begin its testing and preparations for St. Pete, but unless he’s successful, it’s believed the team could be forced to wait on engines until May’s Indianapolis 500 to make its season debut.
If that worst-case scenario comes true, it’s not clear whether a late start for SFHR will impact any of the team’s season-long sponsorship agreements.
The series is optimistic an engine lease agreement will be reached in time to get SFHR on the grid next month, and an answer on SFHR’s St. Pete engine predicament could come by Friday. But, like MSR, time is also a growing obstacle to consider with the first official practice session of 2012 set to begin in little more than five weeks.
2013 INDY 500 Practice
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