INDYCAR: Major Silly Season Developments At Baltimore

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Major Silly Season Developments At Baltimore

Who is Penske courting? Which driver is close to landing at Ganassi? You'd be surprised at how much went on behind closed doors in Baltimore.

SPEED Staff | Posted September 03, 2012

By pure coincidence, the three drivers who finished on the podium Sunday at Baltimore have been on Roger Penske's short list for 2013. (Photo: LAT)

By: Robin Miller and Marshall Pruett

So you’re Ryan Hunter-Reay, a winner in every class you’ve ever driven and you’re having a breakout season for Andretti Autosport, the squad that threw you a life jacket three years ago.

You’re in the title chase after three consecutive victories earlier this year and the team is now looking at you as its leader. You haven’t re-signed yet but owner Michael Andretti is close to re-upping DHL and Sun Drop as your primary sponsors and preparing a new contract for you to sign.

Then Roger Penske comes calling.

SPEED.com has learned that Team Penske approached Hunter-Reay about filling Ryan Briscoe's seat for the 2013 season, but only after Simon Pagenaud had to turn it down because of his iron-clad contract he has with Sam Schmidt’s Honda-powered team.

If you’re RHR, do you stay loyal to Michael Andretti, the owner who ran you out of his pocket, or do go with the most successful team in North American motorsports?

That appears to be the difficult decision facing the driver sitting second in the championship behind Will Power, his possible future teammate.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the interest out there,” replied the 31-year-old veteran when asked if Penske had offered him the third seat for 2013.

Team Penske President Tim Cindric said RHR has certainly “earned a look” from the winningest Indy car team of all time but claimed he’d made no offers for the third car, currently driven by Ryan Briscoe.

John Lopes, president of Andretti Sports Marketing, said his group is well aware of the competition for RHR’s services and he’s confident of keeping him for the next two years.

“We know Penske and Bobby Rahal have talked to Ryan but our intent is to have him re-signed by Fontana,” said Lopes.

PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: Baltimore 2012

Complicating things even further, Hunter-Reay and the Andretti team went out and beat Penske on Sunday, foiling Power's championship plans with some crafty race strategy and an aggressive approach behind the steering wheel.

If being beaten by Hunter-Reay once again hasn't motivated Penske to get a deal done ASAP--RHR now has as many wins this season as Power and Briscoe combined--then it will never happen.

Whatever takes place on the driver market for next year, Penske’s third car will set the dominoes in motion, and like Andretti’s team, Penske is expected to make its final decision on its third driver by Fontana.

Provided Penske can lure Hunter-Reay away from Andretti, Michael's three-car team will need to scramble to find a worthy replacement in the DHL/SunDrop car, and looking at who's available, the choices are limited.

Of the free agents that could step in and maintain Andretti's winning momentum, Justin Wilson and Oriol Servia stand out as the only real plug-and-play solutions.

And as much as a swap between Penske and Andretti drivers would make sense, Briscoe has been linked to multiple teams outside the Chevrolet camp. If he's not on Penske's roster next season, Chevy might have to step in to keep him--and his engine development experience--from crossing party lines.

Briscoe’s future, which has been tied to Penske since 2008, has been steered in an interesting and rather proactive direction by his management since the Canadian rounds in June.

As part of Penske’s three-car armada, the Aussie has gone deep into the off-season the past two years waiting to find out if he’d be re-signed, but Briscoe’s management team took a different approach to things this year.

“We started talking to teams in July,” said one member of Briscoe’s management team. “We have three teams that are very interested in Ryan right now; the overall interest in Ryan since we put him on the market has been amazing.”

Cindric said Briscoe is still on Penske’s radar for a return.

“Our third car will come together late, hopefully, if it comes together,” he said. “And Ryan [Briscoe] is not out of the question either.”

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