The View From The Hairpin - 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series

[thehairpin]

FULL-TIME - 25
Ganassi - 4 (Franchitti, Dixon, Rahal, Kimball)
Andretti Autosport - 4 (M. Andretti, Patrick, Hunter-Reay, Conway)
Penske - 3 (Power, Castroneves, Briscoe)
KV Racing Technology - 3 (Viso, Sato, Kanaan)
Dreyer & Reinbold - 2 (Wilson/Pagenaud/Scheckter/Pantano/Bell, Beatriz/Pagenaud) Pagenaud - Barber (Beatriz recovering from hand surgery), Mid-Ohio (Wilson injured), Scheckter - Loudon (Wilson injured), Pantano -Sears Point, Baltimore, Motegi (Wilson Injured), Bell - Kentucky, Vegas (Wilson injured)
Coyne - 2 (Jakes, Bourdais/Lloyd)
Newman-Haas - 2 (Servia, Hinchcliffe) Hinchcliffe skipped St. Pete (deal came together late)
Conquest - 1 (Saavedra/de Oliveira/Battistini) de Oliveira - Motegi; Battistini - Kentucky
Schmidt - 1 (Tagliani/Wheldon) Wheldon - Kentucky, Vegas
Panther - 1 (Hildebrand)
Foyt - 1 (Meira)
HVM - 1 (De Silvestro/Pagenaud) - skipped Iowa (De Silvestro not cleared to race - concussion), Pagenaud - Sears Point (De Silvestro unable to enter country)

PART-TIME - 11
Fisher - 1 (Carpenter) - All ovals + Mid-Ohio, Sears Point, Baltimore 11
AFS - 1 (Matos/Plowman/Mutoh/Cunningham) - Matos - St. Pete, Barber, Long Beach, Sao Paulo, and Indy; Plowman (w/SSM) - Mid-Ohio, Sears Point, and Baltimore; Mutoh (w/SSM) - Motegi; Cunningham (w/SSM) - Kentucky, Vegas 11
Dragon - 1 (Tracy/Tung/Carpentier) Tracy - Long Beach. Texas, Toronto, Edmonton. Vegas; Tung (w/SSM) - Indy and Sears Point; Carpentier - Indy injury fill-in 8
Kingdom/D&R - 1 (Hamilton) - Indy, Texas, Vegas 4
Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan - 1 (Baguette/Mann) - Baguette - Indy; Mann - Loudon, Kentucky, Vegas 4
RLLR- 1 (Howard) - (w/SSM) Indy, (W/SSM) Texas, Vegas 4
Panther - 1 extra (Rice) Indy, Kentucky, Vegas 3
Schmidt - 1 extra (Bell/Cunningham) -Bell - Indy; Cunningham - Texas 3
SH REDLINE - 1 (Scheckter) Indy (w/KV), Baltimore (w/D&R) 2
Bryan Herta Autosport - 1 (Wheldon/Tagliani) - Wheldon - Indy; Tagliani - Vegas 2
SFR - 1 extra (vaporware/Scheckter) - Indy - never took the track; Scheckter - Vegas 2

INDY 500 ONE-OFFS - 5
Foyt - 1 (Hunter-Reay/Junqueira) Junqueira qualified the car, Hunter-Reay sponsors purchased entry after DNQ
Petty/Andretti - 1 (J. Andretti)
Dreyer & Reinbold - 1 extra (Tracy)
Conquest - 1 (Mann)
Dragon - 1 extra (Speed)

CAR COUNTS
St. Petersburg Grand Prix - 25
Alabama Grand Prix - 26
Long Beach Grand Prix - 27
Sao Paulo 300 - 26
INDIANAPOLIS 500 - 38 (41 entered - 2 Withdrew before qualifying, 41st entry never took track)
Texas Twin 275Ks - 30
Milwaukee 225 - 26
Iowa 250 - 25 (26 entered - HVM withdrew after De Silvestro not cleared to race)
Toronto Indy - 26
Edmonton Indy - 26
Mid-Ohio 200 - 27
Loudon 225 - 27
Sonoma Grand Prix - 28
Baltimore Grand Prix - 28
Final Indy Japan - 26
Kentucky 300 - 29
INDYCAR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - 34

DRIVERS - RACES ATTEMPTED
Dario Franchitti - 18
Scott Dixon - 18
Graham Rahal - 18
Charlie Kimball - 18
Marco Andretti - 18
Danica Patrick - 18
Ryan Hunter-Reay - 18
Mike Conway - 18
Will Power - 18
Helio Castroneves - 18
Ryan Briscoe - 18
E.J. Viso - 18
Takuma Sato - 18
Tony Kanaan - 18
James Jakes - 18
Oriol Servia - 18
J.R. Hildebrand - 18
Vitor Meira - 18
James Hinchcliffe - 17
Alex Tagliani - 17
Sebastian Saavedra - 16
Simona de Silvestro - 16
Justin Wilson - 11
Ed Carpenter - 11
Sebastien Bourdais - 10
Alex Lloyd - 8
Paul Tracy - 7
Raphael Matos - 5
Tomas Scheckter - 4
Wade Cunningham - 4
Davey Hamilton - 4
Pippa Mann - 4
Jay Howard - 4
Simon Pagenaud - 3
Giorgio Pantano - 3
Townsend Bell - 3
Dan Wheldon - 3 RIP 1978-2011
Martin Plowman - 3
Buddy Rice - 3
Ho-Pin Tung - 2
J.P. de Oliveira - 1
Dillon Battistini - 1
Hideki Mutoh - 1
Patrick Carpentier - 1
Bertrand Baguette - 1
Bruno Junqueira - 1
John Andretti - 1
Scott Speed - 1

IZOD IndyCar Series Champion
Indianapolis 500 Champion
A.J. Foyt Trophy Winner
Mario Andretti Trophy Winner
Did not attempt Indianapolis 500

[thehairpin]

NOTE: This list is highly preliminary and a work in progress.

Let the Silly Season speculation begin!

[Luy]

Nevermind.

[thehairpin]

No Newman-Haas or Conquest?

Check the revised list. They're under the potential entries ("Full-Time?")

[numetalbizkit]

It would be good to Jimmie Johnson to the potential Indy 500 one offs, he expressed interest in a Autosport story from about a month and a half ago.

[aaron5572]

I don't see Panther keeping Wheldon, they've ran 2 years with poor results. They would be smart to get either Graham Rahal or J.R. Hildebrand. Robin Miller thought that it would be a ikely place for Hornish to land if he comes back to real racing.

[Luy]

Check the revised list. They're under the potential entries ("Full-Time?")

Ah, I got here too early

[TexRacer]

Patrick is signed for 2011, you should list her as such until she decides otherwise.

[Joonyah]

Post on page one.

Also, I think we can move Coyne to full time confirmed, since they'll always be at least one Coyne car on the grid.

[numetalbizkit]

If I remember correctly there was a Newman Wachs Racing (NOT Newman Haas) rumor some time ago for 2011...

[The Stickman]

If I remember correctly there was a Newman Wachs Racing (NOT Newman Haas) rumor some time ago for 2011...

I think that was actually for 2010 but they decided to go Grand-Am racing in the GT category.

[numetalbizkit]

I think that was actually for 2010 but they decided to go Grand-Am racing in the GT category.

Yeah I looked that up, but they're website is under construction which has me thinking...

[aaron5572]

Hairpen, what exactly is Ganassi's situation, doesn't Franchitti deal in 1 year contracts, is he signed for next year? Is there any way they don't resign Dixon?

[thehairpin]

Patrick is signed for 2011, you should list her as such until she decides otherwise.

I'm holding off on putting her as confirmed right now because I'm reserving that for drivers where there's no concerns about them going elsewhere currently in place. If (more likely when) I start putting some more changeable situations as "confirmed", then I'll adjust Danica's status on the list accoordingly.

[thehairpin]

Post on page one.

Also, I think we can move Coyne to full time confirmed, since they'll always be at least one Coyne car on the grid.

I've split the Coyne entries. The first one is confirmed. The second is possible.

[thehairpin]

Yeah I looked that up, but they're website is under construction which has me thinking...

I've added them to the list. It's early and even if there's nothing to this, there's no harm done.

[thehairpin]

Hairpen, what exactly is Ganassi's situation, doesn't Franchitti deal in 1 year contracts, is he signed for next year? Is there any way they don't resign Dixon?

I seem to remember a comment about Ganassi asking him to return and him agreeing to it (I believe Dario said it on Letterman the week after winning the 500). I'm leaving Dixon as a "?" just in case a team comes up with enough $ to sign him away. I'm thinking mostly about Lotus starting their own team here.

[Racing Truth]

I'm 95+% sure Jimmie Johnson or the Busch brothers WON'T be at Indy in May. I'm 100% sure Newman and Jr. won't do it (esp. Newman). I'd take them off.

[PPGfan]

I seem to remember a comment about Ganassi asking him to return and him agreeing to it (I believe Dario said it on Letterman the week after winning the 500). I'm leaving Dixon as a "?" just in case a team comes up with enough $ to sign him away. I'm thinking mostly about Lotus starting their own team here.

That's exactly what I remember hearing regarding Dario.

As far as Wachs and John Edwards... I have 2 theories.

No new teams will come on board for 2011 because their equipment will be obsolete after 1 season. No point of buying equipment that will only be used for 1 season. If they had the money to do that, they'd already be in the Izod IndyCar Series.

Or we will see a few new teams, maybe ran in conjunction with an existing team to use up the inventory of their old Dallara tubs and parts. One last run for the old cars.

[numetalbizkit]

I've added them to the list. It's early and even if there's nothing to this, there's no harm done.

Correct as always. Summerton is considering IndyCar full-time next season (because Cypher failed) and it's important to note that NWR is considering IndyCar so I think it would logical to put him in the possibility of the seat (if it's even open).

[vintage]

So we have Edwards and Carroll, but not Hildebrand? What's the logic there?

[Grizzlor]

A good portion of those "?" really have little to no chance at all. I see little to no chance of Summerton, Edwards, Newman-Wachs, Dale Jr or most of the NASCAR guys, Team Lotus, Bryan Herta, second Foyt, or very skeptical on Team Redline.

[irlracingfan]

J.R. Hidebrand MAY get a ride with Gary Peterson's AFS team in 2011. Gary did say he has a car (Ed Carpenter's Vision car) and plans to run a full-time entry for the 2011 season.

[Fro]

Rahal-Letterman Racing needs to be on the list (still actively looking for money and the Quick-Trim deal for Graham was something they got but couldn't implement with their own team due to conflicts with ALMS races).

Also Kasey Kahne for NASCAR drivers doing the double... Robin Miller said that he was one of the two drivers who told Randy at Eldora that he was in for the double (Jimmie Johnson is the other).

[thehairpin]

I've separated the possible entries into "serious" and "rumored" based on what I am hearing at the moment. I also reduced the list of NASCAR drivers doing the Double to Kahne and Johnson until I hear solid info on another being interested. Also, AFS, RLR, and a couple of part-time possibilities were added.

[BSJracing]

It would be good to Jimmie Johnson to the potential Indy 500 one offs, he expressed interest in a Autosport story from about a month and a half ago.

would be even better to see him bumped on bubble day at about 5:59 pm

[Fro]

http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=12917863

Team Redline Xtreme/SH Racing is going to partner with an existing team for the 2011 500. No full-season from them until 2012.

[thehairpin]

Tracy added as possibility at REDLINE Xtreme/SH for Indy 500

AFS upgraded to "confirmed/highly likely" and Carroll added as possibility at AFS

[Tomsk]

would be even better to see him bumped on bubble day at about 5:59 pm

Right, because the last thing we need is millions of NASCAR fans tuning in to the 500 to see how well (or poorly) their sport's most dominant driver does.

[thehairpin]

NWR downgraded to "rumored", Summerton dropped as NWR possibility
BHA dropped to 1 car, Saavedra added as BHA possibility

all per anonymous source (except Saavedra at BHA, which I added myself based on his current status with the team)