2009 Indy Car Series Season - Team and Driver News

Team and Driver News

• Chip Ganassi Racing: 2007 Champion Dario Franchitti returns from NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series and is driving the #10 entry in 2009, replacing Dan Wheldon, who was signed by Panther Racing. 2007 Firestone Indy Lights Champion Alex Lloyd competed in the Indianapolis 500 with Sam Schmidt Motorsports in partnership with Ganassi.
• Penske Racing: Hélio Castroneves signed a multi-year contract extension with Penske Racing. However, on October 2, 2008, Castroneves was faced with a federal indictment, and was charged with six counts of tax evasion. Castroneves went on hiatus from the team during the trial. Will Power was named as a replacement, and drove the St. Petersburg race in the #3 car. With Castroneves being acquitted on all tax evasion charges later in the month, he returned to the #3 car starting at Long Beach, with the team running a third car, the #12 Verizon Wireless Penske Championship Racing machine for Will Power at Long Beach and the Indianapolis 500. Roger Penske announced after the Indianapolis 500 that he would field a third car for Power at additional races in the 2009 season.
• Andretti Green Racing: All four drivers returned for 2009. The team will field a fifth car for Franck Montagny at Sonoma.
• HVM Racing: Driver E. J. Viso returned for 2009. The team tested Ryan Hunter-Reay at Sebring but ultimately signed Viso. The team prepared a second Indy-only entry for Nelson Philippe.
• Panther Racing: Dan Wheldon signed a multi-year contract replacing Vitor Meira in the #4 entry. Scott Sharp drove a second Indy-only entry, in a joint-effort with Patrón Highcroft Racing.
• A. J. Foyt Enterprises: Vitor Meira replaced replaced Darren Manning in the #14 entry. Meira suffered two fractured vertebrae at Indianapolis will miss most of the remainder of the season. Paul Tracy was the replacement driver for Milwaukee. The team fielded the #41 driven by A. J. Foyt IV in the Indianapolis 500. The #48 car was entered in the race but did not appear.
• KV Racing: Oriol Servia did not re-sign with the team and Will Power left for Penske Racing. Mario Moraes signed with the team for 2009 and will be the team's sole full-season entry. In addition to Servia, Paul Tracy and GP2 driver Lucas di Grassi also have been linked with a seat with the team. Team co-owner Jimmy Vasser has stated that he is confident the team will have a deal in place to run a second car starting with the Indy 500. It was announced on April 17 that Paul Tracy will drive the #15 car for the team at the Indy 500 with GEICO sponsorship, with additional races up to the rest of the season possible. A later release from the team confirmed Tracy would appear in the #15 at the Edmonton and Toronto races. A third car, the #8, was listed for the team on the Indianapolis 500 entry list, and was raced by Townsend Bell.
• Vision Racing: A. J. Foyt IV was replaced by Ryan Hunter-Reay. The team would have prepared an additional car for the Indianapolis 500, the #22 entered by Bryan Herta Autosport, but entry was later withdrawn.
• Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing: Justin Wilson did not return to the team in 2009. However, Graham Rahal's option was picked up for 2009 and he returned. 2007 Champ Car Rookie of the Year Robert Doornbos' signing was confirmed on February 20, 2009. Milka Duno tested with the team at Homestead, but the deal to run a third full-season car for her apparently fell apart as she lost her backing from Citgo according to a report.
• Conquest Racing: A marketing brochure on the team's official site states that "Conquest Racing will field two cars in the 2009 IndyCar Series. With Alex Tagliani, the team will have a wily veteran with the experience and commitment to continue moving the team forward. Joining Tagliani will be a driver of equal gift and grit to round out a balanced driver package.". On February 16, the team announced that Jaime Camara will return to the #34 car for the Homestead test, but that its 2009 driver lineup had not been finalized. On a conference call on February 18, owner Eric Bachelart said the team's ambition was to remain a two-car team, but they may have to have two drivers share one car for the season. On April 1, Tagliani was confirmed as the team's sole driver at St. Pete with sponsorship from Northlands. The team has announce a partnership with the former Rubicon Race Team to attempt to add additional sponsorship. A second car is listed for the team on the Indy 500 entry list and it will be driven by Bruno Junqueira.
• Sarah Fisher Racing: Owner/driver Sarah Fisher secured funding for six oval races with sponsorship from Dollar General and IUPUI.
• Curb/Agajanian/Team 3G: Curb/Agajanian/Team 3G is a new team owned by Beck Motorsports owner Greg Beck, NASCAR driver Stanton Barrett, Mike Curb and Cary Agajanian of Curb Agajanian Motorsports and sports marketer Steve Sudler. Barrett will drive a full-time entry for the new team in 2009 sponsored by interush.net. The team is working on a deal to possibly run a second car in 2009, perhaps with Tomas Scheckter or another driver.
• Luczo-Dragon Racing: Luczo-Dragon has signed 2008 Firestone Indy Lights Champion Raphael Matos to a multi-year contract. Matos will race a full-time entry for the team in 2009.
• Roth Racing: Roth Racing has closed its doors and will not return as a full-season. The equipment was put up for sale. The team's employees were used to assist Conquest Racing for the second car that was prepared for Junqueira. The team entered two cars, the #25 and #52, on the Indy 500 entry list, but neither appeared.
• Rubicon Race Team/Pacific Coast Motorsports: Curt Cavin confirmed that Pacific Coast Motorsports and Rubicon had merged on January 23, and Rubicon's website updated listing PCM owner Tyler Tadevic and Panther Racing co-founder Doug Boles as new co-owners. Buddy Rice was reported as in-line for the seat with the combined team and the team claimed to be close to funding for a full schedule. The team did not participate in any open test or race and on the team's Twitter page they announced a name change to Rubicon Sports Agency. They formally announcing a partnership with Conquest Racing.
• Dale Coyne Racing: Mario Moraes left for KV Racing. Justin Wilson tested one of the Coyne cars at Homestead. Wilson was confirmed as the driver of Coyne's single entry at St. Petersburg and has signed a full-season deal. The team is still looking at possibilities to field a second car starting with the Indy 500. The team has a second entry, the #19 listed for the Indy 500. The team's primary entry was originally #19 but was changed by sponsor Z-Line Designs to #18 to match the NASCAR Nationwide Series Toyota Camry of Joe Gibbs Racing cars they sponsor starting at Long Beach.
• Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: The team announced Mike Conway signed for the 2009 campaign. The team plans to run a second car. Driver Roger Yasukawa will race with the team at Motegi. On April 1, 2009, it was confirmed that Darren Manning would drive the #23 Dreyer & Reinbold entry at St. Petersburg; Manning continued in the seat at Long Beach. Milka Duno will return to the team run a limited schedule in the #23 starting at Kansas. Davey Hamilton and Kingdom Racing will also partner with the team to field an Indy 500 entry. A fourth D&R entry at the Indianapolis 500 was announced on April 6, co-branded with George Gillett's Richard Petty Motorsports. That entry featured John Andretti with Window World as sponsor.
• Rahal Letterman Racing: The team was unable to secure sponsorship for the full 2009 season, but fielded an Indy-only effort for Oriol Servia.
• De Ferran Motorsports: The ALMS team owned by Gil de Ferran was contemplating adding an IndyCar program. It did not materialize in enough time for the 2009 Indy 500, but is expected full-time for 2010. According to Speed Channel's Robin Miller, it may be a two car effort for former BAR Honda F1 driver Takuma Sato of Japan, and de Ferran's ALMS teammate Simon Pagenaud, who spent one year in Champ Car after winning the 2006 Atlantic Championship. One of de Ferran's former CART Championship rivals and fellow ALMS convert Adrian Fernandez had been rumoured to join the series for 2010, but the team closed its doors at the end of October 2009.
• Forsythe Racing: Former Champ Car team Forsythe Racing announced intentions to race in the IndyCar Series in 2009, and stated that they were close (95%) to finalizing programs according to team manager Ken Siweck in July 2008. Plans were also announced for a foray into the ALMS and a return to Indy Lights. No Forsythe car has appeared in any of the three series, but a blurb on usatoday.com on April 23, 2009 mentioned the team was "mulling an IndyCar entry".
• Hemelgarn Racing: The team entered the 2009 Indy 500 with Buddy Lazier, but failed to qualify.