Panther Racing's Meira primed for Indy success

Updated: May 24, 2006, 1:28 PM ET

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By John Schwarb
Special to ESPN.com
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INDIANAPOLIS -- Quick, can you name last year's Indianapolis 500 runner-up?

Jun Sato/WireImage.comVitor Meira wouldn't mind visiting Daytona for an offical race.

You certainly know his 2005 teammate, a certain female rookie who finished fourth. And you'll recall that Dan Wheldon won the race.

But maybe you're not remembering Vitor Meira. It's understandable.

The 29-year-old Brazilian was a good story last year for Rahal Letterman Racing, but it was destined to be an agate-type footnote behind breakout star Danica Patrick. Meira finished second in the showcase race of the Indy Racing League and seventh in overall series points, yet only the most diehard of racing fans knew who he was.

"There are two kinds of recognition -- there's the media recognition, and there is recognition from those who know about racing, garage recognition," Meira said. "That recognition I have and I've always had. The media, there's nothing I can do about that."

Actually, there is. He could do one spot better than last year's effort at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

That's not out of the realm of possibility.

Meira qualified his Panther Racing Dallara-Honda sixth last weekend at 226.156 mph, backing up two weeks of work in which his car had been sixth fastest in the field.

Team Penske drivers Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves and Ganassi Racing's Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon are the top qualifiers and favorites to win Sunday, but Meira is at the top of the dark-horse list.

In his fourth full year of IRL driving, Meira has steadily improved and become arguably the circuit's best driver not to win a race. In 2004 he landed a ride with Rahal Letterman Racing, finishing eighth in season points with two runner-up finishes and a sixth-place at Indianapolis.

Last year he continued his consistent if not spectacular driving, collecting two more seconds including the strong run at Indy. Yet at year's end, he was out of a job.

Rahal Letterman had run three cars during the season with Meira, Patrick and 2004 Indy 500 champion Buddy Rice, but for 2006 had only enough renewed sponsorship money for two cars. The ethanol-sponsored car, brought to the team by the late Paul Dana, would come a few months later. Meira was the odd man out, never mind the fact that he led the trio in points with Patrick 12th and Rice 15th.

"It's business. You have to understand the consequences," Meira said. "I mean, if you were a team owner with Danica and Buddy, even if I did finish better and had a better year than most … it was a business decision and I totally understand it."

Meira sounds sincere, and said he still considers Bobby Rahal a friend. He can talk in even tones now about the situation, given that he landed on his feet with a traditionally strong IRL team in Panther Racing.

Panther's storied history includes 15 IRL victories, back-to-back series titles with Hornish in 2001 and 2002 and a stable of drivers, including Indy 500 champions Wheldon and Buddy Lazier and ABC/ESPN commentator Scott Goodyear.

In Meira, co-owner John Barnes landed a driver he had kept an eye on since a testing session at Texas Motor Speedway in 2000. Meira ran laps in a Panther ride, then six years later both sides finally had the availability to put a deal together.

"We've always been trying to get together," Barnes said. "He's very humble and even-keeled, then when he flips his visor down, he's a killer. He's just great to be around, guys love him. He's sticking with us for a long time."

It's been a building process so far, as the one-car operation continues to struggle with sponsorship and put its entire 2006 team together just a couple weeks before the season opener at Homestead-Miami. Meira finished just 16th in that race, but followed with a fifth at St. Petersburg. He's currently eighth in points.

"It's really hard, nobody has had enough time," Meira said. "We put the deal together two and a half months ago. Hornish has had three years at Penske, Helio five years. Here we're still adjusting to everything, but it's impressive how quick we did it."

The results at Indy back that up, and it's all the more impressive for a one-car team. Multicar teams mean more practice laps and a bigger database of information, not to mention usually greater financial resources. On this year's starting grid, the next single-car teams after Meira are in the back third of the field and aren't considered contenders.

"The information that you get around here is very important for race day; that will be the interesting part to see if they have enough information and have the ability to make the car change for the day's conditions," Goodyear said. "But there's a lot of quality people over there, a lot of experience."

If that adds up to a trip to Victory Lane at Indianapolis this weekend, then you'll know Vitor Meira.

John Schwarb is a freelance journalist covering motorsports and a contributor to ESPN.com