Dixon, Franchitti IndyCar's dream team
Dario Franchitti's Return To IndyCar
The IndyCar Series enters 2009 with its lineup mostly intact, mainly thanks to the fact that the Indy Racing League had already substantially cut costs for its competitors before the current economic crisis hit in full force.
As a result, there should be 22 or more cars on the grid for most events this year, down just a couple from a year ago, when the field swelled from 18 to 26 cars due to the unification of American open-wheel racing under the IRL umbrella.
Ironically, the most prominent missing cars are from teams run by the principals of the IndyCar Series and the defunct Champ Car World Series. Vision Racing (owned by Tony George) and KV Racing Technology (Kevin Kalkhoven's team) have both cut back to one car for 2009, though both teams are poised to revert to multicar efforts should sponsorship suddenly materialize.
Even open-wheel stalwart Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing appeared on the verge of downsizing to one car, but it appears the team will run at least two entries, including one for rising American star Graham Rahal.
Meanwhile, it's business as usual for the three teams that have utterly dominated IndyCar Series competition since 2003. In that time, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske and Andretti Green Racing have won 80 of 97 races, including 61 of the past 65 events. And that percentage is unlikely to change this year, despite the greater experience of the so-called transition teams that joined the IndyCar Series from Champ Car in 2008.
It would be a major shock if a driver outside of IndyCar's big three emerged with the championship in 2009. Here is a team-by-team look at the competitors gunning for the big prize (all entries use Dallara chassis, Honda engines and Firestone tires):
AP Photo/Wilfredo LeeThree of IndyCar's heavy hitters: Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan.Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Car number/driver/country9 -- Scott Dixon, New Zealand
10 -- Dario Franchitti, Scotland
Chip Ganassi has put together perhaps the strongest driver pairing in the history of the IndyCar Series by teaming the last two series and Indianapolis 500 champions -- Dario Franchitti (2007) and Scott Dixon (2008).
Franchitti joined the Ganassi organization last year with the intention of competing in NASCAR after spending 10 years driving in CART and the IRL for Team Green and its later iteration, Andretti Green Racing. But the 35-year-old Scotsman's venture into stock cars was derailed by a broken ankle suffered in a Nationwide Series race and ultimately ended by a lack of sponsorship. When Ganassi offered Franchitti the opportunity to step into his successful IndyCar team, Dario was quick to accept. In preseason testing, he showed he has lost none of the speed and savvy that earned him 18 race wins in American open-wheel competition since 1998.
"I'm very excited to be coming back to the IndyCar Series," Franchitti said. "I think the unified series is excellent news and the schedule for 2009 was a big part of my decision, plus the chance to drive for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, which I know is a great team. I have competed against the team for 10 or 11 years in open wheel and I know how difficult they are to beat. I'm really looking forward to being a part of the team going forward and having Scott as a teammate."
Dixon has been the dominant driver in the IndyCar Series since mid-2007, and he enters 2009 as the championship favorite. If anything, getting married in early 2008 helped Dixon raise his game, and his competition must be hoping that the recent news that his wife, Emma, is pregnant with the couple's first child (due in July) proves to be a distraction. But don't count on it.
"Both of us are excited, and it's going to be a lot of fun," said the two-time series champion, who also won the title in 2003, his first year in IndyCar. "But the timing in the middle of the season might not be so good."
Dixon was slightly embarrassed by his last championship defense, mainly due to Toyota's uncompetitive engines in 2004. He's not likely to suffer a letdown again in 2009.
"The only way you can try to do better than last year is to try and repeat, and to try and repeat 2008 [when he scored a record-tying six race wins, including the Indy 500] is going to be tough," he said. "That was definitely a stellar season for myself and the team. But I think we've got a fantastic lineup, with the last two 500 champions and series champions. As everybody says, we're definitely going to have the target on our backs. It's going to be a hard season. A lot of the new people as such from last season have a lot of time in the cars now and the teams have been able to prepare the cars a little bit better. So I think the competition is going to be tougher."
Team Penske
Car number/driver/country3 -- Will Power, Australia, or Helio Castroneves, Brazil
6 -- Ryan Briscoe, Australia
IndyCar racing's most successful team didn't plan on making any major changes for 2009. But the United States government had other ideas, and Helio Castroneves' future with the team -- not to mention his career and overall freedom -- is in serious jeopardy as he stands trial for tax evasion and conspiracy to commit fraud.
Roger Penske and right-hand man Tim Cindric made the decision in early 2009 to have a backup plan in place and duly hired Will Power to deputize in Castroneves' absence. The Australian was a race winner in the Champ Car World Series for KV Racing Technology, and he adapted quickly to the IndyCar Series -- on road courses, at least. Should he end up driving for the team this season, Power should benefit from Penske's regimented atmosphere, and his learning curve for oval racing will definitely speed up. However, if Castroneves is cleared of the federal charges, Power will probably spend most of the season on the sidelines.
"It's a tremendous opportunity for me to join one of the best teams in all of racing," said Power, who demonstrated his potential by leading the IndyCar Series open test at the Barber Motorsports Park road course. "We're happy, and we'll be pretty confident going into St. Pete."
Briscoe joined Penske in 2008, replacing NASCAR-bound Sam Hornish Jr. After a slow start with the team, the Australian won his first race at the Milwaukee Mile and never looked back, often serving as Dixon's closest rival in the second half of the season. He enters 2009 as a legitimate championship threat.
"I'm sure it's going to be very tough this year … at least as tough as last year and probably more competitive," Briscoe noted. "I know Team Penske has been working hard over the offseason, and I know where I need to improve on last year's performances. Hopefully we can be one of those guys in the running for the title."
The team is likely to suffer most from Castroneves' absence on oval tracks, where the Brazilian had the benefit of many years of experience in CART and the IRL.
"Obviously it's something we have to deal with," Briscoe said. "Will and I get along well and we'll just learn to work together as teammates as we go forward."
Andretti Green Racing
Car number/driver/country7 -- Danica Patrick, USA
11 -- Tony Kanaan, Brazil
26 -- Marco Andretti, USA
27 -- Hideki Mutoh, Japan
In 2008, Andretti Green Racing suffered its least competitive season since it joined the IndyCar Series in 2003, mainly due to a lack of chemistry and cooperation between its four drivers. Being the largest team in the series has advantages in terms of data gathering, but when the drivers are at each others' throats -- as they were during much of last year -- the entire team regresses.
The good news -- or the bad news, depending on your perspective -- is that AGR returns the same four-driver lineup for the first time since 2005. That was AGR's most successful season, with 12 victories and a series championship for Dan Wheldon. However, Tony Kanaan (who just signed a five-year contract extension with AGR) is the only carryover from that successful era.
"We're very excited that it's the first year since 2005 that everybody is coming back together," said team co-owner Michael Andretti. "I think continuity is always an important thing, and it's nice to have that going into this year. I think we have high expectations from all four drivers."
Kanaan won just once in 2008, but his consistency carried him to third place in the championship. He's looking for better things in 2009.
"I don't think we performed to the standards of the team so it's another year with a lot of work to do," observed the 2004 IndyCar Series champion. "We know what we did right and we know what we did wrong. We are the most winning team in the IndyCar Series and one of the most successful ones. Everybody got what they wanted this year, so now nobody has any excuses."
It's a critical year for Marco Andretti, who hasn't won since he claimed his first and only IndyCar victory at Infineon Raceway in August 2006. Marco spent the offseason driving the Team USA entry in the A1GP single-seat series and hopes that will improve his rapport with new engineer Peter Gibbons, who guided Michael Andretti to many of his CART victories in the 1990s.
"I think the word for me this year is definitely 'consistency' because we've led at a lot of different types of racetracks in different years but were unable to capitalize," Marco said. "I'm going to be looking to capitalize at a lot of races. I don't see a weak spot in the championship for our whole team, really, and I can't wait to get going."
Danica Patrick also owns a solitary IndyCar win, and she will be looking to perform well in a contract year. She'll have the benefit of a new engineer (Eddie Jones) as well as having team boss Michael Andretti call her races on the radio. However, Patrick has struggled for speed on road courses and was next to last in the recent open test at Barber Motorsport Park.
Hideki Mutoh won rookie of the year honors for AGR in 2008 and could move past Patrick in the team hierarchy if he shows a trend of improvement this year.
"The team as a whole just felt that I would be able to help Danica," Michael Andretti said. "She seems to respond to me in a lot of ways, and we felt that I might be able to use some of my experience to help her. Hopefully we can get her back into Victory Lane, and we want to give Hideki his first win. We feel it would be really huge for our team if we were able to get the first Japanese driver to win a major open-wheel race."
KV Racing Technology
Car number/driver/country5 -- Mario Moraes, Brazil
Although KVRT co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven was the principal figure behind the Champ Car World Series from 2004 to '08, a lack of sponsorship forced him to cut back his racing team to one car for 2009. Efforts are ongoing to put together a package for Paul Tracy or Oriol Servia, who was the highest-placed transition driver last year in the IndyCar Series while driving for KVRT. Will Power, the team's second driver in 2008, was also not retained, and he has moved on to stand in for Helio Castroneves at Team Penske.
Mainly thanks to the experienced Servia, KVRT was the most competitive ex-Champ Car team on oval tracks in 2008, but the team could find it will be a challenge to repeat that form with its new driver, 20-year-old Mario Moraes. The Brazilian had a few good runs in '08 while learning the ropes for Dale Coyne Racing, and he was impressive for KVRT in the IndyCar Series open test at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February.
"This move provides me with the best opportunity to develop my driver and advance my racing career," said Moraes. "I think it will be a good year. I'm going to know a lot more tracks. I hope to have a teammate because that always pushes you forward and everything works better.
"I don't know if we can win on an oval, because it is so much about aerodynamics and the team has only one year working with this car, but for road courses, I think we have a good chance to win."
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
Car number/driver/country02 -- Graham Rahal, USA
06 -- Robert Doornbos (rookie), Netherlands
The rumor mill spun into overdrive when word leaked that Newman/Haas/ Lanigan Racing was planning to test ride-buyer Milka Duno. Sure enough, the Venezuelan ran a pair of tests for NHLR, but when her sponsorship program failed to materialize in a timely manner, she sat out the final preseason open test, and her mooted program appears to be in jeopardy.
Despite being only 20 years old, Graham Rahal enters his third season with one of American open-wheel racing's most successful teams. Rahal scored a remarkable victory in his first IndyCar start and showed plenty of speed on occasion in 2008, and some observers tip him as a championship dark horse in '09.
Remarkably, this is the first time in young Rahal's career that he will compete in the same car and series for two years running.
"It's nice to be here and to have a second shot at this," he said. "Going back to go-karts, I never did two seasons on one class. So from that standpoint for sure I'm looking forward to being back. It allows you to bring more confidence because you know the tracks and you know the cars. Obviously there is still a lot to learn on all fronts, but you know the basic concepts.
"I think as a team we made up a lot of ground over the winter. We hired a lot of key people to jump-start our learning curve a little bit more so I'm excited to see where we are."
Robert Doornbos, who won two races as a rookie in the Champ Car World Series in 2007, gets his first crack at the IndyCar Series. The Dutchman was impressive in preseason testing, running in the top 10 on the Homestead oval and being as quick as expected on the Barber road course.
"The team contacted me because they know what I can do," said Doornbos. "I'm here to do the best job I can. Of course I really have respect for the ovals. I have my eyes wide open, and it's like being in school. That's still a steep learning curve, but nothing to be worried about and I'll just go for it."
NHLR has hired ex-Andretti Green engineer Martin Pare in an effort to improve its performance on oval tracks.
Panther Racing
Car number/driver/country4 -- Dan Wheldon, Great Britain
After switching from Andretti Green Racing to Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 2006, Dan Wheldon almost won a second consecutive IndyCar Series championship. However, the Englishman has been adversely affected by the IRL's move to add more road-racing venues, and though as strong as ever on ovals, his lack of road-racing performance hurt his championship chances the past two years.
A change was probably in order for both team and driver, so Wheldon has moved to former series champion Panther Racing, where he will be the center of attention in a one-car effort. Like Wheldon, Panther's strong suit has always been the 1.5-mile speedways that make up more than a third of the IndyCar schedule, so on those tracks, at least, Wheldon and Panther should be a formidable combination.
Wheldon actually started his IndyCar career with Panther, running three races at the end of 2002.
"It's an organization I am familiar with, and I can't wait to get started," said Wheldon, who won the Indianapolis 500 for AGR during his 2005 championship campaign. "The team seems to have a good energy right now and seems to be heading in a very positive direction. So I am really excited and raring to go."
A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Car number/driver/country14 -- Vitor Meira, Brazil
Darren Manning scored the Foyt team's best result in six years with a second-place finish at Watkins Glen International in 2008. However, team boss A.J. Foyt elected to make a change and hired Brazilian Vitor Meira, who is widely regarded as the best driver not to have won an IndyCar Series race. ABC Supply Co. returns for the third season as the team's primary sponsor, and Foyt's son Larry is now in charge of day-to-day operations.
"I am definitely going into 2009 with a little extra motivation," said Meira, who was unhappy with the way he was dropped by Panther Racing after three years with that team. "I have raced against this team for many years and have heard cool things about them. Many people would give an arm and a leg just to meet A.J. and I am getting to work with him."
Vision Racing
Car number/driver/country20 -- Ed Carpenter, USA
Even IndyCar Series founder (and Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO) Tony George is not immune to the current economic crisis. George has elected to trim his Vision Racing team back to one car for his stepson, Ed Carpenter, leaving A.J. Foyt IV on the sidelines.
Carpenter has developed into a competitive oval racer and it would be interesting to see how he would fare in one of the top teams in the IndyCar Series. However, the former short-tracker has struggled to adapt to road racing.
"I'm looking forward to the season, though obviously the team is at least starting out the year with a different look by running only one car," Carpenter said. "We've scaled back a little bit, facing hard times like everyone else. Even with that being said, I feel really good about the group of guys we've put together. In some aspects, when you downsize, you can become a little stronger. I'll miss having a teammate on the road and street courses, but on the ovals, I don't think it's going to change our performance at all."
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Car number/driver/country24 -- Mike Conway (rookie), Great Britain
It's a new look for Dreyer & Reinbold in 2009, with rookie Mike Conway replacing former Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice as the team's lead driver. Roger Yasukawa has signed on to drive in the Japanese IndyCar event, and he will likely share D&R's second car with a driver to be announced, probably Townsend Bell.
Conway has scored some prestigious victories in European competition and has done a competent job in his first IndyCar tests. He hopes to match D&R's best result of recent years, a third-place finish achieved by Ryan Briscoe at Watkins Glen in 2006.
"We just want to obviously learn as much as we can, get experience, and finish as many races as we can on the oval to get points," Conway revealed. "On the road courses, we should be a lot stronger, initially anyway. We're aiming to finish at least top-5. It will be tough because there is some really good competition, and obviously it will be more difficult with a one-car team. It would be good to have an experienced teammate, especially on the ovals, just to learn from him. But this is an experienced team with plenty of data and you should be able to learn from that."
HVM Racing
Car number/driver/country13 -- E.J. Viso, Venezuela
Viso occasionally showed some speed but didn't make a lot of friends during the first half of his rookie IndyCar campaign. He settled down quite a bit in the second half of the season and had his most competitive oval outing in the season finale at Chicagoland Speedway.
His progress will be accelerated if the team is able to run a second car. To that end, discussions with former series rookie of the year Ryan Hunter-Reay are in an advanced state and Hunter-Reay recently tested with the team at Sebring International Raceway. It would be homecoming of sorts for the American, who won the 2004 Milwaukee Champ Car race for Keith Wiggins' team.
For the time being, the focus is on Viso, who switches from No. 33 to No. 13 in 2009 -- a lucky number in Venezuela.
"Obviously the expectations for this new season are much higher than last year," Viso remarked. "We have our first season under our belt and that means a lot. Last year we started the season with no knowledge at all of anything -- all the tracks were new for us, especially the ovals. It was a big challenge for me, but this year we are positioned much better."
Dale Coyne Racing
Car number/driver/country18 -- Justin Wilson, Great Britain
It is somewhat ironic that while Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing looked to Milka Duno for sponsorship, the team's former lead driver, Justin Wilson, was hired on merit by one of the sport's smaller teams. It says a lot about Dale Coyne's commitment that he is willing to hire a driver on talent rather than holding out for money.
With all due respect to Coyne, the transition from NHLR to DCR is a step down for Wilson. But over the past few years, Coyne's low-budget entries driven by top-notch drivers like Bruno Junqueira and Oriol Servia have often threatened much better-funded operations. Wilson hopes to deliver the sentimental favorite his first major open-wheel win.
Having experienced engineer Bill Pappas (formerly of Walker Racing and Ganassi Racing) will only help.
"It's a long, hard road ahead," Wilson admitted. "We've got lots to learn, with a new engineer for me. It's just a lot of things to work on; whereas a lot of the others teams are further ahead. It's just the way it is, and we'll keep our heads down, keep working on it and get faster. Hopefully on the road courses we can get close to the front, and we'll see where that takes us.
"The best thing about Dale Coyne Racing is Dale's a racer. He understands it all, and that's a big asset in this kind of racing."
Conquest Racing
Car number/driver/country34 -- Jaime Camara, Brazil
Eric Bachelart's Conquest team first fielded cars in the IndyCar Series in 2002, winning rookie of the year honors with Laurent Redon. He then took the team into CART and Champ Car from 2003 to '07 before joining the ranks of the transition teams moving back to the IRL in 2008.
Conquest struggled in its first IndyCar campaign until former Champ Car star Alex Tagliani drove the last few races of the season. Unfortunately, Tagliani won't be back until more sponsorship money is found, leaving Conquest with a single car for Brazilian Jaime Camara.
"We were a two-car team last year and it's our ambition to stay a two-car team, but we have to be realistic," Bachelart said. "It's very possible that we might have to share the car between two drivers for the season. The challenge for us is really to do well on the ovals. When it comes to the road courses, that was obviously our forté. We showed that last year on the road courses -- all the ex-Champ Car teams were competitive."
Luczo Dragon Racing
Car number/driver/country12 -- Raphael Matos (rookie), Brazil
Founded by Roger Penske's son Jay, Luczo Dragon enters its third season of IndyCar competition as a full-time team for the first time. Ryan Briscoe scored the team's best result with a one-off run to fifth place in the 2007 Indianapolis 500, but a handful of races in 2008 with driver Tomas Scheckter proved disappointing.
For 2009, LDR is adopting a different tact, hiring Indy Lights champion Rafa Matos, who has won championships at every level he competed. Engineered by Ray Leto (ex-Rahal Letterman Racing), the Brazilian is confident he will make a winner out of Luczo Dragon.
"Our expectation is to win two races at least this season," Matos declared. "We will be fighting for the championship, but we have a lot to learn. We have a solid base, though being a one-car team makes things a little bit more difficult. We are doing all the right things to try to find performance in the car, and I think we will be fine. We just have to put everything together and try to have a little bit of luck."
Sarah Fisher Racing
Car number/driver/country67 -- Sarah Fisher, USA
Before Danica Mania, there was the sensation of Sarah Fisher, who claimed two podium finishes and was the Indy Racing League's most popular driver for a couple of years around the turn of the century.
But the influx of former CART and Champ Car teams pushed Fisher toward the back of the grid, and for the past few years she ran a partial schedule in the IndyCar Series.
She's slated to run only four races in 2009, but Fisher will be doing so as the IndyCar Series' only owner/driver. It's a family affair, with husband, Andy O'Gara, and his father, John, deeply involved in the small, close-knit team.
Fisher has put together a solid sponsorship effort for her limited schedule with backing from Dollar General stores and Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis.
"It's wonderful to have IUPUI back at SFR and to be a part of the educational platform to inject new engineering blood into open-wheel racing," said Fisher. "As another returning partner of SFR, we are continuing to grow and build in our sophomore year as a business."
Team 3G
Car number/driver/country98 -- Stanton Barrett (rookie), USA
For years, Greg Beck was the proverbial "little guy" who put together a shoestring effort to compete at the Indianapolis 500. In 2009, he has recruited new partners and stepped up to a full-time effort. Former Galles Racing and Cheever Racing crew chief Owen Snyder is managing Team 3G.
It won't be an easy task, particularly with a driver whose only rear-engine open-wheel experience consisted of two Indy Lights tests spaced about 15 years apart. But as a Hollywood stuntman, Stanton Barrett has always had a daredevil side.
"I've been involved in so many professional sports all my life, and each time you get in, through experience you know to respect it," Barrett said. "At this level, nothing is easy. Getting in the car and just feeling it out is a big endeavor, and it's going to be a task for sure. We've got to work hard at it, take our time and learn and don't get in over our heads. But everybody in my crew and myself has a lot of experience in auto racing. Hopefully we can use that to get a good foundation and grow off of that and be successful."
John Oreovicz covers open-wheel racing for National Speed Sport News and ESPN.com.
