WAY TO GO DARIO & TEAM TARGET CHIP GANASSI!

Good showing by Andretti motorsport. Milka in the wall, last race.....priceless.

 

As was mentioned in Wind Tunnel this past Sunday, autoextremist.com is reporting that Chevrolet will field a twin turbo engine for 2012 to compete with Honda.

http://www.autoextremist.com/fumes1/

[QUOTE]EXCLUSIVE
Chevy Power returns to Indy in 2012 as GM Racing steps up its game.

 

Now Lotus is entering the mix with Aero and Power

 

Chip Ganassi Racing forms a second two-car team for the 2011 season, fielding a program for Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball.

Chip Ganassi Racing Teams (CGR) today announced the formation of Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing featuring rising American Indy car star driver Graham Rahal. Ganassi’s IZOD IndyCar Series stable will expand with the addition of the new team, which will be sponsored by TBC Retail Group. Rahal will drive the No. 38 Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing entry in 2011.

Ganassi also announced the formation of Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing, featuring rising American Indy car driver Charlie Kimball. Kimball will drive the No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing entry in 2011.

 

Lanigan joins up with Rahal Letterman Racing - it looks like they'll be running an Indycar full time in 2011, along with their two BMWs

It also appears that TK will sign with deFerran

 

How many teams (and cars) now for 2011?

 

Mon Dec 20, 3:36 pm ET INDIANAPOLIS – All Tony Kanaan really wanted was a full-time ride in the IndyCar Series. Team owner Gil de Ferran delivered his gift a few days early. On Monday, the two Brazilian friends announced they were teaming up for the 2011 season, a move that gives instant credibility to de Ferran Dragon Racing's fledgling team. "I want to call Gil Santa because he has all that white hair and that big belly," Kanaan joked during a conference call with reporters. "I tried to explain to my kids that I was going to ask Santa for a gift as well." Kanaan, known for his playful image and genteel personality, is one of the series' most competitive drivers.

In eight seasons driving for Michael Andretti's team, Kanaan won 14 races, the 2004 series title and never finished worse than sixth in points. He won last season's race at Iowa and finished sixth overall. And during the last three years, Kanaan, who turns 36 next week, had been the steadying influence for his younger teammates, including Danica Patrick. He usually spent the month of May driving all four cars in the Andretti stable, though he never did win the Indianapolis 500. It's the one glaring omission from Kanaan's resume, one he hopes de Ferran can help him eliminate.

De Ferran, who won the 2003 Indianapolis 500 driving for Roger Penske, returned to the series last season as a first-time team owner. Another Brazilian, Raphael Matos, was de Ferran's full-time driver last season with American Davey Hamilton driving part-time for the team.

Getting Kanaan, however, is a major move for de Ferran. "We are a very young and developing operation with big ambitions, and I think Tony brings a wealth of experience," he said. "He's a champion, he's a race winner, he's raced all sorts of cars in many situations. Hopefully it brings us a little closer to being a major force in the Izod IndyCar Series."

The two also have a friendship that transcends the sport. Kanaan acknowledged Monday that he and de Ferran have vacationed together with their families and they are so close that Kanaan couldn't even explain when the negotiations for this deal started. Terms of the contract were not immediately available. The team has not announced a primary sponsor, but Kanaan will have a new number 2. "I looked at him one day and he looked at me, and he said 'Should we be talking?'" Kanaan recounted. "I said, 'Yes.'" Things didn't become official, though, until Monday's announcement.

Kanaan's future with Andretti Autosports was put in doubt when 7-Eleven announced last season that it would end the longtime sponsorship of Kanaan's green-and-white No. 11 car. In October, Kanaan and Andretti agreed to a settlement that essentially made Kanaan a free agent. Andretti's team has undergone major changes during the offseason — losing Kanaan and three major sponsorship deals, including 7-Eleven. For the first time in several years, it also appears the team will have fewer than four drivers, and it won't be the same seeing Kanaan working with a different team in Gasoline Alley.

But that's an image Kanaan and de Ferran will cherish. "I'm going to have all the attention for myself. It feels good," Kanaan said. "It has been eight, almost nine years with a big team, so it took me a little time to get used to, but in a way I think it's great. I'm enjoying every moment of it. Everything's downsized for me. I'm just trying to get used to it."

De Ferran did not say whether Hamilton would be back part-time in 2011 or whether he would add a second full-time driver though he has said previously that he would prefer a two-car team. "I think the rest of our plans will be known in due course," de Ferran said. "Hopefully, we'll make more announcements in the near future. It was great working Davey last year, and if we could do that again next year, we'd do it."

 

http://indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indyc...-driving-force/

Sato & Viso return as driving force

 

currently only at 19 full time confirmed:

Chip Ganassi Racing
9 Scott Dixon Target
10 Dario Franchitti Target
38 Graham Rahal Service Central
83 Charlie Kimball ® Novo Nordisk

Team Penske
3 Hélio Castroneves Shell/AAA
6 Ryan Briscoe Izod/PPG
12 Will Power Verizon Wireless

Andretti Autosport
7 Danica Patrick GoDaddy.com
26 Marco Andretti Venom Energy Drink
27 Mike Conway TBA
TBA Ryan Hunter-Reay TBA

Panther Racing
4 J. R. Hildebrand ® U.S. National Guard

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
22 Justin Wilson Z-Line Designs
24 TBA TBA

A. J. Foyt Enterprises
14 Vitor Meira ABC Supply Company
41 TBA ABC Supply Company Indy 500 only

FAZZT Race Team
77 Alex Tagliani Bowers & Wilkins

de Ferran Dragon Racing
2 Tony Kanaan Hewlett-Packard
21 Davey Hamilton TBA 3 races: Indy 500, Texas, New Hampshire

HVM Racing 78 Simona de Silvestro Entergy

Lotus KV Racing Technology
5 Takuma Sato Lotus Cars
8 E.J. Viso Lotus Cars/PDVSA

Dale Coyne Racing
TBA TBA Boy Scouts of America

Newman/Haas Racing
TBA TBA TBA

Conquest Racing
TBA TBA TBA

Part time entries
Sarah Fisher Racing 67 Ed Carpenter Dollar General 10 races: St. Pete, Indy 500, Texas, Milwaukee, Iowa, Mid-Ohio, New Hampshire, Baltimore, Kentucky, and the TBA season finale.
Team REDLINE Xtreme TBA TBA REDLINE Xtreme Energy Drink Indy 500 only; in conjunction with Lotus KV Racing Technology
Bryan Herta Autosport TBA TBA TBA Indy 500 only
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing TBA TBA TBA Indy 500 only

 

Thanks for that.