Dario back in IRL with Ganassi...bye Wheldon!

Dario is fantastic and the complete package.

He's also approved by Jackie Stewart...does that make his name 'mud' in these parts?

 

Yes, Ashley's back too.

 

Why was Ganassi so keen in getting rid of Wheldon??

 

I'm sure Dario's retainer with Ganassi was far too excessive to justify him only running the Nationwide series. He and Dixon seem to have the same style of racecraft so I think they'll be great as teammates.

I'm really glad to see this, Dario is a great driver, sportsman and gentleman. And his wife is hot, too.

 

Happy to see Dario back with IRL! He comes across as a team player from his stint at AGR. Should do well in working with Dixon.

Always have had the impression Wheldon was in it just for himself. I will give it to him that he gained some maturity this season. Yes, its racing, but there are times when team mates need to support one another until it gets to the last couple of laps, then every driver for themself.



OK, so where's Wheldon going to land? I haven't seen anything on where he will be. I can't imagine Chip fielding 3 cars.

 

INDYCAR: Panther Racing Confirms Wheldon

Written by: SPEED Staff
SPEEDtv.com
Date: 09/02/2008 - 05:42 PM
Location: Indianapolis, Ind.

Six years after Dan Wheldon made his IndyCar Series debut at Chicagoland Speedway for Panther Racing, the team announced today it has reached a multi-year agreement to bring the former Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion back home to the two-time league champions.

“It’s hard to describe the level of excitement and emotions all of us at Panther have knowing that Dan has come back to drive for us,” team Managing Partner and CEO John Barnes said. “I remember watching him drive for the first time in the Indy Lights series years ago, and I knew he was going to be a special talent. Since then he’s become one of the best open-wheel drivers in the world, and for him to make his return to our team at the height of his racing career is a tremendous compliment to our team. I know he’s excited about getting into the No. 4 car for the first time and we’ve got a tremendous future ahead of us.”

Wheldon signed with the team originally in June of 2002 under a testing agreement. It was later the same year, at Chicagoland, that Wheldon made his debut for Panther driving the No. 15 Pennzoil sponsored entry and finished 10th. He also started at Texas Motor Speedway for the team and finished 15th despite not even making a qualification attempt.

“I’m very excited to be joining the entire Panther Racing crew,” Wheldon said. “This is the place where I started my career in 2002 and with the personnel and leadership that John Barnes has put together, I know that we’ll be fighting for outright victories, the Indianapolis 500 title and the league championship. I’m looking forward to when my obligations with my current team have been honored, so I can get with the entire Panther family and start moving towards all of our goals of winning races and championships together. It’s great to be back.”

Wheldon became one of the winningest and most consistent drivers in open-wheel racing during stints with Andretti Green Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing. In 2005, he won both the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar Series championship during a season in which he won a league-record six races. The following season he won two more races and tied former teammate Hornish for the overall points lead at the end of the year but the title went to Hornish because he had more victories.

He currently ranks fourth in the IndyCar Series points standings and has two victories this year – at Kansas Speedway and Iowa Speedway.

 

Huh, didn't see that one coming.

I ignore the internet for a couple of days and miss all the gossip. Good for Panther. They did well with Hornish, so should do well with Wheldon. Can we get the old Penzoil Yellow car back on the track?


So now I have to ask...what about Vitor?

"Panther Racing has not re-signed Meira, but said if sponsorship materializes for a second car in '09 he would be welcome back. Meira, who has two top-five finishes this season, is closing out his third year with Panther Racing. He has 56 top-10 finishes in 92 career starts with three teams and said he's exploring his options."
http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=12431

 

Interesting. I don't follow this series but I would've thought he was better in road courses due to his background before IRL. I do remember a few years ago that people were tipping him for a potential move to F1.... go figure.

 

Neither did I....I had assumed he'd end up at Rahal or maybe NHL. Panther is still a solid team, I'd love to see them keep Vitor and go to 2 cars. If they could find a proper sponsorship package and have stability and money to spend they could give Penske/Ganassi/AGR a run for their money.

 

Panther always seems to struggle with money. Not long ago, they were REALLY struggling. I don't get it. they had a great run with Hornish. That shows they are capable of fielding a competitive driver. I don't know if they could properly pull off a 2-car team after all the struggles they have been through years of late. More power to them if they can pull it off though. It'd be good for the series to have more ride possibilities for capable drivers and I think Panther could execute provided they are able to get some very solid $$$$$ and the people to back up the drivers.


As for Vitor, he is a consistent, clean driver, but he's not winning. That really appears to be weighing on him. Always the bridesmaid... How many more teams are willing to take a shot on someone that just can't seem to deliever the 1st place win after so many years? I find myself really pulling for the guy these days...UnderDog needs to come through with the win and get that monkey off his back. If he can do that, I think he'll become a better, even more competitive driver.



I really hate to be morbid, but I've been wondering in the back of my head what will become of NHL come next year. The last interview I saw with Haas, gave me the impression he doesn't seem all together present. Hope I misread that and someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I thought the same thing. I hope its just the fact that he's almost totally deaf after years sitting on the pit wall, but he didn't seem very coherent either.

I don't know much about the Lanigan fellow in NHL, but maybe they brought him in more as a successor than as an investor. Would be a shame to see this great team unravel, especially with all the talent they have right now.

 

Hass did seem a little out of it. Anyone looking for sponsor $ has got to see the effects of next years TV package. 4-6 races on ABC and the rest on what used to be called the Outdoor channel and is now called ? something else. Reaches like 60% of households. I don't think this is what the unifiers had in mind, but most likely all TG could swing.

 

Versus. They are actually being pretty aggressive with their sports programming, with NHL, college football, and others. Hopefully people will want to see their favorite football team play, call and complain to their cable/satellite company, and VS will increase beyond 60% before next season. But it is a gamble, I hope it pays off.

 

A lot of mid pack (lessor known) teams take minimal sponsorships to field cars. They bank on high finishing position winnings and low accident damage seasons. When the experience low finishes and high accident damage bills, the struggle begins.

 

Good for Dario, I'm happy to see him going back to Indy cars. I hope Sam Hornish follows his lead.

 

This is indeed great news for Dario, however, this has to dispell the rumor of Gil deFerran running a second P2 Acura with Dario as one of the drivers....along with the potential of Rubens being mentioned too. Now if Chip could put Juan into an Indy car, what a team he'd have against AGR or AS (whatever it will be) and the Penske boys. I rather like the sound of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing with Dixon/Franchitti/Montoya.

Carol

 

I'd like that, too.

 

Sarah Fisher immediately comes to mind from this season. her incident with Helio (caused by Marco) put the nail in the coffim on her chance with her own team. A real shame.

I am a serious Hornish fan. he can run low, he can run high. I miss his driving in open wheel.

+1...If Chip would only be willing to field 3 cars...we'd see some serious AGR butt whooping happening. That'd make me happy. Someone get Chip on the phone and get him seriously thinking about this option!!!!

 

The only person I've ever seen use all the track on an oval in an open-wheel car like Hornish was Greg Moore.

 

+1
I was just thinking of him yesterday. I was at Fontana when this tragedy occurred. It's ashame he was taken from us so early.

 

+1, I remember he was my favorite driver (when I was first REALLY getting into racing), such a tragedy. As for Wheldon, from what I've heard from a few people he's quite the prima dona.

 

Got to mingle just a bit with the drivers at Texas last year on a Thursday
Vitor was the only one that didn't seem full of himself, at least to me. With a win that may change but as of now I'm pulling for him.