Penske for 2010 . . . . NO sportscars.. | FerrariChat
Buy

Penske for 2010 . . . . NO sportscars..

Discussion in 'Other Racing' started by jknight, Oct 28, 2009.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. jknight

    jknight F1 Veteran

    Oct 30, 2004
    7,821
    Central Texas
    #1 jknight, Oct 28, 2009
    Stumbled across this on another forum and I was wondering what was happening to Penske in 2010 based on comments from Romain Dumas - Peugeot would be a good start for them.. Bernhard and Dumas are a fantastic duo

    AND to hear from Penske he doesn't have funding in place for his sportscar drivers is quite shocking to me!!


    Carol
    * * * *

    Penske confirms plan for three Indy-cars--and no sports cars--in 2010

    Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves are expected to be joined by Will Power to round out Penske's IndyCar lineup. It will also field five stock cars--but no sports cars. Penske Racing plans to field three Indy cars, five stock cars and no sports cars in 2010.

    Tim Cindric, president of Penske Performance Inc., told AutoWeek on Tuesday that the team plans to have Will Power join Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe as a full-time IndyCar Series participant.

    “It's not done yet, but we're closer,” Cindric said. “I'm planning on running three cars full-time, but I don't have the deal done yet.”

    Some of the crew members will come from the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series program that Cindric told his staff he does not plan to have next season. Penske started that operation for 2009 to give his sports-car drivers, Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, somewhere to race, as well as to keep the crew together. The drivers and crew previously comprised Penske's now-defunct American Le Mans Series prototype program.

    “I told them we don't have the funding in place to run next year,” he said. “We'd certainly like to, but right now, we've got to plan like we're not.”

    Cindric did not say what future role, if any, Dumas and Bernhard will have in the organization.

    In NASCAR, Penske Racing will field three Sprint Cup cars (for Kurt Busch, Sam Hornish Jr. and Brad Keselowski) and two Nationwide Series cars (for Keselowski and Justin Allgaier). That represents an increase of one car in the Nationwide Series.

    Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20091027/IRL/910279990#ixzz0VELsPlG2
     
  2. brian.s

    brian.s F1 Rookie
    Professional Ferrari Technician

    Nov 3, 2003
    3,809
    Midwest
    Full Name:
    Brian
    #2 brian.s, Oct 28, 2009
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2009
    Sad but says much about the state of sportscar racing in this economy. Outside of LeMans, not much I'm afraid.

    obviously money there for the door bangers though. Have to wonder when the trickle down will hit, I can't see people going back to watch after they stayed home this year.
     
  3. GuyIncognito

    GuyIncognito Nine Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 30, 2007
    99,881
    #3 GuyIncognito, Oct 28, 2009
    It always seemed to me that the '09 grand am campaign was a sweetheart deal from Porsche to Penske and the factory drivers, and wasn't really Penske's cup of tea.

    btw, isn't Keslowski currently a Dale Jr/Hendrick driver? Odd that someone would leave that powerhouse vountarily for Penske'***** or misss NASCAR effort.
     
  4. GrigioGuy

    GrigioGuy Splenda Daddy
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 26, 2001
    33,161
    E ' ' '/ F
    Full Name:
    Snike Fingersmith
    #4 GrigioGuy, Oct 28, 2009
    No room at the inn in the upper series, because that fossil Martin won't retire. Someone's got to go, and with the worst driver (Jr.) still pulling in the Tshirt sales (enough that -Junior's- cut was $30+ million this year, so Hendricks is pulling in $$$$$) and the other three kicking butt, Brad was SOL.

    I'm sorta surprised Hendricks and Stewart didn't cut a deal to put him in a third car over there, but I suppose sponsorship is an issue.
     
  5. jknight

    jknight F1 Veteran

    Oct 30, 2004
    7,821
    Central Texas
    #5 jknight, Oct 28, 2009
    My thought about Penske and GA was similar - I thought of it also as a wait and see what might occur with Porsche and P1; additionally I thought Penske might have been an outlet for an Audi customer team. I'm sure Porsche will find a place for Timo and Romain, unless they are snagged in the interim.

    Carol
     
  6. Whisky

    Whisky Three Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 27, 2006
    31,927
    In the flight path to Offutt
    Full Name:
    The original Fernando
    #6 Whisky, Oct 28, 2009
    But Tony didn't want that - he had a great situation at JGR - why leave there? No, the real money in nascar is in team ownership - you pay yourself first, then everything else after that. Tony knows that, but it's also 100x the work as opposed to just driving.

    I would suspect Penske is a smart enuff fella that he recognizes if the racing doesn't pay for itself, it's not worth doing. See my comment about Tony above.. same deal.
     
  7. GuyIncognito

    GuyIncognito Nine Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jun 30, 2007
    99,881
    #7 GuyIncognito, Oct 28, 2009
    there was talk about Dale Jr's team (JR Motorsports?) moving up to Cup full time with Keslowski to skirt the rule about number of teams owned by one company.

    you are right about Dale Jr- if he wasn't Dale Jr (and therefore pulling in all that $$$), he'd be gone.

    but this is about Penske and sports cars....how cool it would be if he did a full season in ALMS with one of the Audis....or a P1 Porsche! c'est la vie...
     
  8. jknight

    jknight F1 Veteran

    Oct 30, 2004
    7,821
    Central Texas
    #8 jknight, Oct 29, 2009
    Audi has already said no full LMS or ALMS season in 2010 and unfortunately I think the P1 Porsche idea is scrapped. Interestingly enough I read this morning that Nick Wirth is already working on an 2011 P1 car...not relevant to Penske but is news for 2011 and he designed the current Acura P1 car without using a wind tunnel (there's been discussion on the F1 forum about not using wind tunnels).

    Also read this am that the Sebring Winter Test is February 22 & 23 - wonder who will attend?!?!

    Carol
     

Share This Page