Robby Gordon 90% sure he will run the 2011 Indy 500

Per Scene Daily:

He said he is 90 percent sure he will do the Indianapolis 500 but will make the decision by March based on the sales of the Speed drink. He plans to build three cars for the Indianapolis 500, with the possibility of selling off one of the cars if he gets in comfortably on the first day.

To some, that might seem a big “if,” but for Gordon, it’s a new way of looking at trying to fund racing and continue what he’s built

Breaking Down American Drivers in IndyCar

With the announcements of three American Drivers this week in the IZOD IndyCar Series, IndyCar Garage took some time to break down the past 15 years of open wheel racing based off of American drivers who had full time rides.





If you start in 1995, the last year before the open wheel split, IndyCar had nine drivers that competed full time. Al Unser Jr, Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Robby Gordon, and Jimmy Vasser were among the notable drivers that represented the U.S.A. The late 90’s saw the Indy Racing League take its concept of American drivers and oval racing, and hit record highs of 16 in 1998, 17 in 1999 and peak at 19 in 2000. CART on the other hand, made it through 1999 with core group of American’s lead by Michael Andretti and Jimmy Vasser, but saw their total free fall in 2000 to just Andretti and Vasser. You could say that 2001 was the beginning of the end for CART American drivers, because between 2001 and 2007 just eight different American drivers participated full time in the CART/Champ Car Series. The IRL peak of 19 in 2000 didn’t last very long as 13 Americans had full time rides in 2001 and that bottomed out at three just this past year. 2011 appears to have some light at the end of the tunnel for Americans, as five men and one women appear to have full time rides and a seventh (Ed Carpenter) working toward a full season.

Media types such as Curt Cavin and Robin Miller have often said that IndyCar needs a mix of international flavor, but a strong American base with drivers on teams that can win races and championships. IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard has gone on the record and said that IndyCar needs the best drivers in the world. IndyCar Garage agrees with Bernard on having the best drivers in the world, and also agrees with Cavin and Miller that Americans need a strong base. If IndyCar has 24 full-time entries like 2010, then you would think you need at least 10 full time Americans, that’s 40%. You could even go to 50% and that puts you at 12 full time American’s.


The chart below breaks down American’s from 1995 – 2010 and 2011 is tentative.

IndyCar PPG World Series - 1995 - (9) – Al Unser Jr, Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti, Robby Gordon, Scott Pruett, Jimmy Vasser, Eddie Cheever, Danny Sullivan, Bryan Herta,


IRL - 1996 – (13) – Scott Sharp, Buzz Calkins, Robbie Buhl, Richie Hearn, Mike Groff, Tony Stewart, Davey Hamilton, Johnny O’Connell, Lyn St. James, Buddy Lazier, John Paul Jr. , Eddie Cheever, Johnny Parsons
CART – 1996 (8) – Jimmy Vasser, Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr, Bobby Rahal, Bryan Herta, Scott Pruett, Parker Johnstone, Robby Gordon,


IRL – 1996-1997 (10) – Tony Stewart, Davey Hamilton, Eddie Cheever, Buddy Lazier, Buzz Calkins, Jim Guthrie, Robbie Buhl, Mike Groff, John Paul Jr, Mark Dismore
CART – 1997 (9) – Jimmy Vasser, Michael Andretti, Scott Pruett, Bryan Herta, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr, Parker Johnstone, Richie Hearn, P.J. Jones,

IRL – 1998 (16) – Davey Hamilton, Tony Stewart, Scott Sharp, Buddy Lazier, Jeff Ward, Eddie Cheever, John Paul Jr, Billy Boat, Sam Schmidt, Mark Dismore, Robby Unser, Robbie Buhl, Brian Tyler, Buzz Calkins, Greg Ray, Dr. Jack Miller,
CART – 1998 (10) – Jimmy Vasser, Scott Pruett, Michael Andretti, Bryan Herta, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr, Richie Hearn, Robby Gordon, P.J. Jones, Alex Barron


IRL – 1999 (17) – Greg Ray, Mark Dismore, Davey Hamilton, Sam Schmidt, Buddy Lazier, Eddie Cheever, Scott Sharp, Robby Unser, Jeff Ward, Billy Boat, Buzz Calkins, Scott Harrington, Robby McGehee, John Hollansworth Jr, Jaques Lazier, Tyce Carlson, Donnie Beechler,
CART – 1999 (8) – Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Bryan Herta, P.J. Jones, Scott Pruett, Robby Gordon, Al Unser Jr, Richie Hearn,

IRL – 2000 (19) – Buddy Lazier, Eddie Cheever, Donnie Beechler, Mark Dismore, Scott Sharp, Robbie Buhl, Al Unser Jr, Billy Boat, Jeff Ward, Robby McGehee, Greg Ray, Buzz Calkins, Jeret Schroeder, Sarah Fisher, Tyce Carlson, Jaques Lazier, Sam Hornish Jr, Davey Hamilton, Jimmy Kite,
CART – 2000 (2) – Jimmy Vasser, Michael Andretti,

IRL – 2001 (13) – Sam Hornish Jr, Buddy Lazier, Scott Sharp, Billy Boat, Al Unser Jr, Eddie Cheever, Buzz Calkins, Jeff Ward, Robbie Buhl, Mark Dismore, Robbie McGehee, Greg Ray, Sarah Fisher,
CART – 2001 (4) – Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Memo Gidley, Bryan Herta

IRL – 2002 (12) – Sam Hornish Jr, Alex Barron, Scott Sharp, Al Unser Jr, Buddy Lazier, Eddie Cheever, Jeff Ward, Billy Boat, Richie Hearn, George Mack, Robbie Buhl, Sarah Fisher
CART – 2002 (2) – Jimmy Vasser, Michael Andretti

IRL – 2003 (11) – Sam Hornish Jr, Al Unser Jr, Scott Sharp, Roger Yasukawa, Bryan Herta, Robbie Buhl, Greg Ray, Buddy Rice, Sarah Fisher, Buddy Lazier, A.J. Foyt IV
CART – 2003 (2) – Jimmy Vasser, Ryan Hunter-Reay

IRL – 2004 (7) – Buddy Rice, Sam Hornish Jr, Bryan Herta, Alex Barron, Scott Sharp, Ed Carpenter, A.J. Foyt IV,
Champ Car – 2004 (3) – A.J. Allmendinger, Jimmy Vasser, Ryan Hunter-Reay

IRL – 2005 (9) – Scott Sharp, Bryan Herta, Alex Barron, Danica Patrick, Buddy Rice, Roger Yasukawa, Ed Carpenter, A.J. Foyt IV
Champ Car – 2005 (3) – A.J. Allmendinger, Jimmy Vasser, Ryan Hunter-Reay

IRL – 2006 (8) – Sam Hornish Jr, Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, Bryan Herta, Scott Sharp, Ed Carpenter, Buddy Rice, Jeff Simmons,
Champ Car – 2006 (1) – A.J. Allmendinger

IRL – 2007 (9) – Sam Hornish Jr, Danica Patrick, Scott Sharp, Buddy Rice, Marco Andretti, A.J. Foyt IV, Ed Carpenter, Sarah Fisher, Jeff Simmons/Ryan Hunter-Reay
Champ Car – 2007 (2) – Graham Rahal, Alex Figge

INDYCAR – 2008 (7) – Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Carpenter, Buddy Rice, Graham Rahal, A.J. Foyt IV,

INDYCAR – 2009 (5) – Danica Patrick, Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter, Ryan Hunter-Reay

INDYCAR – 2010 (3) – Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick

INDYCAR – 2011 (?) – Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Graham Rahal, Charlie Kimball, J.R. Hildebrand,

TOTAL NUMBER OF AMERICAN’S IN OPEN WHEEL RACING

THROUGH THE YEARS:
1995 - PPG IndyCar World Series – 9
1996 – CART – 8 IRL – 13
1997 – CART – 9 IRL – 10
1998 – CART – 10 IRL – 16
1999 – CART – 8 IRL – 17
2000 – CART – 2 IRL – 19
2001 – CART – 4 IRL – 13
2002 – CART – 2 IRL – 12
2003 – CART – 2 IRL – 11
2004 – CCWS– 3 IRL – 7
2005 – CCWS – 3 IRL – 9
2006 – CCWS – 1 IRL – 8
2007 – CCWS – 2 IRL – 9
2008 – INDYCAR – 7
2009 – INDYCAR – 5
2010 – INDYCAR – 3
2011 – INDYCAR – ?

Ryan Hunter-Reay to sponsored by Go Daddy?

Ryan Hunter-Reay to be sponsored by Go Daddy?

One of the top Americans in the IZOD IndyCar Series is Ryan Hunter-Reay(RHR). RHR captured a victory at Long Beach last season driving in his first full season at Andretti Autosport, prior to Andretti Autosport, RHR had bounced around from Rahal-Letterman, to Vision, and A.J. Foyt Racing. Andretti Autosport signed him in the offseason of 2009 and he made immediate results with his experience and road racing skills. Fast forward to the end of 2010, IZOD leaves as the primary sponsorship of his ride and Tony Kanaan is left out in the cold at Andretti Autosport after 7-11 leaves as the primary sponsorship. Andretti Autosport, almost on the same day announces that Kanaan is free to look around for another ride and that they have resigned RHR for a two year extension, yet they haven’t announced sponsorship for RHR. Just recently Andretti Autosport released a off-season statement saying that they had intentions for four full time cars and a fifth for the Indy 500.

The recent timeline of events in the past few days has IndyCar Garage connecting the dots:

Friday at 6:46 A.M. RHR Tweets:
RyanHunterReay - On the plane westbound headed to new sponsor photo shoot and appearances, should be a fun weekend. Hope you all have a great Friday!

So we learn RHR was headed to the Go Daddy Christmas party in Scottsdale Arizona, Today we read a press release from the party, highlights are below:

Employees were also treated to some star gazing – Go Daddy Girls Danica Patrick, Jillian Michaels, Vanessa Rousso and Candice Michelle attended. Auto racing icon Michael Andretti and IndyCar star Ryan Hunter-Reay were also among the celebrities enjoying the festivities. Other special guests included “America’s Toughest Sheriff” Joe Arpaio and award-winning advertising critic Barbara Lippert.

The world’s largest Web hosting provider and domain name registrar provider recorded a 25 percent increase in sales this year, expanded with more than 400 hires, opened a data center in Singapore and now serves more than 8.6MM customers. Go Daddy is now larger than its eight closest competitors … combined!

At a time when other companies are cutting back, Go Daddy is increasing its charitable giving. The Internet powerhouse has donated more than $3.4MM in 2010, breaking last year’s record of $2.5MM.

More RHR Tweets:
December 12th 11:42 A.M. - Attended a killer Christmas party last night, like no other. Excited to work with such a great group of people. Now, headed to sunny FL

December 12th 6:30 p.m. @JacknDiet we'll have an announcement soon! You didn't miss anything, I just can't give many details.

To forecast future, RHR will be sponsored by GoDaddy.com next year and the car will be black and green, almost opposite color scheme of Danica Patrick’s.

Wrapping up an exciting two weeks of INDYCAR announcements... and forcasting more to come

INDYCAR had a plethora of announcements in the past two weeks ranging from team sponsors to series sponsors, and speculation on driver rides. IndyCar Garage puts a spin on the recent announcements and forecasts the next round of announcements coming within the next couple months.

1. Team Penske announced several new sponsors to their three car line up, including Shell sponsoring Helio at Indy, Briscoe in the IZOD livery, and Meijer, Verizon and Auto Club as associate sponsors. This is not only huge for Penske, but the series in general. For one, it gives IZOD a chance to activate its brand more through one of the top teams in INDYCAR, (yes its sad to see them leave RHR), but for Briscoe, Helio and Will Power, it allows for three of INDYCAR’s biggest stars to be marketed on a national platform, something INDYCAR needs. The shell sponsorship for Helio at Indy is also a big get, as Helio could possibly win his fourth Indy 500 this year and his car could be immortalized forever in the Indy 500 collection.

2. Sarah Fisher stepped up last week and signed an American Driver (Ed Carpenter) to driver her #67 Dollar General IndyCar. Fisher wants to focus more on starting a family and becoming a full time team owner. Sarah will be missed this year, but would be missed even more if she can’t transition her team over to 2012 with the new equipment. Additionally, Ed has stated that he hopes to find more sponsorship to run the full 2011 schedule, HELLO FUZZY’S VODKA, please kick in the additional money to fund ED! I know the sponsorship crossover of Dollar General and FUZZY’S Vodka isn’t the best, but hey… ED needs to run the whole season.

3. Mazda has stepped up and announced that they will sponsor three scholarships as part of the newly named MAZDA Road to Indy program, which is the official INDYCAR Ladder system. Champions in the USF2000 Series, Star Mazda Championship and Firestone Indy Lights now will have the opportunity to graduate into the next series and move up the ladder, which leads to the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Indy 500. Starting in 2011 drivers in those three feeder series will now actually have the confidence to know that they are RACING for a spot to move up and drive at the next level. Many owners and media types have came down hard on the ladder system for not allowing drivers to move up. The Mazda scholarships change everything and now finally allow drivers see a true ROAD TO INDY. Suggestion to INDYCAR, market the heck out of the first guy who makes it all the way through each series. Early possible candidates for that include Zach Veach, Sage Karam, and possibly Conor Daly.

Now for the Silly Season drama announcements that will be coming…

Announcements that WILL HAPPEN:
Las Vegas will be announced as the series finale… it’s just a matter of sponsorship

Edmonton will return to the schedule on the July 24th date, this helps INDYCAR because of the bigger sanctioning fee

Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball will be announced as Ganassi drivers as part of a Satellite team for Ganassi.

Vitor Meira will be announced as the driver for A.J. Foyt Racing for two more years

Andretti Autosport will start to revive plans for the 2011 lineup, one that includes four cars and a one off entry for the Indy 500 as part of a five car program for Indy

Announcements that SHOULD HAPPEN
Tony Kanaan will announced as the driver for de Ferran Dragon Racing for 2011

J.R. Hildebrand will be announced as the driver for Panther Racing for 2011

Sam Hornish Jr. will announce his one off intention for the 2011 Indy 500

John Andretti will return with Andretti Autosport for the 2011 Indy 500 (fifth entry)

The Start time of the 2011 Indy 500 is moved back to 11 A.M. Eastern which puts it at noon Indiana time because of day light savings.

Announcements that MIGHT HAPPEN
Several NASCAR (Stewart, Kahne, Johnson, Busch brothers, Earnhardt Jr.) drivers have interest in becoming involved with INDYCAR in 2012, some as team owners and some as possible drivers, look for some sort of announcement regarding a stock car driver and their plans for 2012.

Robby Gordon officially announces his entry into the 2011 Indy 500

Milka Duno re-signs with Dale Coyne racing for 2011

IndyCar Garage’s Christmas list for IndyCar in 2011
INDYCAR on NETWORK TV ON NBC

More Sponsorship for American Drivers

Michael Andretti runs a one off for the 2011 Indy 500 only to be out qualified by Mario Andretti

Andretti Autosport and Sarah Fisher Racing relocate to Main Street in Speedway, Indiana as part of Speedway’s Redevelopment plan.

Three aero more aero kits are announced for 2012, giving us six different types of cars on the track powered by three different engines.

INDYCAR’s 16th street offices redo their logo on their building and rebrand it as INDYCAR and get ride of the old IRL Logo.