Driver # 6 - Lewis Hamilton - Age 24 - Chances of Joining the ICS - 25%

IndyCar Garage breaks down ten drivers that aren’t driving in the IndyCar Series and what their impact would have done or could do to the IndyCar series. This includes drivers that have raced partial schedules in years past or in the present season.

IndyCar Garage continues it’s countdown of the top ten drivers not currently driving full-time in the IndyCar Series with driver number 6

LEWIS HAMILTON – BRITISH – AGE 24 – Chances of Joining the ICS = 25%

Hamilton began karting at the age of 8 in 1993. He progressed through the open wheel divisions in Britain, his progress in the Intercontinental A (1999), Formula A (2000) and Formula Super A (2001) ranks, lead him to make a name for himself. His break into the F1 series finally came in 2007 at the age of 22. Driving for McLaren he qualified on the pole and finished in the exact same position to win the Canadian GP at Montreal. A week later he would go on to win the last United States GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 2008 he would go on to capture the Formula One World Championship as the youngest ever to do so and as the first black driver as well. In 2008 he also signed a five-year multi-million pound contract to remain with McLaren-Mercedes.

He holds numerous F1 records, and unless he has aspirations of breaking Michael Schumacher type records, he could be bored with F1 by the time he hits 30. This might lead him in a new direction towards the IndyCar series, depending on what shape the series is in. In the early 1990’s IndyCar saw many F1 drivers come over and compete full-time. Most of these drivers had considerable success, with the likes of Nigel Mansell and Jacques Villeneuve winning championships in 1993 and 1995. Hamilton is a great young talent that could possibly break many more records in the IndyCar series, along with being the best black driver available in any form of racing right now.

Top 10 Drivers not in the IndyCar series - #7 Scott Speed

IndyCar Garage breaks down ten drivers that aren’t driving in the IndyCar Series and what their impact would have done or could do to the IndyCar series. This includes drivers that have raced partial schedules in years past or in the present season.

IndyCar Garage begins it’s countdown of the top ten drivers not currently driving full-time in the IndyCar Series with driver # 7

SCOTT SPEED – AMERICAN – AGE 26 – Chances of Joining the ICS = 25%

Scott Speed began karting at the age of 10 in 1993 and remained in that role until his 18th birthday in 2001. At the age of 18 he began a four year journey toward Formula 1 by moving up through their development series. At just the age of 22, Scott Speed became the first American driver since Michael Andretti to drive a F1 car as a test driver for Red Bull Racing. In 2006 Toro Rosso was created through Red Bull Racing and gave Speed a full time ride in the Formula 1 series. Speed would have a less than spectator two years in F1 as he would struggle to find the top ten in any capacity. Speed’s best finish was ninth at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2007. After his departure from F1 in mid 2007, he immetidaley started driving in the ARCA RE/MAX series for Eddie Sharp Racing. His success for Eddie Sharp Racing lead to ride with Bill Davis Racing in the 2008 Craftsman Truck Series. He now competes full time as a Sprint Cup Driver and has found moderate success as a full-time rookie.

Speed is the type of driver that should have joined the IndyCar series developmental series in 2001 after he turned 18 and been a full time driver by his early 20’s, similar to the route of Marco Andretti. Instead, in 2001 the split was in full-force and allowed Speed to progress through the F1 minor leagues and eventually have an unsuccessful attempt in F1. It should be noted that in 2004 he tested for the Red Bull Cheever Racing team in the Indy Racing League, but nothing else came of it.

When Speed’s F1 career hit the rocks, where else would you take your sponsorship, well of course NASCAR. The bottom line with Speed is that he is a young American driver with talent, and he really never had a good opportunity to join the IndyCar series. Don’t count out Speed to be in the IndyCar series at some point. Speed’s career is still very young and if the NASCAR thing doesn’t pan out, you possibly could see him back in an IndyCar.

Top 10 drivers not in the IndyCar Series - # 8 Ryan Newman

IndyCar Garage breaks down ten drivers that aren’t driving in the IndyCar Series and what their impact would have done or could do to the IndyCar series. This includes drivers that have raced partial schedules in years past or in the present season.

IndyCar Garage continues it’s countdown of the top ten drivers not currently driving full-time in the IndyCar Series with driver number eight.

RYAN NEWMAN – AMERICAN – 31 – Chances of Joining the ICS = 10%

Ryan Newman is an Indiana native that grew up racing on the USAC circuit and was the rookie of the year in both the Midget Series and the Silver Crown in 1996. In 1999, at the age of 22, he was the first driver to win in all three divisions while being the Silver Bullet Series champion. While winning all three series, he was attending Purdue University, where he would graduate from in 2001. Newman is only the Sprint Cup driver that has a college degree. Newman developed a relationship with Roger Penske in 2000 while driving in the ARCA RE/MAX Series for Penske. Penske then had Newman race in the Busch Series the following year. By 2002 Newman was racing in the highest level of NASCAR and beat out Jimmie Johnson for Rookie of the Year at the age of 25. Newman is a driver who took the best choice given to him at time, which was NASCAR.

At the time Penske started his relationship with Newman, Penske’s open wheel program was still participating in CART. Had the IndyCar series been unified at the time, Newman possibly could have been funneled into the open wheel program at Penske. Newman rewarded Penske with 21 career wins in the top three divisions of NASCAR and put him victory lane for the 2008 Daytona 500. The likely hood of Newman returning to open wheel is slim because of his success in NASCAR. The only possibility for Newman to see open wheel time is the recent move he made from Penske to newly created Stewart-Haas Racing, and still that chance is very small. Newman is a prime example of what the split did to young American open wheel drivers coming up through the USAC series, it lead them to NASCAR.

Top 10 drivers not in the IndyCar Series #9 - Jenson Button

IndyCar Garage breaks down ten drivers that aren’t driving in the IndyCar Series and what their impact would have done or could do to the IndyCar series. This includes drivers that have raced partial schedules in years past or in the present season.

IndyCar Garage continues it’s countdown of the top ten drivers not currently driving full-time in the IndyCar Series with driver number 9

JENSON BUTTON – BRITISH – AGE 29 (pictured above & his 2009 ride)

Chances of Joining the ICS = 20%

Button is one of the best open wheel drivers in the eastern hemisphere. At the age of 11 he won all 34 races of the 1991 British Cadet Kart Championship along with the title. Button continued his success in the Formula Ford and Formula three series, and by 2000 he was making the jump to Formula 1. At the age of 20 he started to steadily progress through the series, while changing teams on a year to year basis.

Finally in 2003 he was teamed with former world champion Jacques Villeneuva for the BAR Team. His progress continued to improve as he led his first lap ever in the 2003 United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 2006 saw Button move onto a new team in the form of Honda Racing F1 Team, where Button captured his first career win at Hungary. Button continued with Honda through 2008 with mild success, but was clearly unhappy with his situation. In 2009 Honda was bought out and renamed Brawn GP. Button has captured a season high six wins and is currently first in the point’s race.

Button is a different story than most drivers, growing up for drivers like Button, the goal is F1. Button is currently in the prime of his career and is showing that by his ability to win races. Down the road we could possibly see Button in the IndyCar series, with possibly a one race deal for the Indy 500. Another possibility is if he wants a new challenge outside of F1. Button is only 29 and has been racing in F1 for nearly a decade, so he could have the aspirations of taking on North America open wheel racing. If and when Button decides to walk away or is forced to walk away from F1, look for his name to surface in the IndyCar Series,

The top 10 drivers not in the IndyCar Series - #10 Kasey Kahne

IndyCar Garage breaks down 10 drivers that aren’t driving in the IndyCar Series and what their impact would have been or could be in the IndyCar series. This includes drivers that have raced partial schedules in years past or in the present season.

IndyCar Garage begins its countdown of the top 10 drivers not currently driving full-time in the IndyCar Series with driver number 10.

KASEY KAHNE – AMERICAN – AGE 29 - Chances of joining the ICS = 2%

Similar to other drivers that will be featured in the countdown, Kasey Kahne was a USAC National Midget Series Champion in 2000. If you remember back to 2000, Penske and Ganassi weren’t even in the Indy Racing League yet. There was no way that Kahne was going to join open wheel racing when it was split into two leagues, while NASCAR was in full swing. Kahne hooked up with Robert Yates Racing in 2002 for a Busch Series ride and never looked back. He was a Sprint Cup Rookie in 2004 (still only 24) and won his first race in 2005. He doesn’t command the super star power that some of the other NASCAR drivers do, but he still would have been a great addition to open wheel racing had he been presented the opportunity to race in one unified series. Kahne ultimately was a casualty of the split years and is almost certain to run a full career in NASCAR. He has 18 career wins in NASCAR’s three major divisions and is one of the most appealing drivers to the female fans of NASCAR.

Race Reaction from Texas Motor Speedway

The IndyCar Series completed their sixth race of the season on Saturday, with 2009 Indy 500 Champion Helio Castroneves capturing his second win of the 2009 season. IndyCar Garage breaks down five race reactions from Texas Motor Speedway.

1. We have a new leader in the point’s championship – Ryan Briscoe

Briscoe lead a race high 160 laps, and at one point had 11 second lead over the second place car. He lost a pit-stop battle to Helio with about forty laps to go and ultimately cost him the race. Brisco still leaves Texas knowing that he is now in first place in the points. If the first six races of the season are any indication of where the point’s championship will land, it will be between the Ganassi and Penske cars.

2. AGR gets back in the mix... well kinda of

The four AGR cars had an eventful day as they landed three out of the four in the top ten. Marco Andretti finished a season high fourth and made a race charge that saw him in second place at one point during the race. Danica Patrick ran in the top ten throughout the entire race, but her racing was the topic of conversation with Marco after the race. Tony Kannan came back from one lap down and salvaged an eighth place finish, after the race TK said he wanted to roast the car because it was that bad. Hideki Mutoh had mechanical problems and registered his first DNF of the season. After the race, Marco said the hardest problem he had the entire race was trying to pass his teammate, Patrick. Danica said Marco made a great pass and that she was just racing her style, Kannan stepped in and played the peace maker role. TK said the AGR teammates would sort it out over lunch after everyone had calmed down. What we can all wish for is that one of the AGR cars fends off the Penske/Ganassi monopoly and gets onto the podium and into victory lane.

3. The Car Count of 24 cars lasts for one lap.

Graham Rahal did his best to hold on to a horrible car on the first lap, but to no avail he got tangled with E.J. Viso and collected poor Milka Duno in the process. This created multiple problems, first, it knocked out one of the bright young American drivers that fans can identify. Second, it immediately knocked out three cars of 24 car field. Third and lastly, it marked the second race out of the last three that the IndyCars couldn’t get one lap in before the caution came out. In one of the most competive tracks on the schedule, it would have been great to see the IndyCars get a fierce twenty to thirty laps in before a caution came out.

4. Sarah Fisher Racing didn’t materialize.

Sarah Fisher came to Texas Motor Speedway for the 10^th anniversary of her depute in the IndyCar series. The results from her race team where uneventful to say the least. She battled bad starting position, along with problems within her race car to finish several laps down. Sarah Fisher is one of the most popular drivers involved with IndyCars, and her success would be great for the series. She continues to be positive and we can only hope that she has more success later in season. She is halfway through her partial schedule for the year, circle the Kentucky race as the one to watch her team as having the best chance at a podium finish.

5. A week off until Iowa and IndyCar Garage will begin it’s countdown of the top ten drivers not in the IndyCar series.

The IndyCar series will return to action Sunday June 21^st at 1 p.m. at Iowa Speedway. During the break in action, IndyCar Garage will begin it’s countdown of the top ten drivers not currently driving full-time in the IndyCar series. The countdown of ten drivers will begin on Monday June 8^th with driver number 10 and conclude Wednesday June 17^th with driver number one. Check IndyCarGarage.com daily for a new driver every day.

Texas Motor Speedway Race Preview

The IndyCar Series moves on to Texas Motor Speedway for 6th race of its 17 race schedule. Coming off the Milwaukee race, the IndyCar Series will compete in their third consecutive weekend of racing. IndyCar Garage breaks down the top five things to watch for in Saturday night’s race.

1. Monopoly, Yeah it’s called Penske and Ganassi

Name a driver that has won a race in the 2009 IndyCar Series outside of Penske and Ganassi, still thinking? A Penske or Ganassi driver has won the first five races of the 2009 season and if qualification for Texas holds true, we could be looking at another victory for either Penske or Ganassi. Both teams have complete drivers, great technology, and great budgets to give themselves every advantage possible. Roger Penske just bought the auto manufacturer Saturn, what else could he want? It would be hard to believe that someone outside this foursome of drivers is at the top of the podium late Saturday night.

2. Car Count 20 = 24

Yes, IndyCar Garage commented on this subject in their race review of Milwaukee. The good news out of the IndyCar series for this race is that the car count has improved by four cars. Texas Motor Speedway offers some of the competive racing on the entire IndyCar Series schedule, so the more drivers for this race, the better. Sarah Fisher is back for her third race, as is Milka Duno. Jacques Lazier replaces Stanton Barrett on a temporary basis, Alex Taglani returns after a one race absence and A.J. Foyt IV returns to his granddads teams for this race. All of these changes are good things for the series and make for a more competive race. It would be great to see the series level off at about 28 – 30 cars on a full-time basis, but in all reality that is three to four years away.

3. The Danica watch is in full-effect

Danica Patrick currently sits fourth in the point’s championship and will start fifth for Saturday night’s race. Another win for Danica would do wonder for her championship hopes and the IndyCar series as well. The good news for Danica is that she is probably has the best chance out of any of the AGR cars. The bad news is that she has four drivers that represent Penske and Ganassi that will pose a problem to her. Anything can happen in a competive race track, which is exactly what kind of track Texas Motor Speedway is. There wouldn’t be much bigger than Danica winning her second career race.

4. Two Young Americans = Graham and Marco

Let’s be honest with ourselves, if the IndyCar series wants to take off in the United States Marco and Graham need to start winning races. It wouldn’t help if they developed a rivalry against each other as well. Marco is driving for one of the power teams in Andretti-Green Racing, while Graham is close behind with Newman-Haas Racing. Both of these drivers have won in the series, and Marco nearly stole the 2006 Indy 500. To generate fan interest and increase their market ability, these drivers need to win and maybe wreck each other on the last lap of the straightway and then argue in the garage about who’s fault it was, I know that sounds NASCAR, but it would help with the ratings. Both drivers and teams are capable, now they just need to finish a race and win.


5. Versus and Sarah Fisher return

Two good things return for the IndyCar series, Versus and Sarah Fisher Racing. Sarah Fisher marks the ten year anniversary of her debut in the IndyCar series at the age of 19. Ten years later she is a team owner and has been through a grind to get there. She continues to be a fan favorite and is running a partial schedule for this year. Fisher’s goal is to race a full time effort next year, along with possibly of expanding to two cars next season. IndyCar Garage would like to wish Sarah the best of luck with her team. The second part about this weekend’s race is the return of Versus T.V. coverage. We all wish Versus was right next to NBC,ABC, and CBS, but their coverage has been great considering this circumstances as a first year program covering the IndyCar Series. We can only hope that ratings improve, coverage is generated, and interest continues in the IndyCar series as progress through the rest of the 2009 season and beyond.

Penske to buy Saturn

News out of General Motors is that Detroit auto tycoon Roger Penske to buy the Saturn brand and dealer network. An announcement is expected later this afternoon. For the entire article, check out the link below.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090605/AUTO01/906050374/1148/rss25

Foyt IV to replace short lived Tracy Era at Foyt Enterprises

News out of the IndyCar series today is that A.J. Foyt IV will replace Paul Tracy at A.J. Foyt Enterprises for the upcoming IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway. A.J. Foyt IV finished 10th last year at TMS driving for Vision Racing. The news should come as no surprise, as Texas is the hometown track of A.J. Foyt and his grandson is a Texas native as well.

Tracy’s time with Foyt Enterprises might not be over, as Tracy was quoted as saying “A.J. is a straight-up guy. I’d never worked with him before last weekend, and I liked his attitude of trying to get things done. So I’ve basically told him that any time he wants to run me – and I’m talking a race or even a test – then he just has to call. I’d be really happy to help.” Foyt Enterprises hired Tracy to replace Vitor Meira for the Milwaukee race, but gave him little to work with in terms of a workable race car. Tracy finished 18th and six laps downs at Milwaukee, a track that he lead over 300 laps at and reached the winners circle four times prior to the 2009 race.

The question remains though, who moves on to Iowa with A.J. Foyt Enterprises in the #14 ABC Supply Machine? Tracy brings more name creditability, but doesn’t fit the profile of big name driver with low budget team. Foyt IV fits in perfectly as a young driver trying to secure a ride , that just happens to be for his legendary Grandfather

Race Reaction from the Milwaukee Mile

5 Race Reactions from the Milwaukee Mile 2009 – Race Winner Scott Dixon

1. HE’S BACK – SCOTT DIXON
Dixon has rebounded nicely from his early season struggles and captured his second win of the 2009 season and his 18th career IndyCar series victory. He needs only one more win to tie Sam Hornish Jr. for the most career wins in IndyCar series history. During Sunday’s race he positioned him perfectly when Ryan Briscoe got caught in race traffic, enabling himself to make a perfect inside pass that allowed him to lead the rest of the race. With the win, Dixon moved up to 1st in the point standings, captured his second consecutive top ten finish, and positioned himself to win his second straight IndyCar series championship. Dixon should be considered the driver to beat for the remaindered of the season.

2. DANICA ISN’T A MEDIA TOY FOR THE INDYCAR SERIES
With her fourth consecutive top five finish on Sunday, Danica Patrick is proving herself as a competitive driver week in and week out. The AGR star moved up to fourth in the point standings, which is a career high for her, and also proved that she can make the most of a average car. She battled handling issues throughout the day and was the highest finishing AGR car in the race. With the rumor mill circulating about the NASCAR jump, this should prove to IndyCar officials and a Andretti-Green Racing that Danica is worth the price of keeping her around for her entire career.

3. WHAT HAPPENED TO PAUL TRACY AND A.J. FOYT RACING?
Paul Tracy had an eventful week as he circled the country in his motor home, and while on the road he got a call from Foyt to fill in for Vitor Meria. Tracy made the trip to Milwaukee with much fan fare, but had little to work with in the ABC Supply machine. Tracy battled throughout the race but had no chance of a top ten finish as his car struggled to make it through the turns in one piece. It was great to see Tracy back in a car, but you would think that he would like to be more competitive. Look for him in the Toronto and Edmonton Races.

4. TONY KANNAN?
TK is one of the most popular drivers in the IndyCar series and he has struggled mightily in the past two races. First it was a third turn crash at Indy that left him in a physical wreck for Milwaukee. TK raced off to a quick start from his third position and lead 25 laps in the earlier stages of Sunday’s race. His car then fell apart on him as it got loose and eventually caught on fire in the pits, which lead to a DNF for TK. He has taken a hit in the points and needs a comeback win at Texas to get back in the mix. It’s hard to see bad things happen to such a great competitor in the IndyCar Series.

5. 33 TO 20
I know we just finished the Indy 500, but can we get more than 20 cars in the race after? This was supposed to be the race that everyone turned into after Indy and was also televised by ABC/ESPN. Last year the IndyCar series had 22-24 cars running. This year the economy has affected some of the smaller teams and effectively limited others to just one race deals. I know some drivers are signed up to race partial schedules, but for the health of the series and the competitiveness to stay fresh, the IndyCar series needs more cars to interest the fans.