2018 IndyCar news/misc. stuff

FLRacingFan said:
TOTAL QUARTZ named Official Lubricant Partner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Primary Sponsor of Rahal’s Entry at the Toyota Grand Prix in a Multi-year Deal
https://rahal.com/2018/01/31/total-...hals-entry-toyota-grand-prix-multi-year-deal/
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Best livery I have seen in a minute, it looks great and this quite the power move considering the size of TOTAL.

I do not see Steak n' Shake, would be a shame if they lost that. This is big news and the marketing departments for RLL and SPM are putting in work.
 
Kiante said:
Best livery I have seen in a minute, it looks great and this quite the power move considering the size of TOTAL.

I do not see Steak n' Shake, would be a shame if they lost that. This is big news and the marketing departments for RLL and SPM are putting in work.
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SPM have had maybe the best offseason I've ever seen for a team of their stature.

RLL, even if they lose S&S, sound like they have some good partners in place.

 
PNC moves to primary sponsor at Ganassi
https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2018/02/05/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/Ganassi.aspx

It took a tad longer than owner Chip Ganassi expected, but his IndyCar team has found a replacement for Target.


Chip Ganassi Racing this week will announce that Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank will become the full-season primary sponsor of Scott Dixon’s No. 9 Honda for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series campaign. Financial and length terms were not disclosed, but a full-season IndyCar deal for a top team like Chip Ganassi Racing typically costs around $10 million annually.


PNC has an existing relationship with the team owner, who is also from Pittsburgh and has been a customer of the bank personally and professionally for decades. The bank has had a smaller deal with the team for several years, but this marks the first time it will become a primary sponsor — and for all 17 races.


Target was a 28-year sponsor with Chip Ganassi Racing overall but exited the IndyCar side after 2016 and then followed by leaving the NASCAR side — and thus motorsports altogether — in 2017. Credit One Bank and DC Solar have since become primary sponsors of Kyle Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet for most of the NASCAR season, leaving the race team with only about a half-dozen races left to sell.


Bill Demchak, chairman, president and chief executive of PNC Bank, said the company decided to step into the role both because it saw positive results in its prior deal and because he was “stunned” that no other corporation had stepped up to replace Target as of a few months ago.


“We thought and then proved to ourselves, going back to the deal that started in 2014, that we had a set of clients who were race car fanatics and if we activated the sponsorship the right way, it would be great for us, our brand and clients,” said Demchak, who went to high school with Ganassi at Fox Chapel Area High School near Pittsburgh. “This is an evolution of that.”

Assets of the deal include hospitality and access to appearances with Dixon. PNC plans to promote the deal on its digital and social channels.


Demchak said the company, which is handling the deal in-house, has closely tracked its return on investment from the partnership by keeping tally of how much business it does with clients it entertains at races.


He recalled an example from a few years ago in which PNC took an Indiana-based businessman to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The businessman had been to the track dozens of times but had never gone onto the starting grid, something PNC arranged for him to do, leading the man to tears.


“We have every bit of that guy’s business unless we screw it up for now till the rest of time,” Demchak said. “Racing is like that — the emotion it has for certain people. Our job is to make sure we match it off against clients who have that interest and we found that there’s a lot of them.”


He said that eight of the race markets for IndyCar events are key markets for PNC, which has a strong footprint of retail banks in the East Coast and Midwest, and also does some work on the West Coast.


Demchak said he’s looking for business-to-business and business-to-consumer results from the deal, adding that IndyCar’s “mass affluent consumer” fan base “is our target audience.”


Ganassi, who just won his 200th race as an owner in motorsports two weeks ago at the IMSA Rolex 24 at Daytona, said that in retrospect, it “was a little tougher than I expected” to replace Target. He added that he’s not looking at the PNC relationship as one that exists simply because the two sides have ties to Pittsburgh.


“It’s the hometown bank but I think more important, I have to look at it from a national perspective,” Ganassi said. “To have someone with the national view and a brand like PNC on the car, it says a lot about our team, Scott Dixon and the sport.”
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Scott Dixon’s 2018 PNC livery:
303613BF-E155-48D9-A221-844B6D0D700D.jpeg
 
Kiante said:
http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/147216-claman-de-melo-fittipaldi-close-full-time-grid

Full-time grid is done, ZCD will race 10 races and Fittipaldi will race 7 races. Pietro had a great testing session and was only two tenths behind SeaBass on pace... Thats impressive.
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Phoenix, Indy GP, Indy 500, Texas, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Sonoma. Disappointed he won’t be at St. Pete but I think he’s gonna be fun to watch this year.

https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/pietro-fittipaldi-indycar-coyne-indy-1002706/
 
The sponsorship is crazy up and down the grid.

Also, Graham's car look like the old Miler Lite scheme from the 90s into the early 00s.
 
2018 IndyCar grid
http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/147377-2018-indycar-grid
Full-Time Entries

A.J. Foyt Racing (Chevrolet)
No. 4 Matheus Leist (rookie)
No.14 Tony Kanaan

Andretti Autosport (Honda)
No.26 Zach Veach (rookie)
No.27 Alexander Rossi
No.28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
No.98 Marco Andretti

Carlin Racing (Chevrolet)
No.23 Charlie Kimball
No.59 Max Chilton

Chip Ganassi Racing (Honda)
No.9 Scott Dixon
No.10 Ed Jones

Dale Coyne Racing/DCR with Vasser-Sullivan (Honda)
No.18 Sebastien Bourdais
No.19 Zachary Claman De Melo (rookie): St. Pete, Long Beach, Barber, Detroit 1/2, Road America, Iowa, Toronto, Pocono, Gateway. Pietro Fittipaldi: Phoenix, Indy GP, Indy 500, Texas, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Sonoma

Ed Carpenter Racing (Chevrolet)
No.20 Ed Carpenter: Phoenix, Indy 500, Texas, Iowa, Pocono, Gateway. Jordan King (rookie): St. Pete, Long Beach, Barber, Indy GP, Detroit 1/2, Road America, Toronto, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Sonoma
No.21 Spencer Pigot

Harding Racing (Chevrolet)
No.88 Gabby Chaves

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (Honda)
No.15 Graham Rahal
No.30 Takuma Sato

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (Honda)
No.5 James Hinchcliffe
No.7 Robert Wickens (rookie).

Team Penske (Chevrolet)
No.1 Josef Newgarden
No.12 Will Power
No.22 Simon Pagenaud

Part-time entries (two races, minimum)

Juncos Racing (Chevrolet)
No.32: Kyle Kaiser (rookie): Phoenix, Long Beach, Indy GP, Indy 500. Rene Binder (rookie): St. Pete, Barber, Toronto, Mid-Ohio

Michael Shank Racing with SPM (Honda)
No.60 Jack Harvey (rookie): St. Pete, Long Beach, Indy 500, Mid-Ohio, Portland, Sonoma

Team Penske (Chevrolet)
No.3: Helio Castroneves: Indy GP, Indy 500

Totals:
Chevy: 12
Honda: 13
Rookies: 9
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PROJECTED 2018 INDIANAPOLIS 500 ENTRIES

ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT
Marco Andretti, Ryan-Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi, Zach Veach, Carlos Munoz, Stefan Wilson (6)

TEAM PENSKE
Helio Castroneves, Josef Newgarden, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud (4)

DALE COYNE RACING
Sebastien Bourdais, Pietro Fittipaldi, Pippa Mann, Conor Daly (4)

RAHAL/LETTERMAN/LANIGAN
Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato, Oriol Servia (3)

SCHMIDT-PETERSON/SHANK
James Hinchcliffe, Robert Wickens, Jack Harvey (3)

ED CARPENTER RACING
Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter, Danica Patrick (3)

CHIP GANASSI RACING
Scott Dixon, Ed Jones (2)

A.J. FOYT RACING
Tony Kanaan, Matheus Leist (2)

CARLIN RACING
Max Chilton, Charlie Kimball (2)

DREYER & REINBOLD
Sage Karam, J.R. Hildebrand (2)

HARDING RACING
Gabby Chaves (1)

JUNCOS RACING
Kyle Kaiser (1)

LAZIER RACING
Buddy Lazier (1)

CHEVY: 16
HONDA: 18
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http://www.racer.com/indycar/item/147438-does-the-indy-500-already-have-its-33-entries
 
Cosworth has been sitting on an engine for a minute. They just need a manufacturer to re-badge the engine for distribution...

https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/cosworth-seeking-engine-partner-for-indycar-1005719/
Cosworth has not supplied an engine to topline U.S. open-wheel racing since April 2008 and the demise of Champ Car for which it built the XF 2.65-liter turbocharged V8. Cosworth last competed against rival manufacturers at this level in the Indy Racing League in 2005, building the normally-aspirated V8s for Chevrolet, which was then battling Honda and Toyota.

Bruce Wood, Cosworth's managing director of powertrains, confirmed talks with IndyCar but says it will need an OEM to fund the project.

"We have a fantastic motor racing heritage and Cosworth is keen to go top-flight racing again with the right OEM partner," he told Motorsport.com. "We're constantly in talks with people in IndyCar. You can do it very economically, compared to other categories, and you don't need to own a team."

Wood pointed to the popularity of the Indianapolis 500 as a key attraction.

"You have to be an OEM to enter Indy," he said. "If we could find the right OEM to fund it, going back to Indy would be appealing."

It’s well known that IndyCar, too, with the blessing of current engine suppliers Chevrolet and Honda, is actively seeking a third manufacturer. In January, following comments regarding Alfa Romeo in IndyCar from chairman and CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Sergio Marchionne, the series' president of competitions and operations, Jay Frye, revealed the extent of the offseason work in trying to land a third OEM.

He told Motorsport.com: "Over the last several months, particularly since our 2017 season ended, we have had numerous meetings with OEMs about the prospects of becoming partners with IndyCar. We've had around 10 of them – some initial meetings, some follow-ups.”

Responding to Wood’s comments, an IndyCar spokesperson said: “Cosworth certainly is capable of building engines for the Verizon IndyCar Series.

“Such manufacturers need badging from an OEM as Cosworth had with Ford and Chevrolet in past Indy car seasons."

Cosworth has also been involved in discussions about the 2021 engine regulations in Formula 1, as it begins work towards an F1 return.
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Kiante said:
Cosworth has been sitting on an engine for a minute. They just need a manufacturer to re-badge the engine for distribution...

https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/cosworth-seeking-engine-partner-for-indycar-1005719/
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I'm sad Ford has shunned them and they've just been waiting for years for someone else to come along. Engine supply is the biggest growth stunt for grid sizes these days. I think at this point any new OEM would join when the new engine formula goes into effect, and who knows if that will still be a TTV6. I'd hate to see them develop an engine for nothing.
 
Kiante said:
This makes me happy and disappointed at the same time Santi will race, but he will be in Lights competition again with Belardi.

Get this man a seat in IndyCar:
https://www.indylights.com/news/uruttia-back-with-belardi-auto-racing-in-2018
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Pro Mazda champ, 2nd in Lights two years in a row...wtf does he have to do? :idunno:

But, I am at least glad he's back with Belardi and I hope he finally take the title and the scholarship this year. I'm not sure about the quantity in Lights this season but the quality is there, it'll be a tough championship.
 
FLRacingFan said:
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Good to see Sage back, one of my favorite drivers I think he’d kill it with a team that’d believe in him and let him learn. I also need to watch the 2017 season finale that’s been on my DVR all fall and winter, with the lid lifter of the season opener next Sunday.
 
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