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Filed under: IRL, Indianapolis 500

Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series championship owner Chip Ganassi will be doubling his efforts in the series in 2011, adding two additional cars to his trophy stable.

The team, which would not confirm or comment on the long-rumored news, has scheduled a press conference Thursday in Indianapolis where Ganassi will introduce the newest additions to a driver lineup that already features two-time defending series champ Dario Franchitti and former two-time champ Scott Dixon.

Second-generation driver Graham Rahal -- son of 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal -- and Charlie Kimball, 25, a young talent moving up from the feeder Indy Lights Series, will campaign for Ganassi next year, working out of a "satellite" team shop rented from drag racing legend Don Prudhomme.

Rahal, 21, is the youngest IndyCar Series winner in history, scoring his only victory in the 2008 season-opener at St. Petersburg, Fla. However, he did not race full time last season. Kimball will be making his debut in the series.

Thursday's announcement will also confirm full-time sponsorship for both Rahal and Kimball -- significant for the series, which had several high-profile teams struggling to find primary corporate backing in 2010. In a unusual twist, Rahal actually announced a two-year sponsorship deal with TBC Corporation -- which owns several automobile tire retailers -- at this season's finale in Homestead, Fla. before having a contract in place with a team.

 

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by FanHouse TV

Filed under: IRL, Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS -- Graham Rahal, all of 21 years old, will be competing in his third Indy 500 on Sunday, but this one will be a little different.

This year, for the first time, Rahal will be racing for the team run by his father, Bobby Rahal. FanHouse TV's Holly Cain caught up with 1986 Indy 500 winner.

Click below to watch:

FanHouse TV: 1986 Indy 500 Winner Bobby Rahal originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 29 May 2010 13:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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Filed under: IRL, Danica Patrick

The joke goes -- in several variations -- that if former Professional Bull Riders CEO Randy Bernard can hang on more than 8-seconds in his new job as CEO of theIZOD IndyCar Series, he will have some serious potential.

He grabbed the IndyCar reins officially March 1 and gets his first true ride this weekend as the series opens Sunday in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Loaded with Brazilian drivers, sponsored by many Brazilian companies in a country that adores auto racing, it's fair to say the IndyCar series will get a larger and warmer reception in Sao Paulo this weekend than at many other stops on its expanded 17-race schedule.

And that goes to the heart of Bernard's greatest and most pressing challenge: Promotion! Promotion! Promotion!

Now unified as the country's premier open-wheel circuit, the IZOD IndyCar Series has exciting racing, close finishes and the top championship dramas of any major racing series.

But it's the best racing show people aren't watching enough of.

 

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Filed under: NASCAR Rumors, IRL

On the bright side, Graham Rahal figures by the time the IZOD IndyCar Series begins March 14 in Brazil, he will have essentially earned an advanced degree in marketing and promotion.

What the 21-year-old really wants, however, is a job behind the wheel of a race car -- preferably a car without fenders.

"I know there have been a lot of NASCAR rumors, but right now my focus is 100 percent on being in the IndyCar Series,'' Rahal told FanHouse this weekend.

"I'm not just an IndyCar driver, but very much a fan of the sport and to make a big switch like that takes time to consider. As of this second, everything I have going is for IndyCar.''

So instead of joining Danica Patrick in the stock car ranks -- even as a part-time gig -- Rahal has been visiting America's corporate boardrooms hoping to attract financial backing for the 2010 IndyCar season. The timing, however, couldn't be worse.

 

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