Open Wheel 2020 NTT IndyCar Series Season

IndyCar's back sometime soon. There's been some testing recently of the new Halo/Aeroscreen Hybrid device to be used in all races next season.

Spoiler: Teams and Drivers

Spoiler: AJ Foyt Racing - Chevrolet

#4
#14 Tony Kanaan

Spoiler: Andretti Autosport - Honda

#26 Zach Veach
#27 Alexander Rossi
#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay
#88 Colton Herta Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport
#98 Marco Andretti

Spoiler: Chip Ganassi Racing - Honda

#8 Marcus Ericsson
#9 Scott Dixon
#10 Felix Rosenqvist

Spoiler: (The Great) Dale Coyne Racing - Honda

#18 Sebastien Bourdais - Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan
#19

Spoiler: Ed Carpenter Racing - Chevrolet

#20 Ed Carpenter (Ovals)
#20
#21

Spoiler: Rahal Letterman Lanigan - Honda

#15 Graham Rahal
#30 Takuma Sato

Spoiler: Arrow Mclaren Racing SP - Chevrolet

#5 Oliver Askew [R]
#6 Robert Wickens (If Able)
#7 Patricio O'Ward

Spoiler: Meyer-Shank Racing - Honda

#60 Jack Harvey

Spoiler: Team Penske - Chevrolet

#2 Josef Newgarden
#3 Helio Castroneves (Indy Double)
#12 Will Power
#22 Simon Pagenaud

Spoiler: Possibilities

Spoiler: Drivers

Santino Ferrucci - Expected to stay at Coyne. Rumours of Mclaren approach some months ago.
Fernando Alonso - Expected to do another attempt at the Indy 500.
Conor Daly - Expect to see him somewhere. Unclear where specifically and may do one off drives over the course of the season.
Pippa Mann - Money dependent on returning to the Indy 500.
Sage Karam - Had some one off drives with Carlin late in the season and driven for DRR for the last few years.
JR Hildebrand - Expected to do Indy with DRR.
James Davison - Expected to do Indy with Byrd/Hollinger/Belardi.
James Hinchcliffe - Yeah. I know. I don't get it either.

Spoiler: Teams

Carlin Racing - Had a difficult 2019 but expected to return. No drivers announced yet which is why they're here.
DragonSpeed - Visa issues prevented more races but expected to resolve those and return with more races
Juncos Racing - Difficult and quiet 2019 but qualified for Indy. Nothing announced but expected to return.
Dreyer Reinbold Racing - Expected to be an Indy only team. However, would be a popular return for other races but not expected.
Clauson-Marshall Racing - Expected to be Indy Only. Partnered with Foyt last season and probably successful.
Byrd/Hollinger/Belardi - Ran Indy only for the last few years with James Davison. Expected to return. Maybe returning with Coyne again?

Schedule
Key
(R) - Road Course
(S) - Street Circuit
(O) - Oval

Race 1 - Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg (St Petersburg Street Circuit) (S) - March 15th 2019
Race 2 - Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Barber Motorsports Park) (R) - April 5th 2019
Race 3 - Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (Long Beach Street Circuit) (S) - April 19th 2019
Race 4 - IndyCar Classic (Circuit of the Americas) (R) - April 26th 2019
Race 5 - IndyCar Grand Prix (Indianapolis Road Course) (R) - May 9th 2019
Race 6 - 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis Oval) (O) - May 24th 2019
Race 7 - Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Presented by Lear Corporation Race 1 (Belle Isle Park) (S) - May 30th 2019
Race 8 - Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Presented by Lear Corporation Race 2 (Belle Isle Park) (S) - May 31st 2019
Race 9 - DXC Technology 600 (Texas Motor Speedway) (O) - June 6th 2019
Race 10 - REV Group Grand Prix (Road America) (R) - June 21st 2019
Race 11 - Richmond Indy Challenge (Richmond Raceway) (O) - June 27th 2019
Race 12 - Honda Indy Toronto (Exhibition Place) (S) - July 12th 2019
Race 13 - Iowa Corn 300 (Iowa Speedway) (O) - July 18th 2019
Race 14 - Honda Indy 200 (Mid Ohio)(R) - August 16th 2019
Race 15 - Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline (Gateway Motorsports Park) (O) - August 22th 2019
Race 16 - Grand Prix of Portland (Portland International Raceway) (R) - September 6th 2019
Race 17 - Monterey Grand Prix (Laguna Seca) (R) - September 20th 2019

2019 Champion: Josef Newgarden - Second Championship
2019 Manufacturer Champion: Honda
2019 Rookie of the Year: Felix Rosenqvist
2019 Indy 500 Winner: Simon Pagenaud
2019 Oval Champion: Simon Pagenaud
2019 Road and Street Champion: Scott Dixon

Be sure to check out the IndyCar Website, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook pages for more information. This will be updated throughout and before the season with important information regarding entries, races and fantasy.

 

The announcement that inspired the creation of the thread already.

 

It’s kinda crazy that after having several years of F1 experience, Ericsson was the least successful rookie this year. Good to see Ganassi expanding to 3 cars though.

Who are the McLaren drivers going to be?

 

So has Hinch been confirmed? Because I’ve heard both yes and no from equally credible sources...

 

Yeah. I've heard similar things. Wiki says yes. And it's easier to just leave him in since it's copied from the 2019 thread.

 

I'm looking forward to what will hopefully be a great year. There should be a 3 team battle upfront plus it will be interesting to see how McLaren manages things.

On a side-note, I'm planning on going to both Road America and Iowa again, hopefully the latter won't be a repeat of last year.

 

According to this article that quotes Brown, Hinch is to drive for SPAM, and Oli Askew could be in the second car. Pretty cool lineup if that’s how it turns out, upsetting that Daly isn’t being considered anymore.

https://racer.com/2019/10/12/mclaren-closing-in-on-2020-indycar-line-up/

 

From Racer.com
Taken at the Tire test at Richmond.

 

The paint/wrap at the top improves it quite a bit as it makes it blend in a little.

Also, I just renewed my Road America campsite and it makes the already long off-season seem even longer.

 

Wow! Michael Cannon leaving DCR to become Dixon's new race engineer at Ganassi.
https://racer.com/2019/10/23/cannon-joins-cgr-as-dixons-race-engineer/

 

https://racer.com/2019/10/28/oward-askew-set-for-arrow-mclaren-sp-indycar-seats/

 

Guess that confirms the rumours of Hinch leaving. Hopefully the rumours of Honda buying his contract out so he could stay with them are also true as I would hate to see him sidelined.

 

Ganassi signing Ericsson is going to look like a huge mistake now.

 

I don't think so as Ericsson brings money and Ganassi has stated they are looking at a 4th car.

 

If Hinch's contract/sponsors aren't enough for a 3rd RLL car, I doubt it'll be enough for Ganassi, even if there's more wealth to spread around there.

 

Gun, meet foot.

 

I cannot understate just how much of a **** deal Canada has gotten from Indycar over the past year. Wickens' crash, the absolute trash TV 'deal' with Sportsnet relegating it to an obscure streaming service that you have to pay up the nose to get (While Xfinity and MENCS races are more or less on TSN1 or 2 most weekends, live, a series with no links to Canada and running on past glories) and now Hinch getting dumped by SPAM.

Really, I can't be arsed to bother with Indycar anymore. Especially in contrast to how hopeful things were not even two years ago.

 

It's announced.

 

https://autoaction.com.au/2019/10/30/secret-sydney-indycar-plan

 

*Counter Strike voice* ROGER PENSKE WINS

 

Just read that. One of the teams competing in the championship has purchased the actual championship as well as the flagship race track.

Is this not a gross conflict of interest?

 

I mean, it is almost one hundred percent certain Roger will step down from all positions within the racing arm to compensate.

At the same time Penske's love for the Brickyard shows no bounds - I can't think of better stewards for Indy then the Penske family.

 

My head is spinning right now. Would love to know how this happened.

 

This article explains Penske is seeking all necessary approvals.

https://racer.com/2019/11/04/breaking-hulman-and-co-sells-ims-indycar-to-penske/

 

This. So much this. I like Penske and all, but how on Earth is this possible? Seems like a ridiculous conflict of interest to me...

 

If you weren't sure if Roger has (or had) you levels of money, well, here's your proof.

I'd imagine he'd step-down from all his Indycar-related race team positions as a sign of good faith, at minimum.

 

https://autoweek.com/article/indyca...uying-indycar-and-indianapolis-motor-speedway

 

Some of the things Roger mentions he wants to do:
- Bring a new manufacturer to Indy.
- Run an F1 race.
- Run a 24 hour race.
- Make the 1000 acre facility into an entertainment capital as well as a racing capital.
https://racer.com/2019/11/04/penske-aiming-to-elevate-ims-indycar/

 

It will be interesting to see how things progress. IndyCar has had conflicts of interest in the past with Tony George owning Vision Racing and later having part ownership of Ed Carpenter racing. Neither of those were exactly championship caliber operations though.

On the bright side though, Penske always seems to be a magnet for sponsors, so hopefully that will translate to the series as a whole.

 

It only took 15 years, but at least now we know who "won" the IndyCar War.

He seems to have success whatever he does, almost wherever he goes. Who knows, maybe he can have a new TV deal done that doesn't exclude Canada by the end of the winter. Also, it's not an 'investment firm' that'll strip everything bare and sell the parts. I'm weary, but I'll give benefit of the doubt for now.

Now if only I can be bothered to get up for races again.