Indycar News & Rumors.

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by marcostraz

I don't think we'll see Junqueira or Pantano...Barnes said he want to use the rest of the season to test some driver for 2014...and I doubt Junqueira or Pantano could be a full time driver in 2014...

Some Indy Lights driver? There are so few of them this year though...

[Mystery]

I'm expecting to see Stef Wilson at some stage in that car.

[HJJ]

Originally Posted by rwintle

Some Indy Lights driver? There are so few of them this year though...

Speaking of Lights...

06/20/13 IndyCar to abandon failing Indy Lights Series IndyCar’s struggling Indy Lights Series is about to get a new direction, The Indianapolis Star has learned, and it will come from Dan Andersen.

Andersen is the Florida-based entrepreneur who founded the USF2000 series, the first step in IndyCar’s Mazda Road to Indy development program. Last year, Andersen’s promotion company bought the second step in IndyCar’s ladder system, now known as the Pro Mazda Series. Indy Lights is next.

To what extent IndyCar’s parent company has given Andersen control of Indy Lights isn’t clear — an Indianapolis Motor Speedway board meeting is being held today — but he will eventually own it, and his involvement can’t come soon enough.

Indy Lights had only eight car-and-driver combinations at last week’s race in Milwaukee, and no more than nine entries will be at Iowa Speedway for Saturday night’s race.

Andersen understands the problem: There aren’t enough teams (currently only four) and the price to participate —in excess of $700,000 — is high.

Andersen has experience lowering costs. The increase in car count in USF2000, a series he reacquired for the 2010 season, is tied to engines that can last two to three years. In his short tenure leading Pro Mazda, engines no longer have to be rebuilt four times per season at a cost of $15,000 per rebuild. A single engine can last all season, a $45,000 savings.

That isn’t the only reduction. Previously, Andersen said teams were committed to buying 75 sets of tires per season. With a change in manufacturer (to Cooper), teams now need only about 40 sets. A similar change is in store for Indy Lights. Indy Star

.

[mountainstar]

I'm not so sure costs are the issue. Adjusted for inflation, $700k was the bare, bare minimum you could get away with running an indy lights car nearly 20 years ago.

The issue all these feeder series have is there is nothing to feed to as the main series is nonexistent in the public eye. There really is no commercial value anymore(far cry from the days indy lights would be right there on ESPN Sunday afternoons) for any of these feeder series, so almost all the funds have to come from dad's pocket. And dad is better off spending the money on a worthwhile investment with possible returns like nascar. That's why the pro mazda series had a heart attack and nearly died last year and indy lights drags in 8-10 cars.

The other inherent problem within indy lights is the car is ancient and is almost at an age that would qualify for historic racing in the USA.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Briscoe back with Panther for Pocono.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108273

[bjohnsonsmith]

Team's no longer penalised with new engine rules.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108277

[bjohnsonsmith]

Davison gets Coyne test.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108278

[Razzzor]

Wade Cunningham (just cos he's a kiwi), Allmendinger, JR Hildebrand; I'd look at any of those guys before calling Danica.

What's whiney old Villeneuve up to these days, maybe he'd like a return to Indycar? Or Da Matta.

[HJJ]

06/24/13 Will anyone replace IZOD as IndyCar title sponsor? UPDATE The IndyCar Series continues to search for a presenting sponsor that could replace Izod as its title sponsor in the future.

Izod has two years left on its deal with the series, but it’s had discussions with IndyCar about exiting the deal early. The company has cut back its activation around the series and stopped advertising during races on NBC Sports Network.

“They’re trying to figure out where we fit in their portfolio,” said Greg Gruning, IndyCar executive vice president of corporate sales, who declined to comment on IZOD’s future as a title sponsor.

The search for a presenting sponsor began a year ago when Gruning and former IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard approached Verizon and others with a sales deck. Gruning said that IndyCar continues to pitch companies on becoming a presenting sponsor and having the option to replace Izod as a title sponsor.

“We’ve got some conversations going,” Gruning said. “With Mark Miles coming in [as CEO of Hulman & Co., which owns IndyCar], a lot of people are watching. We’d like to have some help on the TV ratings front a bit, but we’ve had active conversations and there’s interest out there.”

IndyCar ratings have been down on broadcast and cable this year. The Indianapolis 500 averaged a 3.7 Nielsen rating and 5.7 million viewers, a 14 percent and 16 percent decrease from last year. For nine telecasts to date across ABC and NBC Sports Network, IndyCar is averaging 1.47 million viewers, down 24 percent from the same point last season.

Izod is in the fourth year of a six-year agreement that included two options for two-year extensions that would take the deal through 2020. Sources familiar with the deal said the company pays approximately $6 million to the series annually in rights fees and historically spent an additional $5 million annually on media and activation.

Gruning said that selling the presenting sponsorship is IndyCar’s top sales priority and added that he would like to have a presenting sponsor “sooner rather than later.”

The series last year was asking for more than $6 million annually for the presenting sponsorship, sources said. Gruning declined to comment on the asking price. He said, “Cash is important but activation is paramount.”

In addition to looking for a presenting sponsor, Gruning said that his sales team is searching for partners in the technology, financial services, and health and wellness categories. Tripp Mickle SportsbusinessDaily.com

.

[Baigu]

Regarding Indy Lights, this could be controversial, but I think the series should move to LMP2 Endurance cars. Could they run ovals? You have a decent car perfect to develop drivers and teams could use it in multiple series.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Baigu

Regarding Indy Lights, this could be controversial, but I think the series should move to LMP2 Endurance cars. Could they run ovals? You have a decent car perfect to develop drivers and teams could use it in multiple series.

Just one thing, this is open wheel, an LMP2 Endurance car it ain't, .

[HJJ]

Questions, answers and more questions.

http://www.racer.com/derrick-walker-...rticle/300577/

[Lanky Turtle]

Originally Posted by Baigu

Regarding Indy Lights, this could be controversial, but I think the series should move to LMP2 Endurance cars. Could they run ovals? You have a decent car perfect to develop drivers and teams could use it in multiple series.

That's controversial.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Baigu

Regarding Indy Lights, this could be controversial, but I think the series should move to LMP2 Endurance cars. Could they run ovals? You have a decent car perfect to develop drivers and teams could use it in multiple series.

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Just one thing, this is open wheel, an LMP2 Endurance car it ain't, .

Meh, just pull the front fenders off and you'll have something that resembles the DW12, albeit better looking.

[NaBUru38]

But then you wouldn't call it Indy Lights, would you?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Meh, just pull the front fenders off and you'll have something that resembles the DW12, albeit better looking.

What about the 'passenger' seat?

[Yannick]

The previous time the open wheelers raced at Pocono, two current team bosses were driving cars: Michael Andretti was in one of those cars. And Dale Coyne in the other.

So who will be in the 2nd Coyne car #18 at Pocono?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by HJJ

Questions, answers and more questions.

http://www.racer.com/derrick-walker-...rticle/300577/

That's a good article and well worth a read. I thought this was particularly interesting.

"• Will Swift Engineering and others be allowed to build an IndyCar? -Rick Kappler

DW: This question leads on nicely from the last, because yes, absolutely Swift will be allowed, but it may be built around the Dallara Safety Cell if the tub still meets the safety demands we have by then. And yes, Swift may indeed want to come back into Indy car racing in 2019 because it would no longer be a Dallara Indy car per se. If the bodywork and underbody were open, then that would be a good way for Swift to re-enter the sport, a more cost-effective way than building the whole car from front to back and top to bottom.
If someone's going to make a complete car and create the infrastructure within their company to design, build, support it on a long-term basis – and then develop it, too, – there have to be enough customers out there to buy it. You can't build 20 and only have one team buy two racecars and two back-ups. The marketplace has changed since the 1990s when a team would buy a couple of cars a year and then ditch them for a new model the following year. These days, a body kit is a better way to get more manufacturers involved than having them build a whole car."

[mountainstar]

I keep hearing all this stuff about 2019 or 2021 and that is typically foolishness by these guys when they need to focus on just getting to next year first. If they keep on going like this I don't think they'll have to worry about 2019 because they will not be around to see it as a business.

izod and their "activation" vanished some time ago. Has a title sponsor ever survived the entire term of their deal in indy racing league history? Don't think so and that is not a good track record. Good luck getting a company to commit to $10 million a year for a series that has no public interest.

[ptclaus98]

I will never believe anything anyone related to anything in AOWR says about something thats 3-5 years away. I've been alive 24 years and I don't think it's happened in my lifetime.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

What about the 'passenger' seat?

Details, details...

[fredd1]

In terms of currency, what is Swift up to that would rank them above any of the other also-ran IndyCar manufacturers? Just asking.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

The Children of the Corn 250 presented by Monsanto garnered a 0.7 rating, for reference infomercials get 1.0s on broadcast tv. Up against NASCAR, dumb idea. Even Indianapolis couldn't reach a 5 and had a 4.1 rating.

[Paradise City]

Yeah but Americans like their infocommercials don't they? Paint strippers at a bargain is something everyone needs right?

Right?

[Lanky Turtle]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

Yeah but Americans like their infocommercials don't they? Paint strippers at a bargain is something everyone needs right?

Right?

YES.