Who deserves more a full-season IndyCar ride?

[NaBUru38]

Do I actually need an introduction? Despite having good results in earlier seasons, these drivers had part-time entries in 2009 and seem not to find any.

Tomas Scheckter
South Africa - 1980

o- 2005: 9th in IndyCar, full season with Panther
- 1st at Texas, 3rd at Milwaukee and Michigan.
o- 2006: 10th in IndyCar, full season with Vision
- 3rd at Milwaukee, 5th at Michigan.
o- 2007: 10th in IndyCar, full season with Vision
- 5th at Kansas and Kentucky, 6th at St. Pete.
o- 2008: 6 IndyCar races with Luczo Dragon
- no finishes.
o- 2009: 20th in IndyCar, 11 races with Dale Coyne and Dreyer & Reinbold
- 6th at Iowa, 8th at Chicagoland.

Oriol ServiÃ*
Spain - 1974

o- 2005: 2nd in Champ Car, full season with Dale Coyne and Newman/Haas
- 1st at Montreal, 2nd at Toronto, Edmonton and Las Vegas MS.
o- 2006: 11th in Champ Car, full season with PKV
- 3rd at Cleveland, 4th at Edmonton and Road America.
o- 2007: 6nd in Champ Car, full season with PKV and Forsythe
- 2nd at Long Beach, 3rd at San José and Mexico City.
o- 2008: 9th in IndyCar, full season with KV
- 4th at Detroit, 5th at Long Beach, Richmond, Mid-Ohio and Edmonton.
o- 2009: 21st in IndyCar, 5 races with Rahal and Newman/Haas
- 4th at Motegi, 6th at Sears Point, 7th at Chicago.

Paul Tracy
Canada - 1968

o- 2005: 4nd in Champ Car, full season with Forsythe
- 1st at Milwaukee and Cleveland, 2nd at Long Beach, 3rd at Portland, Edmonton and Mexico City.
o- 2006: 7th in Champ Car, full season with Forsythe
- 2nd at Houston, Toronto and Montreal, 4th at Monterrey and Surfers Paradise.
o- 2007: 11th in Champ Car, full season with Forsythe
- 1st at Cleveland, 3rd at Las Vegas streets, 5th at Edmonton and Mexico City.
o- 2008: 2 races IndyCar with Forsythe and Vision
- 4th at Edmonton.
o- 2009: 23rd in IndyCar, 6 races with KV and AJ Foyt
- 6th at Edmonton, 7th at Mid-Ohio.

Bruno Junqueira
Brazil - 1976

o- 2005: 2 Champ Car races and 1 IndyCar races with Newman/Haas
- 1st at Monterrey, 3rd at Long Beach, retired at Indianapolis.
o- 2006: 5th in Champ Car, full season with Newman/Haas
- 2nd at Cleveland, Denver and Road America, 4th at Portland and Mexico City.
o- 2007: 7th in Champ Car, full season with Dale Coyne
- 2nd at Zolder, 3rd at Assen and Surfers Paradise.
o- 2008: 20th in IndyCar, full season with Dale Coyne
- 6th at Watkins Glen, 7th at Detroit.
o- 2009: 1 IndyCar race with Conquest
- qualified 30th at Indianapolis, retired to make room for teammate Tagliani.

Nelson Philippe
France - 1986

o- 2005: 13th in Champ Car, full season with Conquest
- 7th at Mexico City, 9th at Edmonton and Denver.
o- 2006: 4th in Champ Car, full season with HVM
- 1st at Surfers Paradise, 3rd at Milwaukee and Montreal.
o- 2007: 2 Champ Car races with Conquest
- 6th at Surfers Paradise, 12th at Mexico City.
o- 2008: 2 Superleague Formula races, 1 GP2 Asia race
- 4th at Donington Race 2.
o- 2009: 1 IndyCar race with HVM
- 25th at Indianapolis.

AJ Foyt IV
United States - 1984

o- 2005: 20th in IndyCar, full season with AJ Foyt
- 9th at Homestead and Kentucky.
o- 2006: 1 IndyCar race with Andretti-Green
- 14th at Chicago.
o- 2007: 17th in IndyCar, full season with Vision
- 3rd at Kentucky, 9th at Kansas.
o- 2008: 19th in IndyCar, full season with Vision
- 5th at Iowa, 8th at Kansas.
o- 2009: 2 IndyCar races with AJ Foyt
- 15th at Indy.

Townsend Bell
United States - 1975

o- 2005: 1 IndyCar race with Panther
- retired at Michigan.
o- 2006: 1 IndyCar race with Vision
- retired at Indianapolis.
o- 2007: No major open-wheel racing.
o- 2008: 26th in IndyCar, 7 races with Dreyer & Reinbold
- 8th at Richmond, 10th at Motegi and Indianapolis.
o- 2009: 1 IndyCar race with KV
- 4th at Indianapolis.

[marcus]

well I would probably say all or most of them , not sold on AJ Fovt IV or even nelson Phillipe for that matter , but thats just personal opinion.

The biggest non inclusion on your list is easilly Will Power , the guy is a star and could easilly win a championship or 5

and btw as we are speaking of Will (ok I was lol) anyone know how or if he has recovered from his injuries from last year ?

The even bigger problem with all these names is lack of seats , the list seems to be growing smaller each week and there are only limited rides available so unless you are a superstar perhaps like Tracy or Will you wont get in unless you rob a bank or 7

[NaBUru38]

Will Power will drive the whole season for Penske.

[Senninha24]

Yea pretty much all of them deserve a ride, minus Foyt and Bell, who I also don't really see much to justify a ride (in the sense of deserving one).

I voted Oriol Servia as I really have always loved watching him drive and am a great fan everytime he gets a chance to be behind the wheel. He'd be great and mix things up if he was to get a ride for the season.

[marcus]

ahhh ok thanks NaBUru38 , maybe I should pay attention more

[JagtechOhio]

Paul Tracy has funding do do about 5 races during 2010. Monster Energy Drink and Gieco Insurance.

Conquest Racing still has the "I Drive Green" sponsorship, it is not a large one. No firm schedule has been announced, no driver signed, Nelson Philippe will not be driving for that team. He may race in Europe, he may look for a seat over here but his name has not been in the news at all. Check out his video on his website.

A.J. Foyt IV has no ride, and Curt Cavin said on his "Trackside" radio show last night that he may not even have a deal for Indy.

Tomas Scheckter was rumored to be a candidate for a Dreyer and Reinbold seat. If he has funding, he probably could have been added to Conway and Wilson. D&R can run three cars, and there has been no word about Milka's participation. So if Tomas had money, I'd think he could have a ride. He likely has none.

Bell has a deal for Indy, no other announcements.

Junky's name has been mentioned, nothing definite, no full time ride that I could imagine, nothing else to offer.

Orial. I have not heared him mentioned at all. Rahal/ Letterman Racing is dormant: if Graham Rahal can't find funding for a ride, Dad is probably going to run him in the 500...not Orial.

Servia did a great job in the second Newman/ Haas/ Lanigan car, and his addition there helped the team and Graham. Perhaps they knew they were going to be in trouble this year, and made no bid to retain him.

Word is that N/H/L is not in good shape at all. No drivers or sponsorship announcements have been made.

17 days to testing at Barber, and there might be that number of cars with solid committments and signed drivers as of today. If sponsors are signed, 17 more could be in cars by then. The list of empty seats and unemployed drivers is a long one. Moraes (perhaps Brazil only so far), Lloyd, Carpenter, Rahal, Hildebrand etc.. Mutoh has not even been confirmed yet. It ain't pretty.

Servia is my choice as the best on your list. Not even close.

EDIT: I forgot Tracy. Tracy is close, and he has a personality and fan base that bring a lot to the series. Having him full time would be great too. Orial is better today.

[icemachine]

Out them all its hard to pick between Oriol and Paul, but the hometown boy gets my vote

[marcostraz]

Sincerely I'm not able to answer this question, because I think that all of this drivers deserve a full-season ride...however, my first pick goes to Bell, because he is a very good driver who has never had the opportunity to fully express his talent, in my opinion...

[gaaaaz]

What about Francky Montagny?

We don't hear anything more about him... he still has a very good drive in LMP with Peugeot but also a lot of "free" time.
As I remember he made a very strong impression at Andretti when he raced for him.

[AndrewF31]

It's a tough call between Oriol and Paul but I'm going to go with Paul because he brings in a whole lot of spectators.

Ideally, both should have a ride, as Oriol has always been a very good and consistent driver. It's a shame we have a thread like this because 2 great racers are out of a seat.

[Andy77]

Paul for me !
always a joy to watch him even if it is for the odd fist fight only

[Purist]

If we're talking about Townsend Bell, my estimation of him fell substantially during the 2002 Molson Indy Toronto, where he was responsible for 3 wrecks/spins at Turn 3. That kind of crap, and all in just one race, is simply unacceptable.

[Alwaysfirst]

But by that standard Felipe Massa should also get the sack after his 7 spins in the British GP a few years back...

[Purist]

The key differences there were variable, wet conditions, and the fact that he spun by himself. He had the decency, or at least the sheer dumb luck, not to ruin anybody else's day with his mistakes.

[nickyf1]

I deserve an Indycar drive!

[gomick]

None of them - get the next batch of drivers from Indy Lights/Atlantics...

[NaBUru38]

Philippe is 23 and AJ Foyt IV is 25, they're not old at all.

[fieldodreams79]

PT just because he is in the twilight of his career and has been a fixture in North American OW racing.

...and besides, he is the most entertaining of this lot.

[Yannick]

How about this man?

Buddy Rice
United States - 1976

o- 2005: 15th in IndyCar, full season with Rahal
- 2nd at Sonoma, 3rd at Motegi.
o- 2006: 15th in IndyCar, full season with Rahal
- 4th at Watkins Glen, 5th at Motegi.
o- 2007: 9th in IndyCar, full season with Dreyer & Reinbold
- 4th at Iowa, 5th at Richmond and Michigan.
o- 2008: 16th in IndyCar, full season with Dreyer & Reinbold
- 4th at Watkins Glen, 7th at Nashville, 8th at Texas and Indy 500.
o- 2009: no major US open wheel racing.

Has he retired from IndyCars? I hope not.
He may not pull as many fans as Paul Tracy does, but he certainly does have experience, especially when considering his 2004 season.


Still, the current silly season is strange indeed.

[gomick]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Philippe is 23 and AJ Foyt IV is 25, they're not old at all.

True, Phillipe showed some class in Champcar then didnt race the following season - why?
Foyt IV aint gonna cut the mustard - has had plenty of opportunity...

[Teretonga]

Servia, Scheckter, Tracy and Bell, in that order.
Paul is in because of a long history and good fan base, the others because out of the options they will put in the best performances across a season. Junquiera would be next after Bell although the two of them are almost neck and neck.....

[luke]

Tomas Scheckter
Oriol ServiÃ*
Paul Tracy
Bruno Junqueira
Nelson Philippe
AJ Foyt IV
Townsend Bell

They all do!

But it's like how it was in CC's last days it seems. Even if you're Graham Rahal and win your first ever indy car race as a teenager you find a ride at a low end team if you're lucky.

If only they had merged earlier then there'd be 30 plus cars not struggling to get 20. the damage was already far done I hope it wasn't too late and things pick up.