2008 Indy Car Series Season - Driver & Team News

Driver & Team News

• Penske Racing: Sam Hornish, Jr. did not race in the 2008 season because of his departure to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Ryan Briscoe was announced as the full-time driver for the second Penske Car.
• Andretti Green Racing: The team retained four cars, with Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti, and Danica Patrick scheduled to return. Dario Franchitti has left IndyCar to join Ganassi in 2008 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. On October 31, AGR announced that they had signed Autobacs Racing Team Aguri driver and 2007 Indy Pro Series runner up Hideki Mutoh to drive the No. 27 car in 2008, replacing Franchitti.
• Panther Racing: Vitor Meira said on Racefanradio.com that he would return to Panther Racing for 2008.
• Chip Ganassi Racing: Alex Lloyd signed as a development driver for Ganassi Racing and was expected to compete in selected IndyCar events. However, he only drove in the Indy 500.
• Roth Racing: Jay Howard was signed to drive a second car, joining team owner Marty Roth who confirmed that he will return in the first car.
• Rahal Letterman Racing: On November 28, 2007, Rahal Letterman informed the media that they had filed suit against driver Scott Sharp and his sponsor Patrón for breach of contract, indicating that Sharp intends to race elsewhere in 2008 while the team believes he is under contract to race for them.
• All Nine Champ Car teams attended an introductory meeting with the IRL on February 26,. Newman/Hass/Lanigan Racing, Walker Racing, and Conquest Racing signed paperwork to receive IndyCar Series cars.
• The following Champ Car teams fielded 2008 entries.
  • Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (two cars) Will run two cars for Justin Wilson and Graham Rahal
  • KV Racing (two cars) Ran two cars with former Walker Racing driver, Will Power and CCWS veteran Oriol Servià
  • Conquest Racing (two cars) Conquest racing signed a technical partnership with Forsythe Performance Research for 2008. Franck Perera and Enrique Bernoldi are named as the drivers for Conquest Racing. Jaime Camara replaced Perera as a Conquest driver before the Kansas race.
  • Dale Coyne Racing (two cars) Ran two cars for CCWS veteran Bruno Junqueira and former British F3 driver Mario Moraes
  • HVM Racing (one car) E. J. Viso ran in 2008 with HVM Racing
  • Pacific Coast Motorsports (one car) Did not start the season, but began a program with Mario Domínguez starting with the Indy 500.
• Former Champ Car team Walker Racing announced on March 9, that it would not compete in the IndyCar Series besides Long Beach in 2008 due to lack of sponsorship. Craig Gore had taken the Team Australia sponsorship and driver Will Power to KV Racing. However, Vision & Walker Racing fielded Paul Tracy at the Edmonton Indy in a joint effort.
• Former Champ Car team Minardi Team USA only competed at the Long Beach Grand Prix and did not run any other IndyCar Series races. Keith Wiggins's HVM racing continued on and only Paul Stoddart and the "Team Minardi" left.
• Rocketsports did not make the transition due to Enrique Bernoldi signing with Conquest Racing. Bernoldi was set to drive Rocketsports' entry in Champ Car.
• Former Champ Car team Forsythe Racing only competed in the Long Beach Grand Prix due to lack of sponsorship.