2007-2008 IRL Silly Season..........

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Drivers Confirmed for 2008....................
~~Andrett-Green Racing(4): Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Hideki Mutoh
~~Team Penske(2): Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe
~~Target/Ganassi Racing(2+): Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, Alex Lloyd*
~~Roth Racing(2): Marty Roth, Jay Howard
~~Vision Racing(1): Ed Carpenter
~~Rahal-Letterman Racing(1): Ryan Hunter-Reay
~~A.J. Foyt Racing(1): Darren Manning
*--TGR is expected to run Lloyd in several ICS races this season

Open Seats Remaining for 2008...................
~~Rahal-Letterman Racing(1) w/driver tbd
~~A.J. Foyt Racing(1) w/driver tbd
~~SAMAX Motorsports(1-2) w/either Milka Duno and/or Mario Dominguez
~~Vision Racing(1) w/either A.J. Foyt, IV or Tomas Scheckter
~~Dreyer & Reinbold Racing(1) w/Buddy Rice
~~Fisher Racing(1) w/Sarah Fisher
~~Panther Racing(2) w/Vitor Meira and P.J. Chesson

Confirmed Seats for 2008: 13-14
Open Seats Remaining: 8-9
Expected Car Count for Homestead: 21-24

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Confirmed Seats for 2008..................................
~~Andretti-Green Racing(4): Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Hideki Mutoh
~~Team Penske(2): Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe
~~Target/Ganassi Racing(2+): Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon, Alex Lloyd*
~~Vision Racing(1): Ed Carpenter
~~Luzco/Dragon Racing(1**): Tomas Scheckter
~~A.J. Foyt Racing(1): Darren Manning
~~Roth Racing(2): Marty Roth, Jay Howard
~~Rahal-Letterman Racing(1): Ryan Hunter-Reay
*--TGR is expected to run Lloyd in several IndyCar Series races this year
**--part-time entry at present

Open Seats Remaining..................................
~~Fisher Racing(1) w/Sarah Fisher
~~SAMAX Motorsports(1) w/either Milka Duno or Mario Dominguez
~~A.J. Foyt Racing(1) w/driver tbd
~~Walker Racing(1) w/driver tbd
~~Rahal-Letterman Racing(1) w/driver tbd
~~Panther Racing(2) w/Vitor Meira and P.J. Chesson
~~Dreyer & Reinbold Racing(1) w/Buddy Rice
~~Vision Racing(1) w/A.J. Foyt, IV



Confirmed Seats......................15
Open Seats..............................9
Expected Car Count for Homestead-Miami.....................20-24

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2 sponsor announcements of note today.......................

~~National Guard, Delphi to sponsor #4 Panther Racing entry and driver Vitor Meira in 2008......apparently, Meira's acquired about 460,000 new fans..... Panther Racing unveiled Meira's new ride for the 2008 IndyCar series; sponsorship will be split between Delphi, a long-time sponsor for the team and the Army National Guard, throughout the 2008 season

~~Meijer to sponsor #26 AGR entry..........following the decision by NYSE Group to decline sponsoring the #26 Andretti-Green Dallara/Honda of Marco Andretti, they found a new sponsor in Meijer, one of the largest retail grocery chains in the U.S.; the sponsorship will be for the entire 2008 season

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From the category of news items this afternoon..........one team that definitely will not be on the ICS grid is Forsythe/Pettit Racing, as team principal Gerry Forsythe has decided to close down his racing team after over a decade of running in AOWR..........from the press release:

Forsythe/Pettit Racing VP of Operations, Neil Micklewright:

Forsythe Championship Racing is announcing today the cessation of its' racing operations. After 13 years of competition in both CART and the Champ Car World Series, the team has been unable to secure the necessary sponsorship to be able to compete in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series in 2008. Forsythe Racing, Inc., the team's parent company, will participate in the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Champ Car's finale, with drivers to be announced.

In essence, AOWR's resident enfant' terrible' has been given his walking papers and will have to find another ride for 2008......

Two perverse ironies here.......
1--how could they not have sponsorship for 2008; GF's been sponsoring his teams in-house, using his power/electronics company, Indeck, as a sponsor
2--they're still going to compete in Atlantics this year.......with "ride-buyers".

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2 team announcements of note............
(1)Power, Servia to race for KV Racing Technology
(entries)Will Power--#8 Aussie Vineyards D/H, Oriol Servia--#32 Gulfstream D/H

(2)Wiggins, Stoddart part ways.............
According to sources at both speedtv.com and ar1.com, there will not be a Minardi Team USA on the IndyCar Grid in 2008; there, however, will be a familiar team on the grid as CTE-HVM Racing will return for 2008; a driver announcement will be made prior to the Sebring(2) test