Panther Enters Carpenter for Indy

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (April 7, 2010) – Panther Racing announced today it has partnered with Vision Racing and will enter Ed Carpenter in the No. 20 Dallara Honda during next month’s 94th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. The collaboration between the two IZOD IndyCar Series teams will pair Carpenter with full-time Panther driver Dan Wheldon, pilot of the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing entry.

“We looked at a lot of opportunities for the Month of May, and as strong as Vision Racing has run the last few years, we felt like partnering with them made a lot of sense for us,” John Barnes, CEO and co-owner of Panther Racing, said. “I feel that Ed (Carpenter) is a threat to win at any race he runs, and he’s proved that to this league in the last two or three years. His addition to the National Guard team along with Dan Wheldon is going to make our entire team stronger. I honestly hope this isn’t a one-and-done deal, and we very much look forward to the opportunity of expanding this and running more IZOD IndyCar Series races together this season.”

The partnership is even more special for Barnes, who has been friends with Vision team owner Tony George for over 20 years.

“I am very pleased that we have this opportunity to partner with an excellent organization. This collaboration with Panther Racing will allow two teams that want nothing else but to compete and strive for success in the upcoming Indianapolis 500 the opportunity do so to the best of their abilities,” George said. “With this partnership between teams and drivers, we will also be able to maximize the potential of both parties and field what I am sure will be a very formidable two-car effort. There are close personal and professional relationships within our two organizations that should allow us to put forth a cohesive effort we will all be proud of and have high expectations for achieving results.”

Six-year IndyCar Series veteran Ed Carpenter will make a return behind the wheel of the No. 20 that he has driven since Vision Racing’s inception in 2005. The 29-year-old Indianapolis resident finished the 2009 season by earning his career best finish of second, matched his career best start of fourth, led 35 laps and drove to six top-ten finishes.

“I am very excited not only to be returning to the Indianapolis 500, but also working with Panther Racing,” Ed Carpenter, who finished fifth and eighth in the last two runnings of the Indianapolis 500, explained. “John Barnes has been a family friend for a long time, and I very grateful for this opportunity. I feel that with my experience, Vision Racing’s experience and Panther Racing’s experience and success at Indianapolis that we will be a very competitive duo. It has been very hard watching from the sidelines so far this season, and I am very motivated to compete for my first win.”

Panther Racing, who boasts 15 IndyCar Series wins and two league championships, is currently ninth in the championship standings with Wheldon after the first two races of the 2010 season. The team has finished runner-up in each of the last two Indianapolis 500s; in 2008 with Vitor Meira and again last year with Wheldon.

“I believe the addition of Ed Carpenter and Vision Racing to the National Guard Panther Racing group is phenomenal,” Wheldon said. “Ed’s always been very quick, especially around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and I’m very much looking forward to being able to have a teammate of his caliber. I know we’ll work together well and be able to move the team forward, which will give us both a chance to win the Indianapolis 500. And it’s also very positive to have Vision’s involvement in the Panther program. I’m excited about being able to use some of their expertise and it’s great to see them back on track – they’re a team that was very close to their first IZOD IndyCar Series victory in Kentucky last year, and this partnership will get all of us one step close to victory lane.”

Vision Racing returns to IZOD IndyCar Series competition for the Indianapolis 500 as a result of this partnership with Panther Racing after suspending racing operations on January, 28, 2010 until such time that sponsorship could be secured.

“It has been an exceptionally long and extended off-season for Vision Racing that has recently had us turning our attention solely to the Indianapolis 500. The challenge of putting together a sponsorship package to enable Vision Racing to run the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule proved to be much more difficult than anticipated but our intention is to be back competing full-time in the future,” George explained. “Taking part in the 2010 Indianapolis 500 has been a priority and while we have yet to solidify a sponsorship lineup for the No. 20 Panther-Vision entry for Indy, we expect to make some sponsorship announcements in the coming weeks.”

Danica Patrick, Danica Patrick, Danica Patrick!

Well, whether you like her or not, you are going to be seeing alot of Danica Patrick over the next few weeks.

If you follow CSI:NY, you'll be seeing Danica playing the role of along side Antonia Sabato Jr. making his first TV appearance since appearing on his own reality TV show My Antonio.

Satabo Jr. will be playing Davi Santos alongside Danica Patrick who will be playing Liza Gray. I guess they will be "Formula car drivers" and will get into a fiery crash while driving an "expedition race" through New York City.

That episode will air February 10th on CBS.

On top of that, some sexy photos of the princess have been leaked ahead of her GoDaddy.com commercial that will air during the Super Bowl on February 7th. Apparently she'll be spoofing various "classics" like Flashdance and Wierd Science.

I haven't seen any of these movies, well I've seen part of Flashdance, but I was watching TV with my mom, and once they started talking about strippers and the language got bad, it got a slightly awkward.

As much as I could live with or without Danica, I realize her value to the IRL and the Izod Indycar Series. Her sex appeal and her uniqueness appeals to the masses. Even though she hasn't been shown on television in 2009 as the face of the IRL, she still is the face of the Izod Indycar Series in the public eye. Seeing her on television, especially networks that don't show IICS races, can only be a good thing. It has the possibility of getting a couple new faces following Danica and following the IICS.

Now, with the Izod sponsorship, I hope they have some pull with NBC and ABC and CBS and FOX to get some Indycar talent onto some of their shows.

Why not have Danica Patrick guest star on Two and a Half Men? She could catch the eye of Charlie Sheens on screen brother, simply for him to find that he can't keep up with the speed at which she lives?

How about getting Tony Kanaan and Hideki Mutoh into an episode of Desperate Housewives? He might not be able to get a girlfriend, but TK can set Hideki up with some one night stands.

What about getting Graham Rahal, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Justin Wilson, Dario Franchitti, Will Power, and Ed Carpenter to join Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in demolishing a house. Then the IRL can donate a few thousand bucks to the family and the new house.

Milka Duno could play a depressed Indycar Driver who needs to be treated by Dr. House.

What about having Graham Rahal making an appearance on the Young & The Restless or having him host SNL? Hell, if Wayne Gretzky could do it, why can't a handsome, articulate Graham Rahal do it?

Point is that seeing these drivers on various network TV shows would help grow the Indycar brand, as well as getting the drivers known to the public. Instead of solely doing it on air, let other people take advantage of the drivers in a way that helps the series grow.

Positive growth of the drivers means a positive growth for the Izod Indycar Series.

Let Danica Go To Nascab

I know, I ripped into Danica earlier this summer on the blog, and I got a good amount of heat for doing it. People couldn't believe I was ripping a strip off of the IRL's princess, oh well, these things happen. And if I ever feel the need to do it again, I probably will.

However, I will admit one thing, she has done rather well since then, staying in 5th place, even after a bunch of road courses which are her weak point. Even I have to give her credit. Being the best of the rest, atleast in terms of points, is a great accomplishment. Who knows, if she was in a Ganassi or Penske car, she could be near the top of the points standings and battling for a championship with two races to go.

So yes, I just gave her some props for her good runs. Bookmark this posting because it won't happen all that often.

Being an IRL blogger, I'm well aware that she is our biggest ticket in 2009, and probably will be for about 2 or 3 years along as she sticks around for a while. She brings in big ratings, is our biggest known driver, and her car consistently has the highest ROI in the end of season ratings.

If she happened to dissapear from the IRL and Indycar Series, it would hurt. But the latest rumors going around, specificially, Danica sticking with the IRL while doing a few ARCA, Trucker Series, and Busch League races for Tony Stewart's team could turn into a positive overall for the IRL.

Obviously, if she does run a few races in tin tops (which in my opinion, is a terrible career move for her, because she will most likely fail miserably), it most likely points towards her departure for Nascab in 2011 or 2012.

However, any fans she gains over there could follow her over to the Indycar Series race on ABC and Versus. Hell, if she is able to battle for the points title in 2010 in the ICS, as well as run competitively in some tin tops, she might even get some rednecks to tune in for the points race simply to follow her, and to see how Nascab's princess is doing. If these people happen to tune into Chicagoland and see the fabulous 3 wide racing these heroes put on in a few weeks ago, then maybe these Nascrap fans stick around to watch a little more often.

These additional fans might help turn Graham Rahal, Alex Lloyd, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tomas Scheckter and Ed Carpenter into more mainstream guys. Nascab fans know how to get behind a driver, and maybe they can do the same and teach some ICS fans to do the same.

Overall, Danica going to race in the various Nascrap series basically gives the IRL free advertising with potential for very high return on investment.

Thus, let her race tin tops. Whether she decides to leave full time for the taxi's or not, she will be doing the IRL a favor while trying them out.

Being Ed Carpenter's Teammate...

Is not a good idea, not the last couple of years anyways at Indy.

It's safe to say A.J. Foyt IV begged Facebook.com to let him start the fan page for Not Being On Fire after being set on fire twice during the Month of May, once during a crash, and once during a refuelling accident in pit lane. Then once he got to the race, he had a forgettable one, finishing 21st, 20 laps down, the last of any cars running at the finish. Safe to say he would had liked to had been elsewhere last year, probably somewhere he couldn't catch fire.

And now this year, Ed Carpenter's new teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, who has started the season strong with a second place finish in the season opener and a decent result at LB, gets the distinction of being the first driver to hit the wall during the Month of May. Ryan lost the back end at speed coming out of turn 2. These things happen, but when interviewed afterwards, his body language spelt p-i-s-s-e-d o-f-f! He says something broke in the back right which caused him to go around. Not the best way to start the month.

Now there is plenty of time for Ryan Hunter-Reay to turn his luck around, but as of now, Ed Carpenter seems to be his teammates Kryptonite of late. Maybe Davey Hamilton knew something when he took his sponsorship to Dreyer & Reinbold this year.