33? UOWWB QOTW

Well, the Indy 500 is creeping up on us. The race itself is 43 days away, while the track opens up May 5th, 25 days from now. Indycar teams have these dates scheduled on their calendars, and so do many of us fans. And early next week, we get to figure out who will be attempting to run the 500, as the entry list comes out. Now, I'm pretty sure we'll have a surprise or two in the entry list when it does get posted, which is usually one of the fun parts of May. Anyways, here is this weeks UOWWB question of the week.

"With the lack of cars, how many cars do you expect at Indy this year?"

There have been rumors lately about a lack of parts for the Dallara's lately, specifically Team 3G running into issues to find a car for Tomas Scheckter to run. Another rumor had Robby Gordon and Childress getting together to run a car for the 500, but could find an actual car to run. Whether there is a shortage of cars or not, in Curt Cavin and Steve Ballard's latest article at Indystar.com Brian Barnhart believes 35 or 36 cars will attempt to qualify for The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. However, Cavin also writes about ways the race could get to 40 cars this year. So let's go through this and see what I can get to. Don't forget, this is the entry list, not nessicarily who shows up.

Full Season Cars (20)

#2 Raphael Matos - Luczo Dragon Racing
#3 Helio Castroneves - Team Penske
#4 Dan Wheldon - Panther Racing
#5 Mario Moraes - Kalkhoven Vasser Racing Technologies
#6 Ryan Briscoe - Team Penske
#7 Danica Patrick - Andretti Green Racing
#9 Scott Dixon - Target Chip Ganassi Racing
#10 Dario Franchitti - Target Chip Ganassi Racing
#11 Tony Kanaan - Andretti Green Racing
#13 E.J. Viso - HVM Racing
#14 Vitor Meira - A.J. Foyt Enterprises
#19 Justin Wilson - Dale Coyne Racing
#20 Ed Carpenter - Vision Racing
#21 Ryan Hunter-Reay - Vision Racing
#24 Mike Conway - Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
#26 Marco Andretti - Andretti Green Racing
#27 Hideki Mutoh - Andretti Green Racing
#98 Stanton Barrett - Team 3G
#02 Graham Rahal - Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
#06 Robert Doornbos - Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing

Cars trying to do the full season (1)

#34 Alex Tagliani - Conquest Racing

Partial (Including Indy)/Indy Only Confirmed (7)

TBD Alex Lloyd - Sam Schmidt Motorsports/Target Chip Ganassi Racing
#12 Will Power - Team Penske
#15 Paul Tracy - Kalkhoven Vasser Racing Technologies
#16 Scott Sharp - Panther Racing
#43 John Andretti - Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Richard Petty Motorsports
#44 Davey Hamilton - Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Kingdom Racing
#67 Sarah Fisher - Sarah Fisher Racing

Announced, but skeptical (1)

TBD - Top Cover Racing

Expected but not announced (5)

#18 TBD - Dale Coyne Racing
#23 Darren Manning/Milka Duno - Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
#36 TBD - Conquest Racing
#41 A.J. Foyt IV - A.J. Foyt Enterprises
TBD Tomas Scheckter - TBD

Possible, but Less Likely (13)

#8 Townsend Bell/Oriol Servia - Kalkhoven Vasser Racing Technologies
#17 TBD - Rahal Letterman Racing
#76 TBD - Sarah Fisher Racing
TBD TBD - Bryan Herta Autosports
TBD Franck Montagny - Andretti Green Racing
TBD TBD - Walker Racing
TBD Jeff Simmons - A.J. Foyt Enterprises
TBD Robby Gordon - Robbie Gordon Racing/Richard Childress Racing
TBD TBD - Rubicon Racing
TBD TBD - Hemelgarn Racing
TBD Junior Strous - PDM Racing
TBD Takuma Sato - de Ferran Motorsports
TBD TBD -Vision Racing

As far as I can drum up, we will have atleast 33 guarenteed trying to qualify. We get bump day from the less likely teams that end up putting together deals to run. I think with the tough times money-wise, and the shortage of parts, I think making 33 guarenteed between the full season, part timers/one-offs, and the expected cars is pretty good. Obviously we will see some surprises, and hopefully 3 Penske cars either way. Maybe Penske pulls Sam Hornish Jr. out of the taxi that weekend to try and vault the number 77 car up the owners points standings and throws him into a Dallara for the 500?

So either way, I am not worried about hitting 33 cars. I'm excited to see who does end up showing to the race and to see who ends up making the field. We should see between 35 and 38 cars actually attempt to qualify which is good for the race and for the competition.

Edit 1: Moved Scheckter to expected but not announced.

Shamrock Racing Announces It Two Drivers for the 2009 Season

Thank you very much for being here everyone on such short notice. This announcement came together quickly once this sponsorship deal was put agreed upon. In this tough economic time, we are happy to have Happy Go Lucky Shamrocks on our sidepods for the 2009 season in time to compete with the top teams in the IRL.

Now I'd like to introduce to you our newly formed lineup. Both drivers will be driving our new Honda powered Dallaras.

Please welcome Justin Wilson and Ryan Hunter-Reay to the Shamrock Racing.

Obviously by now, you know this is a fake press release. RHR and JDub would love to see a Shamrock Racing become a reality so they could have a ride in '09. If I had found a sponsor to go racing it would had been done by now. Actually, that might be a story for another time, when I was in discussions to start up a new Champ Car team with a strong backer (now that I think of it, I will probably go take a look to see if I have the paint scheme renderings on the computer downstairs still). Anyways, back to the topic at hand.

This entry is in response to the UOWWB Question of the Week. If you aren't aware of the question, it asks which 2 unemployed IRL drivers would you employ for your raceteam. Since Paul Tracy wasn't included in the list, I chose Justin Wilson and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Personally, I feel these are two of the most talented drivers without a ride in '09, with maybe only Servia competing for that second spot with RHR. I think between RHR and JW, they would cover both the strengths of the Oval and the Streets and Road Courses of the IRL. RHR would be the team leader on ovals, while Wilson would take control on the twisties.

I also think that both these men are the easiest to sell to sponsors as drivers. RHR is a pure-bred American with a good attitude. He probably brings a little bit of money with him from iZod as well. Justin sold shares of himself to try and get into F1, and after that, CCWS. I'm not sure how many of you got to know him last year, but he has an awesome personality to match his driving skills.

And I think the main reason I'd choose these guys, asides from their talent, is they are some of the hardest workers in AOWR, and they should not be out of a ride in the first place. It's unfortunate the way things went down, but someone has to throw them a rope. Both these guys have been kicked while they were down, and it seems this will happen again if no one steps up and helps them out.

I think these two gentlemen would give Shamrock Racing a fighting chance at podiums and the odd win with their diverse skills on Ovals and right hand turns. They have the skill, the drive, and the speed to drive with the best of them, and they'll put butts in the seats for the IRL.