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As the Firestone Turns: 5 to Watch in 2012

To say the offseason for IndyCar was an offseason of change would be a gross understatement.  The scramble to be on the grid with the new DW12 Dallara and the new 2.2 liter turbo-charged V-6 engines has been interesting to watch unfold as silly-season took many abrupt and surprising turns.  With all the seat shuffling and new teams entering the series, the questions arise as to which drivers may have breakout seasons.  At this point not a lot is known about which engine will be the strongest, which adds an increased factor of difficulty as to the drivers that may have very successful seasons.  But, the 5 drivers below are certainly ones to keep an eye on during the 2012 season.

Rubens Barrichello:  First and foremost, all eyes will be on Rubens Barrichello this year.  The former Formula 1 star will try his hand at IndyCar, and ovals, for the first time in his career.  The veteran of 322 F1 starts, 11 wins, and 14 poles will pilot the #8 BMC/Embrase entry for KV Racing Technology in 2012.  The long-time best friend and “brother” of IndyCar champion Tony Kannan brings a wealth of experience in setting up and developing new racecars.  Barrichello’s biggest challenges will be on the ovals where has no experience, but expect him to be a podium contender on the road and street courses.  A win is certainly not out of the question.  The relationship with Kanaan will also make the transition easier and should create a positive environment for the KV teams.  On top of the stellar resume’, Rubens is known as one of the most likeable drivers in the paddock.  Although he may not be a household name in the US, he should quickly become a fan favorite.  @rubensbarrichello @kvracing

Credit Mosport.com

Simon Pagenaud:  The 2011 “super-sub” finally gets his chance at a full-time IndyCar ride with Sam Schmidt Motorsports.  The sports-car veteran found himself as the last minute sub for injured drivers Ana Beatriz and Justin Wilson last year at Barber and Mid-Ohio respectively.   He also filled in for Simona de Silvestro at Infineon while she was in Switzerland with visa issues.  Pagenaud should be fast at the road and street courses, but his lack of experience on ovals will certainly play a role in the final championship standings.  However, Sam Schmidt Motorsport sat on the pole for the Indianapolis 500 in 2011, so the team should be able to help the transition to ovals much easier.  A win is not out of the question, but also expect him to contend for podiums on the road and street courses.  @simonpagenaud @ssmindy

Credit Speedcafe.com

Sebastien Bourdais:  Former ChampCar champion and F1 driver Sebastien Bourdais will finally return to full-time open-wheel competition in 2012 with Dragon Racing. However, he will miss the race at Milwaukee due to previous commitments to run the 24 hour race at LeMans.  There is certainly no doubt the Frenchman is an incredible wheelman.  After a strong run at the end of 2011 with Dale Coyne Racing, Bourdais showed that he not only still has the skill some thought may had been lost, he also showed he can make the best out of imperfect cars with a small team.  The biggest question mark will be the Lotus engine powering his #7 ride and the Dragon Racing team itself which has struggled to run well.  @dragonracing

Creid IZOD IndyCar Media Site (2011)

Justin Wilson:  The likeable Brit finds himself back with Dale Coyne Racing in 2012 and will reunite with former engineer Bill Pappas.  Wilson’s 2nd, and last, win came with Coyne and Pappas in 2009.  This win currently stands as the only win in the series for the Coyne team.  Powered by Honda for 2012, expectations are high for the reunification of the winning combination of Wilson/Pappas/Coyne.  The 2012 season-opener at St. Petersburg marks the return of Wilson to the series after missing the last portion of the 2011 season with a back injury he suffered in a freak off-track excursion at Mid-Ohio.  Another former F1 driver, Wilson is highly regarded for his technical skill and was rumored, before returning to Coyne, to be in the running for the Andretti Autosport #27 GoDaddy.com ride.   If past history and team chemistry are any indication, Wilson should challenge for a win or 2 during 2012, and  it could be a breakout year for the Dale Coyne Racing team.  @justinwilson22 @dalecoyneracing

Credit IZOD IndyCar Media Site (2011)

Mike Conway:  After a surprising victory at Long Beach in 2011 with Andretti Autosport, Conway struggled through the rest of the season and even missed the Indy 500.  Moving to AJ Foyt Racing in 2012, Conway looks to improve his fortunes and those of the Foyt team as well that spent recent years mid-pack with Vitor Meira at the helm.  AJ Foyt Racing GM Larry Foyt has expressed that the team has refocused its efforts and placed increased emphasis in engineering which he believes will lead to improved results on the track.  Also, it has been reported that Conway and the team have been very quick in pre-season testing.  2012 could be the breakout year for Conway that he seemed to be on the verge of in 2011.  @mikeconwayindy @ajfoytracing

Ross Bynum (@therossbynum)

NOTE:  Past season driver headshots were used as 2012 headshots are not yet available through the IndyCar media site.

Sam Schmidt Talks about Dan Wheldon and the Crash that Took his Life

Sam Schmidt addresses the media at Pole Position Raceway

On most nights, the young drivers racing carts around the Pole Position Raceway would be thrilled to see Sam Schmidt enter the building. Maybe they could show off their skills and catch the eye of the Indy Lights and Indy Car team owner.

But tonight, Schmidt came to Pole Position Raceway under much sadder circumstances… to address the media after his driver Dan Wheldon died yesterday on lap 11 of the Izod World Championships at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“It’s been an unbelievable 24 hours and I’m still in a bit of shock,” a somber Schmidt told  the assembled media. “I got to know him away from the track and to hear the love he had for his wife and family…they were always on his brain.”

Wheldon died on lap 11 of Sunday’s race, Schmidt took time to comment on news reports and comments by NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson that the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and ovals in general are not safe for safe for Indy Cars. “Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but there have been incidents on slow corners at street courses.  Racers are racers, they are going to push the envelope wherever they are.” Schmidt added, “I don’t think you can blame the track.”

Schmidt did say that Indy Car officials will have to take a hard look at safety and do a lot of testing with the new car (Indy Car will introduce a new body and car in 2012) before the series returns to Las Vegas Motorspeedway.   Asked if Wheldon had expressed any concern over large size of the field Schmidt said, “No, he didn’t express any concern (for safety) other than there would be six or seven more cars to pass.”

“It’s difficult to find a silver lining in all of this, but he (Wheldon) was having fun. Right before he got in the car he was confident…. his last words on the radio were “”Let’s go, I’m ready to go for this thing, we can win this thing.”” Schmidt said when asked about Wheldon’s attitude before the race. “He passed 10 cars on the first 10 laps…he was having fun.”

Schmidt had only worked with and known Wheldon over the past year.  “Unlike some of the other teams, I’ve only been around him around 6 months.  But in that short time I’ve saw what an unbelievable individual Dan was. It wasn’t an act with him (Wheldon) he was very genuine.  For Dan it never got old, he would go out of his way to put a smile on a kid’s face.  People wanted to be around him.”

Schmidt said it’s been a range of emotions in the past 24 hours.  Asked if this incident would make him consider getting out of the sport, Schmidt said, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.”

In 2000, Schmidt became a quadriplegic due to injuries in a practice crash in Orlando Florida.  He said the parallels between he and Dan at the time he was hurt were too many. “It’s one thing to take the risk yourself and my situation, it’s something I was doing since I was 5 years old and I’m still here to watch my kids grow up. It’s an amazing parallel between Dan’s age and my age when I got hurt and the ages of his kids.  I just don’t know if I can be this tightly associated with something like that in the future.”

Friday: Indycar World Championship Weekend

Good morning from Las Vegas Motor Speedway!  I’m here covering the happenings on and off the track live!

Not only is this weekend Championship weekend for the series, it is also a weekend filled with a lot announcements and rumors.

Last night Las Vegas shut down the famous Strip for an Indycar exhibition parade.  Fans lined the street to see the 34 entries for this weekends finale burn rubber down the street.

Credit Tom Donoghue

Yesterday Michael Shank Racing, of the American LeMans Series, announced that they would field a full-time Indycar entry in 2012.  The announcement marked the first team to state they would be powered by Lotus next year.  Former Michael Shank Racing driver A.J. Allmendinger is partnering with MSR on the venture.  No driver or sponsor announcements have been made as of yet.  MSR is expected to run the #60.  See the official announcement here.

HVM Racing (Simona de Silvestro) team owner Keith Wiggins stated that his team would be the Lotus anchor team in 2012.  This will fuel speculation that HVM Racing will have a teammate for Simona in 2012.

Simon Pagenaud is expected to be with Sam Schmidt Motorsports in 2012.  The 2011 super-sub has all but been confirmed for a full-time Honda-powered SSM ride next year.

Despite his long association with Honda, expect Dan Wheldon to announce he will head to Andretti Autosport to pilot the Chevy-powred #7 GoDaddy.com ride next year.

In the first practice on Thursday, Danica Patrick paced the field with a fast lap of 224.719.   Points leader Dario Franchitti was 9th fastest and title contender Will Power was 14th.

Stay tuned to Q4G for announcements, pics, results, and news!

Ross (@driverswanted07)

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