TBK-Light.com

Penske stopped over at Milwaukee for the ASA race prior to the INDYCAR race today at Road America
https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/m ... 334104007/

apparently Interlagos has been mentioned in the rumor mill, at least according to today's race broadcast in Brazil

More Silly Season but from a different angle courtesy of the Indy Star and Nathan Brown.

https://eu.indystar.com/story/sports/mo ... 347485007/

tl;dr
-The story on Palou is the same as Pruett's, with a little extra detail. Whatever happens, Palou will not stay at Ganassi despite the improved contract offer. There is a clause in his agreement with McLaren which allows him to accept an F1 drive anywhere else before the 31st July, which is why his management have been hustling to shop him around. But most decisions on drivers, especially for the smaller teams, do not happen until the start of the summer break, which is on...the 30th July.
-So unless someone is persuaded to take a punt, it looks very much as though Palou will be driving for SPAM next year. Brown (N) does not believe that there will be any 4th car involving SPAM in any form, which means FRosen will need to find a new job.
-Even if Palou does wriggle free and across the Atlantic, McLaren's first choice would likely be Ericsson, who is currently being jerked around a bit by Floyd in terms of expectations regarding salary and financial contribution. Floyd believes that whatever Andretti and SPAM can offer Ericsson financially won't make up for the fact that both would be a step back in terms of performance (something that Ericsson himself has acknowledged), and so is playing hardball. Ericsson has to wait until August before he can talk to other teams.
-At least one Andretti car will need filling - the team has put it about that DeFrancesco will likely not be back. The team is looking at not only Ericsson but FRosen and Ilott as well, and there is no guarantee that Grosjean will be extended either, considering recent performances.
-Other destinations for Rosenqvist may include RLLR and MSR. In line with Pruett, Brown believes that Ganassi is interested in Ilott as well, and considering the attitude towards Ericsson, the #10 is clearly being kept open for a different driver who doesn't need to bring money. The #11 is also an open question, although Floyd would like to keep Armstrong around and upgrade him to a full-time schedule.
-And if he is determined that whoever drives the #8 will need to pay for it, first in line is quite possibly Simpson, who is already a Ganassi development driver, and whose father owns a stake in the company that owns new Ganassi sponsor Ridgeline.
-There is a strong belief that MSR will replace HCN with Blomqvist, and they are already talking with Andretti about working together to run Helio in an extra car for the 500.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Lil' Dave is headed elsewhere.

https://racer.com/2023/07/04/malukas-se ... he-season/

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

https://racer.com/2023/07/05/the-racer- ... -july-5/2/

------------------

No independent HMD team for next year, possibly later on.

https://racer.com/2023/07/05/hmd-to-foc ... t-in-2024/

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

I assume the post above is about the below



Geez, Simon must've taken quite a knock in that shunt

Strange, the tweet was working after I'd posted it...

It was quite a violent flip after all so I guess it's understandable they're being cautious.

Good to see Tom getting a shot! Another Kiwi on the grid (yes, I know he races with a British licence)

_________________
"An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government"


3x TBKL rFactor Hillclimb champion

Another Swede on the grid! (Yes, I know he doesn't speak Swedish or has ever lived here)

Palou is possibly interested in performing the Full Jenson.



----------------

Lundqvist is confident that he will do 'one, two or possibly three races' this year, possibly starting with Gateway.

https://racer.com/2023/07/17/lundqvist- ... car-debut/

No team is mentioned, although Special Ed doesn't appear to have any room (certainly not for Gateway), whilst RLLR is doing nothing to dispel the notion that the #30 will need a new driver sooner rather than later.

Given what he's doing at Ganassi, I can see why he'd want to stay. I think a lot of wanting to go to McLaren was in the hope of getting into F1, and with Piastri seemingly doing well, I guess any hope of that has been dashed

_________________
"An idea whose time has come cannot be stopped by any army or any government"


3x TBKL rFactor Hillclimb champion

Is Kyffin Simpson really that good?

Daly back in the #60 for Iowa.

Calendar news for next year. Laguna Seca moving to March and Nashville going to September as the finale.

https://racer.com/2023/07/21/nashville- ... on-finale/

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Pruett moonlighting for ESPN, focusing on the musical chairs at Ganassi.

https://www.espn.com/racing/story/_/id/38041873

A few other nuggets, such as Rahal now being primed to stay at the family team.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Lundqvist is in the #60 this weekend

https://www.indycar.com/news/2023/07/07 ... 86OBxDpHr4

Holy shit. hopefully Simon's ok

I once again ask to put Rosenqvist, Lundqvist and Lundgaard into the same team and run identical liveries.

I don't think he's going to be back. I think he was out this year anyway, at least from his ride, and this just cements it.

Sent from my SM-G781U1 using Tapatalk

Pruett updates Silly Season just before the racing gets equally silly this weekend.

https://racer.com/2023/08/02/indycar-si ... e-edition/

tl;dr

-Everyone is waiting on Palou. He is not allowed to sign any other contract until the 1st September, and Floyd isn't expected to say anything before then either, so the unlucky aspirants face a few more weeks in the dark before knowing that they have to chase their own plan Bs.
-As of yesterday, Ericsson is free to negotiate, and again there is a plethora of free agents waiting to see which team he ultimately ends up with.
-Foyt has Pedersen under contract and want to continue with Ferrucci. The feeling is mutual - the only hurdle is the budget. Once that is assured, expect an announcement.
-Andretti is likely to secure Ericsson's services in place of DeFrancesco, but there remains a question mark over the #28. Grosjean might stay, but just about every other unsigned driver has been linked with the car including several from outside Indycar (For clarity, Jake Dennis has stated that he has no interest in racing in Indycar or living in the US).
-One of those drivers is Felipe Drugovich, who has also been linked with Andretti's FE team as well as other Indycar opportunities.
-SPAM's situation is largely unchanged - they are waiting on Palou, although FRosen appears to have improved his standing and looks like being the first alternative if Palou does wriggle into F1. Pruett also believes that if there is going to be a 4th entry, it will be a collaboration with Dreyer & Reinbold, but that program is still hypothetical.
-Floyd is resigned to losing Palou, but in a surprising turn of events he has reportedly made an offer to Ericsson. Assuming that this is accepted, there are still 2 seats to fill; as before, Armstrong would like to upgrade his schedule to include ovals, and Malukas appears to be at the front of the queue to replace Palou. But Pruett does note that Ganassi has not been blown away by any of Indycar's free agents, and may recruit from farther afield.
-DeFrancesco is set to land at DCR as the senior driver, and the second car will go to the driver with the biggest cheque. Danial Frost looks to be the favourite, although Robb may stay put if he can find a bigger budget.
-Special Ed's only driver decision concerns the #20. RHR might be asked to stay, although the possibility of Malukas in a co-owned ECR\HMD car is raised as well.
-Juncos will keep Canapino if\when the budget can be secured, and believes that Ilott is bound to him for another year.
-Blomqvist replacing Helio requires nothing more than a formal announcement, but the other side of the Shank garage is a headache. The team do not want to dump Pagenaud on the back of an injury caused by a car failure, but he was 24th in the standings before the accident at Mid-Ohio and a change may be required regardless. Many drivers (Lundqvist, Colin Braun, Nyck de Vries, Ericsson, Rosenqvist) are linked to what would be a paid drive, but this list no longer includes Harvey.
-Many of those same drivers linked to MSR are also linked to RLLR, as is Juri Vips, who has impressed the team in testing. And much like MSR, there is no interest in Harvey, who is hoping to find another seat elsewhere.
-Penske are taking no part in this year's merry-go-round, and so can consider what they would do next summer if Power decides that his current contract is his last.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.