TBK-Light.com

Vips confirmed.

Lundqvist joins Ganassi!
https://www.nbcsports.com/motor-sports/ ... -mike-hull

The second domino falls, and Pruett briefly returns to his keyboard.

https://racer.com/2023/09/01/indycar-si ... nd-qvists/

tl;dr
-Floyd did find a sponsor to pay for Ericsson, and they will instead be paying for Lundqvist.
-MSR did have a preliminary contract with Lundqvist but they could not match Ganassi's offer. They will instead bring in FRosen to ensure their lineup becomes 75% Swede and 100% Qvist.
-The next big seat to be filled is the one Rosenqvist is vacating - SPAM should soon announce Malukas in the #6. The other option was Ilott, although he could well become a SPAM driver anyway through their satellite program.

_________________
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.

Grosjean has told NBC he will be leaving Andretti at the end of the 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.

Not that it was much of a secret, but it is now official.

Rosenqvist switches to Meyer Shank Racing in '24.

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

There is a rumour floating around that the 4th Andretti seat is going to be bought by Sting Ray Robb.

Malukas to SPAM and Grosjean back to Coyne I'd assume.

Dunno why, Sting Ray Robbs me the wrong way, that seat could be bought by someone else.

He has reportedly (via Pruett) put together a sponsorship package worth $9 million and no-one can match it.

_________________
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'm fascinated at how Pagenaud's career has really taken a dive. He's always been a really handy driver, but since leaving Penske he's been literally just making up numbers.

And I guess one of the weaknesses with Indycar is that pay drivers can still land top seats, I'm not sure Sting Ray Robb really deserves that 4th seat, but he may prove me wrong

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


3x TBKL rFactor Hillclimb champion

Ganassi retains Armstrong.

https://racer.com/2023/09/07/armstrong- ... h-ganassi/

_________________
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.

Colton Herta got to run several laps around Laguna Seca in his dad's '98 Reynard, and the visor cam footage Racer posted is incredible. I love how much wheelspin those old CART cars fought whenever they put the throttle down...

A small step for a man, a giant leap for former F2 drivers.

Malukas to SPAM is official

https://racer.com/2023/09/08/malukas-jo ... ar-season/

WTF?
https://apnews.com/article/indycar-alls ... 13c690b4a6

That idea was floated at the time of the pre-season test. It's worth a go, and it won't take any dates away from championship races. There should also be a post-season race in Argentina.

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

An end-of-season appraisal of the personnel flux from Pruett, including some more Silly Season scuttlebutt.

https://racer.com/2023/09/10/indycars-s ... e-is-here/

tl;dr
-Canapino's future is in doubt, as JHR needs to find money to keep him running.
-The proposed marriage between Andretti and Robb has fallen apart, and Robb's future is also unknown.
-Grosjean has offers of interest, but he is not desperate to stay in the series and may be Lambo only from next year.
-DeFrancesco appears to have something lined up.
-RHR will not be back in the #20.

All told, there are 7 vacant 2024 seats right now (#14, #18, #20, #29, #30, #51, #78).

_________________
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 mean I'll watch it I guess, but a 12 car race around a flat twisty road course in the desert isn't going to be much of anything. Seems to be more for the benefit of the members than the general public.

McLaren announced that Pato will be in the car for FP1 in Abu Dhabi.

_________________
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.