2010 IndyCar Series season
Season
Races	17
Start date	March 14
End date	October 2
Drivers
Drivers' champion	TBA
Teams' champion	TBA
Rookie of the year	TBA
Most popular driver	TBA
Indy 500 winner	TBA
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
2009	2011

The 2010 Izod IndyCar Series season will be the 15th season of the IndyCar Series, and will be the 99th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing. It is the series' first of six planned seasons under Izod title sponsorship, a multi-million dollar deal which was announced on November 5, 2009.^[1][2] Its premier event will be the 94th Indianapolis 500, scheduled for Sunday, May 30.

The final 2010 schedule was announced on July 31, 2009,^[3] with revisions announced on August 26, 2009.^[4] New events include a season-opening street race in São Paulo, Brazil, and the new Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park. Richmond will not return, and Milwaukee is off the schedule due to ongoing concerns over outstanding sanctioning fees owed.^[5] All races will be broadcast, in the United States, on ABC^[6] or Versus in HD.

[edit] 2010 series schedule

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Time	TV
1	March 14	TBA	Streets of São Paulo	São Paulo, Brazil		Versus
2	March 28	Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg	Streets of St. Petersburg	St. Petersburg, FL		ABC
3	April 11	Indy Grand Prix of Alabama	Barber Motorsports Park	Birmingham, AL		Versus
4	April 18	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, CA		Versus
5	May 1	RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300	Kansas Speedway	Kansas City, KS	1:30	ABC
6	May 30	94th Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, IN	1:00	ABC
7	June 5	Bombardier Learjet 550	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, TX		Versus
8	June 20	Iowa Corn Indy 250	Iowa Speedway	Newton, IA		Versus
9	July 4	Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix	Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, NY		ABC
10	July 18	Honda Indy Toronto	Streets of Toronto	Toronto, ON		ABC
11	July 25	Rexall Edmonton Indy	Edmonton City Centre Airport	Edmonton, AB		Versus
12	August 8	Honda 200	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, OH		Versus
13	August 22	Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County	Infineon Raceway	Sonoma, CA		Versus
14	August 28	Peak Antifreeze Indy 300	Chicagoland Speedway	Joliet, IL		Versus
15	September 4	Meijer Indy 300 Presented by Red Baron and Edy's	Kentucky Speedway	Sparta, KY		Versus
16	September 19	Indy Japan 300	Twin Ring Motegi	Motegi, Japan		Versus
17	October 2	Firestone Indy 300	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, FL		Versus

     Oval/Speedway      Street/Temporary Circuit      Road Course

• All times Eastern

[edit] Series news

• Announced in a press conference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on November 5, 2009, clothier Izod has signed on as the series' new title sponsor from 2010 to 2015, with an option for two additional years.^[1] According to Robin Miller^[7], the deal is worth $10 million per year with at least $5 million toward promotions and marketing. It would additionally include a payout of $100,000 per car, per year to teams eligible for the TEAM revenue-sharing program, and possible partial funding for a full-time car for Ryan Hunter-Reay, whom received sponsorship backing from the brand in 2009. This will be the third title sponsorship in the IndyCar Series' history; previous sponsorships were provided by Pep Boys (1998-1999) and Northern Light (2000-2001).
• On November 25, 2009, a season opening race in São Paulo, Brazil was confirmed by city authorities and an Indy Racing League press release.^[8][9] The race, which has yet to be officially named, will take place on a 2.3-mile temporary street course. Despite the long travel distance for the teams, the event is expected to be lucrative with Terry Angstadt claiming each participating team will receive a six-figure sum from the event promoters in addition to all expenses paid.^[10]
• The possibility was left open for a race at Milwaukee, however, ongoing issues involving unpaid sanctioning fees from the management have put the race, and the future of the facility, at risk. In November, Historic Mile LLC announced they were going out of business.^[5]
• The July 25 race in Edmonton will go ahead, despite event organisers losing $9.2 million on the race over the previous two seasons.^[11][12]

[edit] Team and driver news

• Penske Racing: Hélio Castroneves signed a multi-year contract extension with Penske Racing before the 2009 season. Penske will run three full-time teams next year, with Castroneves in one car, Ryan Briscoe in the second, and Will Power as a third entry for the team, with Penske shutting down its Grand-Am operation to make room.^[13]
• Andretti Autosport: Before the 2010 season, the ownership of Andretti Green Racing was split and therefore the race team will be known as Andretti Autosport.^[14] Co-owners Kim Green and Kevin Savoree will own the promotion side of AGR that stages the St. Pete and Toronto races, while the race team itself will be fully owned by Michael Andretti. According to Andretti, "We owed it to our business to do this because neither side was getting 110 percent and both sides were suffering".^[15] Tony Kanaan was signed to a multi-year deal with AGR before the 2009 season. Danica Patrick has agreed to terms for a three-year contract extension through 2012, and the agreement was announced on November 30, 2009.^[16] Patrick will have Go Daddy taking over as the new primary sponsor in on the #7 machine in 2010. Marco Andretti is confirmed and Venom Energy has signed a multi-year deal to sponsor his #26 car.^[17] Ryan Hunter-Reay is expected to sign shortly as the team's fourth driver,^[18] but an interview in Racer magazine indicates that he may run only a partial schedule that includes the Indy 500 and a few other early-season races.^[19]
• Chip Ganassi Racing: 2008 IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon is signed through the 2011 season. The team is working to sign Dario Franchitti to a new contract, with a deal expected to be formally announced within a couple weeks.^[20] Developmental driver Alex Lloyd has left the team to pursue other opportunities including one race with NHL at the season-ending event at Homestead. E. J. Viso is working on a deal to join the team in a third car.^[21]
• Luczo-Dragon Racing: Luczo-Dragon signed 2008 Firestone Indy Lights Champion Raphael Matos to a multi-year contract before the 2009 season.^[22]. A second car for the team is possible, but unlikely.^[20]
• Panther Racing: Dan Wheldon will return as the team's driver in 2010.^[23] The team would like to add a second car if funding is available.^[20]
• A. J. Foyt Enterprises: Driver Vitor Meira has signed a contract to return to the #14 car through the end of the 2010 season.^[24]
• De Ferran Motorsports: Current ALMS team De Ferran Motorsports was hoping to field two full-time IndyCar entries in 2010; however the team is currently working on sponsorship that would allow it to compete. Owner Gil de Ferran has retired from racing and will not be one of the drivers.^[25] An announcement occurred on August 7, 2009 with de Ferran announcing his retirement from racing, along with the intention to run a two-car IndyCar Series operation in 2010 alongside his sports car team.^[26]. Though things had gone quiet recently concerning the new team, Robin Miller reported on the December 6 edition of The Speed Report that de Ferran will probably just run one full-time car in 2010. Miller reported the following week that de Ferran may partner with Tony George's Vision Racing to field a combined two-car effort. Former team-mate Simon Pagenaud, who had been linked with drives in other series including the IndyCar Series,^[27] has joined Patrón Highcroft Racing to continue racing in the American Le Mans Series.^[27] De Ferran released a statement on December 18 that he and his team are still interested in running a team in the 2010 season.^[28]
• Conquest Racing: Conquest plans to run one car for the entire 2010 season in addition to a second car at selected events including the Indy 500. The team is currently talking with a few different potential drivers.^[29] Curt Cavin of The Indianapolis Star reported on December 11 that 2009 driver Nelson Philippe had split from the team since his season-ending crash last August at Infineon.^[30]
• HVM Racing: Robert Doornbos will drive for the team in 2010, having signed midway through the 2009 season.^[31]. E. J. Viso's contract with the team has expired and HVM is currently exploring driver options for the second car that it intends to run in 2010.^[32] Simona de Silvestro, third place in the 2009 Atlantic Championship, tested with HVM over December 8–9 at Sebring International Raceway. The test was run in conjunction with her former Atlantics team Team Stargate Worlds.^[33] The car tested was numbered #78 with Stargate Resistance sponsorship.^[34]
• Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing: No drivers are yet confirmed for 2010. 2009 driver Graham Rahal is a free agent, but expects to sign a new contract with the team "soon". Former driver and four-time Champ Car champion Sébastien Bourdais, recently released by Formula One team Scuderia Toro Rosso has been linked with a return to IndyCar. He drove for Newman/Haas/Lanigan for all four of his championship seasons and has indicated to the media that he "still keeps in touch with his old team" - presumably referring to Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.^[35][36][37] 2007 Indy Pro Series champion Alex Lloyd ran the final race of 2009 in the team's No. 40202 (usually the No. 06 but renumbered to promote a cancer research fund associated with Lloyd's sponsor) entry. He is attempting to put together a sponsorship package to secure one of the team's seats for 2010.^[38] During the VERSUS television commentary on the final race of the 2009 season, it was stated that Alex Lloyd "had the seat for 2010" although there is not official announcement or citation. The Indianapolis Star reported on November 6 that Hideki Mutoh and sponsor Formula Dream may join Rahal and Lloyd in 2010 at NHL,^[39] and Speed's Robin Miller backed up that report on the November 22 airing of The Speed Report, stating that N/H/L are looking to field three cars for Rahal, Mutoh, and Lloyd.
• Newman Wachs Racing: Team owner Eddie Wachs said the team wants to leave the Atlantic Championship and race in IndyCar Series or GP2 Series in 2010. The team's driver will be the 2009 Atlantic Championship and 2008 Star Mazda Championship winner John Edwards. The team intends to test Edwards in an IndyCar soon and may share resources with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing initially.^[40]
• Sarah Fisher Racing: SFR announced the addition of a second car at selected 2010 events. Fisher will run nine races (St. Pete., Barber, Kansas, Indy, Texas, Iowa, Chicagoland, Kentucky, Homestead). Jay Howard will run the #66 car at four races (Indy, Texas, Mid-Ohio, Chicagoland).^[41]
• Vision Racing: Team owner Tony George is hopeful of returning to a two-car team. Ed Carpenter will presumably return.^[38][42]
• FAZZT Race Team: The new team owned by Montreal entrepreneur Andre Azzi, Jim Freudenberg, and Jason Priestley has purchased all of the equipment of Roth Racing, including four Dallara chassis. They will compete full time in 2010 with driver Alex Tagliani, who they have signed to a four-year contract to drive the #77 car.^[43] Walker Racing veteran Rob Edwards will be team manager.^[44][45]
• Rahal Letterman Racing: Owner Bobby Rahal is currently seeking backing for the team to once again compete full-time in 2010.^[46]
• Walker Racing: The team hopes to rejoin the IndyCar Series in 2010 if sponsorship can be found, however the team recently lost longtime Team Manager Rob Edwards to the FAZZT Race Team.^[47]
• Dale Coyne Racing: The team looks to continue the relationship with Justin Wilson and hopes to have a second car in place for the entire season.^[20]
• Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: The team is looking to run two to three cars at events for the 2010 season.^[20] Milka Duno looks to return with her Citgo sponsorship. E. J. Viso will test with the team on December 9 at Sebring.^[48]
• KV Racing: Team owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser would like to expand from one to three cars for 2010.^[20] According to a radio interview on "Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee", Paul Tracy has a verbal commitment with KV Racing to drive for the team in the Indy 500, Toronto, Edmonton, and one other race airing on ABC with sponsorship from Geico and Honda Canada. Mario Moraes is expected to return in light of Jimmy Vasser returning from Brazil recently, according to Robin Miller's mail bag.
• CURB/Agajanian/3G Racing: In a statement made on October 7, 2009, Stanton Barrett claims "We CURB/Agajanian/3G Racing are all working to find the proper sponsorship for next year" and that the team is, "working to see which races Stanton can run next year."^[49] Team co-owner Steve Sudler said in an interview with blog 16th and Georgetown that Richard Antinucci would be one of the team's drivers in 2010 and the team is exploring possibilities for a second car.^[50]
• Bryan Herta Autosport: Having formed the team in 2009 in a partnership with Vision Racing, Bryan Herta is keen to enter a car into the Indianapolis 500.^[51] His team are moving to the facilities of his former rival Adrian Fernández and his Fernández Racing outfit, as a lack of funding has halted the Mexican from running the team.^[52]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• IndyCar Series - official site
• Indianapolis 500 - official site