11rowsof3

A few weeks ago, I recall tweeting an initial breakdown of car/driver/engine combinations. Of course, I swapped one team’s engine contract, and was electronically backhanded for my faux pas (Thanks, Pippa! I owe you). So, I came up with a spreadsheet of my own, so that I can see the combinations on my own. As of today, we are roughly 5 weeks from the start of the INDYCAR season in St. Petersburg, FL, so it may be high-time for my breakdown of current car combinations.

Here is what I will do. Below are the combinations that are known, sorta-known, and unknown. I am going to try to keep this list as up-to-date as possible, such that when we have additions/inclusions/updates, you’ll see them here. The FIRST line you will see below is the last update date/time, so keep your eyes peeled – if you see/hear any changes needed, send me a comment (right-hand column) or put one below. I will, of course, provide recognition for those whom help. For simplicity purposes, I will order this list by known car number. If a team has a car signed/sealed/delivered, but no car number, I will note it at the end of the list.

Finally, I am also going to *attempt* to put known livery photos as well, because pictures are worth 1000 words, especially in racing. Since I haven’t seen the DW12 in action with my own eyes (*yet*), I’m only going to show pictures that I can properly give full credit to, in order to give credit where credit is due. Kapish? OK – let’s do it.

LIST BREAKDOWN UPDATE:
01-MAR-2012 at 12:30PM Eastern Standard Time (US)

Car #2 – Ryan Briscoe

Team: Penske Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Sponsor: IZOD (though could have other associate sponsors with one- or two-off liveries)

Update (27-FEB-2012): Better photo taken from this weekend’s test at Infineon Speedway

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Car #3 – Helio Castroneves

Team: Penske Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Sponsor: Shell V-Power (though could have other associate sponsors with one- or two-off liveries)

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Car #4 – J.R. Hildebrand

Team: Panther Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Sponsor: U.S. National Guard

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Car #5 – E.J. Viso

Team: KV Racing Technologies
Engine: Chevrolet
Sponsor: CITGO / PDVSA (along w/ associate sponsors Herbalife, Mindeporte CANTV, SBA Airlines)

Update (27-FEB-2012): We had seen both Rubens Barrichello & E.J. Viso in KV’s test Car #5, so now we’ve received the official word from them. No livery to make of just yet, but expect something CITGO-ish with the red/blue/white combinations. Seeing E.J.’s test helmet, though – oh, baby. Vertigo! So … for now, we’ll move Rubens down below. (DC)

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Car #6 – Katherine Legge

Team: Dragon Racing
Engine: Lotus
Sponsor: TrueCar.com (believed primary sponsor, but not 100% confirmed)

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Car #7 – Sebastien Bourdais

Team: Dragon Racing
Engine: Lotus
Sponsor: TBD

Notes: My guess would be Sebastien will drive Car #8, which Dragon Racing holds rights to. This would equate to Dragon Racing having Cars #6 & #8, and we all know how sexy single-digit numbers look.

Update (22-FEB-2012): Well … Katherine just spilled a few beans via Twitter (Link Here). She now states Sebastien will be driving Car #7, rather than Dragon’s original #8. This makes me wonder if they still have rights to the #8 … which might be another story in-and-of-itself, but I won’t go digging too much. I think Jay’s going to be quite content with two cars in 2012. (DC)

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Car #8 – Rubens Barrichello

Team: KV Racing Technologies
Engine: Chevrolet
Sponsor: BMC | Embrase

Update (01-MAR-2012): AND BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE! On behalf of IndyCar fans worldwide, welcome Rubens Barrichello to the series. There is little doubt this makes a few drivers, teams, fans stand up and say “S*** just done got real.” There was a rather grainy picture of Rubens livery scheme … looked mostly blue with black, which should look sharp, but might look relatively similar to the *proposed* livery colors of Team Barracuda – BHA.  In either regard, this is gonna get goooooooooood. (DC)

Car #9 – Scott Dixon

Team: Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Sponsor: Target

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Car #10 – Dario Franchitti

Team: Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Sponsor: Target (though, knowing TCGR, there may be multiple liveries for Dario)

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Car #11 – Tony Kanaan

Team: KV Racing Technologies
Engine: Chevrolet
Sponsor: Going to put GEICO down, as well as Itiapava as an associate (thought probably a primary for Sao Paolo race).

Notes: (22-FEB-2012): I have (still) yet to see an official announcement from either KVRT or TK. Below is a picture from Tony rolling around Texas yesterday, so as far as we all know, he’s all but signed/sealed/delivered. And I don’t know about you … this may be the first car visible from space. Can we run a night race using black lights? (DC)

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Car #12 – Will Power

Team: Penske Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Sponsor: Verizon (I’ll wager this stays constant through 2012)

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Car #14 – Mike Conway

Team: A.J. Foyt Racing
Engine: Honda
Sponsor: ABC Supply

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Car #15 – Takuma Sato

Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Engine: Honda
Sponsor: Mi-Jack (known to be one sponsor, but not sure if it’s full-time primary, or just associate sponsor)

Notes: (22-FEB-2012): Car #15 was announced in the press release. Yesterday, the team sent out some initial photos of Takuma’s livery. Car is a little “plain” looking, but it’s a start. Once we see a few more sponsor decals, I’ll update accordingly. (DC)

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Car #20 – Ed Carpenter

Team: Ed Carpenter Racing
Engine: Chevrolet
Sponsor: Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka

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Car #22 – Oriol Servia

Team: Lotus DRR
Engine: Lotus
Sponsor: Lotus / Telemundo / RollCoater / WIX Filters / Valspar / Charter / etc. (Expect rotating primary sponsors, but confident color schemes will remain black/gold)

Notes: (22-FEB-2012): Lotus DRR unveiled the black/gold #22 yesterday afternoon, and it’s a sweetie. Gracias to the outstanding PR staff at Lotus DRR, Liz & Brie, for the photos. (DC)

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Car #26 – Marco Andretti

Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Chevrolet
Sponsor: RC Cola (part of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, so expect multiple liveries this year)

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Car #27 – James Hinchcliffe

Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Chevrolet
Sponsor: GoDaddy

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Car #28 – Ryan Hunter-Reay

Team: Andretti Autosport
Engine: Chevrolet
Sponsor: TBA (but expected to be SunDrop soda & DHL, similar to 2011 – waiting on official announcements)

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Car #38 – Graham Rahal

Team: Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Sponsor: Service Central (can envision one-off liveries, depending on geography, for NTB, Tire Kingdom, & Big O Tires, but Service Central expected to be primary)

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Car #67 – Josef Newgarden

Team: Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
Engine: Honda
Sponsor: TBD

Notes: (24-FEB-2012): Hurray! Press release makes it official. Josef will be driving Car #67 for SFHR. And, with an agreement with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, the team will be not only a Honda team, but also will be full time. Josef has been saying time-and-time again that the team will be ready … who am I to argue. Great news all-around. We’ve seen a few pictures of a previous IC-03 with the Walgreens livery scheme, but nothing with a DW12. So – let’s hold off on sponsor/livery until the official announcements are made. (DC)

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Car #77 -  Simon Pagenaud

Team: Sam Schmidt Motorsports
Engine: Honda
Sponsor: TBD

Notes: I would assume Car #77, but I’m not so sure. Haven’t really heard much from SSM regarding the potential deal w/ Davey Hamilton Racing, so I’m going to keep it off the list for now. Have this feeling HP Computers would be primary of 2nd car, and associate of Simon, but really, it’s unclear, and I’ve got to have something more concrete than what we currently have.

(22-FEB-2012): I’m moving Simon Pagenaud up to a believed-known car number. Simon tweeted yesterday (Link Here) regarding the “77″, and there *was* a picture of the 77 driving around Barber, though still un-liveried / un-sponsored. We all know that’s going to change sooner or later, so I’ll hold off putting a photo up just yet.

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Car #78 – Simona de Silvestro

Team: HVM Racing
Engine: Lotus
Sponsor: Entergy / Nuclear Clean Air Energy

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Car #83 – Charlie Kimball

Team: Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing
Engine: Honda
Sponsor: Novo Nordisk / NovoLog FlexPen

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Car # 98 – Alex Tagliani

Team: Team Barracuda BHA
Engine: Lotus
Sponsor: Barracuda Networks

(27-FEB-2012): Dave Lewandowski reported on IndyCar.com (Link Here) that Tagliani & Team Barracuda BHA will be in the #98. Not really a surprise, to be honest. As a sidenote – the livery will be “officially” revealed on 08-MAR-2012, so have your Depends ordered. (DC)

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OK, with those listings out of the way, you’re probably thinking I’ve missed a bunch of listings. Not quite. Let’s take a look at some of the TBD’s in regards to car numbers, and some that are still up-in-the-air:

Car # TBD – Justin Wilson

Team: Dale Coyne Racing
Engine: Honda
Sponsor: TBD

Notes: Wilson is going to drive for Dale Coyne again, that’s known. However, what car number he’ll be in is unknown. He won for Coyne at Watkins Glen in 2009 with Car #18. It’d be assumed Justin will drive #18, which seems to be Coyne’s primary car, and the 2nd car (if/when it is announced) will be Car #19. Also note – when Wilson tested in Sebring, he actually drove Car #19, which is why I’m leaving this one still TBD, especially since it was Coyne’s #19 that got the Leader Circle money. Sidenote – if Jakes gets signed, that’s the 2nd for Coyne, so don’t worry if I’ve only got one Coyne listed here temporarily. (DC)

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Car # TBD – TBD

Team: Dale Coyne Racing
Engine: Honda
Sponsor: TBD

Update (27-FEB-2012): I’m going to put Coyne’s 2nd car on the board. I have this feeling this one will be Jakes’s car. Sponsor/Car #/Livery are unknown at this time. To be bold honest, I can easily see Jakes retaining his Acorn Stairlifts Car #18 car, and have Justin Wilson drive the Boy Scouts of America Car #19. Again – a lot of guessing there, but let’s see how sponsorships play out. (DC)

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Car #60 – TBD

Team: Michael Shank Racing
Engine: Lotus (at least that is what was announced, though things change)
Sponsor: TBD

Notes: Doesn’t sound promising he is going to be able to answer the bell at St. Pete. Still, I would not be surprised if you see a black/copper livery at Indianapolis in May. I’m going to move this car down into the TBD category, since it’s unclear whether they show. I need a warm, fuzzy feeling official statement stating their plans before moving them back up into the grid. (DC)

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So … that’s what I’ve got … again, I will try to keep this as up-to-date as possible, once we start the avalanche of announcements and pictures over the next weeks or so, leading into St. Pete. If you’ve got an update, and you can send me official announcements and/or creditable pictures, let me know – I want this list to be a good working list for everyone, not just for my own party-of-one.

Thanks and enjoy! – DC