| Team |
Driver 1 |
Driver 2 |
Driver 3 |
Driver 4 |
Chassis |
Engine |
Sponsors |
| Andretti Green Racing |
Tony Kanaan |
Marco Andretti |
Danica Patrick |
Dario Franchitti
Anthony Foyt IV
Bryan Herta
Michael Andretti |
Dallara |
Honda |
Motorola
NYSE
XM Satellite Radio
Argent Mortgage
GoDaddy
OneAmerica
AirTran
Bryant
7-Eleven
Canadian Club
Vonage
Klein Tools
Alpine
Bayer
Coca-Cola
Forsythe
Meijer?
Jim Beam |
|---|
 |
April 3: Andretti Green Racing has filed an entry for Michael Andretti to join his four other drivers in the Indianapolis 500. |
| January 3: Dario Franchitti finally signed a contract to race for AGR again in 2007. |
| October 31: Dario Franchitti will return to the Andretti Green Racing. Part of the deal is for Dario's brother Marino to partner Bryan Herta in the team's new ALMS entry. Dario is expected to join them at some events. |
| October 27: Bryant Heating & Cooling Systems announces it will sponsor Tony Kanaan's IndyCar entry in 2007. This is further indication that Scott Sharp is gone from Fernández Racing, but what happened to 7-Eleven? |
| September 10: A. J. Foyt IV subbed for the injured Dario Franchitti at Chicago. Rumors persist that Franchitti is courting a ride in Champ Car for 2007. |
| July 25: Andretti Green confirms the signing of Danica Patrick to join Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti in the team's 2007 line-up. Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta have been linked with the team's plans to field a Honda entry in next year's American Le Mans Series. Michael Andretti could return for another run in the Indy 500, as could Franchitti or Herta. |
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| Beck Motorsports |
Max Papis
Alex Barron? |
P.J. Jones
Davey Hamilton
Stephan Gregoire |
|
|
Dallara |
Honda |
CURB Records
Team Leader |
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April 29: Robin Miller says on the Speed Report that Max Papis will replace Alex Barron at Beck Motorsports for the Indianapolis 500. |
| April 3: Beck has filed two entries for the Indianapolis 500, but mysteriously fails to name either driver. |
| March 15: Greg Beck announces Alex Barron will drive for the team at Homestead. Davey Hamilton says he's working to raise funding for the team in the hope of running in the Indy 500. He last ran the race in 2001. |
| March 14: Greg Beck files an entry for the season opener at Homestead and says he is also committed to run Kansas and Indianapolis. He hopes to continue after Indy and build a bigger program for 2008. The driver for the first race will be announced soon. The program does not involve Team Leader Motorsports, for whom Beck ran two cars in last year's Indy 500. |
| August 1: Beck ran two cars at this year's Indy 500. The team could be back to make up the numbers in 2007. |
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|---|
Cahill Racing |
Jeff Mitrisin |
Milka Duno |
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April 5: Cahill Racing failed to file an entry for the Indianapolis 500. |
| March 15: The Indianapolis Star says Milka Duno's deal with Cahill Racing fell apart last month. Does that also mean the Biloxi race and the team will not materialize this season? |
| December 15: Larry Cahill tells the Indianapolis Star his team will return to the IRL for the first time since 2002, running a car for Milka Duno. The team is trying to finalize a deal to race American sprint car driver Jeff Mitrisin in a second entry. The return of the team could be linked to a street race in Biloxi, MO in September or October, which Cahill is helping to promote. IRL spokesman John Griffin tells the Star that, if the race can be organized in time, no IndyCar Series points will be awarded due to contracts with other venues. |
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Cheever Racing |
Richard Antinucci
Max Papis
Eddie Cheever |
|
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|
|
|
Cisco
Crown Royal |
|---|
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April 5: Cheever Racing failed to file an entry for the Indianapolis 500. |
| February 15: Eddie Cheever says his nephew, Richard Antinucci, could make an attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 in an alliance with Tony George's Vision Racing. Cheever will run Antinucci in this year's Indy Pro Series, which will see the 26-year-old make his oval racing debut. |
| January 10: Eddie Cheever tells Curt Cavin at the Indianapolis Star that he'd like to field a car for himself, or preferably Max Papis, in the Indy 500. |
| July 14: Eddie Cheever withdraws from the IRL IndyCar Series due to lack of funding. The team continues to run in the Indy Pro Series and Grand-Am and Eddie competes in the Grand Prix Masters series. He could return for the 2007 Indy 500, but a full IndyCar season looks unlikely. |
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| Dreyer & Reinbold Racing |
Buddy Rice |
Sarah Fisher
Jaime Camara
Buddy Lazier
Al Unser Jr.
Ryan Briscoe |
|
|
Dallara |
Honda |
Roll Coater
GEICO?
Escort Radar Detectors?
Aventis?
Byrd Brothers? |
|---|
|
March 22: D&R announces that Sarah Fisher will run in all 17 of this season's races, including the road courses. |
| February 22: D&R confirms Buddy Rice and Sarah Fisher as drivers for 2007. |
| January 22: Ryan Briscoe has signed to drive full-time for Penske's ALMS Porsche team in 2007. |
| January 10: D&R looks set to remain in the IRL with an entry for Buddy Rice. Curt Cavin from the Indianapolis Star says Rice dropped off his racing seat from Rahal Letterman with the team. |
| November 1: D&R says it's exploring a Champ Car entry for 2006. |
| August 14: Sarah Fisher's solid performance at Kentucky earns her the race seat for Chicagoland. Ryan Briscoe will be in the car at the Infineon Raceway road course in Sonoma. |
| August 3: D&R announces it will run Sarah Fisher next weekend at Kentucky. She last raced an IndyCar at the 2004 Indy 500. With seven top-10 finishes, including second at Homestead in 2001, she's the IRL's most successful female driver. Could this lead to a full-time ride in 2007? Prior to this announcement, D & R appeared to be on life support, with doubts about finishing the season. |
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| A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
Darren Manning
Tomas Enge
Townsend Bell
Felipe Giaffone |
Al Unser Jr. |
Jeff Bucknum?
Larry Foyt?
Anthony Foyt IV |
|
Dallara |
Honda |
ABC Supply
Cabo Wabo
Investment Properties of America
Craftsman
Greer
Texas State Bank |
|---|
|
May 2: Al Unser Jr. will drive the #50 car to celebrate 50 years since A.J. Foyt first competed in the Indianapolis 500. |
| April 29: Robin Miller says on the Speed Report that Al Unser Jr. will join Darren Manning at A.J. Foyt Racing for the Indianapolis 500. |
| April 4: A.J. Foyt Racing has filed three entries for the Indianapolis 500. Only Darren Manning is named to drive so far and the team has a history of filing extra entries that can be rented out to other competitors. |
| November 14: A.J. Foyt Racing signs "good old boy" Darren Manning for 2007. Team director Larry Foyt says they expect to run a second car at Indy, but he doesn't know if he'll be in it. |
| November 3: The Indianapolis Star says A.J. Foyt Racing will run only one car in 2007, with team officials evaluating several drivers, including Darren Manning, Tomas Enge, and Townsend Bell. |
| September 10: A. J. Foyt IV visited with his grandfather's team while subbing for the injured Dario Franchitti at Chicago. Both the older Foyt and grandson are reported to have said they may run together again in the future. |
| August 1: A. J. Foyt's son Larry will assume more responsibility for the team, which has split with Felipe Giaffone and has been running Jeff Bucknum for a few races. |
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Fernández Racing |
P. J. Chesson
Adrián Fernández
Scott Sharp |
Kosuke Matsuura |
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|
|
360 OTC
Lowe's
Delphi
Panasonic
A T&T
Bryant |
|---|
|
April 5: Fernández Racing failed to file an entry for the Indianapolis 500. |
| December 20: Robin Miller reports at Speedtv.com that Fernández may return to IndyCar after all with a deal to run P.J. Chesson. He quotes team co-owner Tom Anderson as saying "it looks like a legitimate multi-year deal with a solid sponsor." We don't believe rumors that the sponsor in question is Sirius Satellite Radio. XM Radio is Honda's satellite radio partner and broadcasts IRL races. |
| November 9: In the last few days, Scott Sharp and Kosuke Matsuura have announced deals with Rahal Letterman and Panther. Fernández Racing looks unlikely to return to IndyCar racing in 2007. |
| October 31: Robin Miller reports at Speedtv.com that Fernández Racing has lost Scott Sharp and Kosuke Matsuura to other teams. Fernández has laid off most of its IndyCar staff, but has Lowe's sponsorship and Honda backing for Adrián Fernández and Luis Diaz to compete in the ALMS in 2007. |
| August 14: Autoweek reports that Scott Sharp told Fernández Racing last week that he wants to look elsewhere for a ride next season. It goes on to say that Kosuke Matsuura is "on the hot seat with the bosses." Where does that leave the team when it's been relying on these drivers to bring the sponsorship? |
| August 1: Delphi says it will support Scott Sharp for another year. Panasonic is probably still there for Kosuke Matsuura. |
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Hemelgarn Racing |
P. J. Chesson
Jeff Bucknum
Jimmy Kite |
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April 5: Hemelgarn Racing failed to file an entry for the Indianapolis 500. |
| August 1: Hemelgarn has closed its doors. Could the team rematerialize when field fillers are needed for the Indy 500? |
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| Luczo-Dragon Racing |
Ryan Briscoe |
|
|
|
Dallara |
Honda |
Symantec |
|---|
| April 10: Luczo-Dragon Racing, co-owned by Roger Penske's son Jay and fellow Los Angeles entrepreneur Steve Luczo will field an entry for Ryan Briscoe in the Indianapolis 500. The team will lease Team Penske's third car. |
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Luyendyk Racing |
Arie Luyendyk Jr. |
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April 5: Luyendyk Racing failed to file an entry for the Indianapolis 500. |
| August 1: Will Arie Luyendyk Jr. make another attempt at the Indy 500? |
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|---|
Matt Young Motorsports |
Jon Herb
Thiago Medeiros |
|
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|---|
| August 1: This team tried to put together an entry for the 2006 Indy 500, but wasn't able to get it together. Maybe in 2007? |
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|---|
| Panther Racing |
Vitor Meira |
Kosuke Matsuura |
|
|
Dallara |
Honda |
Panasonic
Lincoln Tech
Delphi
Revive
Menards?
Johns Manville?
Pennzoil?
Goodwrench? |
|---|
|
November 7: Kosuke Matsuura has signed a deal to drive for Super Aguri Panther Racing in 2007. The press release also announced that Vitor Meira will remain with the team. |
| October 31: Panther is expected to run a second car, taking Kosuke Matsuura and his Japanese sponsorship from Fernández Racing. |
| August 1: Panther has been getting good results with Vitor Meira, but he still hasn't won a race. Continuing with Meira would be the obvious choice for 2007, but it all depends on funding. |
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|---|
| PDM Racing |
Jimmy Kite
Thiago Medeiros |
|
|
|
Dallara |
Honda |
|
|---|
|
May 4: Jimmy Kite will pilot the PDM Racing entry in the Indy 500. |
| April 5: PDM Racing has filed a single entry for the Indianapolis 500 without naming the driver. |
| August 1: PDM is busy racing a Silver Crown car, but could be called on to help fill the Indy 500 field again. |
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|---|
| Penske Racing |
Sam Hornish Jr. |
Helio Castroneves |
Ryan Briscoe |
|
Dallara |
Honda |
Marlboro
Mobil 1
Kodak
United Auto |
|---|
|
April 10: Penske Racing has leased its third Indianapolis 500 entry to Luczo-Dragon Racing, co-owned by Roger Penske's son, to run Penske sports car driver Ryan Briscoe. |
| April 4: Penske Racing has filed three Indianapolis 500 entries, naming just its two regular drivers as usual. |
| January 22: Ryan Briscoe has signed to drive full-time for Penske's ALMS Porsche team in 2007. Could he be given a third Penske car in the Indy 500? |
| August 1: In response to Bobby Rahal's comments at Edmonton, Roger Penske declares he'll never leave the IRL, but would like to see it merge with Champ Car. Both Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish Jr. are set to return on 2007. |
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| Playa Del Racing |
Jaques Lazier |
Phil Giebler
Roger Yasukawa |
|
|
Panoz |
Honda |
|
|---|
|
May 1: Jacques Lazier and Phil Giebler will drive the Playa Del Racing entries for the Indianapolis 500. Giebler is a former Indy Pro Series driver who passed his IndyCar rookie test on April 23 at Kentucky Speedway. |
| April 5: Playa Del Racing has filed two entries for the Indianapolis 500. The drivers have not been named, but this is the only team to declare the Panoz as its primary chassis. |
| August 1: Playa Del Racing scraped together two entries for the 2006 Indy 500 after fielding just one in 2005. Will the team be back at Indy in 2007? |
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| Racing Professionals |
Jon Herb |
|
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|
Dallara |
Honda |
|
|---|
| March 29: Racing Professionals announces it will run a car in the Indianapolis 500 for team owner Jon Herb. His only other run in the race was in 2001. He failed to qualify in 2002 and 2006. |
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|---|
| Rahal-Letterman Racing |
Jeff Simmons |
Scott Sharp |
Buddy Rice
Danica Patrick |
|
Dallara |
Honda |
Ethanol
Tequila Patron
BEA?
Pioneer (USA)?
A T&T?
Argent Mortgage |
|---|
|
November 9: Bobby Rahal announced today that Scott Sharp will join a returning Jeff Simmons at Rahal Letterman Racing with Patron Spirits and Ethanol sponsorship, respectively. |
| October 31: Scott Sharp is expected to bring his new sponsor Tequila Patron to Rahal Letterman Racing. The team still has Ethanol sponsorship, but Jeff Simmons has yet to be confirmed as driver. |
| July 29: The Indianapolis Star says Rahal-Letterman Racing has given Buddy Rice permission to look elsewhere for a ride for 2007. The 2004 Indy 500 winner says he'd prefer to stay with the team, but that depends on sponsorship to run more than one car. |
| July 27: Bobby Rahal releases a statement saying he does not know the future plans of Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing, and that Rahal-Letterman Racing intends to compete with multiple entries in the IRL in 2007. He doesn't rule out competing in both series, but he's also expanding into Grand-Am next year and already has his hands full finding sponsors for his IndyCars. |
| July 25: Danica Patrick has been snapped up by Andretti Green. Rahal still has Ethanol sponsorship for one car and hopes to keep Argent to run a second. |
| July 23: In an interview with the Edmonton Sun, Bobby Rahal says "Penske, Ganassi or ourselves are probably 50-50 odds" of making a move to Champ Car if a merger doesn't happen. This leads to widespread speculation on the Internet... |
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|---|
Robby Gordon Motorsports |
Robby Gordon
Jaques Lazier |
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April 5: Robby Gordon failed to file an entry for the Indianapolis 500. |
| November 29: Robby Gordon says he could attempt the Indy 500 again in 2007. He insists he would only attempt this if his NASCAR program is going well. It seems unlikely that he could complete the Indy 500 and race in NASCAR's Cocoa-Cola 600 due to the timing of the races. On his last attempt in 2004, he had to hand over the IndyCar to Jacques Lazier in order to fly to Charlotte. |
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|---|
| Roth Racing |
Marty Roth |
|
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|
Dallara |
Honda |
Fountain Powerboats |
|---|
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March 19: Marty Roth returns with new sponsor Fountain Powerboats for the Homestead race. |
| August 1: 47-year-old Marty Roth failed to qualify for the 2006 Indy 500, but did complete 192 laps at Michigan. There's a good chance we'll see him making another Indy attempt in 2007. |
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| SAMAX Motorsport |
Milka Duno |
|
|
|
Dallara |
Honda |
CITGO |
|---|
|
March 23: Female Venezuelan driver Milka Duno confirmed today that she will compete in ten IRL races this season in a car prepared by SAMAX Motorsport and sponsored by Venezuelan-owned oil company CITGO Petroleum. The announcement was made at Homestead, but she'll start racing on April 29 at the Kansas Speedway event. |
| March 15: In the wake of her Cahill Racing deal falling apart, the Indianapolis Star reports that sports car team SAMAX Motorsport has acquired an IndyCar from Hemelgarn Racing and plans to run her in the Indy 500. She drives for SAMAX in the Grand-Am series. |
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|---|
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
Airton Daré? |
|
|
|
Dallara
Panoz? |
Honda |
Meijer
Coca-Cola |
|---|
|
April 4: Sam Schmidt has filed a single entry for the Indianapolis 500. No word on the driver or chassis choice yet. |
| August 1: Expect Sam Schmidt to field at least one car in the Indy 500 again. |
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| Target Chip Ganassi Racing |
Scott Dixon |
Dan Wheldon |
|
|
Dallara |
Honda |
Target
Fujifilm
Energizer
Gillette
Air Wick
Planter's
Reveal
Glad
Pepsi
CompUSA? |
|---|
| August 1: Comments from Bobby Rahal prompt Chip Ganassi to deny he'll leave the IRL, although he doesn't explicitly rule out running in Champ Car too. The team is back on form and will keep it's current drivers. |
|
|---|
| Team Leader Motorsports |
P.J. Jones |
|
|
|
Dallara |
Honda |
Direct Supply
Diversified Partners
Bidaroo.com |
|---|
| April 25: Team Leader Motorsports announces a late entry for the Indianapolis 500 with P.J. Jones at the wheel. |
|
|---|
| Vision Racing |
Ed Carpenter |
Tomas Scheckter |
Anthony Foyt IV
Buddy Rice
Townsend Bell |
Davey Hamilton
Townsend Bell |
Dallara |
Honda |
Rock & Republic?
Eli Lilly? |
|---|
|
May 4: Vision Racing confirms Davey Hamilton as driver of the team's fourth car. |
| April 29: Robin Miller says on the Speed Report that Davey Hamilton will run in the fourth of Tony George's Vision Racing cars. |
| April 3: Vision Racing has filed a fourth entry with no named driver to run alongside its entries for Tomas Scheckter, Ed Carpenter, and A.J. Foyt IV. |
| January 3: The Indianapolis Star says A.J. Foyt IV will run alongside Ed Carpenter and Tomas Scheckter in 2007. He expects to sign a contract later this week. |
| November 19: Curt Cavin at the Indianapolis Star tips Buddy Rice to end up in a third car at Vision Racing. |
| August 1: Tony George's team will be sure to return with his step-son, Ed Carpenter, in one seat. Tomas Scheckter has helped them step up in competitiveness, so deserves another season with the team. Expect at least one extra car to help make up the numbers again for the Indy 500. |
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