2022 Indycar silly season

[MonteCristo]

This needed a nice, juicy rumour to get things going.

So here we go:

Hulkenberg enters the frame for 2022 IndyCar ride with ECR

Nico Hulkenberg has held talks with Ed Carpenter Racing about an IndyCar seat in 2022 if he doesn’t return to the Formula 1 grid.

The German is currently Aston Martin’s reserve driver and has been linked with potential vacancies at Williams and Alfa Romeo next season. Hulkenberg attracted interest from IndyCar teams last year but was prioritizing a number of F1 opportunities in case they came to fruition, and finds himself in a similar position this year

RACER understands Hulkenberg and Carpenter have had discussions regarding a potential road/street course deal in 2022, with Ed Carpenter once again set to do the ovals in the No.20 entry. Talks are believed to be at an initial stage, while Conor Daly also remains in the frame to continue in the seat if he can secure the required funding.

Aside from Daly, ECR is also understood to be one of the teams that holds an interest in Indy Lights championship contender David Malukas, who recently told RACER he has had talks with a number of outfits and is working towards a full-time deal.

https://racer.com/2021/08/02/hulkenberg ... -with-ecr/

*make it happen noises*

However, c'mon, do an oval as well Nico!

[Ruslan]

Hey, Hulkenberg would be a nice addition to the grid. There are not enough seats in F1 as it is.

[MonteCristo]

Hey, Hulkenberg would be a nice addition to the grid. There are not enough seats in F1 as it is.

Just need KMag to land somewhere and we can get this party started.

Plus Albon!

[Ruslan]

Hey, Hulkenberg would be a nice addition to the grid. There are not enough seats in F1 as it is.

Just need KMag to land somewhere and we can get this party started.

Plus Albon!

This would sort of ratchet the overall level of driving to a higher plane. That has been my complaint about the series for the last couple of decades. A half-dozen former F1 drivers would do the trick.

[Shutterbug]

Just glad to see indycar on the rebound

[Ruslan]

It is good. I was one of the people who walked away from it in disgust (mostly with Tony George).

In the end, this is a very long series with a lot of history. Lately been exploring the 1913-1915 era. They had lot of races and sometimes some very full fields. Road courses, ovals, dirt tracks, etc.

[MonteCristo]

Pruett says:

"Prepare for 26 (full time entries), hope for 28, and enjoy the 27 this weekend in Tennessee. It just might become the norm."

https://racer.com/2021/08/05/big-entry- ... re-growth/

[Ruslan]

Pruett says:

"Prepare for 26 (full time entries), hope for 28, and enjoy the 27 this weekend in Tennessee. It just might become the norm."

https://racer.com/2021/08/05/big-entry- ... re-growth/

This would be a good norm to have. One of my big complaints about Bernie and Max is that they let the field decline to 20. There used to be a day when over 60 cars would show up for Indy.

[MonteCristo]

The most I ever saw outside of Indy (with that one IRL year with 35) was 34 at Road America back in 1994 I believe.

Imagine that!

[MonteCristo]

Decent update to silly season on Racer: https://racer.com/2021/08/11/pruett-ind ... august-11/

Highlights:

Rumour has it that Pags will go to Shank to replace Harvey.

Kyle Kirkwood mentioned as a possible replacement for Pags at Penske, but highly unlikely.

No news on Grosjean. Andretti still most likely. Staying at Coyne possible.

F2's Marcus Armstrong from NZ was in the Nashville paddock knocking on doors.

Alex Albon will be at this weekend's IMS race, no doubt knocking on the same doors.

It's possible that RHR will take the road course part of the season in Special Ed's seat, and for Indy. That would leave Daly without a seat (pending money, of course).

[Cheeveer]

The most I ever saw outside of Indy (with that one IRL year with 35) was 34 at Road America back in 1994 I believe.

Imagine that!

31 cars entered, one of which DNQ'd. Toronto that same year had 33 entries, one withdrew (Bryan Herta hurt himself badly in practice), one DNQ'd. Portland had 32 starters! Belle Isle in 1993 had 28 starters, 4 DNQ's.

Other than that, only a handful of races ever outside of Indy has had more than 30 starters. A couple of 500 milers in the 70's/early 80's had 35-37 cars on the grid. So it is very rare to reach the kind of numbers we have now. 28 cars expected at the Indy GP this weekend.

[MonteCristo]

The most I ever saw outside of Indy (with that one IRL year with 35) was 34 at Road America back in 1994 I believe.

Imagine that!

31 cars entered, one of which DNQ'd. Toronto that same year had 33 entries, one withdrew (Bryan Herta hurt himself badly in practice), one DNQ'd. Portland had 32 starters! Belle Isle in 1993 had 28 starters, 4 DNQ's.

Other than that, only a handful of races ever outside of Indy has had more than 30 starters. A couple of 500 milers in the 70's/early 80's had 35-37 cars on the grid. So it is very rare to reach the kind of numbers we have now. 28 cars expected at the Indy GP this weekend.

Memory fail . Thanks!

Huge numbers either way. Lovely to see.

[MonteCristo]

The third Coyne, second Coyne/Ware car is looking to do five-ish races next year:

https://racer.com/2021/08/12/rick-ware- ... r-program/

Cody to run a couple, with another driver taking the others.

[John]

Felix apparently confirmed for another year in the 7.

[MonteCristo]

https://racer.com/2021/08/17/rll-primed ... r-in-2022/

Bobby Rahal’s long-held dream of expanding the Rahal Letterman Lanigan NTT IndyCar Series team to three full-time entries is about to come true.

RACER understands the two-car effort led by Graham Rahal in the No. 15 and Takuma Sato in the No. 30 will be joined by the part-time No. 45 entry transitioning to a full season program after the team recently reached its fundraising goal to field three cars at every round for 2022.

Albon to RLL? KMag?

Though I guess more likely Lundgaard's money cleared.