Silly Season off and running

UPDATE #3 Robin Miller reported on Wind Tunnel that Marco Andretti told him he likes driving for his father's team and has no plans to move to the Haas team. This of course agrees with what we reported last week – Carl Haas told us he never even spoke to the Andrettis. He also reported that Tony Cotman had dinner with Tony George regarding some Champ Car teams running next year's Indy 500. We're quite skeptical on this notion.

08/11/07 This Italiaracing.net article says that Marco Andretti will be moving to Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing next year to replace Sebastien Bourdais in the hopes of honing his skills to move to F1 someday. We agree that Andretti would need to race in Champ Car for F1 teams to consider him seriously, but we asked Carl Haas yesterday here in Road America whether there was any truth to the rumors that Andretti could drive for his team. He told AutoRacing1.com that "we have not even spoken about it yet." Assuming Haas was being forthright and not trying to hide the truth until an announcement is made, there is no validity to the Italiaracing.net report. We expect to hear a lot of rumors regarding who will get that coveted seat before it's all said and done.

One thing is for certain, we doubt the Andrettis share in Tony George's 'vision' of what open wheel racing should be for Marco……i.e. flying through the air on a regular basis with death staring you smack in the eye at every turn. Of course Roger Penske shares in this same vision as he says Indy Cars belong at these big stadium style NASCAR tracks and 60% of the races should be on ovals. Did you know that the estimated car damage at Michigan last Sunday was $930K?

07/04/07 Tony Kanaan said Tuesday he will not be a candidate to fill Sam Hornish Jr.'s Indy-car seat at Team Penske if the 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner leaves for NASCAR at the end of the season. Hornish is considering a move to the Nextel Cup Series with Roger Penske's organization. Hornish said Saturday he has not made a decision about where he will race next season. Kanaan is under contract to Andretti Green Racing through the end of the 2008 season. He is not interested in leaving the Indianapolis-based team. "I'm good where I'm at," Kanaan said from his home in Miami. "The team is back. We put in so much hard work, and now we're being rewarded for it." Indy Star

07/01/07 Robin Miller was full of rumors tonight on Wind Tunnel:

Sam Hornish to NASCAR with Penske – we already rumored this one
Dan Wheldon to NASCAR with Chip Ganassi – we already rumored this one
Tony Kanaan to take Hornish's ride at Team Penske. Kanaan is rumored to be tired of having to help Danica and Marco with their setups and then have to play second fiddle to them in the media
Dario Franchitti to retire from open wheel and possibly run ALMS and the Indy 500 in 2008
Justin Wilson and CDW to Newman/Haas/Lanigan to replace Bourdais – we already rumored this one
Sebastien Bourdais to F1 in 2008 – we already rumored this one
Scott Speed to Champ Car with Red Bull backing – we rumored this one last year
Now he's saying Marco Andretti won't be going to Newman/Haas/Lanigan to replace Bourdais – which means Marco won't make it to F1 because F1 is not going to hire an oval track driver and that is what the IRL is viewed as in Europe
If Bourdais leaves Champ Car as rumored, Graham Rahal may move over to the McDonald's car