Silly Season Talk (Update)
10/17/13 There are layers of intrigue coming out of Fontana this weekend with regards to the 2014 IndyCar Silly Season.
Relatively big news broke yesterday that Sebastien Bourdais will join KVSH Racing next season, replacing Tony Kanaan, who will join Chip Ganassi Racing. The future of Kanaan's current teammate Simona de Silvestro however is undecided. Earlier today, Marshall Pruett of Racer speculated that de Silvestro may find a home with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Of course, news broke last week that RLL had secured sponsorship from the National Guard for driver Graham Rahal. Young Rahal is known to have a deal with TBD Retail that was multi-year before this season. So, one has to wonder if RLL is a no-go for de Silvestro simply because they have the luxury of going out and hiring a driver with the TBD Retail money.
Or maybe something has hit a snag with the National Guard and RLL is looking at de Silvestro?
Another thing one has to wonder is whether Imran Safiulla, de Silvestro's manager and backer controls the Leaders' Circle spot at KV. Safiulla sounded very confident regarding de Silvestro's future, which would lead one to believe that he has both the backing of Nuclear Clear Air Energy and the Leaders' Circle money secured.
Safiulla also suggested they would prefer to stay with Chevrolet. Could this mean an alliance with Ed Carpenter Racing, a rumor you read first here on AR1 during the Baltimore weekend.
Possibly. Whatever the case, it looks like the weekend in Fontana is going to be loaded with intrigue; on track and off.