Comments on My Name Is IRL: Rampant speculation

Considering that Matos is actually signed by RP's ...

2008-11-22T21:01:49.395-07:00

Considering that Matos is actually signed by RP's son for Luczo Dragon next year...well, I don't know if that means he's more or less likely to 'poach' the driver...Raphael Matos is a kick ass racer, and any team owner would love to get their mitts on him.

Please! Enough with this "Big 3" nonsense! He dro...

2008-11-22T17:50:14.642-07:00

Please! Enough with this "Big 3" nonsense!

He drove for Rahal Letterman when Buddy Rice WON Indy & the whole team was competitive (even with freakin' Panoz chassis)

Panther Racing still had its core guys from when Sam Hornish & Co. beat the "top teams" of their day.

Here is the current & potential unemployment line of drivers WAY MORE deserving than Vitor (in no particular order:

Ryan Hunter Reay
AJ Allmendinger
Justin Wilson
Paul Tracy
Patrick Carpentier
Sebastian Bourdais

Keeping with drivers under contract to Penske:

Patrick Long
Romain Dumas

A much more talented Brazilian (than VM):

Raphael Matos (Hey if RP is gonna spend mad $$$ to pop a driver from a contract... buy out AGR not AJ Foyt !!!

Good traffic on this topic for the "off season" !!! :) :) :)

OK. If Vitor cannot win for a full year in a Pensk...

2008-11-22T16:54:17.076-07:00

OK. If Vitor cannot win for a full year in a Penske car, I will finally admit that he cannot win. He still hasn't driven for any of the BIG 3 teams in the IRL. You have to give him a shot first.

Guess we disagree...Briscoe had been a Toyota F1 t...

2008-11-22T16:01:19.227-07:00

Guess we disagree...

Briscoe had been a Toyota F1 test driver (RP likes international pedigree at times).

Ryan also redeemed himself in the DHL Porsche ride... scoring some important wins. You have to admit that ALMS wins mean a helluva lot more than training ground series wins (Lights, Atlantic, F3, etc). Yes???

Penske hires solid winners... even Andre Riberio (sp?) had won the Lights title & a few races for Tasman/ Honda when Penske hired him (also because part of his Marlboro $$$ was coming from Phillip Morris /Latin America as well...)

IMO, there are just TOO MANY unemployed OW drivers (with much better resumes) than Vitor for him to get penciled in at one of the top IRL teams

I think your memory is going back too far - Ryan B...

2008-11-22T13:56:03.717-07:00

I think your memory is going back too far - Ryan Briscoe hadn't won squat in the IRL before Roger hired.

Yes, he likes proven winners, but that doesn't mean that's all he hires.

Oh mmack: Mario Andretti left Penske in 1980? & a...

2008-11-22T13:04:00.291-07:00

Oh mmack: Mario Andretti left Penske in 1980? & almost won Indy in 1981 & did win a CART Championship for Newman Hass in 1984.

So Mario is the exception to the "leaving Penske" rule... but Mario is the exception to a lotta rules!!!

Sorry mmack... that what I should have said. He W...

2008-11-22T12:56:55.159-07:00

Sorry mmack... that what I should have said. He WON to infrequently (especially when he had all those poles). Hard to have sponsors resign when one guy starts upfront & drifts back during the race.

I should have said Penske likes "deal closers"? At least Sneva had wins... (before & after Penske career) same can not be said for Vitor Meira

AZZO45,Tom Sneva didn't win at Penske Racing?That'...

2008-11-22T12:12:52.220-07:00

AZZO45,

Tom Sneva didn't win at Penske Racing?

That'll be a shock for the Gas-Man.

I show three wins (one in 1975, two in 1977) for "Snivley" behind the wheel of a Penske Racing car.

To be honest, a lack of wins, combined with Mr. Sneva's outspoken nature, sealed his fate at Penske Racing. When Rick Mears took three wins and part-timer Mario Andretti took one in 1978, the writing was on the wall. However, Tom may be the only driver who left Penske and went on to bigger and better things, like an Indanapolis 500 win.

Penske hires WINNERS. Last time I checked Vitor wa...

2008-11-22T11:09:27.878-07:00

Penske hires WINNERS. Last time I checked Vitor was a "Woulda-Coulda- Shoulda"

Sure, Roger gambles & hires "potential". However, that "potential" usually is from another series (Rick Mears) or was a rookie on an under financed team like Kevin Cogan (& we know how that turned out).

Tom Sneva won a lot of poles for Penske, but no victories. Penske fired him at the end of the season... why would he take a chance on Vitor (after 3-4 seasons).... IMO he would NOT.

Bummer Tony Kanaan is back with AGR... would love to see him at Indy with Penske (if Helio could not be)

Dale Nixon : ...it's likely that his racing career...

2008-11-21T13:08:36.450-07:00

Dale Nixon : ...it's likely that his racing career in the US will be over, with border crossings being what they are now.

I heard Helio bought a house in Tijuana and is going to run across on Thursdays, race all weekend, then run back on Sunday night - hell half of Tijuana does it, why can't he try.

I still think Rubens is going to Penske and if HCN does get out in time for Indy (or any part of the season) Penske will run 3 cars.

I could just cry.

2008-11-20T19:53:48.643-07:00

I could just cry.

PT!

2008-11-20T17:37:54.655-07:00

PT!

Calm, cool & driven. Vitor should bump Helio regar...

2008-11-20T15:16:45.003-07:00

Calm, cool & driven. Vitor should bump Helio regardless. Maybe change in the #3 seat is what Penske really needs anyway. Helio can drive for Foyt, that can be part of his punishment.

I hope it's true! I've been a huge fan of Vitor si...

2008-11-20T13:26:01.374-07:00

I hope it's true! I've been a huge fan of Vitor since he first came into the league. It ashamed such a talented driver doesn't have a win. He did quite a bit with the Panther equipment and was probably one of the best, if not the best driver outside of the BIG 3. I would love to see what he could do in a Penske car.

How about the irony of Wheldon in the #4 car if Vi...

2008-11-20T12:47:56.739-07:00

How about the irony of Wheldon in the #4 car if Vitor ends up at Penske? I love it.

I can't even talk about it.

2008-11-20T11:55:47.368-07:00

I can't even talk about it.

Regarding SandWedge's questions:- Simmons' suspens...

2008-11-20T10:40:32.604-07:00

Regarding SandWedge's questions:
- Simmons' suspension was already damaged when Alex Lloyd hit him in the pits; it snapped when he was warming the tires for the restart.
- Not sure Donoso has enough money to get a ride with Foyt or elsewhere, although it's possible he can be in an extra car in May.
- The APEX Brazil money is said to be coming from/going with Jaime Camara, but not sure to which team. Probably a "best of the rest" that needs a funded driver.

Another note worth mentioning: as Jeff pointed out, should Helio be convicted of the tax evasion (never mind get a resulting jail sentence), it's likely that his racing career in the US will be over, with border crossings being what they are now.

So it's not merely an issue of replacing Helio for a year, it's replacing Helio, period.

if this is true, here's even more fun to speculate...

2008-11-20T10:26:26.609-07:00

if this is true, here's even more fun to speculate. Who does Foyt sign to now be the successor to Manning?

Do any of those top free agents think Foyt is worth their time or does Foyt pluck out Jeff Simmons and forget that he drove his car into a wall on a yellow flag lap in May? Does Pablo Donoso finally get his ride that was prematurely announced last season?

Secondly, something I'm surprised no one has been wondering about. APEX Brasil's agreement/plan that was announced said they were going to sponsor a car, yet no one has been wondering about who they might sponsor, a current car, pick up a new car and driver?

Vitor. OF COURSE Vitor. If anyone in the series ...

2008-11-20T09:40:30.519-07:00

Vitor. OF COURSE Vitor. If anyone in the series in a Penske kind of guy, it's Vitor. I can't believe I didn't think of him sooner. While I have always been a HUGE HCN fan, you can't help but admire Vitor for what he has done in the equipment he has been given. So I say IF Helio must go, I can't think of a better guy to fill his seat than Vitor. Man I hope it's true,

I gotta say it -- Milleresque. I don't think Pensk...

2008-11-20T08:01:54.317-07:00

I gotta say it -- Milleresque. I don't think Penske necessarily knows something about what they have on Helio. If he's all locked up in court, I think he'll be sitting there during the trial which can go on for a month or two, which just makes him physically unavailable. Not sure Miera makes a ton of sense to me to fill the seat, but I'm sure Penske has looked at it 28 different ways. Oh, yeah, IF THIS IS TRUE.