IndyCar Series: Will Power to fill in for Helio Castroneves on Penske Team

For the first time since Team Penske came to the IndyCar Series they will have a different driver behind the wheel of the #3 machine. With the Federal Tax Evasion court case plaguing Helio Castroneves’ personal life, it has now spilled over into his professional one. Castroneves had requested that the case me delayed, but his request was denied by the judge.

Team Penske will announce today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that it has signed Australian driver Will Power to fill in for the troubled brazillian star. Whether Power will actually drive a car for Penske in an IndyCar Series race is left up to the Federal Court system. If Helio isn’t able to answer the bell due to his court case, then the reigns of the #3 will be handed over to the Aussie.

Will Power has a successful record on road courses, and was a rising star in the now defunct Champ Car World Series. He was with PKV racing last year and found himself with no seat heading into 2009. This is a bit of gamble for Will Power, considering he may not even get to race in a Team Penske car, but I think it sets clear the state of the economy. Why would he take a gamble on being used as a test driver, while Helio fights his battles? Because there is nothing else out there.

It does make the mind wonder what the end game will be. Will Penske bring over enough sponsorship to adopt a third car in the 2009 season? Is Will Power going to be used for a few weeks in testing the 2009 car, then thrown off the team when HCN comes back?

Or is this maybe the clearest sign yet, that Helio Castroneves is in a world of trouble, and there is very little chance of him escaping the wrath of our Government.

Stay tuned, its gonna be an incredible year in the IndyCar Series… Bring on the warm weather…and lets go racing!

IndyCar Series: Luczo Dragon Signs On For 2009

The IndyCar Series has added another full time team for the 2009 season. Luczo Dragon Racing, who ran in just six races in 2008, will come into the 2009 campaign with a full year of funding to carry the livery. Symantec will be a primary sponsor in 2009, which also carried the team in 2008. There is one monumental change with the team that is noticeable: The driver.

2008 Firestone Indy Lights Champion Raphael Matos will take over in the cockpit of Luczo Dragon Racing. Matos, who won the Championship with Andretti Green Racing in the Indy Light series this year, feels he is ready to make the jump to the “big league”. When Tony Kanaan signed a 5 year extension with AGR towards the end of the IndyCar season, Matos had little choice but to switch teams if he were to run with the big dogs in the ICS. Andretti Green has focused hard on maintaining a winning balance on four cars. The team would have trouble finding that balance if they were to go to five entries, and that fifth entry is where Matos would have landed. Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan, and Hideki Mutoh will be with AGR for the foreseeable future.

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