Silly season update, Nov. 11

2008 lineup
Andretti Green Racing (4)
7-Danica Patrick (Motorola, 4th-year FT driver, 2nd year with AGR). Under contract through 2009.
11-Tony Kanaan (7-11, 6th year FT driver, all with AGR, 2004 champ). Under contract through 2008.
26-Marco Andretti (NYSE Group, 3rd-year FT driver, all with AGR). Staying with AGR.
27-Hideki Mutoh (Panasonic, 1st-year FT driver). Signed to replace Dario Franchitti.

Team Penske (2)
3-Helio Castroneves (Team Penske, 7th-year FT driver, all with Penske, 2-time I500 champ). Under contract to Penske through 2008.
6-Ryan Briscoe (Team Penske, 2nd-year FT driver, 1st with Penske). Will be announced Tuesday as the replacement for Sam Hornish Jr.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing (2.5)
9-Scott Dixon (Target, 6th-year FT driver, all with TCGR, 2003 champ). Under contract for 2008.
10-Dan Wheldon (Target, 6th-year FT driver, 3rd with TCGR, 2005 IRL & Indy champ). Under contract through 2008.
Part-time entry: Alex Lloyd: Has signed a "development deal" with Ganassi that includes IRL & GrandAm races. Lloyd could be farmed out to another team or run in a third Ganassi car. Expect to see him in a full-time ride for TCGR in 2009.

Rahal Letterman Racing (2)
8-Scott Sharp (Patron, 12th-year FT driver, 1st with RLR, 1996 champ). Announced during the week of Oct. 7 that he is confirmed to return for 2008, "at least."
17-Ryan Hunter-Reay (Ethanol, 2nd-year FT driver). Likely to return for 2008. Ethanol sponsorship requires an American driver.

Panther Racing (1-2)
4-Vitor Meira (Delphi, 7th-year FT driver, 3rd with Panther). Confirmed for 2008.
55-Driver TBA: This ride was slotted for Hideki Mutoh, but Aguri Suzuki took his driver & his support of the second Panther car to AGR. That said, Panther officials said on their website they still plan to field a second car for 2008, and hope for a big announcement soon. It apparently will not be Tomas Scheckter, a former Panther driver. And it won't be Kosuke Matsuura, who filled the 55 car last year.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (1-2)
15-Buddy Rice (RollCoater, 7th-year FT driver, 2nd with D&R). Not confirmed yet, but this arrangement is likely to continue unless Buddy gets a ride with a top-tier team.
TBA-2nd car. Sarah Fisher drove this car in 2007, but she is very unlikely to return. Whether or not D&R keeps the second car is unknown (Fisher made comments in 2007 that indicated D&R may go back to one car).

Vision Racing (1-3)
20-Ed Carpenter (Hitachi Power Tools, 5th-year FT driver, 4th with Vision). Confirmed for 2008. The only confirmed Vision car for 2008.
The other two cars are unconfirmed ...
TBA: 2-Tomas Scheckter (Joost, would be a 7th-year FT driver, 2nd with Vision).
TBA: 22-A.J. Foyt IV (Indy Vision, would be a 5th-year FT driver, 2nd with Vision). TG has turned both Scheckter and Foyt loose for 2008. It appears Vision will be a 2-car team in 2008, possibly fielding Davey Hamilton in an Indy 500 one-off.

A.J. Foyt Racing (1-2)
14-Darren Manning (ABC Supply, 3rd-year FT driver). Contract extended through 2008.
TBA: Second car. Foyt is exploring the option of adding a second car, pending funding. Curt Cavin has said the funding appears to be not there at this point.

Roth Racing (2)
25-Marty Roth: Plans to run 2 full-time cars next year. He'll be driving one of them.
76-TBA: P.J. Chesson: Would like to stay with Roth if things go well, according to comments at Chicago.

SAMAX Racing (1)
Unconfirmed for 2008: 23-Milka Duno (Citgo - rookie). Duno will be invited back only if she satisfactorily completes off-season testing. Spent the last half of the season on probation.There is the possibility of SAMAX fielding a second car for Tomas Enge (or someone else) or not coming back.

**Potential new entries**
Beck Racing (1)
TBA: Although Beck ran some early-season events, the Beck machine hasn't been seen since Indy. Beck has said he'd like to be back in the IndyCar game, and his comments at the TEAM announcement seemed to indicate that is possible.

Fernandez Racing (1-2?)
From Curt Cavin's blog (8/8/2007), Adrian Fernandez's team still has its IndyCar equipment and Tom Anderson is apparently interested in a return to the IRL, but things "haven't been worked out." Sept. 8: Cavin said funding isn't there yet for this team, but it would like to get back in. Cavin says on Aug. 13 that he knows of two individuals to keep an eye on for new 2008 teams, but hasn't seen any sign of $$ backing them. An Indy 500 one-off is likely, at the very least, if not the full season.

Kingdom Racing (1)
The team announced its plans to field a team for 2008 on Aug. 16. Led by Houston businessman George Del Canto, the team plans to be based on a Christian philosophy, with several pastors and Christian leaders on the board of directors. They've been announcing new partnerships as recent as Sept. 28, when evangelical leader Patrick Morley came on board.

**Likely part-time entries**
Racing Professionals (1)
Jon Herb: As for the future, it's probably part-time at best, with the Indy 500 one-off and maybe the Chicago race.

Playa Del Racing (1-2)
Indy-only entry. Will probably field 1 or 2 cars for the Indianapolis 500.

PDM Racing would like to run a partial season of ovals in 2008 and become full-time in 2009. It would be more than good to see this longtime program back in the ICS full-time.

Sarah Fisher Racing (1)
TBA: Sarah Fisher (AAMCO, 6th FT season, 2nd with D&R). Has sponsorships from AAMCO and AAA. But Fisher has said she has a lot of options for 2008, and all signs are pointing at the fact that they don't involve running at D&R. She was also quoted as saying D&R is going down to one car next year. Robin Miller threw out the possibility of Fisher owning her own team next year.

Unlikely for next year, but for the more distant future?
Cheever Racing ... the Aug. 28 IRL press release quotes Eddie's nephew Richard Antinucci as looking to get into the ICS (and get the team back into the ICS) long-term, if, of course, the $$ comes together.

2009 schedule news
The 2009 schedule may expand to 20 races, according to IRL brass. Michigan has already been mentioned as a possible re-addition to the schedule, in a Detroit News story. Expect Barber Motorsports Park to get a look, given positive comments after the IRL's test Oct. 12, and owner George Barber saying he'd like to have an IRL race there in the future. The upcoming Rusty Wallace-designed oval track in Sacramento is also an option for the more distant future.

More unlikely, but possible entries: New Hampshire (which was recently sold to SMI and may be losing one of its NASCAR Nextel Cup dates), and Rockingham, which was recently purchased by former Indy 500 starter and Hoosier native Andy Hillenburg, who has scheduled ARCA and Pro Cup races at the 1-mile track next season.

Confirmed for 2009: Indianapolis (signed forever), Texas (signed through 2009), Iowa (signed through 2009), Milwaukee (signed through 2009), Detroit (signed through 2011).