As I was torn between using the oh so clever headline of: Indianapolis
Listening to Trackside with Kevin & Cavin last Tuesday evening, (4/23) IndyStar scribe ‘Kurty (Cavin) tossed out the ‘lil nuggets regarding the plight of this year’s remarkably shallow Indy 500 entry list by firmly proclaiming we’ll get to 33-cars By Gummit! And may be even 34? As we stood pat on 30 confirmed entries as of April 23rd, one month shy of Carb Day with the announcement of Michele Jourdain Jr. being Bobby Rahal’s third I500 entry this May.
Cavin proclaimed that Pippa (Mann) would run for Dale Coyne and Jay ‘Funnyman Howard would be at Schmidt Hamilton Peterson’s - anyone wanna by a vowel; Hya! With Kevin Lee saying he’d spoken with Sarah Fisher at Long Beach
The other possibility to get to 33 would involve Panther fielding a second entry which its done before, while I still say that KVRT will dust off its third Dallara DW12 chassis for Townsend Bell, who’s gotta be the most in demand Indy 500 specialist on the market, right? Although I’d think that Sam Schmidt would want Townsend over Jay if he’s truly seeking to drink some buttermilk in Victory lane?
Another DW12 chassis, albeit sans motor possibly is the Fan Force United team who did a One-off last year with Jean Alesi and the woefully anemic ‘Luddi (Lotus) lump, which I’d think would be the perfect landing spot for one of the Brothers Lazier, as supposedly both Jacques and Buddy are in the market for rides this May...
And I suppose that other possible drivers could be Tomas “rockem-Sockem” Scheckter, Buddy ‘HotRod Rice and Wade Cunningham? While it looks like Brian Clauson won’t be back at Indy this May. As a second I500 entry with Scheckter at the wheel of a Sarah Fisher Hartman car would be a good pairing with primary driver Joseph Newgarden, as I’d definitely suggest that Jay Howard will land there, as there’s too much baggage between them, eh?
So Hurry Hurry Hurry; place your bets! Who’ll be the lucky final contestants to fill out this year’s Indy 500 grid and will there be another tepid ‘Boomp Day? Yeah, I know, IT’S THE Economy’s fault... Yet in fairness, we should consider the fact that this is only the second season of DW12 competition and thus apparently a pool of warmed over chassis haven’t entered the secondary market yet - as Kevin Lee alluded that a new DW12 will set you back at least $400k...
UPDATE
Of course after I’d originally ‘Penned this riveting story, professional journalist Curt Cavin busted out the following in his April 30th Ask The Expert blog.
Townsend Bell now most likely in at Panther Racing if they do a second car.
Buddy Lazier has acquired the Fan Force United ex-Lotus chassis and is converting it for use this year.
And B-I-N-G-O! Finally somebody besides Mwah has uttered the name KVRT as a possibility this year, but you’ll have to read ‘Kurty’s colum to see who; which I definitely hope happens...
On Townsend Bell and Brian Clauson
And then there Were 31...
On the heals of possibilities for the remainder of the grid, Pippa Mann confirmed what ‘Kurty Cavin had already leaked when speculatin’ she’d be in a third DCR entry this May, as the 29yr old ‘Brit made I-T official on Tuesday.
And Cavin mentions that both Honda and Chevy have targeted 17-engines apiece for this May with Honda currently at 16 and Chevrolet at 15. Thus, that’d leave one Honda ‘lump for Jay Howard’s possible third Schmidt entry with Bell