IndyCar Preview for 2008: Question after Question......

There are just over 46 days until the 13th IRL season kicks off from the Homestead-Miami Speedway, but the series is already abuzz with both hope and questions.

Tony George, chairman of the IRL, spent this past weekend in Japan in hopes of switching around several dates of some already-scheduled racing events. If George has it his way, the moving of several races would pave the way to an eventual unification of the IRL and the Champ Car.

Since the open-wheel split of 1995, there have been numerous breakthroughs, such as major teams Penske, Andretti-Green, Ganassi, and Rahal-Letterman jumping ship from Champ Car to the IRL.

This most recent breakthrough – George traveling across the globe to Japan – is not the first major breakthrough in hopes of a series unification.

Every couple years George finds himself in the midst of discussions with Champ Car owners Gerald Forsythe, Paul Gentilozzi, and Kevin Kalkhoven, but the discussions fizzle due to minor details such as money, scheduling, sponsors, and cars.

In other words, do not get your hopes up.

So, that is just one of the storylines that will be closely followed in the upcoming weeks and months, but the 2008 IRL season has many more questions that demand answers.

Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr. decided to test their talents in NASCAR this season, which left two huge voids in the series.

Franchitti won the 2007 series championship to go along with his Indy 500 victory for Andretti-Green Racing. He will be driving for Chip Ganassi’s in NASCAR this year.

Sam Hornish Jr., the poster-boy for the IRL, joins Roger Penske’s NASCAR stable and will team with Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman. Hornish Jr. leaves behind quite a racing legacy. In 116 starts in the IRL during the past 8 years, he captured 19 wins, 12 poles, 3 series championships (2001-02, 2006), and narrowly won the 2006 Indy 500 over Marco Andretti in the second-closest finish in the history of the great race.

To say finding Franchitti’s and Hornish Jr.’s replacements were easy is an understatement. Both seats were quickly filled, but will the success come as fast?

AGR team owner Michael Andretti chose Hideki Mutoh as Franchitti’s replacement. Mutoh’s hiring can be described as questionable at best. Mutoh finished second in the Indy Pro Series in 2007 and finished eighth in his first and only IndyCar race at Chicagoland in the series finale.

Nothing against Mutoh, but AGR could have hired a more marketable driver. Franchitti won the Indy 500. He won the series championship. He is married to actress Ashley Judd. Franchitti screams marketability. Where does that leave Mutoh? Is he already a lame duck? Does AGR already have a future replacement in mind? Was Mutoh hired simply to bridge the gap until next season? We will soon find out.

Roger Penske also raised eyebrows when he hired Ryan Briscoe to team with Helio Castroneves at Penske Racing this season.

Briscoe came to the IndyCar series in 2005 with Chip Ganassi Racing and finished 19th in the driver’s standings. Briscoe showed real inconsistencies during his rookie campaign. He crashed in 7 of 15 races and had a season-best finish of eighth at Nashville. These inconsistencies led to Briscoe being fired in favor of Dan Wheldon.

Briscoe completed in just four races for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in 2006 with a best finish of third at Watkins Glen.

So far, Briscoe has not posted a Penske-worthy resume, but that is why it helps to know the right people

In 2007, Briscoe was hired to drive for Luczo-Dragon Racing in the Indy 500. Luczo-Dragon Racing was co-owned by – ironically enough – Jay Penske, the youngest son of Roger Penske.

When Briscoe was hired to drive for the youngest Penske, the rumors already began to swirl that Briscoe – based on his finish at Indy – would be the front-runner to replace Hornish if he got the NASCAR itch.

Briscoe finished fifth in the Indy 500, and as soon as Hornish said bon voyage to the IRL, the elder Penske had Briscoe on the phone and the deal was done.

So, what does this do for the state of IndyCar racing? The IRL did not only lose the two defending Indy 500 champs and a combined four series championships. The IRL lost experience. Gone from the upcoming season are a combined 183 races started, 27 wins, 19 poles, and 4,983 laps led.

Those stats will be replaced by a combined 20 starts, zero wins, 1 pole and 59 laps led.

So, with Franchitti and Hornish Jr. off making millions in NASCAR, who will be around to carry the IRL torch for the upcoming year?

Despite the free agent losses, the IRL will not be struggling that much for talent. 2005 series and Indy 500 champion Dan Weldon will once again team up with defending series runner-up Scott Dixon at Ganassi Racing. This talented tandem will surely be a pair to reckon with.

As mentioned before, two-time Indy 500 champion Castroneves will continue to drive the familiar and famous orange and white machine for Penske in hopes of capturing his first series championship that has eluded him since his arrival in the IRL.

AGR, despite losing Franchitti to the good ol’ boys down south, still has plenty of weapons that are ready to attack.

Tony Kanaan, the 2004 series champion, will lead a four-team stable of Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, and the aforementioned Mutoh.

Just as many questions are swirling around AGR as there are around the rest of the IRL.

Is this the year that Kanaan can overcome adversity and win the Indy 500? After several close calls, one would think he is running out of chances.

Can Marco continue to distance himself away from his father’s shadow and create a legacy of his own? Despite winning at Watkins Glen as a rookie, he has completed a mere 18 or 31 career starts. Not to mention a pair of rocky Indy 500s. He was dusted at the finish line by Hornish Jr. in 2006 and finished last year’s race upside down in the grass in turn three. How much more patience does the elder Andretti have for his son?

And finally, it is hard to believe that after 1,000 words, we are just now bringing up Danica Patrick. Now, why is that? Perhaps her fad has ended. Perhaps she has been overshadowed by the success of her teammates, Kanaan and Franchitti. Perhaps Patrick’s dream has finally come true where the rest of the racing community views her as just another regular driver as opposed to the beautiful mid-20s woman with long, dark hair.

No matter the reason, the question must still be asked. Is this the year when Patrick picks up her first victory? With Hornish and Franchitti out of the mix, her chances just increased immensely.

There are many more questions that will arise during the course of the season with answers hopefully to come soon after.

So, until then, good luck to all the drivers, crew members, and fans in 2008.