Tagliani says he’s not joining Chip Ganassi Racing

By Dec 12, 2013, 8:05 PM EST
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We can rule out Alex Tagliani as a potential newcomer to Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2014 IndyCar Series.

The French-Canadian driver, who replaced Dario Franchitti in this year’s season finale and tested Ganassi’s No. 10 Chevrolet recently in Florida, has confirmed that he would not be joining the powerhouse outfit.

However, Tagliani felt that his brief time with Ganassi can prove beneficial down the road in regards to landing a ride.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity,” he said according to Autoweek. “When you’re with another team, the Ganassi boys thought they could see what I could do, but spending time with them they got to see for sure what I can do.

“That will help me from now on because they will tell other people what they saw of me.”

With Tagliani out of the picture, it would now appear that Ryan Briscoe is the odds-on favorite to join reigning series champion Scott Dixon, Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball in the Ganassi camp.

Briscoe was slated to go full-time at Panther Racing next year, but with the team’s sponsorship situation yet to be determined, the Australian has been looking elsewhere. Now, barring a major curveball thrown, it appears that he’ll be suiting up for the team that gave him his start in the IndyCars back in 2005.

If that proves to be the case, Curt Cavin of The Indianapolis Star reports he will take over the No. 8 NTT Data entry that he drove in this year’s Indianapolis 500 and Kanaan will move over to the No. 10 to replace the retired Franchitti.

But all should be officially confirmed Friday morning at TCGR’s press conference in Indianapolis.

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”