TUSC: Confirmed driver announcements thus far - MotorSportsTalk

Here’s a quick update on drivers who have been officially announced for the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The full entry list was announced earlier this month. Drivers are next to the team, car, and 2013 class for the car:

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (Ford Ecoboost Riley, DP): 01-Scott Pruett/Memo Rojas (full season)
Extreme Speed Motorsports (HPD ARX-03b, P2): 1-Ryan Dalziel/Scott Sharp (full season)/David Brabham (endurance races); 2-Ed Brown/Johannes van Overbeek (full season)/Simon Pagenaud/Anthony Lazzaro (endurance races)
Action Express Racing (Corvette DP, DP): 5-Joao Barbosa/Christian Fittipaldi (full season)/Sebastien Bourdais (endurance races)
Muscle Milk Pickett Racing (ORECA 03 Nissan, P2 in Europe): 6-Klaus Graf/Lucas Luhr (full season)
Wayne Taylor Racing (Corvette DP, DP): 10-Jordan Taylor/Ricky Taylor (full season)/Max Angelelli (endurance races)
Marsh Racing (Corvette DP, DP): 31-Eric Curran/Boris Said (full season)
Michael Shank Racing (Ford Ecoboost Riley, DP): 60-Ozz Negri/John Pew (full season)
Spirit of Daytona Racing (Corvette DP, DP): 90-Richard Westbrook/Michael Valiante (full season)
GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing (Corvette DP, DP): 99-Alex Gurney/Jon Fogarty (all NAEC races)/Memo Gidley/Darren Law (endurance races)

PC (All ORECA FLM09)

CORE autosport: 05-Jon Bennett (full season)
RSR Racing: 08 or 09-Bruno Junqueira/Duncan Ende (full season)/David Heinemeier Hansson (endurance races)
JDC/Miller: 85-Chris Miller (2nd Alternate)

GTLM

Corvette Racing (Corvette C7.R, ALMS GT): 3-Antonio Garcia/Jan Magnussen (full season)/Ryan Briscoe (endurance races); 4-Oliver Gavin/Tommy Milner (full season)/Robin Liddell (endurance races)
Team Falken Tire (Porsche 911 RSR, ALMS GT): 17-Bryan Sellers/Wolf Henzler (full season)
BMW Team RLL (BMW Z4 GTLM, ALMS GT): Driver pairings to be confirmed over 55 and 56: Bill Auberlen, Andy Priaulx, Dirk Mueller, Joey Hand, John Edwards

GTD

GB Autosport (Porsche 911 GT America, New Car): 20-Bob Faieta (races to be confirmed)
Alex Job Racing (Porsche 911 GT America, New Car): 22-Cooper MacNeil/Leh Keen (full season)
AJR/Team Seattle (Porsche 911 GT America, New Car): 23-Ian James/Mario Farnbacher (full season)
NGT Motorsport (Porsche 911 GT America, New Car): 30-Henrique Cisneros/Kuba Giermaziak (full season)
Riley Motorsports (SRT Viper GT3-R, New Car): 33-Jeroen Bleekemolen/Ben Keating (full season)/Sebastiaan Bleekemolen/Emmanuel Collard (endurance races)
Magnus Racing (Porsche 911 GT America, New Car): 44-John Potter/Andy Lally (full season)
Fall-Line Motorsports (Audi R8, Rolex GT): 46-Charles Espenlaub/Charlie Putman (full season)
Scuderia Corsa (Ferrari 458, Rolex GT): 63-Alessandro Balzan/Jeff Westphal (full season); 64-Dr. Rod Randall/Ken Wilden (full season)
Park Place Motorsports (Porsche 911 GT America, New Car): 71-Dr. Jim Norman (full season); 73-Kevin Estre/Patrick Lindsey (full season)
Turner Motorsport (BMW Z4 GT3, New Car): 94-Paul Dalla Lana (full season)
TRG-AMR (Aston Martin Vantage GT3, Rolex GT): 007 or 009-James Davison (full season); Al Carter/David Block (races to be confirmed)
Level 5 Motorsports (Ferrari 458, Rolex GT): 555 or 556-Bill Sweedler/Townsend Bell (full season), Jeff Segal (full season, car to be confirmed)

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INDIANAPOLIS – Roger Penske spoke with Dallara executives Monday morning about the loose tire that went flying over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway catchfence and into a Turn 2 parking lot.

The left-rear wheel from Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Dallara-Honda was sheared off in a collision at speed as Kirkwood tried to avoid the skidding No. 6 Dallara-Chevrolet of Felix Rosenqvist on Lap 183 of the 107^th Indianapolis 500.

No one seriously was hurt in the incident (including Kirkwood, whose car went upside down and slid for several hundred feet), though an Indianapolis woman’s Chevy Cruze was struck by the tire. The Indy Star reported a fan was seen and released from the care center after sustaining minor injuries from flying debris in the crash.

During a photo shoot Monday morning with Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden at the IMS Yard of Bricks, Penske met with Dallara founder and owner Gian Paolo Dallara and Dallara USA CEO Stefano dePonti. The Italian company has been the exclusive supplier of the current DW12 chassis to the NTT IndyCar series for 11 years.

“The good news is we didn’t have real trouble with that tire going out (of the track),” Penske, who bought Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2020, told a few reporters shortly afterward. “I saw it hit. When it went out, I saw we were OK. I talked to the Dallara guys today. We’re going to look at that, but I guess the shear (force) from when (Rosenqvist’s) car was sitting, (Kirkwood’s car) went over and just that shear force tore that tether. Because we have tethers on there, and I’ve never seen a wheel come off.

“That to me was probably the scariest thing. We’ve got to fix that. We’ve got to fix that so that doesn’t happen again.”

Asked by NBC Sports if IndyCar would be able to address it before Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix or before the next oval race at Iowa Speedway, Penske said, “The technical guys should look at it. I think the speed here, a couple of hundred (mph) when you hit it vs. 80 or 90 or whatever it might be, but that was a pinch point on the race.”

In a statement released Monday to WTHR and other media outlets, IndyCar said that it was “in possession of the tire in Sunday’s incident and found that the tether did not fail. This is an isolated incident, and the series is reviewing to make sure it does not happen again. IndyCar takes the safety of the drivers and fans very seriously. We are pleased and thankful that no one was hurt.”

IndyCar provided no further explanation for how the wheel was separated from the car without the tether failing.

IndyCar began mandating wheel suspension tethers using high-performance Zylon material after a flying tire killed three fans at Charlotte Motor Speedway during a May 1, 1999 race. Three fans also were struck and killed by a tire at Michigan International Speedway during a July 26, 1998 race.

The IndyCar tethers can withstand a force of more than 22,000 pounds, and the rear wheel tethers were strengthened before the 2023 season.