2011 Indy Car Series Season - Team and Driver Chart - Team and Driver Movements

Team and Driver Movements

• Chip Ganassi Racing: Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon returned to the team for 2011. Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball joined the group as part of a satellite team ran out of the raceshop of Don Prudhomme.
• Team Penske: Shell would join the team as an associate sponsor for all three cars in 2011, replacing Mobil 1 and will sponsor the #3 car. Hélio Castroneves was signed to a multi-year contract that covers the 2011 season, and Will Power re-signed with Team Penske in September 2010. Roger Penske confirmed on November 12 that Ryan Briscoe would also be returning to the team. Izod was announced as being the primary sponsor on Ryan Briscoe's car and an associate sponsor on the other two cars.
• Andretti Autosport: Tony Kanaan was signed to a multi-year deal with Andretti Autosport before the 2009 season, and his contract is supposed to run through to 2012. On the October 3 it was confirmed that sponsor 7-Eleven would not return in 2011, rendering Kanaan a free agent. Marco Andretti was in the second year of a four-year contract with the team in 2011 along with his sponsor Venom Energy. It was announced on October 29 that Ryan Hunter-Reay would return to Andretti Autosport through to the 2012 season. DHL has signed a multi-year deal to sponsor Hunter-Reay's #28 car. Mike Conway was announced on February 2 as the team's 4th full-season driver. The team has confirmed John Andretti in the #43 for the Indy 500.
• Sam Schmidt Motorsports: Driver Alex Tagliani was in the second year of a four-year contract with the team. The team would also run cars for Townsend Bell and Jay Howard at the Indy 500, and for Wade Cunningham in three events. The team was committed to running a second full-time car in 2011, according to manager Rob Edwards. On March 1, 2011, it was announced that Sam Schmidt Motorsports had purchased the assets of FAZZT. Some FAZZT personnel would be retained for the 2011 season and Alex Tagliani will continue to contest all seventeen races.
• Bryan Herta Autosport: The team confirmed Dan Wheldon for the Indy 500. Bryan Herta Autosport and Wheldon would carry out testing of the 2012 Dallara chassis in August and September 2011.
• Dragon Racing: Tony Kanaan was announced as the new driver of the #2 car during a December 20 press conference in Brazil, however failure to secure sufficient sponsorship meant that Kanaan was unable to secure the drive. The team officially announced that they were shutting down on February 24, 2011; however following a restructuring, Jay Penske announced that Dragon Racing would continue with Paul Tracy for a limited schedule, as well as an Indy 500 entry. On May 3, 2011 the team confirmed Ho-Pin Tung would be the driver of the #8 Dragon-Schmidt Racing entry.
• SH Racing: On July 28, 2010, VPX Sports announced a partnership with newly formed SH Racing, run by James Sullivan and T.J. Humphreys, for an entry into the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with the driver yet to be named. The team would be partnering with KV Racing Technology. On March 29. 2011 the team announced, South African veteran Tomas Scheckter will drive the #07 entry at the Indy 500.
• Panther Racing: 2010 team driver Dan Wheldon confirmed in a Kentucky post-race interview that his contract expired after the 2010 season and he was unlikely to return to the team in 2011. 2009 Indy Lights champion J. R. Hildebrand signed a multi-year deal to drive the #4 National Guard car for the team. The team would field former Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice in a second car at Indy.
• KV Racing Technology–Lotus: On September 28, 2010, it was announced that Lotus would provide sponsorship to two KV Racing Technology entries in 2011. On February 4, 2011, KV Racing confirmed that Takuma Sato and E. J. Viso would compete for the team for the 2011 IndyCar Series season. On March 21, 2011, it was reported that Tony Kanaan would join the team in a 3rd full-time entry.
• Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: On November 11, Justin Wilson announced he would continue racing with the team in 2011. On March 3, 2011, the team announced Ana Beatriz would be joining Wilson full-time as the pilot of the #24 entry. The team also confirmed Paul Tracy for the Indy 500, prior to his signing to drive part-time for Dragon Racing.
• Sarah Fisher Racing: SFR has signed Ed Carpenter for the 2011 season, who would compete in nine events. In addition, team owner Sarah Fisher has announced her retirement from driving to focus solely on team ownership.
• HVM Racing: Team owner Keith Wiggins has secured sponsorship to return with Simona de Silvestro for the 2011 season. The team announced a three-year deal with Entergy Nuclear to sponsor an entry.
• A. J. Foyt Enterprises: Driver Vitor Meira recently signed a two-year contract with the team through the 2012 season. The team would also field a car in the Indy 500 for Bruno Junqueira.
• Dale Coyne Racing: The team announced two new drivers for the season: rookie Englishman James Jakes, who would run the full season; and Sébastien Bourdais, who would run at all road and street courses only owing to his Le Mans Series commitments. The team would still be fielding a second car at Indianapolis. On May 5, 2011, it was confirmed that Alex Lloyd would compete on all the oval races, as Bourdais won't.
• Conquest Racing: On March 14, 2011, the team confirmed that Sebastián Saavedra would race for the team full-time during the 2011 season. On April 19, 2011, Conquest signed Indy Lights race-winner Pippa Mann to pilot the team's second car at Indianapolis.
• Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: Entrepreneur Mike Lanigan joined the ownership of the team on December 17, 2010, and the team was renamed Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The team would run the Indy 500 in 2011 with Bertrand Baguette.
• AFS Racing: On January 13, 2011, AFS Racing announced that Neil Micklewright would be joining the team as General Manager and Vice President of Operations. On March 12, 2011, the team announced that they would run an entry at St. Petersburg, and on March 17, announced that series veteran Raphael Matos will drive.
• Newman/Haas Racing After the open test at Barber and months of speculation, Spaniard Oriol Servià revealed that he would race for the eight-time championship-winning team. Canadian James Hinchcliffe, runner-up in the 2010 Indy Lights championship standings to Jean-Karl Vernay was confirmed for the team's second car on April 5, 2011, for all remaining races.