Dan Wheldon and Panther Racing officials echo the sentiments. They are all excited to see the veteran driver return to the team in 2009.
Wheldon, 30, made his IndyCar Series debut with Panther in 2002, making two starts before signing with Andretti Green Racing. Panther officials watched with interest as Wheldon:
- won Bombardier Rookie of the Year honors in 2003
- won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005
- won the IndyCar Series championship in 2005
- won two races each in 2006, 2007 and 2008 with Target Chip Ganassi Racing
When the opportunity arose to bring Wheldon back to the Panther fold, there was no hesitation, signing him in late August to drive the No. 4 National Guard entry. The challenge is to get a team that has 15 IndyCar Series victories and won back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002 back to championship contention after two seasons finishing outside the top 10.
“Re-joining Panther is something I’m very excited about,” Wheldon said. “The team seems to have a good energy right now. It seems to be heading in a very positive direction. They’ve come off a couple of lean years. I think everything is there with some additions that have been made over the winter period to be hopefully what I would consider a very competitive year.”
So competitive in fact that Wheldon believes Panther can compete with his two former teams and Team Penske for the 2009 championship.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we could win it,” he said. “It’s going to take some hard work. I think the team finished 13th in the championship last year, so it seems like a big jump, but it’s not somewhere that is certainly out of the realm of possibilities. The team has shown that they can win championships before, and so have I, and I think with the combination and hard work and determination we can definitely do it.”
The team has shown improvement during the two preseason Open Tests. Wheldon was eighth overall on the oval at Homestead-Miami Speedway and 11th on the road course at Barber Motorsports Park. The season begins April 5 on the streets of St. Petersburg where Wheldon won the inaugural race in 2005.
“Are we as prepared as we would like to be? Probably not,” Wheldon said. “Do I think that we’re in a reasonable position? Yes, I do. I think we’re going to get better as the season progresses. Our program really ramped up at Homestead. With these two days (at Barber), and we’ve done some (private) testing at Sebring, there’s been very limited running, so I think you’re going to see us get better and better and better.”
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