Penske IRL cars have new black-and-white look
Penske Racing is sporting a different look for the 2010 Indy Racing League season - not to mention three drivers coming off strong seasons.
The team unveiled its new look Tuesday at Barber Motorsports Park with its cars painted black with white accents and a little red instead of the red and white of the previous two decades.
The change comes in the first season since 1990 without longtime sponsor Philip Morris USA.
The team will enter three cars for the full season for the first time since 1994. They'll be driven by Brazilian Helio Castroneves and Australians Ryan Briscoe and Will Power.
Verizon Wireless will sponsor Power's No. 12 Dallara/Honda and serve as a secondary sponsor for the No. 3 driven by Castroneves and Briscoe's No. 6.
``We had a taste of the three-car operation last year, and it was very successful,'' Briscoe said. ``I'm really hoping to build on the successes of last year.''
IndyCar series teams will hold their preseason testing sessions Wednesday and Thursday at Barber. The track will make its series debut on April 11, the third stop on the schedule after the season opens with races in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 14 and St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 28.
Castroneves, a former Dancing with the Stars champion, won his third Indy 500 last May and finished fourth in the IndyCar series point standings, one spot behind Briscoe.
Briscoe won three races and had 13 top-five finishes.
Power won the race at Edmonton and had two poles and four top-five finishes in six starts before a wreck leading up to the race at Sonoma, Calif., ended his season. Power broke four bones in his back, had a concussion and chipped his left front tooth in the collision but returned with a full-time ride.
``I'm fully recovered now and ready to go,'' said Power, who had been scheduled to run two more races, including Sonoma. ``This is a fantastic opportunity for me. I think it's going to be a very strong season for the whole team. We've got three really good drivers. We feed off each other and learn from each other and push each other.
``I'm just really happy to be involved with this organization. I'm sure we'll be 1-2-3 at some point in the season and I think it's going to be a very exciting championship.''
