Monday, May 12, 2008

Playa Del Racing sold

Once again I’ve apparently missed the memo… But since hearing Davey Hamilton comment upon Phil Giebler’s new ride, I’ve been scourin’ the newswires for any related stories…

My first hint came via a tiny news blurb on Brian Barnhart claiming he expected to see some new second week IRL program’s taking part in practice this week at the Speedway;

Speaking after he had confirmed that the second scheduled day of qualifying at the Brickyard was to be abandoned because of rain, Barnhart confirmed that he expected several teams and drivers to embark on limited practice before this weekend's qualifying and 'bump' procedures.“I think, with the 33 that have run so far, there are at least three or four that have scheduled short programmes that begin next Wednesday," he reckoned, "I think you'll probably see a second Foyt car come out. Greg Beck is scheduled to start running, although he hasn't named a driver yet, Hemelgarn will come back with 1996 Indy 500 winner Buddy Lazier, and American Dream Racing has talked about doing a programme as well. So, I think you might see us up around 37 combinations by the end of next weekend.”
(Source: Crash.net)
So, with that tiny speck of news in hand, I searched for whomever this new American Dream outfit was and have indeed come upon the following tidbit:

“Majority ownership of Playa Del Racing has been purchased by former Indiana Boxing Commissioner William T. Kelsey and Arizona businessman Eric Zimmerman and will be known as American Dream Motorsports.”

Thus it appears that the former Playa Del Racing Indy Car team will now have 2007 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year driver Phil Giebler attempt to qualify the #21 entry this upcoming weekend…