SATO
As the IndyCar season was winding down it looked like Takuma Sato was going to be bumped off of the A. J. Foyt Enterprises team. At the time nobody was stepping forward to pick him up and I thought he might be pushed off into the retirement zone. He will be 40 this next season and that is the age Indy drivers start looking at the end. The Andretti Autosport team stepped in and saved the day. I always liked Sato and thought that he was a good driver....over 50 Formula Three races, 91 Formula One and 118 IndyCar races. I would like to see him around a few more years.
KANAAN
Just because of his age I that Tony Kanaan might be on his way out. He is 41, but has the fire in the belly. Worked his way through the Indy Light series and was a champion in 1997. In IndyCar he was a champion in 2004 and won the 500 in 2013. He is the only driver to have led the 500 at point in every 500 he entered. A very popular driver and it will be a sad day when he goes. Happy to see that Chip Ganassi Racing picked him up again.
MONTOYA
No getting around it, Juan Pablo Montoya is a driver's driver. After racing throughout Central and South America he became a champion in Formula 3000 in 1998, champion in CART FedEx in 1999, won the Indy 500 twice, in 2000 and 2015. In his rookie year in each series he has been in he won in Formula One, CART, IRL, IndyCar, Grand Am and NASCAR. He has started in 22 races in Formula 3000, 40 in CART, 50 in IndyCar, 100 in Formula One, 212 in NASCAR, 7 in Daytona, 89 in Grand Am. Quite a load. He is currently 41 and has not been picked up for 2017. With the exception of a seat for the Indy 500 with Team Penske. Is he done? I hope not.
ED CARPENTER RACING
This has been my favorite team for a few years now. He now has two cars and one full time driver, J. R. Hildebrand, and currently one part-time driver, himself. He prefers to race the oval tracks and leaves all the rest to another part-timer. That seat is currently unfilled and it will be interesting to see who gets it this coming year.
photo credit: © 2016 Google
