One Driver Added, Another Cut?
By Andrew Cutler
August 5 2009
Conquest Racing, which has fielded only a part-time effort this year (with driver Alex Tagliani) has signed Nelson Philippe to drive at the Sonoma and Homestead-Miami rounds of the 2009 IndyCar Schedule. The 23 year-old Frenchman has only one prior IndyCar start to his credit; this May at Indianapolis.
Philippe has driven for Conquest's former CCWS incarnation in the past, as well as HVM's CCWS outfit, winning once for them in 2006. Because of his limited schedule for 2009, Nelson will still be elligible for rookie status should he manage to land a full-time IndyCar seat for 2010.
Meanwhile, the entrant list for this weekend's race at Mid-Ohio has a rather currious omission to it: the Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing car #06, normally driven by Robert Doornbos (pictured above), is listed has having NO assigned driver as of this weekend. Could it be that the Dutchman, who has had a rather lackluster rookie season (and has failed to land any significant sponsor) has lost his ride?
Stay tuned...
