Two More... For Now

The field at this weekend's IndyCar season opener at St. Petersburg FL got a little fuller yesterday, with two more driver deals being announced. The only problem is that both look to be short term in nature; at least for the moment, anyway.

Dryer & Reinbold Racing has signed veteran driver Darren Manning (pictured above) to join rookie, and fellow countryman, Mike Conway on the grid. The 33 year-old Englishman, who's nickname is "danger mouse" (no, I've never been found out  what that means!), has raced for Ganassi and Foyt in previous years. As of now, his contract is for this weekend only, but he is still quite happy. "It was the Monday before the first race in St Petersburg and I wasn't going," Manning told reporters. "I was organising my plans for the weekend and set my mind that I wasn't going to be driving in the 2009 IndyCar Series, and come Tuesday afternoon I get the call from Dennis (Reinbold) to get me in the car, and it has all changed." 

The other deal involves Conquest Racing and Canadian driver Alex Tagliani. For the longest time, people who report on the IndyCar Series were under the impression that Conquest would be a two car effort again in '09, with Jamie Camara starting the year at St. Pete & Alex joining in come Long Beach. Now it appears that they have scaled back to being only a one car outfit, with "Tags" getting the seat for the first two races, plus the July race in Edmonton, Canada. Both Alex and the team are hoping that an impressive couple of runs will lead to more sponsorship offers: In the meantime, the seat will be open to other drivers who can bring some financial support.

As in Manning's case, the temporary/conditional nature of this deal does not phase Tagliani one bit. "It's been a pretty crazy winter and I'm happy to be getting back behind the wheel of a race car this weekend," he said. "I had an excellent experience with the team last year and I'm looking forward to continuing what we started last season."

Update to a previous story:

The other day I reported on the efforts for Tomas Scheckter to secure a ride for the 2009 season, saying that the identity of the squad that he was in negotiations with was unknown. Several sources have since reported that the South African driver is talking to Team 3G, the new squad in the series, which is fielding a car for rookie driver Stanton Barrett. Scheckter's deal is said to be signed, and he is expected to show up - with a car (the sticking point in all of this) - two weeks from now in Long Beach CA.