2008 Dallara Panther Racing Indycar

About Panther Racing

Over ten years ago the dream of starting a race team came true for a television producer, a politician, a radio veteran, a race mechanic, an automobile dealer and the starting quarterback of the local NFL team - whose jersey No. 4 was the numeral that would define the team's first racecar.

The Panther Racing team has been through a lot of changes since Scott Goodyear took the first IndyCar Series green flag at Walt Disney World Speedway in 1998, but ultimately, the past nine seasons have been defined by excellence, precision and the ability to over deliver in every facet of the racing business.

The commitment of veteran racer John Barnes and his fellow team owners, his drivers, crewmen, team sponsors and partners has never wavered. Whether it be winning the team's first race at Phoenix International Raceway with Goodyear in 1999, or hand-picking a young driver from Defiance, Ohio who would later win back-to-back championships and make Panther the winningest team in IndyCar Series history - the hard work, passion and the desire to be a positive influence on race fans, the sport of open-wheel racing and the Indianapolis 500 has never faded.

The team's dedication away from the track has been the key to its stability throughout these years. Building on long-time partnerships with a sponsorship group that includes internationally-respected corporations has been the backbone that's kept Panther's cars at the front of open-wheel racing's top divisions for the better part of a decade.

The drivers who have piloted Panther Racing's cars over those seasons bear some of the most recognizable names in the sport's history - with Sam Hornish, Jr, Scott Goodyear, Buddy Lazier, Dan Wheldon, John Andretti, Vitor Meira, Tomas Scheckter, Billy Boat and Tomas Enge topping the list.

The team's diverse ownership group, that now includes sports legends like former two-time heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman and Pro Bowl NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, is equally as impressive.

But, ultimately, it's performance on the racetrack that matters to Barnes, his drivers and fellow team owners. Barnes and fellow co-owner Mike Griffin have spent the past 30-plus years together in the motorsports business, and together they formed a bond that helped lead to the formation of the team in 1998, and has fueled its success on every lap since.

The team's trophy case is vast, littered with hardware from 2001 and 2002 IndyCar Series Championships, another league title from the 2003 Indy Pro Series Championships and trophies from each of the team's 24 race victories in those series. In 2007, team newcomer Hideki Mutoh dominated the first race of the Liberty Challenge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, giving Panther's its coveted first victory at the world's greatest race course.

It's been over 10 years since the heart of Panther Racing was unveiled at former partner Gary Pedigo's automobile dealership, and 24 race wins and three championships later, the team remains one of the best in the sport and continues to epitomize its philosophy on all aspects of the racing business - always over deliver.

Did You Know?
• Five of the last eight IndyCar Series Championships were won by former Panther Racing drivers (Buddy Lazier, 2000; Dan Wheldon, 2005; Sam Hornish, Jr., 2001, 2002, 2006).



• Panther Racing won the 1998 and 2000 Carburetion Day Pit Stop Challenge competition at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

• Current Panther driver Vitor Meira became the first Indy-car driver to complete a lap at Daytona International Speedway since 1959, when his No. 4 car was the first to cross the finish line at the popular high-banked track during the IndyCar Series compatibility test in September.

• The team's No. 4 car set the fastest lap of the 85th Indianapolis 500 when Sam Hornish Jr. circled the 2.5-mile oval at 219.830 mph on Lap 130 of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

• Panther Racing has won three of the four closest finishes in league history, including winning the closest one-two margin of victory (Sam Hornish Jr. over Al Únser Jr. by 0.0024 of a second at Chicagoland Speedway in 2002) and the closest 1-2-3 finish when Hornish nudged Scott Dixon and Bryan Herta by 0.0099 of a second at Chicagoland in 2003.

• Panther Racing co-owner, and current Head Football Coach at Stanford Úniversity, Jim Harbaugh believes the Indianapolis 500 is, 'better than Christmas.'

• Panther team owner John Barnes has worked with four members of the legendary Andretti family - as a mechanic for Mario (1973); a team manager for Jeff (1993); a team owner for Michael (2001) and a team owner for John (2007)

• Panther Racing qualified drivers Tomas Scheckter and Tomas Enge 1-2 for the 2005 race at Texas Motor Speedway, where Scheckter was victorious. But, it was Enge who set the fastest lap of the race at 216.184 mph after electrical problems eliminated him from contention for the victory.

Source - Panther Racing

Panther Racing team owner John Barnes knew he had something special in 2001 when he tested an unknown young Brazilian who had just dominated the South American F3 championship – winning a remarkable eight races. The test was at the intense, high-banks of Texas Motor Speedway – a daunting introduction to open-wheel racing for any aspiring driver.

Barnes knew it instantly: Vitor Meira was a fearless talent.

Since that night in Forth Worth, Meira has become one of the most consistent and skilled drivers in all the IndyCar Series. Meira, the face of Panther Racing since the team signed him to replace Tomas Scheckter before the 2006 season, has combined his precision with a timely aggression that keeps the attention of motorsports fans fixed on the No. 4 Delphi car.

Meira capitalized on Barnes giving him the opportunity to test a Panther car in 2001. When he came to Indianapolis that fall, he hadn't expected to get a test from the defending league champions – he just wanted to make an introduction. But Barnes was so impressed with Meira he told him to join the team that week on the trip to Texas – where Panther was testing that year's ÚSAC champions. Meira had no suit and no helmet, but he wasn't missing this chance.

With borrowed helmet and driver's suit, he was last in a long line of drivers to test that day, and with the lights at Texas ablaze, he held on for several laps at over 210 mph. With an adrenaline rush like he'd never experienced, Meira knew that his career path was heading towards the predominately-oval American open-wheel scene. Barnes knew he'd found something in the young talent from Brasilia, Brazil – but Meira's time in a Panther car would have to wait.

His first opportunity didn't come with Panther, instead controversial team owner John Menard gave Meira his initial shot in the series in 2002. Meira, still new to the cars and racing on ovals, proved to be a quick study – and captured pole position at Texas in just his third career start. He finished third in that race, an accomplishment overshadowed by a masterful duel between Helio Castroneves and then-Panther driver Sam Hornish Jr. Panther won the race and the league championship that day, but little did everybody know the future face of the franchise would be the new Brazilian kid who just collected his first career IndyCar Series podium finish.

A year later with Menard, Vitor overcame a broken wrist during a test at Kentucky Speedway and came back to solidify himself as a success in the series. However, when Menard's team closed its doors at the end of 2003, Meira was without a ride. He watched the first two races of 2004 from the sidelines, and was eager to return to the racetrack. He got his chance at Rahal-Letterman Racing – who originally signed Vitor to a partial season deal, until impressive performances at Indianapolis (sixth), Texas (sixth) and Richmond (second) gave his team and sponsors the confidence to retain the popular driver on a full-time basis.

Meira rewarded the team almost immediately after they signed him full-time at Kansas Speedway – in that race, he would battle over the last 20 laps with then-teammate Buddy Rice. The two teammates would spend the final laps of the race bettering the other by inches at the finish line, until on the last lap Rice came out ahead by 0.0051 of a second, the second-closest finish in IndyCar Series history.

Rahal rewarded Meira the following season in 2005 with his first full-season deal in the league, and Vitor responded with the best year of his career. While, in the newspaper, Meira was overshadowed by popular teammates Buddy Rice and rising star Danica Patrick, on the track he outshined both drivers – and finished seventh in the championship standings at the conclusion of the season, well ahead of both Patrick and Rice. Still, despite his success, Rahal cut Meira loose at the end of the year, and the time had come for Meira to return to the place where he got his start – Panther Racing.

Barnes was thrilled to finally have the opportunity and the availability to sign Meira before the start of the 2006 season. The situation, however, wasn't ideal for the driver or the team. Panther had just lost support from Pennzoil and longtime backer General Motors – who elected to leave the series after over a decade of involvement. As Meira and his new team approached the start of the 2006 season, they had a skeleton crew, no sponsor, and none of the resources that empowered league stalwarts Andretti Green Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske.



The team battled to a fifth place finish in the final championship standings – ahead of all four of AGR's drivers and hot on the heels of both drivers from Ganassi and Penske. In a remarkable summer stretch, Meira collected eight consecutive Top Ten finishes, with five Top Fives – including running-up results at Watkins Glen and Richmond – in just his first nine starts.

Meira's drive at Richmond was one of his best – he overcame equipment problems on each of his stops to climb back to the front of the field, diving below Dario Franchitti and nearly onto the infield grass to claim second place before a yellow flag ending his charge on race-leader Hornish. At Infineon, with championship hopes still alive, Meira moved from sixth place to third in one corner on a track that doesn't lend itself to passing. Vitor was able to move past Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon and Castroneves in a single move and a cloud of tire smoke.

His seven Top Five and 12 Top Ten finishes were career-highs and he equaled Sam Hornish Jr.'s 2001 and 2002 team record for Top Tens in a season.

In 2007 Meira returned the team to form, and opened the season with a fourth place finish in Homestead. He followed up with another 10th-place finish in the Indianapolis 500 – his fourth consecutive Top Ten at Indy – and consecutive fifth place results at Milwaukee and Texas. Despite a series of strong drives, some of Vitor's best runs in 2007 would be shortened by equipment issues and bad luck. He led 72 laps at the inaugural event at Iowa Speedway before a suspension failure sent him home early. Two weeks later he would be the race leader at Watkins Glen, when a radio problem kept the No. 4 on the track too long, and another of Meira's victory chances came up short. But, despite the struggle, Vitor stayed positive and continued to scrap for every inch on the racetrack – a characteristic that has become his signature.

Away from the track, Meira is an accomplished triathlete, and is often cycling on the roads around his home in Indianapolis. He races go-karts frequently, enjoys playing the Formula One Championship game on PlayStation3 and laughs aloud at television shows like 'Family Guy' and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'. Meira watches movies, and is known to quote Will Ferrell movies, including the popular 'Anchorman', to his friends around the shop. He is engaged to a beautiful Brazilian woman named Adriana and he drives an Acura MDX around town.

He spends as much time in Panther race shop as some of the team's crewmen, insisting that, 'I'd rather have friends working on my car than just some guy.' Meira stops and chats with every single Panther employee every time he comes to the shop – and he's friends with all of them. Meira's fans are diverse and worldwide, but since he joined Panther, his loudest supporters are a 50-something group of middle schools girls from Fishers, Indiana that call themselves the 'Únofficial Vitor Meira Fan Club' – the past two seasons during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 they have worn identical 'I Love Vitor' yellow t-shirts and chanted his name every time he appears in pit lane.

He is also active in charitable work, becoming auto racing's first Special Olympics ambassador and holding a Brasilia Ambassador award – similar to a Golden Key Award – in Brazil. Meira also has auctioned off some of his most prized racing possessions – included a helmet hand-painted by Brazilian artist Romero Britto – to Best Buddies, a charity Panther has supported since it's formation.

Source - Panther Racing

WET TO DRY: EARLY PIT CALL SHOOTS MEIRA TO THE LEAD; TEAM FINISHES SIXTH AT MID-OHIO

A pit stop on the first lap of the Honda Indy 200 Sunday afternoon at Mid-Ohio helped propel Panther driver Vitor Meira into the lead of the IndyCar Series field for 21 laps. The team's Delphi National Guard driver would battle throughout the race among the leaders and eventually settled for a sixth place finish, his second-consecutive sixth place result.

With a rain shower that hammered down on the paddock shortly before the start of the event, the entire IndyCar field began the race on rain tires. Team owner John Barnes told the team they would switch to slick tires early, and as Meira took his warm-up laps he radioed to his crew that they should pit immediately to make the change. Meira pitted along with Darren Manning after the drivers took the green flag, and six laps later he moved to the front of the field.

'John Barnes made a great pit call, and we came into the pits after taking the green on the first lap to go to dry tires,' Meira explained. 'That's the second time this season we've done that and both times we shot to the front. This time it put us in the lead of the race.'

Vitor led the race for a total of 21 laps before the team pitted on Lap 27 for more fuel and tires. Meira continued to battle within the top five or six cars, as several different fuel strategies came into play.

This was the fifth race Meira had led this season and the No. 4 car has led a total of 76 circuits.

'The finish was OK, and after our luck we needed to keep finishing races,' Meira §äid. 'Again, we were in a position to win, and that's going to go our way soon.'

The team's Brazilian driver had his most eventful moment of the race as he exited the pits on his final stop, on Lap 58. Vitor had pitted in second position and was trying to hustle his car ahead of Scott Dixon, but the two drivers had light contact – allowing both Dixon and Oriol Servia to pass him. For the remaining laps of the race, Meira fought off a hard-charging Tony Kanaan to finish sixth.

'The car was good, it was picking up some push as the race went on and I was sliding a lot at the end, but I was able to keep (Tony) Kanaan behind me at the end,' Vitor §äid. 'We would have been a position or two better, but coming out of the pits on my last stop I had contact with one of the Ganassi cars and that let (Oriol) Servia get past me.'

Vitor also finished in sixth place last week at Nashville Superspeedway, and today's result was his fifth Top Ten of the season.

Meira moved up one position in the 2008 IndyCar Series point standings, past Darren Manning and into the 14th position.

Source - Panther Racing