How much did Panther Racing pay to sign Dan Wheldon?”
Panther Racing confirmed Monday that driver Dan Wheldon will return to the team next season.Panther said that sponsorship details for the team’s No. 4 car effort, which was backed this year by the U.S. National Guard, will be released in the coming weeks. “What I can tell you is that we’re going to be fighting tooth and nail to improve,” team owner John Barnes said. “We’ve got a group here that we really like, and I’ve made clear in the last two weeks what my expectations are for our team and driver.” Wheldon’s first year of his second stint with the team for which he first broke into the IndyCar Series followed stints at Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Green. His season was highlighted by a second-place finish at the Indianapolis 500, although other promising showings convinced the Briton that the team is poised to improve. “I’m excited for next season, honestly,” Wheldon said.
Dan Wheldon is coming off the most disappointing season of his IndyCar Series career, but he said Monday that he will return to Panther Racing in 2010. Wheldon did not win a race for the first time since he was a rookie in 2003. He won 15 races over the past five seasons, including six in 2005 when he also claimed the championship. Wheldon finished 10th in the standings this year, his lowest effort since his rookie season. He had only three top-five finishes, fewer than even his first full year, when he had five. The most telling statistic of the difficult season was the number of laps Wheldon led–only eight. He led 2,715 over the five previous seasons, an average of 543 per year. The highlight of Wheldon’s year was finishing second to Helio Castroneves in the Indianapolis 500.
