A Dozen Candidates For The #10

As you all should know by now Dario Franchitti has announced his retirement, leaving his #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry vacant. A seat of this magnitude does not become available often and rarely does it become available without a lead candidate that has been pursued for months by the team to fill the void.

Teams have already started testing and though the season opener for 2014 is four months away, Ganassi will probably want to have a driver decided on by Christmas. Here is what we do know: Ganassi wants experience but is open to younger options.

I have amassed a list of a dozen candidates for the #10 and reasons why they could land in #10 and reasons why they won't. Some are in IndyCar, others from other disciplines. Let's start with the obvious.

Justin Wilson
Reasons why: You put Justin Wilson in the #10 and he will be a championship favorite immediately. He has improve greatly on ovals since reunification in 2008. He very well could go out and win the first four races of 2014 driving for Ganassi. Not to mention moving to Ganassi gives Wilson a great outlet when he wants to run sports cars.
Reasons why he won't: It seems absurd to think Wilson wouldn't be the first candidate for Ganassi but we can't rule anything out. Wilson has shown loyalty to Dale Coyne Racing the last few years but now that his long-time engineer Bill Pappas has moved to Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing, Wilson may also be looking elsewhere and more specifically RLLR to join Pappas. Let's not forget that Wilson has had a long relationship with Michael Shank who he has run for on numerous of occasions for in Daytona Prototypes.

Ryan Briscoe
Reasons why: Briscoe has had a long relationship with Ganassi and drove for him just last year in the Indianapolis 500. Briscoe was a free agent at the beginning of 2013 before sharing the #4 Panther Racing entry with Oriol Servià after JR Hildebrand was fired after Indianapolis.
Reasons why he won't: It appeared Briscoe and Panther Racing were to the point of dotting the "i's" and crossing the "t's" on a deal for 2014 a month ago and if he is signed, forget him returning to Ganassi. But with recent reports Panther Racing will be losing National Guard sponsorship to RLLR, that could mean Briscoe is back on the market. Briscoe also raced for Level 5 Motorsports in the American Le Mans Series in 2013 and it hasn't been ruled out him returning to the team as that team could be running FIA World Endurance Championship in 2014.

Alex Tagliani
Reasons why: He substituted for Franchitti at the season finale at Fontana and was running at the front until he spun. Tagliani is experienced and has a good relationship with Scott Dixon. Tagliani also could go back-and-forth to sports cars with Ganassi.
Reasons why not: Tagliani is 40. How many years does Ganassi think he has left? Not to forget mentioning Tagliani has one win in roughly fourteen years of IndyCar competition and that win came at Road America in 2004. Can Tagliani run up front consistently? He had one good showing at Fontana but hasn't had a podium since Surfers Paradise in 2006. Is this really the type of driver Ganassi is looking to hire?

Oriol Servià
Reasons why: Constantly quick regardless who he is driving for. Was teammates with Dixon back at PacWest Racing.
Reasons why not: This will sound a lot like Tagliani. Servià is 39. How many years does Ganassi think he has left? Has only one care win at Montreal in 2005 but unlike Tagliani, Servià has run more consistently at the front of the field and finished fourth in the championship standings driving for Newman-Haas Racing in 2011 where he had three podiums and six top fives.

Simona de Silvestro
Reasons why: Had a great end to 2013 by collecting five consecutive top ten finishes including her first career podium at Houston and first career top ten on an oval at Fontana. Her and Tony Kanaan worked well together in 2013 and throwing her into Ganassi with Dixon as an additional teammate will only help her even more.
Reasons why not: Despite showing progress in the final two oval races of 2013, de Silvestro is still trying to get a better hold of them and has to put together oval performances where she is constantly up front.

Josef Newgarden
Reasons why: In his first two seasons, Newgarden has shown fabulous pace on ovals, road and street courses. In 2013, Newgarden improved vastly over his rookie season, nearly winning at São Paulo and Baltimore with other impressive performances at Texas and Pocono. He is a young driver but has more seat time in the DW12 than all other 22 year olds.
Reasons why not: Has a deal with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing for 2014 and has been very loyal to her and Newgarden doesn't appear to be the type of guy to leave Fisher hanging in the wind.

JR Hildebrand
Reasons why: Despite getting fired after Indianapolis last year, Hildebrand was the top Honda for majority of the Fontana season finale driving for Bryan Herta Autosport. He clearly has pace and, as we have seen with the talent set of drivers to pass through Panther Racing, that team hasn't always complimented a drivers' skill set, especially on road and street courses.
Reasons why not: Panther may not be a good team but regardless, Hildebrand did not get the results that warrant a promotion. One podium, five career top fives and twelve career top tens in thirty-eight races isn't enough of a reason for Ganassi to hiring the former Indy Lights champion.

Luca Filippi
Reasons why: Showed a lot of speed at the end of 2013 driving for Bryan Herta Autosport. Ganassi would be a better option to learn ovals than Herta. Ganassi has a good track record with hiring Italian drivers. Filippi is good enough to be in Formula One and would fit in well with Dixon, Kanaan and Kimball.
Reasons why not: Appears to have a deal with Herta for 2014. As I mentioned before, doesn't have any oval experience and will need to learn the ropes.

Conor Daly
Reasons why: Limited IndyCar experience but has shown pace in every series he has been in, from once-Star Mazda to Indy Lights to GP3 to GP2, Daly has found a way to the front. He is the type of young driver Ganassi is talking about. Ganassi isn't going to sign a Sage Karam or Gabby Chaves. If he is signing a young driver, he is signing Conor Daly. Or... wait for the next candidate.
Reasons why not: If Daly gets funding for GP2, I expect him to be in GP2. Or if Daly gets a testing role with a Formula One team (maybe Force India), he may take it over a IndyCar ride. If Ganassi doesn't sign him, it could because he wonders how committed Daly would be to IndyCar, knowing he is so close to Formula One.

Sam Bird
Reasons why: Finished second in GP2 in 2013. Test driver for Mercedes. Is talented enough to be in Formula One. Has shown pace in Formula Three, Formula Renault 3.5 and GP2. Bird is the type of young driver Ganassi built his empire on in the late 1990s, early 2000s when he hired Montoya, Junqueira and Minassian (Minassian of course not as successful as Montoya and Junqueira but talented nonetheless).
Reasons why not: No oval experience. Same as Daly, how committed would he be to IndyCar knowing how close he is to Formula One?

Sergio Pérez
Reasons why: Has been competitive in Formula One. Has a common supporter with Ganassi in Telmex and Carlos Slim. A Mexican driver would be a welcome sight, completing the trifecta of North American countries represented on the IndyCar grid.
Reasons why not: No oval experience. Has plenty of talent and funding to stay in Formula One.

Paul di Resta
Reasons why: Has been successful in every series he has been in from Formula Three to DTM to Formula One. Has a good letter of recommendation from his cousin, Dario Franchitti. Appears to share the same love and appreciation for all forms of motorsports that he cousin is known for. Despite no oval experience, di Resta appears open and not anxious about ovals.
Reasons why not: He is in Formula One and has done nothing wrong to not be in Formula One in 2014. If his chooses are between Force India and Chip Ganassi, he is taking Force India.

With all these candidates thought out, I'd say the top echelon of candidates is made up of Wilson, Briscoe, Tagliani and Daly. The next level is Bird, Newgarden, di Resta and de Silvestro with the bottom tier being Pérez, Filippi, Servià and Hildebrand.

This has been an interesting offseason and we're still a little over four months away from St. Petersburg. Whoever ends up at Ganassi will have a fast car and will be expected to be competing for wins each week.