Briscoe Returns To Ganassi

After weeks of speculation, the replacement for Dario Franchitti has been announced.

Ryan Briscoe will return to Chip Ganassi Racing and will drive the #8 NTT Data Chevrolet which was previously announced to be the car for Tony Kanaan in the 2014 season. Kanaan will move to the #10 Target Chevrolet.

Briscoe last raced for Ganassi at the 2013 Indianapolis 500, where the Australian started twenty-third and finished twelfth. Briscoe made six more starts in the 2013 IndyCar season, all driving for Panther Racing. His best finish with Panther was a thirteenth at Belle Isle. Briscoe also competed in the American Le Mans Series in 2013, driving for Level 5 Motorsports in the LMP2 class. He scored six class victories including the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. He also made his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans where his team finished unclassified. Briscoe ended his 2013 season driving in the endurance rounds of the V8 Supercar championship, pairing with 2005 V8 Supercars champion Russell Ingall. The pairing scored a 3rd and 5th at Surfers Paradise and a 9th place at the Sandown 500.

In Briscoe's only full season driving for Ganassi, he had three top tens with his best finish being an eighth at Nashville. Briscoe would finish tenth in his first Indianapolis 500. He scored his first career pole at Sonoma but retired from that race after an accident with Danica Patrick and Helio Castroneves. Briscoe's season would be cut short after an accident at Chicagoland broke both his clavicles, bruised his lung and left him concussed.

Briscoe was previously believed to be heading to Panther Racing in 2014 but uncertainty over the future of their National Guard sponsorship ended those plans.

With Briscoe signing with Ganassi, that leaves the mock 2014 IndyCar starting grid at twenty confirmed teams.

Joining Briscoe and Kanaan at Ganassi are defending champion Scott Dixon and Charlie Kimball.

Penske Racing will have three cars with Juan Pablo Montoya joining Will Power and Helio Castroneves after seven seasons in NASCAR.

Andretti Autosport will have four cars with Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe all returning and Carlos Muñoz being promoted from Indy Lights.

Sam Schmidt's team will field two cars with Simon Pagenaud returning and being joined by Russian Mikhail Aleshin.

Ed Carpenter and Mike Conway will split the #20 Fuzzy Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet with Carpenter running ovals and Conway on road and street courses.

Sébastien Bourdais will head to the rebranded KVSH Racing, driving the #11 Mistic e-Cigs Chevrolet.

Graham Rahal is slated to return to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, while Justin Wilson signed a multi-year deal with Dale Coyne Racing at the start of 2013. Josef Newgarden is signed with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing for 2014.

It is believed Takuma Sato will return to AJ Foyt Racing for 2014 and the Bryan Herta Autosport entry will be filled by either Luca Filippi or JR Hildebrand.

If IndyCar maintains a grid of twenty-four cars for 2014, that leaves four open seats for 2014. Despite their sponsor issues, Panther Racing is still likely to return, Dale Coyne Racing always seems to find a way to field a second car, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing should have a second entry especially if they land the National Guard sponsorship from Panther and a second entry could return at KVSH Racing.

Dragon Racing is believed to be cutting back on IndyCar activities as they will focus on participating in FIA Formula E later in 2014. The teams is reportedly still planning on running the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500.

With possibly no-more-than four seats remaining, the likes of James Jakes, Simona de Silvestro, EJ Viso, Sebastian Saavedra, Oriol Servià, Alex Tagliani, Sage Karam, Tristan Vautier, Conor Daly, Sam Bird and even Bruno Senna are still looking for rides in IndyCar in 2014.