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Wheldon and Panther Racing Join Forces

Every once in awhile you end up where you started, that’s what happened to IndyCar driver, Dan Wheldon. The 2005 Indy 500 winner and 2005 IndyCar Series champion signed a multi-year contact to return to Panther Racing where he made his debut in 2002 as a test driver. This coming weekend the IndyCar Series is at Chicagoland Speedway which is where Wheldon made his debut in ’02. The young Brit finished 10th at Chicagoland and impressed many that day. Wheldon also ran a second Panther car at Texas where he finished 15th.

“It’s hard to describe the level of excitement and emotions all of us at Panther have knowing that Dan has come back to drive for us,” team Managing Partner and CEO John Barnes said. “I remember watching him drive for the first time in the Indy Lights series years ago, and I knew he was going to be a special talent. Since then he’s become one of the best open-wheel drivers in the world, and for him to make his return to our team at the height of his racing career is a tremendous compliment to our team. I know he’s excited about getting into the No. 4 car for the first time and we’ve got a tremendous future ahead of us.”

In 2002, Panther Racing had Sam Hornish, Jr. as their primary driver and Hornish was going to be lead driver in 2003. Thus, Wheldon took an opportunity to go with Andretti-Green Racing in 2004 where he was rookie of the year.

“I’m very excited to be joining the entire Panther Racing crew,” Wheldon said. “This is the place where I started my career in 2002 and with the personnel and leadership that John Barnes has put together, I know that we’ll be fighting for outright victories, the Indianapolis 500 title and the league championship. I’m looking forward to when my obligations with my current team have been honored, so I can get with the entire Panther family and start moving towards all of our goals of winning races and championships together. It’s great to be back.”

After his historic season in ’05, Wheldon continued to be one of the hard chargers in the sport and backed it up as one of the winningest and most consistent drivers in the IndyCar Series. Wheldon’s success with Andretti Green Racing continued with Target Chip Ganassi Racing whom he moved over to in 2006. That year, Wheldon won two races and tied former teammate Hornish for the overall points lead at the end of the year but the title went to Hornish because he had more victories.

Wheldon currently ranks fourth in the IndyCar Series points standings and has two victories this year — at Kansas Speedway and Iowa Speedway.

For his career, Wheldon has amassed 15 IndyCar Series victories; five Poles, 54 Top Five and 72 Top Ten finishes in his 96 starts in the league. His 15 wins rank him third all-time in IndyCar Series history, and his 2,735 laps led are the third most in the history of the series.

Wheldon is to make his return to Panther Racing at the non-points Australian IndyCar race October 26.

– Panther Racing PR contributed to this report.

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