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Will Power, No. 3, Team Penske
Born: March 1, 1981
Hometown: Toowoomba, Australia
Outlook: Power has moved from KV Racing Technology to Roger Penske's team, filling in at Team Penske until it is determined if and when 2008 series runner-up Helio Castroneves, currently being tried on federal tax charges, can return to racing. The Aussie, a three-time winner in the defunct Champ Car series, had two top-fives and five top-10s in 16 races last season as an IndyCar rookie.
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Dan Wheldon, No. 4, Panther Racing
Born: June 22, 1978
Hometown: Emberton, England
Outlook: The 2005 IndyCar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner returns to his roots, moving to Panther Racing, with whom he made his series debut in 2002. Last year he drove for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, winning two races on the way to a fourth-place finish in the points. Wheldon has 15 career victories but joins a team that has not won since 2005.
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Mario Moraes, No. 5, KV Racing Technology
Born: Dec. 20, 1988
Hometown: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Outlook: Entering his second year in IndyCar, the 20-year-old former karting star moves from Dale Coyne Racing. Moraes had three top-10 finishes, including a season-best seventh at Watkins Glen, in his rookie year.
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Ryan Briscoe, No. 6, Team Penske
Born: Sept. 24, 1981
Hometown: Sydney, Australia
Outlook: Finished fifth in the standings in first season with Penske. Established himself as a contender for 2009 with two points victories and a win in a nonpoints event in his native Australia. Led eight of 17 races and has five top-fives and 11 top-10s last year.
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Danica Patrick, No. 7, Andretti Green Racing
Born: March 25, 1982
Hometown: Roscoe, Ill.
Outlook: First career victory came in Japan last spring and raised expectations for one of the most recognizable female athletes in the world. Patrick finished a career-best sixth in the points, continuing the trend of improving on her standing in each of her five seasons in IndyCar. Starting third season with Andretti Green Racing and will have team co-owner and former driving champion Michael Andretti calling her races for the first time in 2009.
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Scott Dixon, No. 9, Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Born: July 22, 1980
Hometown: Auckland, New Zealand
Outlook: Goes into 2009 as favorite to win second straight IndyCar title and third of his career. Won a record-tying six races in 2008, giving him 16 for his career. Had 14 top-five finishes in 17 starts in 2008, leading 11 races. Could join Sam Hornish Jr., now driving in NASCAR, as only drivers to win consecutive titles in IndyCar Series. Victory at Nazareth in 2002 at age 22 made him the then-youngest winner of a major open-wheel event. Went on to win the 2003 series title.
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Dario Franchitti, No. 10, Target Chip Ganassi Racing
Born: May 19, 1973
Hometown: Edinburgh, Scotland
Outlook: Returns to IndyCar Series after move to NASCAR last season was cut short by lack of sponsorship. Longtime open-wheel star won the series championship and the Indy 500 in 2007 while driving for Andretti Green Racing. Has 13 career wins, including four in 2007 when he beat current Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon for the title by just 13 points. Dixon ran out of fuel on the last lap of the last race, allowing Franchitti to win the race and the championship.
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Tony Kanaan, No. 11, Andretti Green Racing
Born: Dec. 31, 1974
Hometown: Salvador Bahia, Brazil
Outlook: Perennial contender Kanaan finished third last season and is the team leader at AGR, showing the way for teammates Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick and Hideki Mutoh with his 13 career victories. Consistent Kanaan had 11 top-fives and 15 top-10s last season. The 2004 series champion has won at least one race in each of his seven IndyCar seasons. Has been with AGR his entire IndyCar career and renewed his contract late last season. In 2004, became first driver in a major auto racing series to complete every lap of every race for an entire season.
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Raphael Matos, No. 12, Luczo Dragon Racing
Born: Aug. 28, 1981
Hometown: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Outlook: Matos moves up to IndyCar after winning consecutive championships in second-tier series, Formula Atlantic in 2007 and Indy Lights in 2008. Joins the Luczo Dragon team, co-owned by Stephen J. Luczo and Jay Penske, son of famed car owner Roger Penske. Team ran just six races last season with Tomas Scheckter at the wheel, but plans to race the full schedule with Matos in 2009.
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E.J. Viso, No. 13, HVM Racing
Born: March 19, 1985
Hometown: Caracas, Venezuela
Outlook: Aggressive driving style gained attention for the IndyCar rookie in 2008 and raised expectations for the former Formula One test driver this season. Viso recorded five top-10 finishes on the way to finishing 18th in the season points for HVM, one of the teams transitioning from Champ Car to the unified IndyCar Series.
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Vitor Meira, No. 14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Born: March 27, 1977
Hometown: Brasilia, Brazil
Outlook: Entering eighth season in IndyCar and first with Foyt team after racing with Panther last three years. With 93 starts, still considered the best driver in series without a race win. Had two top-fives and seven top-10s last season while finishing 13th in the points.
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Justin Wilson, No. 18, Dale Coyne Racing
Born: July 31, 1978
Hometown: Sheffield, England
Outlook: Wilson had consecutive runner-up finishes in the Champ Car series with the now-defunct RuSport team before moving to IndyCar last year with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. Made solid transition to new series with two top-fives, including a win at Detroit, and seven top-10s. Finished 11th in the 2008 points. At 6-foot-3, Wilson is one of the tallest drivers in open-wheel racing. Won 2001 F3000 championship and had 16 Formula One starts in 2003 with Minardi and Jaguar before moving to Champ Car the next season. Won four times in Champ Car.
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Ed Carpenter, No. 20, Vision Racing
Born: March 3, 1981
Hometown: Indianapolis
Outlook: The stepson of Indy Racing League founder Tony George is starting his sixth full season in the IndyCar Series and fourth with his stepfather's Vision Racing. Coming off second straight 15th-place finish in standings, but had a career best two top-fives, including a fifth-place finish in the Indianapolis 500. Won inaugural Indy Pro Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2003, the first automobile race conducted in conjunction with the Indy 500.
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Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 21, Vision Racing
Born: Dec. 17, 1980
Hometown: Boca Raton, Fla.
Outlook: Spent last two seasons with Rahal Letterman Racing, winning rookie of the year honors in 2007 and finishing eighth last season after winning his first IndyCar race at Watkins Glen. Was also top rookie in Indianapolis 500 last year, finishing sixth. Lost his ride with Rahal Letterman when team lost sponsorship. Drove three years in Champ Car, winning two of 45 starts, before moving to IndyCar.
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Darren Manning, No. 23, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Born: April 30, 1975
Hometown: North Yorkshire, England
Outlook: Strong road racer was last-minute addition to the lineup, joining rookie teammate Mike Conway. Manning has a total of 58 IndyCar race starts with seven top-five and 25 top-10 finishes. Spent the last two seasons with A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Finished career-best 11th in points for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 2004, his rookie season in IndyCar.
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Mike Conway, No. 24, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Born: Aug. 19, 1983
Hometown: Bromley, Kent, England
Outlook: Former karting star won titles in 2004 British Formula Renault and 2006 British F3 International Series. Also won the 2006 Macau Grand Prix. Impressed with a fast IndyCar test last year at Infineon Raceway and will start his first race in America in the season-opener at St. Petersburg, Fla., on Sunday.
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Marco Andretti, No. 26, Andretti Green Racing
Born: March 13, 1987
Hometown: Nazareth, Pa.
Outlook: It's time for Andretti to make a statement as he returns to AGR, co-owned by his father, Michael Andretti, for fourth season. Third-generation open-wheel racing star made a successful leap to the IndyCar Series in 2006 after three seasons competing in various junior formula series and the Indy Pro Series. The grandson of racing legend Mario Andretti won rookie of the year honors after finishing seventh in the standings. Last two seasons have been disappointing, though, as he faded to 11th in 2007 and moved back up to seventh last season with six top-fives and eight top-10s.
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Hideki Mutoh, No. 27, Andretti Green Racing
Born: Oct. 6, 1982
Hometown: Tokyo, Japan
Outlook: Last year's rookie of the year returns for his second season with hopes of becoming a championship contender. Had one top-five last season, finishing second at Iowa, and seven top-10s. The graduate of Honda's driver development program scored two victories en route to a second-place finish in the Indy Pro Series in 2007.
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Alex Tagliani, No. 34, Conquest Racing
Born: Oct. 18, 1972
Hometown: Montreal
Outlook: Tagliani, a veteran of eight seasons in the Champ Car series, moves into a full-time ride with Conquest Racing after replacing injured Enrique Bernoldi for the final two points races of 2008. Tagliani, who also drove for Derrick Walker at Long Beach, finishing seventh last April in the final Champ Car event, finished 22nd and 12th for Conquest at Detroit and Chicago in his first two IndyCar events. He spent most of last season making the transition to stock cars in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. His only victory in 132 Champ Car starts came at Road America in 2004.
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Stanton Barrett, No. 98, Curb/Agajanian/Team 3G
Born: Dec. 1, 1972
Hometown: Bishop, Calif.
Outlook: Hollywood stuntman and journeyman driver has raced in a variety of series and will make his IndyCar debut at St. Petersburg driving for new team. Plans to also run select NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide races this season. Barrett has worked as a stuntman in nearly 150 motion pictures and TV series. His father, Stan Barrett, was also a Hollywood stuntman and ran 19 NASCAR Winston Cup events between 1980 and 1990, as well as becoming the first person to exceed the speed of sound in a car.
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Graham Rahal, No. 02, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
Born: Jan. 4, 1989
Hometown: New Albany, Ohio
Outlook: Rahal, now 20, opens his second IndyCar season as the defending race winner at St. Petersburg. The son of longtime open-wheel star Bobby Rahal won that race in his IndyCar debut, becoming the youngest winner in major open-wheel racing. Transitioning from Champ Car to IndyCar in the series unification, Rahal had an up-and-down rookie season, finishing with four top-10s and winding up 12th in the points. With the departure of Justin Wilson, Rahal becomes the lead driver at Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.
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Robert Doornbos, No. 06, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
Born: Sept. 23, 1981
Hometown: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Outlook: Former Formula One and Champ Car driver joins Graham Rahal at Newman/Haas/Lanigan. Doornbos drove for both Minardi and Red Bull, as well as testing for Jordan in F1 in 2005 and 2006. He moved to the Champ Car series with Minardi in 2007, winning two races and top rookie honors, finishing third in the series. After failing to find a competitive ride in IndyCar after the unification, he spent last season in Europe, driving in the Superleague Formula -- a new series for teams sponsored by soccer clubs. Doornbos drove for AC Milan, winning two races and finishing third in the points.
