Now, does Sam stay at Panther????

[diftw]

I wonder when something official will be announced?

Has anyone heard anything?

Dave

[Hardscrabble]

Sam, his lawyer, and Panther are supposedly meeting in Indy today.

[MicroRacer]

Sam would be great on any team, but I think that Sam and Panther click. Sometimes it hard for the crew and the driver to be exactly on the same wavelength.

Panther is a great team, but not with the finances of Penske, Gannasi and AGR. I think it makes Sams achievements seem all that much better than if he was wilth Penske, Gannasi or AGR. One of the reasons I am a fan of Sams is because he is with Panther an orginal IRL team..

[Teej]

I would certainly hope so!

Now, does Sam stay at Panther?

Now if Hornish can lead a lap and be very competiitive at the Indianapolis 500, I think even he would be a happy camper!

[Jim Wilke]

FWIW, probably very little, Mark C. is rumoring that Sam will re-sign with Panther this week. He says the money needed will come from Tony George. In my view, he's half right. I believe Sam will come back with Panther but the extra money will be thrown in by Chevy. I don't think they invested millions in the Cosworth-Gen 4 deal to put all their hopes behind Buddy Rice and Vitor or whatever replacement Panther can find.

Here's what I see happening: Chevy signs Hornish to a personal services deal and then assigns those services to Panther. They also 'loan' him out to Childress for the Daytona 500 and perhaps another Cup race or two, maybe even a Busch deal this fall to get his feet wet. Chevy, Panther and Childress also announce a deal in which Panther and Childress form a partnership to run a second car to essentially team with Sam. It will run out of the same shop and Childress will be responsible for providing $X money while Chevy provides $Y money and Panther provides their share through building space and related resources. No idea who would drive the second car. Renna?

[Ydawg]

Wow Jim - I hope your right!

[SPM]

Originally posted by Jim Wilke
Here's what I see happening: Chevy signs Hornish to a personal services deal and then assigns those services to Panther. They also 'loan' him out to Childress for the Daytona 500 and perhaps another Cup race or two, maybe even a Busch deal this fall to get his feet wet. Chevy, Panther and Childress also announce a deal in which Panther and Childress form a partnership to run a second car to essentially team with Sam. It will run out of the same shop and Childress will be responsible for providing $X money while Chevy provides $Y money and Panther provides their share through building space and related resources. No idea who would drive the second car. Renna?

This is what I believe will happen also. I would also expect Sam to get a personal services deal with the IRL/IMS that pays him generously to stay and help promote the league.

[Mav-1]

Maybe the delay from the original time frame is to finalize the Childress-Panther-Chevy details?

[Jimmy_22]

I hope you are all correct - that would be the perfect scenario !!!

[Grover]

I think Sam is gone.

[bigred]

Originally posted by Grover
I think Sam is gone.

it's official

[Jim Wilke]

Looks like I was dead wrong.

[BlueStang]

And a second to all of you who can't keep your typing fingers still long enough to let others of us read about it first.

[FOYTFAN14]

Re: Now, does Sam stay at Panther????

Originally posted by diftw
I wonder when something official will be announced?

Has anyone heard anything?

Dave

I heard he's going to be named the next lead singer for Van Halen.

[Jimmy_22]

Unfortunately, this quote form Barnes does not bode well for Sam staying in the IRL

"But things change and sometimes people need to step out of a comfort zone and stretch a bit. We wish Sam the best in whatever he decides to pursue"



Sorry - No linkie poo (I'd get in trouble with the cross-posting gentleman's agreement)