We know that he can win when he gets behind the wheel of an IndyCar, but does he have what it takes to be a successful business man and impress Donald Trump?

We will find out this season on NBC’s reality show Celebrity Apprentice where Michael Andretti will be one of the contestants. This season of the show looks particularly good, with a good mix of celebs joining Andretti in the competition. The list includes American Idol star Clay Aiken, comedian Arsenio Hall, American Choppers tough guy Paul Tuetul Sr., original Star Trek cast member George Takei, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, Miss Universe 2008 winner Dayana Mendoza and others.

Look for the show to premiere on February the 12th at 9pm.

Baltimore’s Grand Prix, an IndyCar Series race, is in great jeopardy when the city terminated its contact with the organizers of the race. The city has been warning Baltimore Racing Development that they would terminate its five-year contract if BRD failed to pay the $1.5 million owed to the city by the end of 2011.

Now it’s 2012 and BRD hasn’t paid up, forcing Baltimore to pull the plug, opening the door to others interested in continuing the race in future years. BRD was responsible for organizing the Baltimore Grand Prix and their duties ranged from bringing the fencing to line the course to selling sponsorships and tickets to the event.

The Mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, had hoped that the BRD would restructure in order to pay their debts before the end of the year as the Grand Prix had generated $47 million in economic impact for Baltimore. ”The event, if conducted responsibly, has significant economic value to potential investors and the City this year and in future years,” said Rawlings-Blake.

BRD currently has almost $600,000 in unpaid taxes along with lawsuits from investors and vendors.

[Source: WTOP via Autoblog]

Lotus Motorsport achieved a couple of major milestones recently, firing up their first ever IndyCar engine while also giving their Exige R-GT Rally car its first shakedown runs – both of which occurred within 24 hours.

On December 22nd at Dallara’s headquarters in Varano Melegari, Palma, Lotus successfully started up the first official IndyCar engine while under the observance of Group Lotus Director of Motorsport Claudio Berro and his team’s technicians. Once they were satisfied with the overall results from the engine, the team began preparations to have the powerplant and car shipped to the United States where full testing will begin in January.

“The fire up in the car went really well, there were no nasty surprises and I think our partners are going to be very happy with the results. It was only October last year that we announced that we would become an IndyCar engine supplier and just 12 months on, we had an all new Lotus engine and three teams signed up – Bryan Herta Autosport, Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, and HVM Racing. We’ve still got a lot of work to do ahead of the start of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar season but so far I’m very encouraged by what I see”, said Claudio Berro.

Lotus also had their first shakedown runs in their Exige S R-GT Rally car in Turin with the team delighted with the results. Testing on the rally car will continue in the new year in preparations for the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship where the Exige will compete in the FIA GT category. It’s powered by a 3.5L, supercharged powerplant and looks to be a formidable race car in the series.

GALLERY: Lotus IndyCar Engine and Exige R-GT Rally

IndyCar has released the cause of Dan Wheldon’s death as a non-survivable injury when his head hit a post in the fencing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The two-time Indianapolis winner was killed in a 15-car accident at the October 16th race when his car was launched into the catch fence.

Beyond that, details were light and unfortunately no one reason could be singled out as the cause of the accident – making it difficult for Las Vegas Speedway to potentially make any changes in order to make the track safer. Investigators referred to the accident as a “perfect storm” and IndyCar said that ”impossible to determine with certainty that the result would have been any different if one or more of the factors did not exist.”

IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard reiterated that the size of the field and the banking itself were not the sole responsible for the accident.

[Source: Fox News]

In the wake of the tragic crash that caused Dan Wheldon’s unfortunate passing, the IndyCar Series has decided to remove the Las Vegas race from its 2012 schedule. 2011 was the first year Las Vegas Speedway’s oval was used for open-wheel racing since 2005, and a massive 15-car accident was the result, involving the death of Dan Wheldon (above).

Currently officials have been testing at the Vegas track to see what can be done, if anything, to make the oval safer. But for now, IndyCar plans to stay away from the track.

[Source: Autoblog]

With 2012 just around the corner now, Chevrolet is hyping up its return to IndyCar where they haven’t been racing for six years. Their return also means the development of a new engine for the racing series, where they hope to take what they learn on the track and apply it to their passenger vehicles.

Their upcoming IndyCar campaign will be powered by a brand new, twin-turbocharged, direct-injected V6 powerplant that runs on renewable E85 ethanol fuel. The excitement and buzz surrounding the program couldn’t be more optimistic, as Chevrolet hopes to transfer a lot of that technology to the street in their upcoming production models.

And if their proven success with their ALMS Corvettes is any indication of what’s to come in production tech-transfer, most of us will be wishing Chevy didn’t take a six year hiatus from IndyCar.

Check out a video after the break showing off what Chevy has in store for the 2012 IndyCar season.

Continue Reading…

Legendary racing outfit Newman/Haas is closing its doors after nearly 30 years in business, after the team failed to find sponsorship for the coming season.

Founded by Carl Haas and actor Paul Newman, the team had a solid record throughout its life – with 107 wins and 8 championships – but never managed to win an Indy 500 victory. Drivers like Nigel Mansell, Sebastian Bourdais, Mario Andretti and Paul Tracy were some of the top-name talent that drove for the team during its heyday.

With Newman’s death in 2008 and Haas reportedly ailing, the team’s closure seems inevitable, but does not bode well for the Indy Car series.

The IZOD IndyCar Series will be brought to China for the first time in a race scheduled on August 19, 2012.

Held in Qingdao, China, located between Beijing and Shanghai, this coastal city has previously hosted the 2008 Summer Olympic sailing competitions. Until finances can provide for a proper racing circuit to be constructed, a 6.2 kilometer street course will designed for the event for the time being. Unfortunately, the addition to the IZOD IndyCar racing schedule will knock Japan’s Motegi circuit, previously the only race in Asia to hold a major American open-wheel series, off the list.

Motivation for IndyCar’s new schedule for next season has a lot to do with up-and-coming talent, Ho-Pin Tung, the first Chinese racing driver to participate in American open-wheel racing.

[Source: Autoblog]

In light of talented racing driver Dan Wheldon’s tragic death, and the family he has left behind, fellow racing driver Graham Rahal first announced that he would auction off the helmet, gloves, and shoes worn during the Las Vegas 300 to raise money to help the Wheldon family through this difficult time.

Following Rahal by example, an outpouring of collective support from athletes, and Eric Gazin of Auction Cause, came together to create the Charity eBay Auction in memory of IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dan Wheldon. 100 percent of all proceeds from this auction will be donated to the Dan Wheldon Family Trust Fund.

Launched October 24th, each item listed on the Dan Wheldon Memorial Auction will be open for bidding for approximately ten days. A particularly popular item on the list, a NASCAR helmet worn by Jimmie Johnson, is already up to $13,500!

Soon to follow, accomplished racing driver and star from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, Patrick Dempsey, will auction his Mazda racing suit as well. By following Graham Rahal’s twitter, you can keep track of more upcoming motorsport memorabilia soon to be available at the auction.

Athletes and celebrities are not the only people that can help. Eric Gazin encourages anyone to offer an item to the Dan Wheldon Memorial Auction, with any portion of the eventual selling price donated to the cause at the seller’s discretion.

Direct donations are available via the Dan Wheldon Family Trust fund at the Fifth Third Private Bank, 251 N. Illinois St., Suite 1000, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

Dan Wheldon was one of the driving forces behind the new-for-2012 Indy Car chassis, completing countless laps in pre-season testing.

But with Wheldon’s tragic death at the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16th looming over the series, chassis maker Dallara has decided to honor Wheldon by naming the 2012 chassis after him.

“Dan lives in the memory of everybody at Dallara. He has been a true champion; not only because of his many victories, but and above everything else, because he has been a true and warm man to all the people he encountered,” said company boss Gianpaolo Dallara.

Wheldon achieved all 16 of his victories with a Dallara chassis. The official name of the car has yet to be announced.

[Source: Autosport]