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View Full Version : In case you haven't Heard, The Robin Sings an Ode to Panther Racing, Or What's Left



SurfaceUnits
11-24-05, 08:59 PM
Panther Racing Facing at Least a Temporary Shutdown
Written by: Robin Miller
Indianapolis, Ind. – 11/23/2005

Panther Racing claims its doors aren’t closed for good, but the shop lights have been turned off and most of its employees are out looking for jobs.

One of the Indy Racing League’s most successful stories for the past eight years, winners of two championships and 15 races, had to layoff the majority of its work force earlier this week due to financial reality.

“We’ve never, ever laid anyone off before but when you don’t have any income what else can you do?” said Mike Griffin, one of the five co-owners of the Indianapolis-based team. “We wanted to be up front and honest about our situation. It’s not like we shut things down, it’s just that we don’t have an operating budget at the moment.

“With our situation with Pennzoil, there’s simply not enough cash to sustain 50 people and right now there’s nothing for them to do anyway. We understand the consequences of letting guys go because they’ve got to look out for their families so we know they’re out looking for jobs.

“But, hopefully, we’ll be calling people up to come back in a few weeks if one of our sponsorship deals comes through.”

Panther Racing has been sponsored by Pennzoil since 1998 but that contract, estimated to be worth $4 million, expired two months ago so the principals of Panther have been scrambling to find money.

“We’re looking at several options,” said Griffin, whose group is thought to be talking with Pat Patrick and the sons of Jonathan Byrd about keeping Panther alive. “We’ve got five sponsorship deals in the hopper and several people have inquired about buying the place. The people we’re talking to want us to stay in the IRL and, obviously, our druthers would be to keep going in the series we love.

“This has always been a family deal and we want to keep it going. But you can’t do anything without money.”

Keeping driver Tomas Scheckter and his reported $2 million salary would appear to be out of question since the Honda engine lease is likely to cost $1.8 million and it takes another $4 million to run one car competitively.

“We told Tomas if he finds something to go for it, because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Griffin. “We just need one of these sponsor deals to come through and we could have a positive answer for everybody by December 5.”

Panther’s plight is the latest to hit IRL mechanics. Eddie Cheever had a massive layoff at the end of this season and Ganassi Racing let nine mechanics go when it decided to cut back from three to two cars.

Cam
11-24-05, 09:13 PM
I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would see this on TF....


Robin Miller is right more often than you folks give credit for...

Link! (http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=955938&postcount=18)

cart7
11-24-05, 09:20 PM
I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would see this on TF....




Link! (http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=955938&postcount=18)

That's SeanO's old buddy. :gomer:

Cam
11-24-05, 09:49 PM
That's SeanO's old buddy. :gomer:

I aint fielding that one! :saywhat:

Fio1
11-25-05, 01:17 AM
That's a real shame. I can't believe that Pat Patrck, Jonathan Byrd and Panther are all involved in a single deal that can't find any money. Thanks a lot Tony G, you REALLY are helping your loyal guys out. :rolleyes:

I think Panther have a better chance getting a Champcar deal together. I'm sure there are some guys running around with a budget that rather do that then hit walls in the IRL. :cool:

I'm currious about the 2 mil salary for Tomas Scheckter. I could find a dozen guys that can do a better job for a fraction of that! :shakehead But, I think some, if not most of the 2 mil came from Rock Star, which from what I understand came from Tomas Scheckter. I know Tomas Enge brought some money to the table. And, he did a better job then Scheckter. Ironic, aint it?

Sean O'Gorman
11-25-05, 03:01 AM
That's SeanO's old buddy. :gomer:

Look at his website:


OBJECTIVE: To obtain a position within an open-wheel racing team in either the Indy Racing League or Champ Car World Series that is seeking a young, energetic, and talented individual specializing in the mass communications field.

What Champ Car team would want him to work for them after all the bad things he has said about Champ Car on TF? I remember him rooting for their demise on that January day in '04. He has one of the worst cases of Indycitis I've ever seen.

Of course, that being said, I still hate to see anyone lose their jobs, and hope all the Panther employees can find work elsewhere.

coolhand
11-25-05, 03:27 AM
that poster linked is a layed-off panther employee.

Cam
11-25-05, 07:06 AM
specializing in the mass communications field.

Spammer? :gomer:

cameraman
11-25-05, 02:37 PM
Look at his website:

He is quite the rocket scientist. He puts the phone numbers and emails of his reference list on his web site in plain text where any and every spammer on the planet can load them up. That is all I would need to know when it comes to considering him for a communications job... :shakehead

Don Quixote
11-25-05, 03:23 PM
Spammer? :gomer:

If so, I hear there is a job opening at that hip, over the top and edgy radio show "speedfreaks". :gomer:

Methanolandbrats
11-25-05, 04:52 PM
Bad for the workers :(
Good for motorsports :)

SurfaceUnits
12-02-05, 03:07 AM
Get it while you can at eBay:

#4 Pennzoil Panther Dallara IndyCar - Sam Hornish Jr. Gift Services 1 $100,000.00
See description 8d 10h 56m

cameraman
12-02-05, 01:42 PM
They are selling it with the Chevy...