vitor meira

Vitor Meira is departing the US open wheel racing scene, and will swap IndyCar motor sports for competing in touring stock cars back in his native Brazil in 2012.

Team owner AJ Foyt wasn't able to attend the IndyCar season opener at St Petersburg - because he was recovering from emergency heart surgery.

Vitor Meira's wild Indianapolis 500 resulted in him being detained in hospital with spinal injuries, although the long-term prognosis is positive for the Brazilian.

The success enjoyed by the unified IndyCar Series this season has provided many positive storylines but, for one stalwart of the leaner years, Sunday's Chicagoland finale may have been the downside of this year's growth.

Menards Home Improvement Centre and Johns Manville will sponsor the #17 Honda-powered Panoz driven by Vitor Meira during the 2005 IRL IndyCar Series season officials with Rahal Letterman Racing announced yesterday.

Since his breakthrough win at the Indy 500, Buddy Rice had led the chase of Tony Kanaan and the Andretti-Green Racing powerhouse in the IRL IndyCar Series ably supported by his equally fired-up Rahal-Letterman Racing teammate Vitor Meira.

Team Rahal named Vitor Meira as the driver of its #17 Team Rahal Panoz G Force for the Indy Japan 300 on April 17 at Twin Ring Motegi. Meira, who turns 27 on March 27, will join drivers Buddy Rice and Roger Yasukawa in the first three-car entry for Team Rahal in the IRL IndyCar Series.

Jaques Lazier's apparently love/hate relationship with John Menard is back on again for the time being after the Colorado-based native was re-hired by Menard in place of the injured Vitor Meira for this weekend's Firestone Indy 225.