Notes: Servia rejoins Panther for final four

AUG 27, 2013

Oriol Servia will make his ninth IZOD IndyCar Series start of the season, driving the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car in the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT on Sept. 1. He'll also contest the final three races of the season in the Chevrolet-powered car.

Servia, who finished 14th in his most recent start at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, had finished second and seventh in the two races on the 2.04-mile, 12-turn Charm City street circuit. He advanced 12 positions in 2011 for a season-high runner-up finish and moved nine positions relative to his starting spot last September.

In previous races this season, he has a best finish of fourth at Sao Paulo in May.

Servia takes over for Ryan Briscoe, who will be competing for Level 5 Motorsports in the American Le Mans Series race on the track Aug. 31. Briscoe finished 17th int he No. 4 entry Aug. 25 in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma.

Blu eCigs moves up to primary sponsor for two events

The No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry driven by Graham Rahal will have blu eCigs as the primary sponsor for the Sept. 1 race at Baltimore and the Oct. 5-6 races at Houston.

The electronic cigarette brand has been an associate sponsor this season.

"The response from the Indy car industry with blu eCigs' involvement this season has been tremendous and we look forward to having the brand on board as primary sponsor at Baltimore and Houston for Graham's car," said team co-owner Bobby Rahal. “We appreciate the value and excitement of their involvement with our team and we look forward to continue growing the program."

Firestone Indy Lights broadcast follows IZOD IndyCar Series race

The Firestone Indy Lights Grand Prix of Baltimore will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network from 5-6 p.m. (ET), immediately following the IZOD IndyCar Series race.

Pippa Mann, who will drive the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing car in the season finale Oct. 19 at Auto Club Speedway, will join the broadcast as an analyst. Former Firestone Indy Lights driver Anders Krohn joins the IMS Radio Network broadcast of the race (www.indycar.com, INDYCAR 13 app).

Tristan Vautier, who won the Firestone Indy Lights race at Baltimore in 2012, will compete in the IZOD IndyCar Series race in the No. 55 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports entry.

Of note

Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti will co-drive the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Daytona Prototype in the Grand-Am race Sept. 8 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. They last co-drove the car in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January. Justin Wilson and Sebastien Bourdais also will co-drive cars in the race. … Franchitti was a guest Aug. 27 on “The Crowd Goes Wild” hosted by Regis Philbin on Fox Sports 1. … At Sonoma Raceway, Franchitti moved into a tie with Bobby Rahal for sixth all time with his 119th top-five finish. … Helio Castroneves leads the IZOD IndyCar Series championship with four races left for the first time in his career. … There are 13 drivers mathematically eligible for the title: