Marco Andretti reunites with UFD sponsor full-time
Expect to see Marco Andretti sporting a familiar sponsor starting in Long Beach next weekend. United Fiber & Data (UFD) will be taking over for Andretti Autosport team sponsor, hhgregg who filed for bankruptcy last month.
“We’d like to wish Bob [Riesbeck] and the entire hhgregg family luck as they work through the current situation,” said Michael Andretti, Andretti Autosport CEO. “We are blessed to have such loyal and dedicated partners; and while this is an unfortunate situation for hhgregg, we are pleased to have such a strong relationship remaining with United Fiber & Data.”
UFD sponsored the youngest Andretti in 2013 before backing James Hinchcliffe in 2014. UFD returned to Andretti Autosport in 2016 as a co-sponsor for then-Andretti driver Carlos Munoz.
The return to full-time team sponsor status for UFD is a surprise to many in the IndyCar Series paddock, since financial differences in 2015 doomed the initial partnership. Andretti accused UFD of not paying their sponsorship dues for Hinchcliffe’s drive for the 2015 season, which in part caused Andretti to let Hinchcliffe search for a new team. Hinchcliffe signed with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for the 2015 season.
Pippa Mann gets Dale Coyne Racing Indianapolis 500 seat
For the fifth consecutive year, Pippa Mann and Dale Coyne Racing will team-up at the Indianapolis 500 for a great cause. Supporting breast cancer awareness with the Susan G. Komen’s Get Involved campaign. Over the last two Indy 500s, Mann’s involvement has raised over $135,000 for the breast cancer charity.
“I’m very happy to be rejoining Dale Coyne Racing for my fifth consecutive year with the team at the 101st Indy 500,” Mann said. “Dale has invested heavily in the team over the winter, and it’s an exciting time to be part of his organization. I’m looking forward to working with the same familiar faces from my 2016 campaign, like my race engineer Rob Ridgely, as well as working with the new members of the team, including my teammates Sebastien (Bourdais) and Ed (Jones). I’m thrilled to be getting back on the race track this May for my sixth Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
The Mann-DCR team-up will be joined by Mann’s long-time engineer Rob Ridgely. Ridgely oversaw Mann’s best IndyCar Series and Indy 500 finish, 13th in 2015 and 18th last year, respectively.
