Andretti Autosport and AFS Racing End Indy Collaboration

Andretti Autosport announced today it has parted ways with former partner AFS Racing in both the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights championships. The partnership, which began back in 2008, will see the two organizations field separate entries in both series from now on, although it is expected that AFS Racing will take a while until affording a full-time entry in the IndyCar Series.

The collaboration between Andretti Autosport and AFS Racing was a fruitful one in IndyCar's feeder series, the Indy Lights championship, where Raphael Matos and JR Hildebrand brought AFS Andretti two titles in the last 3 years. Occasionally, that collaboration has extended to the IndyCar Series also, through the entries of Franck Montagny (Sears Point, in 2009) and Adam Carroll (two races in 2010, at Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen).

“AFS Racing’s partnership with Andretti Autosport has certainly been a successful one, but it’s time for both organizations to try some new things,” said Gary Peterson, owner of AFS Racing.

“I’ve enjoyed working with Michael (Andretti) and developing more good young talent within open-wheel racing. I expect AFS Racing to continue to have a strong Firestone Indy Lights program and we’ll continue to work toward our bigger goal of fielding cars at the IndyCar level on a regular basis.”

“Gary (Peterson) has been a great partner for us over the last three seasons and we’ve accomplished a lot together,” added Michael Andretti, whose team will continue to field multiple entries in the IndyCar Series next season.

“Not only were we able to win two Firestone Indy Lights championships, but we were also to do some good things together at the IndyCar level. That was a big help to us within our program and that experience should really help Gary as he looks to take his racing program even further in the future,” he concluded.