It appears that Rubens Barrichello will be one-and-done in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

After a 19-year career in Formula One, Barrichello moved into IndyCar last season with KV Racing Technology and came away with a 12^th place finish in the championship, two top-5s and seven top-10s.

Unfortunately, funding for a second season Stateside didn’t materialize as quickly as he hoped, and now the Brazilian fan favorite is returning to his homeland to race stock cars. Barrichello’s dear friend and former KV teammate Tony Kanaan told SPEED’s Marshall Pruett that while Barrichello’s heart was still in IndyCar, his pal still had to "look out for his own interest."

Last year, Barrichello enjoyed support from a variety of Brazilian companies, including primary backing from Brasil Maquinas (BMC), a manufacturer of heavy construction equipment.

His jump to the IndyCar landscape was met with applause, with drivers itching to match up against the 11-time F1 race winner and the series hoping to cultivate a more international following thanks to his fan base around the world.

Barrichello had to learn a lot in his rookie season, from new cars and tracks to the art of racing on ovals. But it appeared that he was definitely getting the hang of things toward the end with back-to-back top 5 runs at Sonoma and Baltimore in the late stages of 2012.

But now that he’s decided to head home, the question of who could perhaps partner up with Simon Pagenaud at Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports – the team that Barrichello had been linked to in regards to a 2013 IndyCar drive – is still unanswered.

Perhaps it will stay that way and SHM will opt to go at 2013 as a one-car operation again.

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Ryan Hunter-Reay is set to take on some of the world’s best drivers in the Race of Champions.

The IZOD IndyCar Series champion will duel with the likes of Michael Schumacher, Sebastien Vettel and others this weekend on a circuit created inside Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium. In addition to racing in head-to-head competition, Hunter-Reay is teaming up with Mexican rally champion Benito Guerra as part of Team Americas in a bid for the ROC Nations Cup.

The Race of Champions machines are quite different from the Dallara DW12 that Hunter-Reay drives on a regular basis, ranging from rally cars to an open-air KTM X-Bow. The variety of the cars means that there’s not much brushing up that Hunter-Reay could do prior to the ROC.

"I don't have any of those toys to mess around with at home," the American said in an INDYCAR teleconference earlier this week. "So I think you have to rely on your skill set that you kind of worked on over the years and jumping from car to car, sports car to IndyCar to some of the heavier stuff that I've driven, stock cars and stuff, you just have to rely on the skill set.

"…I was a little bit disappointed that there is not some type of open wheel formula car in there, but I think [the ROC] definitely wants more of the rally drivers there. But, hey, it's still a car. It has four wheels and a steering wheel, two pedals, three pedals -- you have to make it work."

Hunter-Reay is also keen on meeting the great Schumacher, a 7-time Formula One champion that recently retired from the sport for a second time.

“There is so much to learn from him that I'll just be a sponge around him, for sure,” he said.

That said, the ROC is still a competition. And Hunter-Reay will definitely be out to prove his mettle.

"You get a group of drivers together, a group of riders together, and everybody wants to win," he said. "Doesn't matter if we're racing a shopping cart."

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Meanwhile, Sebring International Raceway is currently playing host to a big group testing session before the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

Among notable happenings at the test: Graham Rahal is getting in his first laps as full-time driver for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and according to the Buckeye, it’s been a production session so far in Florida. KV driver Simona de Silvestro is still meshing with her new team, and a pair of intriguing prospects – America’s Conor Daly and France’s Tristan Vautier, the reigning Firestone Indy Lights champion – are slated to get their first tastes of an IZOD IndyCar today (Daly for A.J. Foyt Racing, Vautier for SHM).

Teams will be prohibited from testing starting tomorrow through Jan. 4, 2013.

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Other cool stuff

Ed Carpenter and wife Heather are celebrating the birth of their third child. Cruz Smith Carpenter was born on Dec. 12, weighing in at a healthy eight pounds and ten ounces. All the best to the family…The INDYCAR crew has created “The Offseason,” a comedic series that focuses on what drivers do when there are no races for them to fret over. In the first episode, Charlie Kimball and James Hinchcliffe help out the front office as receptionists. You can check it out here…

Before the INDYCAR world threw its 2012 Championship Celebration yesterday (with IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay as the guest of honor), multiple drivers lended their support to an Indianapolis-based food bank.

Graham Rahal, Charlie Kimball, Simon Pagenaud and Simona de Silvestro, as well as Firestone Indy Lights pilot Peter Dempsey and the Firestone Firehawk, visited the Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana to help sort through food donations for people in need throughout central and southeast Indiana. Gleaners provides a critical effort in combating hunger in the Hoosier State, having distributed more than 300 million pounds of food to the less fortunate since its inception in 1980.

INDYCAR followed the drivers as they volunteered their services to a worthy cause (one that you can help as well). You can check out the video below:

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Lotus' star-crossed saga in the IZOD IndyCar Series has finally come to an end.

According to an INDYCAR release, the British marque has been released from its engine supply contract by the sanctioning body after just one season of competition. That leaves the series with two engine manufacturers in Chevrolet and Honda going forward.

"We appreciate the effort that Lotus made in helping return manufacturer competition to the IZOD IndyCar Series," INDYCAR president of operations Brian Barnhart said in the release. "However, Lotus has made a business decision not to return in 2013 and asked for its release. We wish them well and would welcome their participation again in the future."

Lotus COO Aslam Farikullah said that his company would now "focus on core business activities as a leading sports car manufacturer and world-class engineering consultancy."

"Lotus is grateful to INDYCAR for the opportunity to compete during the 2012 season and for the support provided throughout," Farikullah also said in the release. "The decision not to continue was not an easy one and Lotus does not discount the possibility to re-enter the series at some time in the future."

In a 2012 season that was filled with many highlights on the track thanks to a new chassis/engine combination, the Lotus saga was a decisive lowlight. The group entered the year with four teams in its stable: Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, Dragon Racing, Bryan Herta Autosport (now Barracuda Racing) and HVM Racing.

Unfortunately, a late start in engine development made sure those teams were off the pace from the very beginning. All but one -- HVM, which is now moving on to sports car racing as part of the FIA World Endurance Championship -- made the decision to leave the Lotus camp before this past May's Indianapolis 500. The company was also sold in mid-season, which in turn froze much-needed financial support.

Lotus' top finish in IndyCar was a ninth-place effort from Sebastien Bourdais at Barber Motorsports Park in April. His Dragon Racing squad wound up going to Chevrolet, which along with Honda, must now be able to supply 60 percent of the field per series rules.

In 2013, Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay will adopt the "No. 1" car number that traditionally goes to the reigning IndyCar champion.

Hunter-Reay, who won last year's championship by five points over Will Power in an exciting duel, has run the No. 28 number for the last two seasons to represent the 28 million people currently fighting cancer around the world (Hunter-Reay himself lost his mother to colon cancer in 2009).

However, those courageous 28 million will still be represented on his car, as a small '28' will be put inside the No. 1 that will be on his Chevy-powered entry. Hunter-Reay, a co-founder of the Racing For Cancer charity talked about the subject to IndyCar.com, saying:

“Racing For Cancer’s No. 1 goal is to beat cancer and we realized that running the No. 1 with the No. 28 incorporated into the design, a very important detail to me personally, would provide us with an opportunity to strengthen the message and cause of beating cancer while at the same time recognizing our partners and sponsors dedication to excellence on, and off, the track.”

The American driver will become the first IRL/IndyCar defending champion to put the No. 1 on his car since Scott Dixon did it in 2004 following his first of two IZOD IndyCar Series championships (2003, 2008).

In other Andretti news, Marco Andretti will take on the No. 25 car number next season after running the No. 26 throughout his entire previous tenure in the series.

Spaniard re-ups with Chevrolet-powered team for 2013

The Panther/Dreyer and Reinbold Racing collaboration will continue in next season's IZOD IndyCar Series championship, and so will Oriol Servia's tenure as driver of the No. 22 Chevrolet.

Both team and driver were stuck with a slow Lotus engine for the first four races of the season before a welcome switch to Chevy power enabled them to be much more competitive and collect four top-5 finishes in the final 11 events.

However, the most memorable aspect of their campaign was Servia's ability to charge from the back of the grid and make himself a force to be reckoned with. The team only had two top-10 starts all season (Mid-Ohio and Fontana) -- and seven starts from 20th or worse. But the Spaniard still managed to pass a record 107 cars in 2012.

"We had several great on-track performances this past season, including our 4th place finish at the Indianapolis 500, but we're not satisfied," said Servia in a team release. "Our goal is to win that race and contend week in and week out for wins and podiums at all races. Continuity is very important in our sport and now we'll be able to build upon our successes in a second year together."

Co-owners Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl were pleased to be able to land Servia's services again, with Buhl calling the decision to bring him back a "no-brainer."

"To be able to continue building on-track momentum and a strong working relationship between Oriol and our technical team was an opportunity we couldn't pass up," said Buhl in the same release. "We believe Oriol gives us the best chance for us to win the Indianapolis 500 and compete for wins."

Indy 500-winning engineer Eddie Jones joins Rahal camp

Rahal Letterman Lanigan has certainly been busy as of late, welcoming Graham Rahal to the team in a multi-year agreement and working on a potential second program for the 2013 championship.

Speculation continues to swirl about who will be driving that second Rahal ride (Ryan Briscoe? Justin Wilson? Rubens Barrichello? Someone else?). But that matter is still up in the air. What's set is who will be the race engineer for the program: Eddie Jones, who engineered Rubens Barrichello's rookie run in IndyCar last season with KV Racing Technology.

Jones engineered the late Dan Wheldon's victory at the 2005 Indianapolis 500 as well as his series title that same year. He spent more than 15 years with Andretti Autosport (working with Michael and Marco Andretti, Wheldon and Danica Patrick along the way) before moving to KV to work with Barrichello last season.

"[Team co-owner] Bobby Rahal has been a winner both as a driver and as a team owner, so he fully understands what it takes to be successful at this level and has built a team that is clearly up to the task," said Jones in a team release. "In particular, I like the emphasis he places on the importance of engineering and am impressed by the group he has assembled under Technical Director Jay O'Connell and with Race Engineer Gerry Hughes.

"I believe my longstanding Indy car experience and particular skill sets will serve to compliment their existing program and assist in the pursuit of greater competitiveness for 2013 and beyond."

In the same release, Rahal called Jones "a very important part of our future success."

"Our intention all along was to build our engineering department and Eddie is one of the best out there," said the 1986 Indy 500 winner. "Given his track record, which is impressive, we are obviously very pleased that he has chosen to join our team...I have always been impressed with the way he goes about his business, his personality and his strength as of a team player."

As the Mazda Road to Indy has regained some presence in the last few years, we've begun hearing more about the future of the IZOD IndyCar Series. Naturally enough, talented American prospects such as Sage Karam, Spencer Pigot and Shannon MacIntosh have garnered most of the buzz amongst the fan base.

But 17-year-old Zach Veach may be the most well-known of the bunch. In addition to winning on a consistent basis, he's been tagged as a "NEXT" athlete by ESPN The Magazine and is even a published author. The Ohio native has been running with Andretti Autosport while making his way up the ladder, and in 2013, he'll climb another rung by entering Firestone Indy Lights.

Veach, who collected three top-5 and nine top-10 finishes in Star Mazda last season, will be a teammate to second-year Andretti FIL racer Carlos Munoz, who showed he was no slouch himself with two wins at Edmonton and Fontana in 2012. The American-Colombian pairing should prove a formidable one in the Lights category.

Going back to Veach, his comments on the move sound relatively giddy -- which is what you'd expect from a teenage boy whose fast ride just got even faster.

"It's crazy to think I'm going into my fourth season in 2013 with Andretti Autosport," said Veach in a team release. "I'm still just as excited as I was the first day I joined the team, and to be moving up to Firestone Indy Lights is a dream come true.  The cars are very similar to the Atlantics car, which I spent a considerable amount of time testing in 2009 and 2010.

"I'm stoked to jump up to a bigger car with more horsepower and the start of the season can't come soon enough!"

Team owner Michael Andretti is also hopeful for more success with Veach in 2013.

"He's been with us for each step of the ladder so far and we've continued to be impressed by him," said the Champ Car legend. "We're looking forward to seeing his talent develop even further this season."

Team Penske's sponsorship deal with Hitachi will now move over to Helio Castroneves' No. 3 machine next season.

The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner will carry the Hitachi branding at nine IZOD IndyCar Series events in 2013: St. Petersburg, Sao Paulo, Iowa, Pocono, Sonoma, and the doubleheaders at Detroit and Toronto.

Hitachi branding ran with Ryan Briscoe's No. 2 entry last season in multiple events, but the Australian currently is searching for a potential new home as one of the bigger free agents in the IndyCar paddock. Reports so far this off-season have linked the Sydney native with several teams, chief among them being Rahal Letterman Lanigan, which recently landed Graham Rahal's services in a multi-year agreement.

Jeff Belskus stays as Hulman president, still INDYCAR CEO on interim basis

Mark Miles, a sports executive that led Indianapolis' successful bid to land Super Bowl XLVI and served for 15 years as CEO of the ATP men's tennis tour, has taken over as CEO of Hulman and Company -- parent operation for INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. According to a press release, Miles will begin his new duties on Dec. 17.

In addition, Jeff Belskus will remain with Hulman as its president, as well as CEO of IMS and the interim CEO of INDYCAR. Belskus took over leadership of the series after the recent departure of Randy Bernard and said that his interim tag is still being kept during a press conference this morning.

Miles served as Chairman of the Board for the 2012 Super Bowl Host Committee. Last year's NFL title tilt was hailed as one of the most successful events in the history of the sport, attracting more than one million fans to the Indy region.

In addition, Miles' tenure as CEO of the ATP Tour (1990-2005) saw increased revenue and an expanded global presence for the circuit. Prize money also jumped considerably and key sponsorships with companies such as Mercedes-Benz were also implemented.

"It is an honor to join Hulman & Company, known for its tradition of success," Miles said in the aforementioned press release. "I'm excited about joining the team and contributing my lifetime learning from international professional sports, large-scale major sports events and business environments. I have worked for companies with global profiles and brands, and I'm happy to continue that on behalf of the Hulman-George family and its significant business interests."

As for his thoughts on the IZOD IndyCar Series, Miles maintained on Tuesday that while he would not be involved in the day-to-day operations of Hulman's key racing business, he would like to help Belskus and said that the "building blocks" were in place for a great 2013 season.

He also said the series was not for sale, citing the "important" need for the Indianapolis 500 and the series itself to be run together.

Still, the racing side belongs to Belskus, whose first query directed to him in this morning's conference was about Bernard's exit (Belskus said it was "a mutual decision" between Bernard and the Hulman board). Belskus later added that he hoped in the weeks ahead to bring "clarity" to a variety of issues facing INDYCAR -- including a final decision on what to do about engine manufacturer Lotus and other matters such as gaining a tire supplier for 2015 and beyond.

Father and son team up at Rahal Letterman Lanigan


Graham Rahal (left) and his father Bobby Rahal (right) have officially joined forces at Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Photo Credit: Chris Jones/IZOD IndyCar Series.

Two years ago, Graham Rahal joined Chip Ganassi Racing in its expansion to a four-car lineup, and it seemed like everything was in place for the second-generation American driver to ascend to contender status in the IZOD IndyCar Series.

At that point in time, he seemed quite confident that would happen. And considering Ganassi's massive resources and Rahal's clear talent, he had every reason to have such high hopes.

"Other than probably winning the Indy 500 or a championship, it's the best day that a driver can have," Rahal said at his first press conference as a Ganassi driver in December of 2010.

But instead of rising into the series' upper echelon, Rahal fought through a two-year run at CGR that didn't pan out as all parties hoped it would. In 32 races with Ganassi's "G2" operation, he went winless and only collected four podiums (three of which came in his first year with Ganassi in 2011).

He had a race win seemingly in the bag this past June at Texas Motor Speedway, but his brush against the Turn 4 wall with two laps remaining opened the door for Justin Wilson to charge by and take the checkered flag for himself. A couple of months later, Rahal revealed that he would be a free agent come the end of the 2012 campaign.

Almost immediately, he was linked to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, which is co-owned by his father and former Indy 500 champion Bobby. Dad and son had worked together once before under the RLL banner at the 2010 '500', with RLL being one of multiple teams that Graham raced for that season before landing at Ganassi.

But while the prospect of working full-time with his father and other familiar faces was nice, RLL's reputation for revitalizing multiple drivers over the years appealed just as much to Graham.

"If you look back on the history of this team, you go back to guys throughout the '90s of course, but even giving guys their first big chance -- guys like Max Papis, of course, Buddy Rice, Michel Jourdain in the early 2000s," the younger Rahal said after announcing a multi-year deal to drive for RLL on Wednesday. "Guys that, as Dad would say, probably their careers were looking like they're coming to an end. Next thing you know, they're winning races on a consistent basis and are always a contender each and every weekend.

"So that's where I want to be and where I need to go as a driver. And that's what I think this team is going to allow me to do...I know that after being around them and they've known me for so many years. They're not going to give me any bad advice and we're all working towards the same goal."

RLL had an up-and-down 2012 with Takuma Sato in the cockpit for their single-car program (two podiums at Sao Paulo and Edmonton, but eight DNFs), but Bobby believes that his son can bring in the consistent results that his team needs in order to rise up the standings table.

"If we take away the father-son aspect, I think any team would want him driving their car," said the 1986 '500' winner. "I'm confident we can create the environment that he needs to excel, and that's our commitment to him and I think we're going to have a lot of success as a result."

Graham is just one piece of the puzzle that RLL is trying to complete for 2013. Sato is one of several free agents that could create a second car for the team.

But regardless of whoever winds up joining his son at RLL, Bobby is hoping to replicate the winning multi-car mix that his bigger rivals like Andretti Autosport, Team Penske and Ganassi have now -- and the one his own team used to have in the mid-2000s.

"I'm not really interested in having a second car just for the sake of having a second car," he said. "It really needs to be a car that can help this team achieve a high level of success and competition. If you look at Penske, you look at Ganassi, you look at the way we were in 2004 or '05, '06 with Buddy [Rice] and Vitor [Meira] and Danica [Patrick], you have two very competitive drivers pushing each other. And by doing so, you push the team.

"That's been the Penske formula, the Ganassi formula, and that is the formula that we're trying to achieve here."

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Quotes used in this article were taken from Wednesday's INDYCAR teleconference. All quotes have been attributed to their proper sources.