Franchitti to stay with AGR

Franchitti, who won two races this season after coming back from a long injury lay-off, will rejoin champion Tony Kanaan (who signed a three-year extension to his contract earlier this year), Dan Whelon and Bryan Herta - both of whom are in the middle of two-year deals.

"We're definitely staying with four cars," said the team's co-owner Kim Green, "it has been a major contributing factor to our success. I hope continuity to will make things run even more smoothly."

AGR's success in 2004, which saw Kanaan take the title and Wheldon place runner-up in the series and three of its four drivers take multiple victories has prompted other teams to expand their programmes. Both Rahal Letterman Racing and Fernandez Racing are considering running three car teams next year.

RLR is likely to promote female protégé Danika Patrick to the top flight alongside its regular drivers Buddy Rice and Vitor Meira, while Chip Ganassi has been considering a third car in his team for a while.

"Andretti Green Racing has certainly opened people's eyes," said RLR's Scott Roembke. "They've been able to run four cars and still help everybody [be competitive]."