George shuts down vision IRL team

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Tony George is out of the racing business -- for now.

The man who spent 20 years as president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and founded the Indy Racing League told his Vision Racing team Thursday he was suspending operations because he lacked enough sponsors.

"He had a meeting with all of his staff this morning and he was fairly emotional," team spokeswoman Pat Caporali said. "The reality of the situation was that we had not secured sponsorship for 2010."

George was not available for comment.

The decision to suspend operations means his primary driver, Ed Carpenter, is now looking for a new ride and that about 10 to 15 other employees are out of work. Carpenter is George's stepson.

"We're not the only team struggling to secure sponsorship, but not having a sponsor a month before training was going to make it too difficult," Caporali said.

Danica's dozen dates

IndyCar star Danica Patrick will compete in at least 12 NASCAR races this season and could make her debut in the season opener.

JR Motorsports announced Patrick's schedule Thursday. Her first race, though, is still uncertain. Patrick is waiting to decide whether to race in the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 13.

The team says it will decide after shee makes her stock car debut in the Feb. 6 ARCA race at Daytona. If she feels comfortable, she could race the following week in NASCAR's second-tier series.

"Like I've said before, we just want to be smart and calculative about this process," Patrick said.

Ferrari unveils F10

MARANELLO, Italy -- Ferrari launched its car for the upcoming Formula One season Thursday, calling it the F10 in hopes of restoring the team's winning tradition.

For years Ferrari named its cars with an "F" for Ferrari followed by the year, but last year's uncompetitive car was called the F60 to honour Ferrari's 60th year in F1.

Last season, Ferrari finished fourth in the constructors' standings.

Filipe Massa will return to the team after the Brazilian nearly lost his life in a crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix and Fernando Alonso has been hired to replace Kimi Raikkonen.