After Vitor's disappointing finish of 17th in Indy Japan 300, where he suffered a clutch problem, he ran the rest of the season in the #17 G-Force sponsored by Centrix Financial.

Going into 2006, Meira was looking to moving back to Brazil and run stock cars for fellow Brazilian and IndyCar competitor, Hélio Castroneves' team.

Even though Panther had lost their longtime sponsor, Pennzoil, as well as engine supplier, Chevrolet, the owners (John Barnes, Mike Griffin, Jim Harbaugh, and Doug Boles), sold off old cars, parts, and equipment to keep the team running.

After much speculation of the team closing its doors in Indianapolis, the news came on February 10, 2006, that Panther Racing and Meira signed a deal to run the famous #4 for the 2006 IndyCar season.

Throughout 2006, Panther Racing and Meira had a plethora of sponsors on the side of their Honda powered Dallara, including Econova, Network Live, Harrah's, Lincoln Tech, and Revive Energy Mints all adorned the sidepods of the brightly colored orange car during the 2006 season.

Meira returned to Panther Racing in 2008 where the United States National Guard became the car's primary sponsor and Delphi became a secondary one.

Meira chased the eventual winner, Scott Dixon, closing the gap to as little as 0.4 seconds until losing ground due to late race traffic.

During the 2009 Indianapolis 500, Meira's car survived a spectacular fire in the pits and he later broke two vertebrae in his lower back during a crash involving Raphael Matos on lap 174.