Category: Featured Other Series

Featured Other Series

Brennan Poole Leads ARCA Points Standings Despite Adversity So Far

[media-credit name=”Venturini Motorsports” align=”alignright” width=”200″][/media-credit]Leading the points standings may look like it was easily accomplished on paper by having solid finishes. However, for ARCA Racing Series points leader Brennan Poole, it wasn’t as easy as it looked as the team has had its fair share of adversity already this year.

At Daytona, Poole had to start 33^rd and finished the race in the seventh.

“It was my first time on Superspeedway,” he comments. “I learned a lot and had a lot of fun.”

The following weekend at Mobile, he blew the motor on the first lap of practice so he got no practice and barely got in line to qualify. Despite that, the Venturini Motorsports team was able to qualify seventh and finish seventh.

At the third race of the season at Salem, the clutch broke right when Poole went out to qualify so the team had to change the clutch and Poole had to start the race from the back of the pack.

“I ended up finishing third so I know we had a great run there and the car was really strong,” he says. “That was great and kept building on the points lead.”

The last race at Talladega, Poole had to start fourth due to qualifying being rained out and being based on owner’s points. However on lap 11, Poole was involved in the wreck and substained some minor damage to the front of the car. The team kept making pit stops to make repairs, at one point running in the 22^nd position, and came back to finish in eighth at the end of the race.

“I think we’ve had a great start to the year,” he says. “We’re only four races in and finished in the top 10 in all four races and we’ve had some setbacks that we have had to overcome. All in all, it’s been a great a year.

“My team has done a great job helping me as a driver to overcome some of the things I’ve had to deal with and we’ve just been able to come through and it’s been a great start to the year.”

There doesn’t look to be anything slowing down Poole in the future either as he heads to Toledo Speedway, which is right up his alley as it’s just like the tracks he used to race in Late Models.

Last year, Poole was leading on the last lap when he was turned around by Ty Dillon on the last lap. This year, Poole is looking for victory as he is taking the same car back again this year.

“I feel confident about it – going to have the same crew chief, Billy Venturini,” he says. “I think we’re going to be in the contention when we go there. Plus, Toledo is just a great track. It’s a lot of fun and growing up, I’ve ran Late Model stuff the last three years before getting into the ARCA Series and it just reminds me of a lot of the Late Model tracks that I ran on. It’s kind of a comfort zone for me because I’m very comfortable about tracks like that and the short track style.”

Keeping with the short tracks, the sixth race of the schedule is at Elko Speedway.

“Another place I feel confident about because it’s the place I have the most experience,” he continues. “Then Pocono and Michigan. Pocono, last year, we saw on the pole, led a big chunk of the race and finished fifth so we got a couple of tracks that are good tracks for us and I’m just excited. I love racing, I’m a competitor and I’m just looking forward to getting to some of these places.”

Poole got interested in cars and racing after a trip to Toys R Us at the age of two. His dad took him there to buy him a plastic golf set for his second birthday as his dad wanted him to be a golfer.

“I got in one of those plastic little battery powered corvettes and was driving around the store so my mom convinced my dad that he had to get it for me,” he says. “I loved cars, I played with cars all the time. at the time, my dad was working in auto repair and one of the managers at the store he worked at told him about quarter midget racing, which was five miles from the house we lived in at the time in California. He took me out there when I was four. We watched the race that night and he asked me if it was something I wanted to do and I told him yeah. So for my fifth birthday, he got me a car and I’ve been racing ever since.”

[media-credit name=”Venturini Motorsports ” align=”alignleft” width=”225″][/media-credit]From there, Poole kept moving up the ranks and began racing UARA Late Models in 2009, winning rookie of the year. The following season, he won six races, including three in a row, and caught the eye of Venturini Motorsports General Manager Billy Venturini.

“He tried to get me into a car in 2010, but we just couldn’t get anything worked out,” Poole says.

In 2011, Poole started his own team with his father to continue late model racing.

“It’s tough ‘cause my dad lives in Texas; I live out here by myself,” the 21-year-old continues. “So the team was run out of Hickory with people we worked with the year before. We were running UARA at Hickory and Billy came out to watch that night and we just had an incredible night. Ended up winning the race and Billy called us and wanted us to come meet with him again. We ended up reaching something where I could get into the car in 2011.”

In his first start at Salem Speedway, Poole found victory lane and has been enjoying the experience ever since.

“It’s just been a blessing,” he says. “God’s always opens up the doors for me at the right time, at the right place, always put me in the right position. Just keeping my trust in him every day and he seems to be in control.”

This year marks a special year for Venturini Motorsports as it is their 30^th year. Poole jokes it’d be neat to win the championship as Bill Venturini’s last championship came in 1991, the year that Poole was born.

“They’re a great family,” he adds. “I spend a lot of time with them being here by myself. I don’t know a lot of people so I’m always here at the shop – I’m at the shop right now. It’s just a great family. It’s a family organization – Billy’s uncles, aunts and cousins are all involved in the team. I think that’s what makes them such a strong organization. It’s just been fun working with them. I’m just happy to be a part of it.

“I got to race Billy’s old paint scheme at Daytona and Talladega, maybe a few more times this year. so that’s been kind of an honor to drive the old blue and orange paint scheme. I just feel blessed to be a part of it. It’s just been a lot of fun.”

Being at Venturini Motorsports within their driver development program, Poole is right now the most experienced on the team.

“It’s kind of funny ‘cause I’ve only ran seven ARCA races to this point,” he says. “It sounds weird to say but as the 21-year-old, I’m the guy that has the most experience so it’s been fun to have younger guys come up to me and ask me questions. It’s just kind of cool. I’ve never really been in this position before; I’ve always been the guy looking for advice. But here, there are so many young guys.”

Poole has had a great time with his teammates so far at Venturini as he’s been impressed by Erik Jones, who finished fifth at Salem Speedway at the age of 15. He has also become close friends with Ryan Reed.

“We’re close in age so we have a good relationship together; we play xbox together at night,” he says. “We race against each other on the computer. We have a pretty good relationship and I think we just go over things together a little bit. I think it’s been a help for me and a help for him as well. It just helps when you’ve got someone close in your age group cause you help support each other.

“At the end of the day at Venturini Motorsports, we’re all pulling for our teammates. We want to win because we’re all competitors, but we’re happy if another person wins the race ‘cause we all know how hard it is to win one of these races. It’s extremely tough. You win a race at the ARCA level, that’s pretty impressive.”

May 10, 2012
Venturini Motorsports’ Brennan Poole and Ryan Reed stand out so far this year

[media-credit name=”Venturini Motorsports ” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Venturini Motorsports has become known for their driver development program over the years as they have helped develop some of today’s NASCAR starts, including Joey Logano. The crop this year is equally impressive and includes two stand-outs that now sit one-two in the Team Messina Rookie Challenge Standings.

Currently, Brennan Poole leads teammate Ryan Reed by 14 points.

Brennan Poole, who also leads the overall ARCA Racing Series points standings, finished eighth in Friday’s International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250. He is the only driver to finish in the top-10 in each ARCA Racing Series event this season.

Last season, Poole won the UARA-STARS Championship racing asphalt Late Models while also scoring his first ARCA victory in his debut at Salem Speedway.

The 21-year-old started the race fourth last Friday after qualifying was rained out and based on last year’s owners points.

On lap 10, Poole was involved in the first big wreck of the day after making contact with Steve Blackburn, but the damage was minimal and he was able to continue. He would run strong for the rest of the day, finishing eighth.

The finish allowed the driver of the No. 25 CJ Solar Band Chevrolet to have a 55-point lead over Tom Hessert in the standings after four races this year.

Meanwhile, Reed started the race in 11^th and finished 13^th after some issues throughout the day. The driver of the No. 15 JDRF car was up to the fourth position, before having trouble refiring his car during a late race pit stop. This dropped him back to the 23^rd position, a lap down.

But the eighteen-year-old worked his way back on to the lead lap, missed the wreck late in the race and finished 13^th. This marks his fourth top 15 finish this year as he finished 11^th, 12^th and 11^th to start the year off.

He now sits fourth in points, tied with Chris Buescher.

Last season, Reed spent his time racing in variety of divisions, including the Pro AllStar Series, NASCAR Whelen All American Series and NASCAR K&N Pro East Series events to prepare for this season. The previous year, Reed won the Rookie of the Year Award and became the youngest feature winner in a Super Late Model at Irwindale Speedway.

Reed has become known for more than just his driving on the track, though, as his story off the track has inspired many.

In February 2011, Ryan Reed was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and was told that he would never be able to race again. However, after getting in contact with a doctor through IndyCar driver Charlie Kimball, he was told that it was possible. Reed went through all the necessary steps that he had to take and joined Venturini Motorsports at the beginning of the year.

When he’s not behind the wheel of a racecar, Reed is spreading word about JDRF and Ryan’s Mission. JDRF is the world’s largest funding provider for research towards curing, treating and preventing T1D and its complications. Ryan’s Mission is a non-profit organization that Reed formed to help build awareness, become a role model and positively touch the lives of others.

Both Reed and Poole will have to get their focus set to the action on track as the next event for the ARCA Racing Series is the Menards 200 at Toledo Speedway on Sunday May 20^th.

May 8, 2012
Swindell Walks The Dog for Victory Number 4

[media-credit name=”World of Outlaws” align=”alignright” width=”224″][/media-credit]

The Goodyear Outlaw Thunder returned to Eldora last night for it’s final night. It’s final night would prove much calmer than it’s first. And would see Sammy Swindell take the checkered flag for the 4th time this season.

After qualifying seventh quickest, Swindell drove from third to second in both his heat race and the dash. He then rocketed to the lead at the start of the feature, which went caution free for 24 laps before Jason Sides’ flat left rear tire brought out a yellow flag.

“The way the car was rolling through there I knew that if somebody was faster, they’d have to be just really awesome because this thing was almost on rails,” Swindell said. “It was just stuck down so hard I could just drive around there like I’m driving down the freeway.”

The caution eliminated nearly a straightaway lead for Swindell, who took little time in reestablishing a sizeable advantage. However, Kraig Kinser sustained a flat left rear tire with two laps remaining to bring out the final caution of the race.

Joey Saldana, who ran second for most of the race, began to slow a couple of laps before the caution because of an engine issue. Swindell chose the outside lane on the double-file restart and Saldana’s car was slow to take off, bogging the inside lane on the start and dropping him to sixth by turn one.

Swindell sailed to the win as Dale Blaney used the late cautions to pick up a pair of positions.

“We were probably going to run fourth until those last couple of yellows,” he said after finishing second. “They kind of helped us out. Sometimes yellows can help or hurt, and tonight they helped a little bit.

“(Swindell) was awful good all night long. He drove away from us early. He was definitely a better car than us and it would have took a little bit of problem from him for us to get up to him. I just wasn’t good enough from the center off to get a run on guys to slide them.”

Craig Dollansky also capitalized on the two cautions to drive from sixth to third in the final five laps.

“My car got good as the race wore on,” he said. “Late in the race was when my car felt the best.

“Any time you can come out with a top three with this group of teams here, it’s a pretty good night.”

David Gravel, who set fast time for the second night in a row, finished fourth and Daryn Pittman drove from 11^th to round out the top five.

Schatz overcame an early issue of his own and rebounded in the feature. After advancing from eighth to third in the Last Chance Showdown to earn a transfer, Schatz started the main event in 24^th. He restarted 14^th on the caution with six laps remaining and then restarted ninth on the green-white-checker.

Schatz finished sixth and he earned the KSE Hard Charger Award for a series-best third time this season.

Saldana placed seventh, Steve Kinser was eighth, Greg Wilson ended ninth and Friday night winner Chad Kemenah rallied from 22^nd to conclude the top 10.

Paul McMahan won a heat race and the dash, and Trey Starks, Steve Kinser and Jac Haudenschild earned heat wins. Tony Stewart claimed the Last Chance Showdown.

Swindell and Schatz have exchanged the points lead 8 times in 15 events making it the most hotly contested championship battle in World of Outlaws History.

May 7, 2012
Brandon McReynolds Scores First Career ARCA Victory at Talladega

[media-credit name=”ARCA Racing Network” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]20 years and 1 day ago, Brandon McReynolds sat in Talladega Superspeedway Sprint Cup Series Victory Lane after his godfather Davey Allison with his dad, Larry McReynolds, who was Allison’s crew chief.

Flash forward to today and Brandon McReynolds passed Matt Lofton on the last lap to win the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250 at Talladega for his first career ARCA victory in his seventh career ARCA start.

“That was a good race,” the 21-year-old said. “I gotta thank Chad Hackenbracht. I just can’t thank Steve and Sandra Turner and everybody back at Turner Motorsports for this.”

On a restart with four laps to go, the 21-year-old worked his way past Hackenbracht to move up to second as he pushed Lofton into the lead. Then on the final lap coming through the tri-oval, he got a shove from Hackenbracht that pushed him by Lofton for the win.

“I didn’t know I had it,” McReynolds sys. “Tab, my spotter, he did a great job. We’re looking for sponsors. 58 gave me a big push and we brought it home. It was a great.”

It marked sweet redemption after McReynolds lost the lead at Daytona on the final lap earlier this year due to running out of fuel. He had also come close before at Talladega as he led late in the race last year, before being passed.

“That kid amazes me,” his father Larry McReynolds says. “He had a plan, he started making it 20 laps to go and he knew where he needed to be. I can only think that he gets that from his godfather Davey. We need to get something on those quarter panels. I couldn’t be prouder. Thanks to Steve and Sandra Turner for giving him the opportunity.”

Lofton would come home second after leading the majority of the laps throughout the day.

“We got a ton of experience,” he says. “We really needed this quality run here. We’ve had fast racecars, with the exception of Daytona. It shows all of our hard work with how we’ve come back from Daytona. Gotta thank Joe Coulter for this.”

Hackenbracht would finish third, which marked a solid finish for the family-owned team on a limited budget.

“I can’t thank the guys enough,” he says. “We’re way low in our budget; only have three people working for us. We’re working on it. I was lonely there at the front. I knew they were going to high or low, but I’m glad to get a finish that we deserve.”

Tom Hessert and Steve Blackburn would complete the top five. Will Kimmel would finish sixth, followed by Frank Kimmel, Brennan Poole, Brendan Davis, Sean Corr and Kevin Swindell.

The race saw two big incidents throughout the day, with the first happening on lap 11. The big wreck started when Steve Blackburn went for a spin after contact from Brennan Poole, causing a chain reaction that collected eight other drivers.

One of the drivers involved in the wreck was Bobby Gerhart, who has eight top 10s in 15 Talladega starts and is known for solely focusing on his Superspeedway program.

“Jason Jebb just notified me that there was a spin on the bottom and then got blocked up and there wasn’t too much I could do. I just got caught up there,” he says.

Another driver involved in the wreck was NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular Joey Coulter, who was driving for the family owned team.

Other drivers involved include Alex Bowman, Milka Duno, Mike Harmon, George Cushman, Terry Jones, Mark Thompson, Drew Charlson and Donnie Neuenburger. The race was put under red flag for a bit to clean up the mess

The other incident came with 20 to go when Mike Affarano, who was making his first ARCA start, rolled over six times on the front stretch.

“I’d like to man up and say, ‘Oh, it was spectacular,’” Affarano says. “But I had my eyes closed. I was holding on for dear life and just saying, ‘Just nobody hit me.’”

The next race for the ARCA Racing Series is at Toledo Speedway on May 20^th.

May 4, 2012
Alex Bowman Leads Lone ARCA Practice at Talladega; Race at 5 ET/4 CT on SPEED, ARCARacing.com

[media-credit name=”ARCA Racing Network” align=”alignright” width=”180″][/media-credit](TALLADEGA, Ala.) – With only one practice session to consider when choosing a contender in a previously rainy week at Talladega Superspeedway, Alex Bowman seems a favorite for today’s International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250.

The 18-year-old Tucson, Ariz. native led this morning’s 55-minute practice session, the only on-track activity before today’s fourth race of the season for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. His lap of 51.391 seconds (186.336 mph) topped April open test leader Will Kimmel, Chris Buescher, Brett Hudson, and 2001 Talladega winner Bobby Gerhart.

Bowman drove 16 laps in the session. He won last week at the 0.555-mile Salem Speedway in Indiana, his third ARCA Racing Series win in five career starts.

All 43 cars participated in the practice session after rain forced the cancellation of three hours of practice and Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell on Thursday.

Matt Lofton, driver of the No. 16 Chevrolet for Coulter Motorsports, will start first in today’s race, and he finished ninth in the practice session. Lofton’s team acquired the owner points of the No. 41 Chevrolet, last year’s ARCA Racing Series champion. The previous year’s owner points are used to set the field in instances where qualifying is cancelled in any of a season’s first four races.

Today’s International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250 will air live on SPEED at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. Central). ARCARacing.com will feature live timing and scoring coverage, as well as live audio coverage of the race, as presented by WTDR Thunder 92.7 FM of Alabama.

2012 is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 28 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series will visit Alabama’s Mobile International Speedway and Minnesota’s Elko Speedway for the first time; ARCA’s first visit to Minnesota will give ARCA a race in a 29th state.

Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.

May 4, 2012

Starting Lineup Announced for International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250

(TALLADEGA, Ala.) – After today’s announcement that ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards officials have cancelled Menards Pole Qualifying for rain at Talladega Superspeedway, a full starting lineup is available.

All 43 eligible teams will start the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250, and officials remain hopeful for the opportunity to practice later today.

Matt Lofton, driver of the No. 16 Chevrolet for Coulter Motorsports, will start first in tomorrow’s race. The team acquired the owner points of the No. 41 Chevrolet, last year’s ARCA Racing Series champion. The previous year’s owner points are used to set thefield in instances where qualifying is cancelled in any of a season’s first four races.

The full starting lineup is below.

STR	NO	DRIVER/HOMETOWN	OWNER
1	16	Matt Lofton/Roxboro NC	Joe Coulter
2	17	Chris Buescher/Prosper TX	Russ Roulo
3	44	Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN	Duke Thorson
4	25	Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX	Cathy Venturini
5	99	Brandon Davis/Huntington Beach CA	Gary Roulo
6	1	Mikey Kile/Westlake LA	Jennifer Belmont
7	52	Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ	Ken Schrader
8	31	Mike Harmon/Birmingport AL	Wayne Peterson
9	58	Chad Hackenbracht/Cornelius NC	Greg Hackenbracht
10	32	Brandon McReynolds/Mooresville NC	Kevin Cywinski
11	15	Ryan Reed/Bakersfield CA	Bill Venturini
12	82	Sean Corr/Goshen NY	John Corr
13	23	Spencer Gallagher/Las Vegas NV	TJ Clark
14	55	Kevin Swindell/Germantown TN	Mike Curb
15	10	Bill Coffey/Danbury CT	Andy Hillenburg
16	2	Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL	Wayne Hixson
17	34	Darrell Basham/Henryville IN	Darrell Basham
18	48	James Hylton/Inman SC	James Hylton
19	68	Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN	Bill Kimmel
20	02	Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL	Theresa Williams
21	18	Tyler Speer/Woodstock GA	Dave McClure
22	06	Tommy O’Leary/Cygnet OH	Wayne Peterson
23	35	Nelson Canache/Caracas Venezuela	Bill Venturini
24	5	Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA	Bill Gerhart
25	04	Larry Barford Jr./Denton MD	Roger Carter
26	22	Alex Bowman/Tucson AZ	Kerry Scherer
27	94	Steve Blackburn/Prestonburg KY	Darrell Basham
28	28	Drew Charlson/New Bremen OH	Wayne Hixson
29	6	Milka Duno/Caracas Venezuela	Jessica Sharp
30	7	George Cushman/Waterville NY	Bill Gerhart
31	61	Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL	Joe Coulter
32	11	Brett Hudson/Owensboro KY	Andy Hillenburg
33	66	Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA	Cathy Venturini
34	08	Clay Campbell/Martinsville VA	Jeff Spraker
35	40	Greg Hutto Jr./Grand Bay AL	Roger Carter
36	90	Zach Ralston/Springville IA	Doug Stringer
37	30	Terry Jones/Amherstburg ON	Terry Jones
38	88	Buster Graham/Lafayette LA	Howard Bixman
39	76	John Ferrier/Middletown NY	John Ferrier
40	78	Aleks Gregory/Baton Rouge LA	Aleks Gregory
41	67	Roger Carter/Charlotte NC	Dana Carter
42	97	Donnie Neuenberger/Edgewater MD	Dana Carter
43	83	Mike Affarano/Shorewood IL	Mike Affarano

Tomorrow’s International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250 – the fourth race of ARCA’s 60th Anniversary Season – will air live on SPEED at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. Central). ARCARacing.com will feature live timing and scoring coverage, as well as live audio coverage of the race, as presented by WTDR Thunder 92.7 FM of Alabama.

2012 is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18tracks. The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 28 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series will visit Alabama’s Mobile International Speedway and Minnesota’s Elko Speedway for the first time; ARCA’s first visit to Minnesota will give ARCA a race in a 29th state.

Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.

May 3, 2012

CJ Solar Band and Jaclyn North Headline ARCA Racing “Green Flag” Concert

Talladega, AL (May 2, 2012) — Celebrating its 60th season the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards returns to “Sweet Home Alabama” for the running of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 250 this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

Kicking off the week’s ARCA and NASCAR festivities will be a pre-race “Green Flag” party hosted by So Good! Entertainment and Venturini Motorsports featuring Nashville recording artists CJ Solar Band and Jaclyn North.

These young and energetic country rockers will perform Thursday, May 3rd and Friday 4th at the Smoking Moose Bar in Anniston, Alabama. Both nights the doors will open at 7pm with the concert starting at 9pm.

The CJ Solar Band will also serve as primary sponsor of the No.25 Venturini Motorsports entry driven by current series points’ leader, Brennan Poole in Friday’s ARCA race at Talladega.

CJ SOLAR BAND BIO
CJ Solar Band puts the Rock in your country! With their high energy shows and sound, they have been described as “bringing southern rock back to life” and their original music will crank up any crowd.

Headed by front man CJ Solar from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, his style of country rock developed from years of covering a variety of styles of music from Lynyrd to Stone Temple Pilots, CCR to Jonny Craig; as well as, influenced by the soulful musicians from his home state of Louisiana like Marc Broussard.

The CJ Solar Band came together at Belmont University in Nashville after years of playing music in their respective hometowns around the country. They form a cohesive unit that really rocks with CJ Solar, who provides lead vocals for the group and gives them their unique sound.

They have been described as “Country with a hint of grunge” and “Daughtry meets Aldean”. CJ also plays guitar with Zach Sheffer of St. Louis, MO complimenting on lead guitar. Nick Gibbens from Dallas, TX plays bass; and Ryan Connearney from Boston, MA has the keys. All of the band members who are all music, audio engineering, or songwriting majors at Belmont University.

More information and sampling of music can be found at www.CJSOLARBAND.com.

JACLYN NORTH BIO
Country Music Artist and American Idol semi-finalist Jaclyn North is one of the brightest up and coming artists in all of country music. This exciting 21-year old songwriter / entertainer from Garland, Texas is based in “Music City”, and will be performing her award winning hits this week in Talladega.

North, who wowed judges Simon Cowell, Ellen DeGeneres, Kara Dioguardi, and Randy Jackson on the Fox Network’s American Idol in 2010 (season 9) recently teamed up with Venturini Motorsports as a sponsor in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.

After competing over 28 times in 5 years in the Texaco Country Showdown, North earned the coveted slot as one of five finalists out of 50,000 nationwide contestants in 2011. North ended the night on the Historic Ryman Auditorium stage in Nashville by winning the grand prize, awarded by LeAnn Rimes, and the title of “Best New Act in Country Music.”

The music Jaclyn North writes and loves to perform has been described as a “smooth blend of southern rock and traditional country, with a sultry kiss of blues.” She has performed on the same stages as Randy Houser, Montgomery Gentry, LeAnn Rimes, Daughtry, Jerrod Niemann and the famous Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

More information and sampling of music can be found at www.JaclynNorth.com.

Special thanks to 97.9 WVOK East Alabama’s Favorite Music, Insight Magazine and Daybreak Productions.

The “Green Flag” party event details:
The Smoking Moose
1214 Noble Street
Anniston, Alabama 36201
256-741-9300

ABOUT VENTURINI MOTORSPORTS
Venturini Motorsports (VMS), fielding cars in the ARCA Racing Series, is one of the premier NASCAR driver development programs in the country. The 2012 season marks the teams 30th Anniversary of competition in the ARCA Series. Multiple team championships and consistent on-track success, VMS has evolved into one of the most recognizable names in motorsports.

Since 2007, VMS has assisted in the career development of notable NASCAR drivers such as Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier, Steve Arpin, Brian Scott, Max Gresham, Miguel Paludo, Josh Richards, Ryan Blaney, and Scott Lagasse, Jr.

Official: www.VenturiniMotorsports.com | Twitter @VenturiniMotor | Facebook: Venturini Motorsports

May 2, 2012
IndyCar Calendar Celebrates Indy 500 Month with Unique Autograph Session

Indianapolis, IN – May 1, 2012 – To celebrate the month of May and the legacy of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, United Medical Providers, Inc. (UMP) has arranged for a very special autograph session to take place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Community Day, May 23, 2012 from 12-1 p.m. ET.

When the Official 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series calendar was printed, the producers (UMP) had no idea that the May feature would end up being so significant. Now, as the world turns its attention toward Indianapolis for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the calendar team aims to offer a unique opportunity for race fans.

Alex Tagliani, the reigning Indianapolis 500 pole-sitter, along with his wife Bronte, will be signing the calendar’s August page, where they are featured. In addition, last year’s Indianapolis 500 winning team owners, Bryan Herta and Steve Newey, will be there to sign the calendars outside of the Team Barracuda – BHA garage on Community Day. UMP is also expecting a few surprise guests to join the session as well.

For those who are unable to attend the autograph session, UMP has a special offer: Starting on May 1, anyone who orders a calendar throughout the entire month will receive their copy, signed by Herta, Newey, Tagliani and at least one other driver featured in 2012.

“The calendar is a great collector’s piece and has become a must-have for fans of INDYCAR,” says UMP owner David Wills. “But the best part is that it benefits three different racing charities: Racing For Cancer, Racing For Kids and Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation. We’re thankful that we can celebrate the month of May with this unique opportunity for fans, in addition to supporting three great charities in the paddock.”

Fans can purchase their copy of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar calendar online at www.UMPonline.com/calendar. They are also encouraged to follow @INDYCARcalendar and “like” www.facebook.com/INDYCARcalendar for the latest updates and other unique fan opportunities throughout the year.

About United Medical Providers, Inc.
United Medical Providers (UMP) has been serving the medical supply and equipment needs for thousands of clients in the United States since 1996. UMP can supply clients’ urological needs with a complete line of quality products. UMP carries thousands of products from top manufacturers like Astra Tech, Bard, Coloplast, Hollister, Rochester Medical, Rusch and Securi-T. For more information, visit www.UMPonline.com.

About Racing for Cancer
Racing For Cancer, Inc. was formed to unite motorsports fans around the world to help those afflicted with cancer and to promote early detection and prevention initiatives that support the global fight against cancer. The mission is simply to help beat cancer. Racing for Cancer commits 100 percent of net proceeds, raised through various fundraising programs, to (1) promote and launch early detection and prevention initiatives, and (2) promote awareness and the eradication of childhood cancer. The organization also partners to support various marketing efforts to aid in the global cancer awareness campaign. For more information, visit www.RacingForCancer.org.

About Racing For Kids
Founded in Detroit in 1989, Racing For Kids is designed to use the increasing popularity of motorsports to focus public attention and funding on the health care needs of children. The hospital visits form the heart of the program. RFK drivers visit children in Children’s Hospitals wherever they race. They spend time with each sick youngster answering questions about their sport, posing for pictures, signing autographs and handing out the distinctive RFK hats, coloring books and assorted memorabilia provide by our sponsors. RFK representatives have visited with more than 20,000 young patients in nearly 400 hospitals in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Australia. For more information, visit www.RacingForKids.org.

About The Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation
The Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation was started in 2000 by Indy Racing League driver Sam Schmidt shortly after a practice-run crash left him paralyzed from the chest down. SSPF is leading the charge to cure paralysis by funding scientific research, medical treatment, rehabilitation and technological advances, also benefiting stroke victims and people diagnosed with ALS, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. In addition to initiating local and national advocacy efforts on behalf of those disabled, SSPF funds funds its national Day at the Races program. For more information, visit www.samschmidt.org.

May 1, 2012
POWER WINS THIRD-STRAIGHT ON STREETS OF SAO PAULO

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Sunday, April 29, 2012) – Will Power hopes a shower of April victories can lead to a quart of milk in May.

The Team Penske driver won the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle to score his third consecutive victory of the season and the third in a row at the Anhembi circuit.

Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, held off Hunter-Reay on a Lap 71 restart and won by 0.9045 of a second. Takuma Sato, who started 25th because of an unapproved Honda engine change and overcame a Lap 12 pit lane speed violation penalty, earned his first IZOD IndyCar Series podium finish.

Power is the first driver since Scott Dixon in 2007 to win three consecutive races (Watkins Glen, Nashville, Mid-Ohio).

Power inherited the point when Dixon pitted under caution on Lap 64, held off Hunter-Reay on the Lap 67 restart, which quickly turned into a Turn 1 parking lot that collected, among others, Dixon. Recognizing possibly his final opportunity to overtake Power, Hunter-Reay moved to the outside in Turn 1 of the Lap 71 green flag.

Helio Castroneves overtook front-row starter Dario Franchitti on that restart to finish fourth. Franchitti’s No. 10 Lexar Media car for Target Chip Ganassi Racing was bumped from behind on a Lap 26 restart in Turn 1 to drop to 22nd.

James Hinchcliffe, JR Hildebrand and Charlie Kimball — rookies in 2011 — finished ahead of E.J. Viso in ninth and Barrichello in 10^th.

Qualifying lap times for the No. 18 Sonny’s BBQ car have been voided by INDYCAR following post-race technical inspection on April 28.

Pursuant to Rule 14.4.13.3 of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series rulebook: As requested by INDYCAR each Car must run either the cameras or dummy equipment as supplied by BSI/INDYCAR.

Justin Wilson, who had qualified sixth for the Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle in the Dale Coyne Racing car, will start from the rear of the 26-car field April 29.

***

The following cars have been given 10-grid spot penalties for unapproved engine changes.

#6 Legge (Carryover penalty from Long Beach)

#7 Bourdais (Engine change after qualifying)

#15 Sato (Engine change after practice 2)

`           #22 Servia (Engine change after qualifying)

***

Katherine Legge, driver of the No. 6 TrueCar Dragon Racing Lotus suffered a torn ligament in her left thumb in an on-track incident at Long Beach two weeks ago.

“It’s OK. The adrenaline of being in the car masks the pain,” she said.

***

ITAIPAVA SAO PAULO INDY 300 PRESENTED BY NESTLE RACE RUNNING:

At 12:15 p.m., the ambient temperature was 69 degrees. Skies were cloudy. The track temperature was 71 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.

12:23 p.m. – Journalist Johnny Saad gave the command “Drivers, please start your engines.” All cars are running.

Lap 1: GREEN. #12 Power leads the field into Turn 1. #38 Rahal went from sixth to fourth and #67 Newgarden went from 8^th to fifth on opening lap.

Lap 3: #12 Power leads #10 Franchitti by .9375 of a second.

Lap 5: #12 Power leads #10 Franchitti by .5606 of a second.

Lap 8: #12 Power leads #10 Franchitti by 1.2749 seconds.

Lap 10: #12 Power leads #10 Franchitti by 1.9526 seconds. #3 Castroneves on pit road for four tires and fuel.

Lap 11: #77 Pagenaud and #15 Sato on pit lane for four tires and fuel.

***

IZOD IndyCar Series officials have penalized #15 Sato with a drive through penalty for a pit lane speed violation.

***

Lap 12: #12 Power leads #10 Franchitti by 2.2831 seconds.

Lap 14: #26 Andretti on pit road for four red tires and fuel.

Lap 15: #12 Power leads #10 Franchitti by 2. 5291 seconds. #18 Wilson pits for four red tires and fuel. Wilson stalled on exit.

Lap 17: #12 Power leads #10 Franchitti by 3.0867 seconds. #4 Hildebrand on pit road for four red tires and fuel.

Lap 18: #27, #25 #6 on pit lane for four tires and fuel.

***

IZOD IndyCar Series officials have penalized #25 Beatriz with a drive through penalty for a pit lane speed violation.

***

Lap 19: #12 Power leads #10 Franchitti by 3.0671 seconds. 9, 11, 83 on pit lane for four tires and fuel. #18 returns to pit lane.

Lap 20: #19 Jakes and #22 Servia pit for four tires and fuel.

***

IZOD IndyCar Series officials have penalized #22 Servia with a drive through penalty for a pit lane speed violation.

***

Lap 21: #10 Franchitti, #38 Rahal, #5 Viso, #8 Barrichello, #7 Bourdais on pit lane for four tires and fuel.

Lap 22: #12 Power leads #28 Hunter-Reay by 18.2322 seconds.

Lap 23: #12 Power and #28 Hunter-Reay on pit road for four tires and fuel. #2 Briscoe makes contact with the wall in Turn 10. FULL COURSE YELLOW. #12 Power maintains the lead under caution followed by #10 Franchitti, #28 Hunter-Reay, #9 Dixon and #14 Conway.

Lap 26: GREEN. #12 Power leads the field into Turn 1. #10 Franchitti spins after contact with #14 Conway in Turn 1.FULL COURSE YELLOW. Leaders under caution are: #12 Power, #28 Hunter-Reay, #9 Dixon, #3 Castroneves, #8 Barrichello.

Lap 27: #67 Newgarden on pit lane for four tires and fuel.

Lap 28: #14 Conway, #19 Jakes, #7 Bourdais on pit road for four tires and fuel. Pit Report: #14 Conway also changing nosecone after contact. #10 Franchitti on pit lane for four tires and fuel.

Lap 29: GREEN. #12 Power leads the field into Turn 1. Multi-car accident in Turn 3. FULL COURSE YELLOW. Cars involved are: #67 Newgarden #78 De Silvestro and #19 Jakes. Cars of #7 Bourdais. #14 Conway, #83 Kimball were slowed by the track blockage.

Lap 31: #3 Castroneves, #4 Hildebrand, #27 Hinchcliffe, #26 Andretti, #38 Rahal, #77 Pagenaud, #15 Sato, #20 Carpenter, #14 Conway all pit for four tires and fuel. Contact between #14 Conway and #26 Andretti. #26 Andretti must fall behind the #15 Sato because of a pass under yellow.

***

IZOD IndyCar Series officials have penalized #38 Rahal with a drive through penalty for a pit lane speed violation.

***

Lap 33: GREEN. #12 Power leads the field into Turn 1.

Lap 35: #12 Power leads #28 Hunter-Reay by .5730 of a second.

Lap 36: #77 Pagenaud on pit road for new nosecone after damage on course.

Lap 38: #12 Power leads #28 Hunter-Reay by .9316 of a second.

***

#12 Power has clinched the two bonus points for leading the most laps in the race.

***

Lap 40: #12 Power leads #28 Hunter-Reay by 1.5156 seconds.

Lap 42: #11 Kanaan on pit road for four tires and fuel.

Lap 45: #12 Power leads #28 Hunter-Reay by 3.0910 seconds.

Lap 46: #9 Dixon pits for four red tires and fuel.

Lap 47: #5 Viso pits for four black tires and fuel.

Lap 48: #12 Power leads #28 Hunter-Reay by 2.5304 seconds. #8 Barrichello pits for four red tires and fuel.

Lap 49: #22 Servia pits for four red tires and fuel.

Lap 50: #12 Power leads #28 Hunter-Reay by 2.5487 seconds. #25 Beatriz on pit road for four tires and fuel.

Lap 52: Leaders #12 Power and #28 Hunter-Reay on pit road for four tires and fuel. New leader is #10 Franchitti.

Lap 53: Leader, #10 Franchitti, on pit road for four red tires and fuel. #38 Rahal also on pit road for four tires and fuel. New leader is #3 Castroneves.

Lap 54: #5 Sato, #4 Hildebrand, #20 Carpenter, #14 Conway, #7 Bourdais, #77 Pagenaud pit for four tires and fuel,.

Lap 55: Leader #3 Castroneves on pit lane for four red tires and fuel. New leader is #27 Hinchcliffe.

Lap 56: Leader #27 Hinchcliffe and #11 Kanaan on pit lane for four tires and fuel. New leader is #9 Dixon.

Lap 57: Green flag stops complete: #9 Dixon leads #12 Power by 2.5386 seconds. #5 Viso on pit road for four tires and fuel.

Lap 60: #9 Dixon leads #12 Power by 3.1037 seconds.

Lap 63: #67 Newgarden stopped on course in Turn 5. #20 Carpenter also off course in Turn 11. FULL COURSE CAUTION. Leaders under caution are #9 Dixon, #12 Power, #28 Hunter-Reay, #10 Franchitti, #3 Castroneves.

Lap 64: Leader #9 Dixon on pit road for fuel only. New leader is #12 Power.

Lap 67: GREEN. #12 Power leads the field into Turn 1. Behind there is multi-car incident in Turn 1. FULL COURSE YELLOW. Cars involved are: #14 Conway, #26 Andretti, #38 Rahal, #77 Pagenaud, #11 Kanaan,#9 Dixon, #25 Beatriz and #19 Jakes.

***

IZOD IndyCar Series officials have penalized #25 Beatriz with a drivethough penalty for avoidable contact with #20 Carpenter on lap 63.

***

Lap 71: GREEN. #12 Power leads field into Turn 1.

Lap 72: #12 Power leads #28 Hunter-Reay by .6922 of a second.

Lap 74: WHITE: #12 Power leads #28 Hunter-Reay by .8420 of a second.

Lap 75: CHECKERED: #12 Power wins the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle by .9045 of a second.

ITAIPAVA SAO PAULO INDY 300 PRESENTED BY NESTLE POST-RACE NOTES:

· Will Power won the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle for the third consecutive season. He is the only driver to win here on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

· It is Power’s 18^th career Indy car victory and his third victory of 2012 and his third consecutive win in 2012. He is the first driver to win three-straight races since Scott Dixon won at Watkins Glen, Nashville and Mid-Ohio in July 2007.

· This is Team Penske’s third win at Sao Paulo. It has won all three races with Will Power.

· Ryan Hunter-Reay finished a season-best second place. It is his second podium finish of 2012.

· Takuma Sato finished third, his first podium finish in the IZOD IndyCar Series. His previous best finish was fourth (Mid-Ohio in 2011).

· Helio Castroneves was the highest-finishing Brazilian driver in fourth place.

· Dario Franchitti finished fifth, his first top-five finish of the season.

· James Hinchcliffe finished sixth, Hinchcliffe has yet to finish outside the top-6.

ITAIPAVA SAO PAULO INDY 300 PRESENTED BY NESTLE POST-RACE QUOTES:

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, winner Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 Presented By Nestle):“”Very happy to get that third win here and third in a row. We need to make it four in a row at the most important race next. (The final restart) was the key to winning. Ryan (Hunter-Reay) got a really good jump. I knew I just had to go like you wouldn’t believe through the first complex of corners because I knew he could get a run on me. Ryan is one of the hardest guys you will ever race; he never gives up. Full credit to the Verizon guys, Chevy and Team Penske. These guys make it possible. We did it three for three.”

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Coastal.com Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports): “”It was a long day but the good point was that we were able to get the car right for the race. We had a really strong race car. It was our first time here in Sao Paulo and it took us a little while to understand what was needed but I was really, really happy in the race car. We were making progress until I had to go through the run off and basically lose a lot of positions. Everything went down hill from there. We got hit. I lost my wing twice. Then in the end, we lost a lap when we were collected in that last wreck. If there is a wreck in front of you in the chicane, there is no way to avoid it. It’s a shame and that’s why we need to start ahead of the pack.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, finished sixth): “It was a bit of a rollercoaster ride, I’d say. We had a decent starting position but the first stint was shocking. We didn’t have the right car for the really slick conditions in the beginning and we fell like a stone; we had a bit of a slow first stop and it set us even further back, so we were really struggling. It’s a credit to these Go Daddy guys, ya know, we just never give up. As the track dried out the car really came to us and we had the car back that we had yesterday – we set the third quickest lap and the car was hauling. We were able to bring home another top six. It’s all perspective. If you had told us before the race started that we were going to finish sixth I would have been pretty disappointed, but if you told me after the first (pit) stop that we were going to finish sixth I probably would have been pretty pleased with that. We’ll take the finish and take the points – if we’re not thrilled with a sixth-place finish that means we’re doing something right.”

TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Itaipava/GEICO/ Mouser Electronics KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): “Unfortunately, our strategy didn’t work out the way we wanted because of the number of yellow flags. That is racing. If everything had played out the way we envisioned we would have been in the top-five. It’s a shame, but it is always fun to race in front of the Brazilian fans. I want to thank them and my sponsors for supporting me. From here we go to Indy, which is the most important race of the season and we looking for a good result in a race I have been close to winning, but never have.”

JR HILDEBRAND (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet, finished seventh): “I’m stoked for the guys because I had left something on the table during qualifying this weekend, and I really wanted to get out there and hustle it and pick off some guys and get us up to the front. And through some good strategy calls and a good National Guard Chevy we were able to do that and it was a lot of fun. This track, especially now with the different engine manufacturers – and the car is more sensitive when you take downforce out – lends itself to being able to make some passes out there. You combine that with the difference between the red and black Firestone tires and it made for a really exciting race. It certainly was for us. I know all of us at Panther are happy to come away from here with a solid Top 10 and head into the month of May in the top 10 in the points standings.”

TAKUMA SATO (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, finished third): “It is a fantastic feeling to finish third. It was an eventful race starting from the back of the grid. I needed to fight back so hard to get the positions back. The first part of the race was really hard, not necessarily on the overtaking but to follow the strategy, and at one stage we had a pit speed penalty but we gradually moved up. One-by-one we overtook cars which was very exciting. In the end, the restart got me into a great place; it was very exciting for me. There is always opportunity on a restart but you never know until you hit the brake because there is no plan basically. When Helio and Dario were in front of me, two wide, initially I thought there was no chance but when I saw their braking point was earlier than I expected I saw a little opportunity to dive inside. I was confident that I would make the corner so I was very excited. Finally, after a difficult weekend, it is a relief to get this result and I am really pleased to bring the team a third place and see the first checkered flag of the season. It was a great day.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet, finished second): “The weather had been so up and down, so we didn’t know what to expect. (On final restart) I really challenged (Will Power) on the outside. I tried to get him but he had the inside and he raced clean. We’ve been right there on the podium three of the four races so we’re really happy going to Indy.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): “I guess that just wasn’t our day. The Target car definitely had some speed but we just couldn’t put it all together.”

DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 Lexar Media Honda): “Our Lexar car was very fast and we were pretty quick out there. We got hit on that restart and spun out but we kept fighting and it was a great job by the Target boys on pit lane. It just didn’t work out today. We were up there and didn’t get the mileage we needed. We almost got back up to the front but the last two restarts weren’t the best for us.”

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy Lotus HVM Racing Lotus): “It was difficult for sure. I think we ran pretty good in practice this morning and we were looking forward to having a good race. The guys on the team have been doing a great job and working really hard. I feel bad for them that we couldn’t finish the race. Now we just have to go back and work hard to get everything working right for Indy.”

ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): “Today was a tough day to swallow. We had a great race going and, then to get spun out, just made it look like a bad day. There is no use being upset with the result. We will just focus on the progress and start getting ready to go win at Indy.”

KATHERINE LEGGE (No. 6 TrueCar Dragon Racing Lotus): “The Lotus teams were struggling to find speed down the long straightaways here, so we were simply focusing on the areas of the car we can control. We managed to fix a braking issue that’s been plaguing us, as well as some other improvements to keep us competitive with the other Lotus teams. We are working well together as a team and really starting to gel. I am very happy to be working with Brandon and the rest of my crew.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO (No. 8 BMC/ Embrase – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet, finished 10th): “When you are in 16th place and at the end of the race you gain six positions you have to feel better. However, I have to say I did not understand the race. I was running third or fourth and all of a sudden I was 17th. We did have a few problems with the pit stops, but strategy was such a big factor this afternoon. In fact, when I saw Dario (Franchitti) after the race I stop to talk to him and asked him when you should spin so you can come in a take fuel. I just want to thank all the Brazilian fans for coming out to the race. I gave my very best today. Unfortunately, because of all the cautions flags our strategy didn’t work out today but it will out some other day.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Penske Logistics Chevrolet, finished fourth): “It was an awesome day in the Penske Logistics car. I received many messages on Twitter yesterday when people saw my frustration after qualifying inspiring me and they were the ones really driving me today. It was a great call today by John Erickson on the pit strategy and the car was good. I didn’t know how much damage was done to the front until I got out of the car, but it was a great race and I have to thank all my guys, Ron Ruzewski, John Erickson, and all the guys on my crew.”

E.J. VISO (No. 5 CITGO/PDVSA – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet, finished ninth): “Another top-10 finish is always a good thing especially when I am looking for championship points.   It was a bit of a sweet and sour weekend. We were not as fast as we expected in qualifying, however we had a strong race. Unfortunately, there were several strategies used today and ours didn’t pay off the way we hoped. We all acknowledge that it was a difficult situation with the weather constantly changing and the number of yellow flags due to accidents. I think we had a car that was good enough to finish in the top-five and want to thank the crew and my engineer for doing a great job.”

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team RC Cola Chevrolet): “We were there in the end and were coming for Hinch (James Hinchcliffe) and got caught up in wreck and dropped back to 20th and managed to get back up to 14th by the end. We were slow on the straights anyway and that’s where I lost all my time. There were guys I couldn’t see yet in my mirrors and then they were by me by the end of the straight – there was nothing I could do. If we had finished sixth or seventh it wouldn’t have been terrible – another bummer day for the RC Cola boys but we’re coming ready for Indy.”

ANA BEATRIZ (No. 25 Team Ipiranga Chevrolet): “The race result didn’t show our potential. We ran in the top 10 and were consistent. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the beset speed on the straights and were being beaten by the other guys. But we were good on the corners so I’m happy to accomplish running in the top five. It was a shame being penalized twice and being involved in that last accident because I’m sure we had a great chance to finish in the top 10 with the Ipiranga car.”

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Honda, finished eighth): “What an interesting race. No corner went without some sort of contact. The Novo Nordisk team did a fantastic job today. Great pit stops and I’m thrilled to have a career-best finish here in Brazil. On to Indianapolis.”

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 38 Service Central Honda): “Overall it was a tough day for the Service Central team. We couldn’t catch a break today and things just did not go our way. We had a fast car but I guess it wasn’t our day.”

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS

Will Power       180

Helio Castroneves        135

James Hinchcliffe        123

Ryan Hunter-Reay       121

Simon Pagenaud          118

Scott Dixon      109

Takuma Sato    83

Ryan Briscoe   83

JR Hildebrand  83

Dario Franchitti            82

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Chevrolet        36

Honda 24

Lotus   16

SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS

Simon Pagenaud          118

Josef Newgarden         54

Katherine Legge           46

The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Indianapolis 500 Mile on May 27 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be televised by ABC at 11a.m. (ET) and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network on SiriusXM (XM 94 and Sirius 212). The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Firestone Freedom 100 on May 25 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be televised live by NBC Sports Network at Noon (ET).

April 29, 2012
POWER SETS RECORD LAP TO KEEP PENSKE POLE STREAK PERFECT

SAO PAULO, Brazil – Will Power gave Team Penske its fourth consecutive pole of the season, and the driver of the No. 12 Verizon car set an event qualifying recrd in the process.

Power posted a lap of 1 minute, 21.4045 seconds with about 3 minutes left in the Firestone Fast Six shootout to claim his second consecutive pole start for the Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle. It was the 26th pole of his Indy car career, tying Dario Franchitti for ninth overall.

That’s who Power, who’s won the race the past two years, will be sharing Row 1 with in the 75-lap race on the 2.536-mile, 11-turn street circuit. Franchitti earned his second consecutive front-row start with a lap of 1:21.4485 in the No. 10 Lexar Media car for Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

Event qualifying records have been set in all four IZOD IndyCar Series races this season.

Scott Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, extricated himself from running off course in Turn 9 with 3:30 left in the Firestone Fast to jump to third on the grid. He’ll share Row 2 with James Hinchcliffe, who’s the only driver to qualify for the Firestone Fast Six in all four races.

Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified fifth and Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing will start sixth following his first appearance in the Firestone Fast Six of the season. Thirteen different drivers have contested in the Firestone Fast Six.

Rubens Barrichello, competing in his first IZOD IndyCar Series race in his hometown, missed advancing to the second round by 0.0243 of a second and will start 13th.

DAY 1 NOTEBOOK:

Live timing and scoring reports from the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle are available on the Internet at racecontrol.indycar.com.

Feature stories, reports, driver quotes and notes will be posted on the INDYCAR media website at media.indycar.com. More detailed information, including media advisories and VNF coordinates are also posted on the media website. Hi-resolution images are available to media at www.indycarmedia.com. Media updates will also be provided on Twitter by following @indycarpr

***

New tire specs, used already: The Firestone primary and alternate tire specifications are new for Brazil, but both specs have already seen race action this year at St. Petersburg and Long Beach. The specs feature updated tread compounds applied to the same Firehawk street course tire construction used throughout 2011.

The Firestone rain tire for this weekend is the same rain spec used in the last half of 2011.

***

Chevy seeks to make strong impression: Chevrolet’s Agile and Prisma are favorites of taxi operators in São Paulo. It’s no coincidence as Brazil boasts one of the strongest global retail markets for the General Motors brand.

The race weekend on the street circuit will be the first for the IZOD IndyCar Series engine manufacturer.

“With Chevrolet’s strong presence in Brazil, we have a tremendous opportunity to showcase the relevant technology in the Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 engine in front of thousands of fans,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing IZOD IndyCar Series Program Manager. “We are looking forward to giving them something to cheer about as our teams and drivers take to the streets of São Paulo.”

***

Promoting the Mazda Road to Indy: Raphael Matos may not be racing at the Sao Paulo Indy 300 but he is busy promoting Indy car racing in his home country.

Matos, who hopes to secure sponsorship to return to the IZOD IndyCar Series, represented the Mazda Road to Indy during a press conference at the Sao Paulo street circuit.

“I am working with Mazda to help promote the Mazda Road to Indy here in Brazil,” Matos said. “I am the only driver to win on every step of the ladder, and I think having my speak on behalf of ladder and INDYCAR can help bring more Brazilian drivers to Star Mazda, Indy Lights and USF2000.”

Matos, who competed in endurance sports car races earlier this year, was joined by Firestone Indy Lights driver J.V. Horto of Juncos Racing, who has been in his home country promoting the event.

“It’s a big thing to be involved in this event,” Horto said. “I want to help the (Mazda Road to Indy) and hopefully helping the series will help me and other Brazilian drivers. The more we can get the media and sponsors interested in the ladder series, the better it can be.”

***

A.J. Foyt will miss the Sao Paulo event: “I’m still not 100 percent (staph infection following knee in January surgery) and I felt with Indy coming up I didn’t want to put myself through that long trip to Brazil,” Foyt said.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POLE QUALIFYING:

IZOD IndyCar Series Pole Qualifying consists of three segments. In Segment One of qualifying, each group receives 15 minutes of track time. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Segment Two, while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13-26. Group One drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions (13, 15, 17…) while Group Two drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions (14, 16, 18…) based on their fastest lap times.

During Segment Two, the 12 advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time. The fastest six advance to the Firestone Fast Six Shootout while the remaining six cars are ranked in positions 7-12 based on their fastest laps.

During the Firestone Fast Six, the six cars receive 10 minutes of track time, with a guarantee of five minutes of green flag time. Each car receives one additional set of Firestone Firehawk tires for use during this final segment. At the end of the session, the cars are ranked 1-6 based on their fastest laps.

Any driver who causes a red flag during any of the groups will lose their two quickest laps.

The time line for qualifying today is at the exit of Turn 11.

At 2 p.m., the ambient temperature was 74 degrees. Skies were cloudy. The track temperature was 90 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.

Track record: Will Power, 1:21.8958 (April 30, 2011). Fastest lap today: #10 Dario Franchitti, 1:22.2611 (Practice 2).

2:05 p.m. – GREEN. Round 1. Group 1.

2:20 p.m. – CHECKERED. Advancing are: #12 Power, #9 Dixon, #27 Hinchcliffe, #18 Wilson, #11 Kanaan and #26 Andretti. Power’s lap of 1:21.6133 is the fastest lap recorded in Sao Paulo.

2:25 p.m. – GREEN. Round 1. Group 2.

2:40 p.m. – CHECKERED. Advancing are: #10 Franchitti #28 Hunter-Reay, #67 Newgarden #14 Conway, #2 Briscoe, #38 Rahal. Franchitti’s lap of 1:21.5667 is fastest lap recorded in Sao Paulo.

2:45 p.m. – GREEN. Round 2.

2:55 p.m. – Advancing to Firestone Fast Six are: #12 Power, #27 Hinchcliffe, #9 Dixon, #10 Franchitti, #18 Wilson, #28 Hunter-Reay. Power’s lap of 1:21.2718 is fastest lap recorded in Sao Paulo.

3:05 p.m. – GREEN. Firestone Fast Six.

3:10 p.m. – Five minutes into the session, fastest is Franchitti at 1:22.1814.

3:12 p.m. – 10 81.5407 then #12 betters the lap 81.4045.

3:15 p.m. – CHECKERED. #12 Will Power wins the pole for the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:

· This is Will Power’s second pole of 2012 and his second consecutive pole at Sao Paulo. It is the 26^th pole of his Indy car career tying him with Dario Franchitti for ninth on the all-time list.

· Dario Franchitti qualified second. It is his second consecutive front row start. He started on pole at Long Beach.

· Scott Dixon qualified third, matching his best start of 2012 and his best start in Sao Paulo.

· James Hinchcliffe qualified fourth. He is the only driver to qualify in the Firestone Fast Six in every race this season.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POLE QUALIFYING QUOTES:

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, IZOD IndyCar Series Pole Award winner): “It’s good to put the Verizon Chevrolet on the pole. It was satisfying, especially knowing that Honda seems to have an advantage on the straights at the moment, so being on pole is a good start to the weekend. I have a feeling it’s going to be wet, or maybe wet-dry for the race so it will mix things up a lot.”

DARIO FRANCHITI (No. 10 Lexar Media Honda, qualified second): “It’s been a pretty good weekend so far for Team Target. We’ve obviously had a difficult start to the season and a lot of things go wrong in the last couple weeks. We off-loaded with a good car of the truck and made some improvements to it. I’m a bit disappointed in qualifying, especially because the time is in the car. On the first lap, Justin (Wilson) was in the runoff in the hairpin so I took it a bit easy there. And then the next lap I just messed it up to be honest, and I actually made up all of the time back again. The time was in the car, I didn’t put it together. I’m a little disappointed in myself but at the same time I feel a lot more happy than I have in the last few races.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, qualified third): “We had a pretty good car. It was fairly loose, which is a bit odd actually for this year. Q2 was OK. We ended up second or third there and thought we could go for the top spot in Q3. Went out and went straight through the run-off in Turn 1 and couldn’t slow the car down; the brakes were a bit strange. Then went down into Turn 11 and the left-front locked straight away with a big flat spot and went into the run-off. I had to get turned around and then take a lap to get going. We got back to third. I was lucky that some of the other cars were a bit slower to get up to speed.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, qualified fourth): “I guess four is the number of the day: fourth place, fourth time in the Firestone Fast Six. It’s certainly not a bad starting spot to be on the first two rows, but we had a competitive car in (the second qualifying session) and were hoping for a little bit higher up. I need to get a better handle on how to make these tires work better on the second run. We seem to be good on sticker (tires) but in the second run (on the set of tires) in the Firestone Fast Six we were struggling a little bit. With the compressed schedule and limited track time the Go Daddy guys did a great job getting the car better every single session. We were 11th in the first practice, sixth in the second and now we qualified fourth. We’re steadily improving and if we can keep that trend up for the race we’re looking good.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet, qualified fifth): “It’s great having all the local DHL people here today to represent and support us. This historically has been a great track for us and we’re disappointed to qualify fifth – but anytime you are disappointed with fifth it’s good news. The DHL/Sun Drop guys did a great job preparing the car; we do need to make some changes for tomorrow but that’s what it’s all about. We’ll be ready to tomorrow rain or shine.”

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 18 Sonny’s Bar-B-Q Honda, qualified sixth): “It’s great to make into the Firestone Fast Six for the first time this year. We’re really pleased with that. I was hoping to get a bit more once we got in there. We made the right changes to get the Sonny’s Bar-B-Q Honda into the Fast Six, but we messed up on the last change and the car was a bit of a handful. But that’s how it goes sometimes. We’re starting sixth, we’re in a good spot and we’ll see what happens in the race.”

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet): “It’s disappointing to just miss out on the top six by a couple hundreths of a second, but the balance wasn’t quite there in Q2 and I just couldn’t pull out a good enough lap time. But if there’s a track where you can pass, this is it. So I’m looking forward to the race.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Penske Logistics Chevrolet): “The Penske Logistics car did well today, we needed just a little bit more. The braking felt inconsistent during qualifying but the Penske crew did a great job fixing the car after practice. We just couldn’t put it together today but we will be ready for a good performance tomorrow.”

JR HILDEBRAND (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet): “The National Guard Chevy was good, and the Panther guys did a good job improving it over the course of the day. During qualifying, between overshooting a few corners and some other guys doing the same thing causing some local yellows, I don’t think I did a great job of putting a lap together until the tires were worn off. We were less than a tenth from transferring, and I think that tenth was out there for us, but I just needed to go out there and get it. It’s frustrating on my part because I think the car was there, but that bodes well for tomorrow’s race because we typically race well at these types of tracks and the weather feasibly being a factor doesn’t hurt our chances at all.”

E.J. VISO (No. 5 CITGO-PDVSA KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): “I am disappointed with how the day went. It was not the qualifying run we expected. I truly thought we were going to show the speed and performance that we did during qualifying in the previous races, but we couldn’t do it this time. We need to address a couple of things to get us back to where we belong. This series is so competitive that a little change, a little detail, can put you at the top or way down the grid. We have a strong team with a great group of drivers, so I think we can address the problems we have. As far as tomorrow, rain is predicted and that is a big variable that will affect the race strategy.”

KATHERINE LEGGE (No. 6 TrueCar Dragon Racing Lotus): “It’s really nice to be here in Sao Paulo. It is a new experience for me and the track is really good. We are struggling [to find speed] down the long straightaways. We are about 12 mph down versus Honda and Chevy on the back straight. It’s another new circuit to learn, but we are making improvements. We had a braking problem in practice, but the team fixed that. So, good job by the team getting that problem sorted quickly. We have a few other improvements to work on now, but we believe that by tomorrow we will be competitive with the other Lotus cars.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO (No. 8 BMC | Embrase – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): “I enjoyed qualifying. For five laps I pushed the car hard. I didn’t want to give away any small percentage. I just learned the track this morning and I am still learning about the red (alternate) tire. I think it was a good qualifying. It is just so close and I am still working my way up to get into the top-10.”

TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Itaipava | GEICO| Mouser Electronics – KV Racing Technology w/SH Chevrolet): “We have been chasing ourselves since the first practice… We made a ton of changes from the first to the second practice and then again from the second practice to qualifying. The car kept improving, but during qualifying we made one change that did not go our way. We will keep working on the car overnight to get it ready for warm-up tomorrow and hopefully put on a good show for my fans and sponsors here in Brazil.”

TAKUMA SATO (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda): “It wasn’t a good day for us unfortunately. The first practice session was cut short because the engineers weren’t happy about some parameters and we had to stop early to check the gearbox. Everything ended up okay but the session was cut short which didn’t help us in terms of setting up the car. And then in the second practice I only ran a few laps before we had an engine problem which led to us not being able to take part in qualifying because of the amount of time it took to change the engine. The long straight with heavy braking here means you can overtake but starting from the back it is going to be tough. We will fight back to gain positions tomorrow and hopefully we will have a strong package. We will see how the car will be in the warm-up tomorrow. I don’t mind whether it is a dry race or a wet race. To go from the back of the grid in the wet would be quite difficult in terms of visibility but there is more of a chance to go forward. In a dry race, realistically it would be very difficult to get a top result but nothing is impossible. It will be an exciting race for sure.”

ANA BEATRIZ (No. 25 Team Ipiranga Chevrolet): “It was a good day; we just worked on improving time and getting back into the car again. I didn’t get much time on red tires before qualifying but they seemed quicker than the black tires and with more time on them I think we could have been faster. We are just looking to be consistent in the race tomorrow and move up where we can and do well. I’m happy today with the Ipiranga and Andretti Autosport team and looking forward to tomorrow.”

GRAHAM RAHAL (No 38 Service Central Honda): “Overall the day ended better then it started. I’m still not really happy with the car. I’m just so bummed that we were so close. But tomorrow is another day and we will do better.”

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy Lotus HVM Racing Lotus): “It’s a bit disappointing. I think we have a pretty good car. We just need to do a couple of tweaks for tomorrow and hope it falls our way a little bit like it did in Long Beach. Then we should be alright. The car is feeling pretty good. We just need to find a bit more speed down the straightaways and on acceleration. We’ll work on it. I’m sure we’ll get there.”

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Honda): “We had a pretty good qualifying session and I think our best on a road course so far this year. Our lap time was so close to the top 12 and that was our goal. We are making good progress and getting there. Looking forward to tomorrow with the Novo Nordisk team here in Brazil.”

***

The following cars will receive 10-grid spot penalties for unapproved engine changes:

#6 Legge (carryover penalty from Long Beach race)

#15 Sato (engine change after Practice 2)

SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE: (All times Brazilian Time, which is an hour ahead of Eastern Time)

8:30 – 9: a.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series Warmup

12 p.m. – Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle (75 Laps), BAND (NBC Sports Network in USA), (Live).

***

The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle on April 29 on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 11 a.m. (ET) and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network on SiriusXM (XM 94 and Sirius 212), and affiliates.

April 29, 2012