Category: Other Series PR

BALTIMORE (Friday, August 30, 2013) – Tristan Vautier has certainly made himself at home on the Streets of Baltimore.

Vautier, who has won at Baltimore in the Pro Mazda Championship and Firestone Indy Lights in the last two years, paced the opening practice day for the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT.

The Frenchman turned a fast lap of 1 minute, 19.4792 seconds on the 2.04-mile, 12-turn street circuit in the No. 55 Environmental Rail Solutions Schmidt Peterson Motorsports car.

Eight different teams were represented in the top 10 and the top 13 cars were separated by less than a second as drivers and engineers attempted to get a handle on the technically challenging circuit that incorporates Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Twenty-four drivers logged 638 laps through the 90 minutes of track availability without incident.

Graham Rahal, driving the No. 15 blu eCigs car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, was .0838 of a second behind Vautier. Josef Newgarden (1:19.6662) was third in the No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing car.

Scott Dixon, who is 39 points behind the front-running Helio Castroneves in the championship chase, was fourth fast (1:19.7027) in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car. Castroneves was 13th in the afternoon session.

Also on Aug. 30, Jack Hawksworth, who has won two of the three Firestone Indy Lights street course races this season, paced the initial practice for the 35-lap Grand Prix of Baltimore on Sept. 1.

Hawksworth, driving the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson with Curb Agajanian car, posted a fast lap of 1 minute, 25.6896 seconds on the 2.04-mile, 12-turn temporary street circuit. Carlos Munoz, who enters the race with a 15-point lead over Gabby Chaves in the championship, was .5448 of a second back in the No. 26 Dialy-Ser car for Andretti Autosport.

Today’s IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Mazda Road to Indy headlines:

1. If you missed it: INDYCAR Conference Call with Tony Kanaan and Jimmy Vasser

2. Servia to race for Panther for rest of 2013

3. Sonoma technical penalty update 

4. blu eCigs moves up to primary sponsor for two events

5. Firestone Indy Lights broadcast follows IZOD IndyCar Series race

1. If you missed it: INDYCAR Conference Call with Tony Kanaan and Jimmy Vasser: Earlier today, IZOD IndyCar Series driver and 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan and KV Racing Technology co-owner Jimmy Vasser participated in an INDYCAR Conference Call to discuss the Grand Prix of Baltimore, which will be Kanaan’s record-breaking 212th consecutive start. Selected quotes from the call are below.

Q. Tony, what will start 212 mean to you and your career?

TONY KANAAN:  Obviously, it’s a great achievement. It obviously proves that I’ve been around for a long time, that’s for sure. I didn’t want to be beating one of my best friends in life and nowadays my boss, Jimmy.  But I guess I get to brag about that.  I guess I can’t brag as much until I get to Sunday’s race because Jimmy has the power not to let me start this race if he wants to.

Q: Jimmy, you said earlier that calling you Indy car racing’s ironman isn’t fitting because you don’t compete in triathlons and when you were driving, your routine isn’t the same as what the drivers do today. 212 races is an impressive feat.  Being one of his good friends, as he prepares to pass you, what are your  thoughts about what Tony is about to do?

JIMMY VASSER:  It’s a great honor to have Tony do it.  He’s the right guy.  He’s been able to, one, not get hurt too often.  I think his streak would have been longer, he missed some races when he broke his wrist in Detroit. My first couple years in Indy car, we didn’t do full seasons.  So these are consecutive starts. It just means primarily you’re able to keep a job for that many years, which is hard to do.  That’s a tough feat in itself.

Q: Jimmy, you guys are good friends and you’ve joked about it.  Did you ever consider keeping your name at the top of the record books for the streak, when Tony hurt his thumb at Long Beach?

JIMMY VASSER:  I suggested maybe he rest up for Indy.  Our whole focus this year was at Indy.  He looked at me and laughed. Just goes to show how tough he is.  He’s been driving through injuries, not only this year, but many times through the course of this streak.  There’s nobody else better.  Kind of ironic that he’s in the team and driving for us.  I think it’s a pretty cool thing.  And we’re doing it in Baltimore where the  real Ironman Cal Ripken really built the house.  It’s all pretty cool.

Q: Tony, it’s the third time that IndyCars have been on the streets of Baltimore.  It’s always a very exciting event. What kind of race do you expect this weekend on the streets of Baltimore?

TONY KANAAN:  I think the races have always been exciting. I don’t expect anything less. I think it’s 

going to be heat from both sides, weather and on the track.  The championship hunt, it’s been crazy. A lot of guys are still wanting to win races.  There are a lot of points on the line. Getting towards the end of  the year, some of the drivers that haven’t won yet are extremely nervous trying to get their first win of the year. I think it will be a very exciting weekend.

2. Servia to race for Panther for rest of 2013: Oriol Servia will make his ninth IZOD IndyCar Series start  of the season, driving the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car in the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT on Sept. 1. He’ll also contest the final three races of the season in the Chevrolet-powered car.

Servia, who finished 14th in his most recent start at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, has finished second and seventh in the two races on the 2.04-mile, 12-turn Charm City street circuit. He advanced 12 positions in 2011 for a season-high runner-up finish and moved nine positions relative to his starting spot last September.

In previous races this season, he has a best finish of fourth at Sao Paulo in May.

Servia takes over for Ryan Briscoe, who will be competing for Level 5 Motorsports in the American Le Mans 

Series race on the track Aug. 31. Briscoe finished 17th in the No. 4 entry Aug. 25 in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma.

3. Sonoma technical penalty update: There were no technical penalties issued following the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway on Aug. 25.

4. blu eCigs moves up to primary sponsor for two events: The No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry driven by Graham Rahal will have blu eCigs as the primary sponsor for the Sept. 1 race at Baltimore and the Oct. 5-6 races at Houston.

The electronic cigarette brand has been an associate sponsor this season.

“The response from the Indy car industry with blu eCigs’ involvement this season has been tremendous and we look forward to having the brand on board as primary sponsor at Baltimore and Houston for Graham’s car,” said team co-owner Bobby Rahal. “We appreciate the value and excitement of their involvement with our team and we look forward to continue growing the program.”

5. Firestone Indy Lights broadcast follows IZOD IndyCar Series race: The Firestone Indy Lights Grand Prix of Baltimore will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network from 5-6 p.m. (ET), immediately following the IZOD IndyCar Series race.

Pippa Mann, who will drive the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing car in the season finale Oct. 19 at Auto Club Speedway, will join the broadcast as an analyst. Former Firestone Indy Lights driver Anders Krohn joins the IMS Radio Network broadcast of the race (www.indycar.com, INDYCAR 13 app).

***

The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Grand Prix of Baltimore on Sept. 1 on the Streets of Baltimore. The race will be televised live at 2 p.m. (ET) by NBC Sports Network and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 211, www.indycar.com and the INDYCAR 13 App for most smartphones and tablets. The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Grand Prix of Baltimore on Sept. 1 on  the Streets of Baltimore. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 5 p.m.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.— Aug. 28, 2013— It’s been a long, long time since the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series has raced nine time in a 10-day stretch. In fact, it was before Kraig Kinser was even born, the last time the series had a stretch of races that fit that bill. The third-generation driver will get his chance to try his hand at competing every night sans one, over a 10-day span, as the World of Outlaws begin a swing that will take them from the Pacific Northwest to California.

The massive stretch of races begins at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., on Friday, Aug. 30 and Saturday, Aug. 31. The series then heads to Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., for a Labor Day event on Monday, Sept. 2. A trio of races in Oregon follows, beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, continuing on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at Cottage Grove Speedway and wrapping up on Thursday, Sept. 5 at Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford. The Gold Cup Race of Champions follows at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., Friday, Sept. 6 on Saturday, Sept. 7. The grueling stretch concludes on Sunday, Sept. 8 at Antioch Speedway.

“As a driver, racing this many times is definitely something you look forward to,” said Kinser, who pilots the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/King Racing Products Maxim. “For the crews though, it is going to be a lot of work and a lot of driving between races. One of the keys will be to try to avoid any trouble and roll the car on the trailer in one piece every night, so that you don’t make any extra work for the crew. It’s going to be a grueling 10 days for sure.”

Kinser has raced at Skagit Speedway each of the last five seasons. He made his debut at the high-banked, three-tenths-mile in 2008, finishing 10th in that contest. Kinser has five top-10 finishes in 10 career starts at the track, including a fourth-place effort in the opener of the two-night event in 2009. Last season he finished 17th in the opener and was 23rd in the finale.

“Skagit (Speedway) is a tricky place,” he shared. “We didn’t have the best of luck there last year, so hopefully we can make up for that. We’ve run pretty well on the smaller tracks this year and we feel like we have a good handle on what it takes to be up front at places like that. Having two nights at a track you usually learn a few things the first night that you can use in the second show.”

The native of Bloomington, Ind., was victorious at Grays Harbor Raceway in 2008, taking the lead late in that contest to score his first win at the three-eighths-mile. Kinser has made six starts at Grays Harbor in his career, including preliminary features, picking up four top-10 finishes along the way. He finished 11th at the track last season in his first start there in four years. In his six starts at Grays Harbor, Kinser has finished 13th or better in all of them.

“I’ve always enjoyed going to Elma (Grays Harbor Raceway),” Kinser said. “Last year we were a little off, and that was the first race we’d had there in a few years. That’s always a big weekend at the track and for a lot of fans, that’s the only time they see us all year, so we certainly look forward to putting on a good show.”

Kinser has won twice in his career at Cottage Grove Speedway, including earning his first-career World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series A-Feature win at the quarter-mile in 2004 over his father Steve. The third-generation driver won the most recent World of Outlaws event at the track in 2011. Kinser made his first start at Willamette Speedway last season, finishing 14th in the main event. He will be making his debut at Southern Oregon Speedway, where the World of Outlaws will be visiting for the first time since 2006.

“Winning my first World of Outlaws race at Cottage Grove (Speedway) is one I’ll always remember,” he noted. “To win over my dad in that one, I definitely had to earn it. Cottage Grove is just one of those places that is very similar to the tracks I grew up on and seem to have a good handle on. It will be good to have three nights of racing in Oregon on three tracks that are usually pretty racy.”

The 2005 winner of the Knoxville Nationals raced at Silver Dollar Speedway earlier this season during the Mini Gold Cup, finishing eighth. Last year in the Gold Cup Race of Champions, he came home ninth in the opener and was 17th in the finale. He finished ninth in the finale of the 2008 Gold Cup. In his career at the quarter-mile, Kinser has six top-10 finishes.

“The Gold Cup has a lot of history to it, that’s for sure,” Kinser said. “Along with the race, there is so much other stuff going on and it’s just an amazing atmosphere. There should be a good car count, so qualifying for the main event each night will be the first goal and then preparing for the main events.”

Kinser has made three starts at Antioch Speedway, including earlier this season when he finished 14th. He made his debut at the three-eighths-mile in 2011, finishing 10th. Kinser finished 10th again the following year.

Kinser enters the massive stretch of races 12th in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He was victorious earlier this year at Orange County Fair Speedway in New York, and has 25 top-10 finishes.

Kraig Kinser Racing would like to thank Casey’s General Stores, Mesilla Valley Transportation, King Racing Products, Maxim, Aerodine Composites, Sander Engineering, Integra Shocks, All Star Performance, FK Rod Ends, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Bell, KSE Racing Products, ButlerBuilt, Schoenfeld Headers, Donovan Engineering, Fel-Pro, Brodix, Wilwood, Dyer’s, Barnes Systems, Ringer Gloves, Jakes Custom Golf Carts, and Ben Cook Racing Limited for their continued support.

Kraig Kinser By the Numbers: Skagit Speedway, Grays Harbor Raceway, Willamette Speedway, Cottage Grove Speedway, Southern Oregon Speedway, Silver Dollar Speedway & Antioch Speedway
0.25- Miles around Cottage Grove Speedway and Silver Dollar Speedway
0.3- Miles around Skagit Speedway and Willamette Speedway
0.375- Miles around Grays Harbor Raceway, Southern Oregon Speedway and Antioch Speedway
1- Win at Grays Harbor- 2008
2– Career wins at Cottage Grove Speedway
3- Starts at Antioch Speedway
4- Career top-10 finishes at Grays Harbor Raceway
5- Top-10 finishes at Skagit
6- Main event starts at Cottage Grove Speedway and Grays Harbor Raceway
7- Average finishing position in six starts at Grays Harbor
8.3- Average finish in six career main event starts at Cottage Grove Speedway
10- Career main event starts at Skagit Speedway
12.3- Average finish in 10 main event starts at Skagit
18- Career main event starts at Silver Dollar Speedway, including preliminary features
121- Miles from Willamette Speedway in Oregon, where the World of Outlaws compete on Sept. 3 to Cottage Grove Speedway
138- Distance in miles from Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., where the World of Outlaws race on Sept. 2 to Willamette Speedway in Oregon
146- Miles from Cottage Grove Speedway in Oregon, where the World of Outlaws are in action on Sept. 4 to Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford
165- Distance in miles from Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., where the World of Outlaws race on Aug. 30–31 to Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
169- Miles from Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., where the World of Outlaws race on Sept. 6–7 to Antioch Speedway in California
219- Distance in miles from Southern Oregon Speedway where the World of Outlaws race on Sept. 5 to Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif.
717- Miles from Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where the World of Outlaws competed on Aug. 23–24 to Skagit Speedway in Washington
2004- Year of first start at Cottage Grove Speedway and Grays Harbor Raceway
2008- Year of first start at Skagit Speedway

Keep up with all the action 
For the latest news on Kraig Kinser, visit http://www.kraigkinser.com, and follow Kraig on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kraigkinser11k and receive live updates from the track each and every race night.

Tune in
Listen live to each and every World of Outlaws event on DIRTVision.com with “The Voice of the Outlaws” Johnny Gibson on the call. Visitwww.DIRTVision.com for live audio of each and every World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event.

Peterborough, ON – Brandon Watson (No. 9 Shear Metal Products) took just five laps to get to the point position and never looked back on Saturday night at Peterborough Speedway. Watson cruised to his fifth win of the season over the final 45 laps of the main event to extend his lead atop the championship standings.

Watson got a great run off the exit of turn two on lap five of the 50-lap main event to move underneath race leader and pole sitter Brad Corcoran (No.05 Lancaster Discount Tire Group) and take the top spot.

From then on, Watson was untouchable as he led the remainder of the race and was only challenged on a trio of mid-race restarts.

“We got out to a good start,” said Watson. “We got to the bottom lane quickly and got by the first few cars. The car kind of faded away towards the end, but we were able to hold them off.”

Watson had begun to pull away from Corcoran and the remainder of the field when the first caution of the night came for debris in turn three as the muffler had fallen off Mike Hilliard’s entry (No.98 Sign Works).

On the ensuing restart, Mike Beyore (No.54 Stemac/Millenium Crane) was sucked backwards in the outside line after restarting fourth. Watson continued to pace the field with Corcoran and Derrick Tiemersma (No.7 Wayfreight) in tow.

After starting 11^th, Andrew Gresel (No.81 CUSW/Sauble Falls Trailer Park) has begun making his way in to the top-five. Gresel moved past Todd Campbell (No.07 Campbell’s Sanitation) on lap 21 for the fourth spot and began his quest for a podium position.

On lap 22, Gresel tried to get to the inside of Tiemersma for third. When Tiemersma closed the opening, Gresel was forced on to the rumble strips at the base of the corner, and was looped around at the apex of turn three to bring out the second caution.

On the ensuing restart, Corcoran made another nice move to drop down to the bottom lane in front of Glenn Watson (No.22 Line-X/Rival Office Solutions) and hold the second spot.

The caution would fly for the third and final time on lap 23 when Kyle Passer (No.14 Jenco Equipment) spun alone in turn three.

Corcoran wasn’t as lucky on the following restart as he was unable to get to the bottom groove before Glenn Watson filled the hole. Glenn was in hot pursuit of Brandon and left no more than a car length between the top-two drivers.

“The car shoved up a half a lane more than I wanted it to, and that gave him the opening,” said Corcoran in a post-race interview with OSCAAR TV. “Then he just out horse-powered me off the corner. I’ve got a crate motor, so I really have to protect the bottom.”

Brandon pulled away over the final 15 laps as he worked through lapped traffic and cruised to the victory over the final five miles.

“Glenn was definitely a threat there at the end,” explained Brandon. “I saw him on my back bumper, but luckily we were able to hold him off.”

Glenn Watson easily held on to the second spot and the runner-up finish was his first return to the podium since opening night at Sunset Speedway.

“That was the best this car has worked since we got it,” explained Glenn. “We still have lots of work to do, but that was definitely a step in the right direction.”

Corcoran held on to the third spot in his first OSCAAR start with a Junior Hanley-prepared Outlaw body.

“I’ve got to thank Junior Hanley,” said Corcoran. “He worked on the car for three weeks. If you know him, he works 18 hours per day on it until it’s just right. What a difference a body makes. There’s so much more down force than the template body.”

Gresel worked his way through the field in the second-half after his early race spin to finish fourth. Todd Campbell earned a top-five finish, holding off Tiemersma on the last lap.

The OSCAAR Super Late Model tour is off next weekend, but returns to action on Saturday September 7 at Flamboro Speedway, a make-up event for the postponed event on July 20.

—

OSCAAR TV

Brandon Watson’s Post-Race Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX1Piuw7iNQ (Preview)

Brad Corcoran’s Post-Race Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TjSjsF6SeQ (Preview)

Results: Peterborough Speedway 50 – August 24, 2013 (Starting Position in Parentheses)

1. 9 Brandon Watson (4); 2. 22 Glenn Watson (9); 3. 05 Brad Corcoran (1); 4. 81 Andrew Gresel (11); 5. 07 Todd Campbell (5); 6. 7 Derrick Tiemersma (3); 7. 2 John Owen (6); 8. 54 Mike Beyore (2); 9. 42 Tyler Hawn (7); 10. 10 Jesse Kennedy (12); 11. 551 Gary Passer (10); 12. 3 Rob Gibson (13); 13. 39 Shane Gowan (14); 14. 14 Kyle Passer (15) (DNF); 15. 98 Mike Hilliard (8) (DNF).

Klotz Synthetics Canada qualifying heat races were won by Brandon Watson, Derrick Tiemersma, Brad Corcoran, and Mike Beyore.

The OSCAAR Super Late Model tour is presented by a number of dedicated sponsors throughout Ontario, including: Knightworks Design, Hoosier Racing Tire, Klotz Synthetics Canada, Race2way.ca, Dave Franks Photos, Dickson Printing, Finishline Fabrication, McColl Racing Enterprises, McGunegill Engine Performance, Stefko Racing Engines, VP Racing Fuels, OntarioOval.com, RaceTime Radio, Inside Track Motorsport News, Jenco Equipment, Midas of Orangeville, Reinhart Trailer Sales, North Toronto Auctions, and South Shore Services.

By Clayton Johns (@cjohnsmedia) – OSCAAR Media and Public Relations

Contact: oscaar.media@gmail.com

Photo Credit: Dan Little Jr.

-30-

Today’s IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Mazda Road to Indy headlines:

1. Sonoma win boosts season for Power 

2. Wilson looks forward to debut

3. Inside the numbers – GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma 

1. Sonoma win boosts season for Power: With four races remaining in the IZOD IndyCar Series season, Will Power remains among the 13 drivers in championship contention, but unlike the last three seasons, the Australian is happy to assist Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves in securing the series title instead of striving for his own.

It’s a different position for Power, who is eighth in the standings after finishing as the series’ runner-up the past three seasons. A bright spot, in what has been an atypical season for Power, occurred Aug. 25 on Power’s personal playground – Sonoma Raceway – where he won the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma for the third time in the past four years.

“Of course I would love to be in the battle right now,” said Power, who beat Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing to the finish line by 1.1930 seconds. “We just have had one of those years where things don’t flow. But it’s slowly coming on.

“Obviously, next year’s mind-set is different. This year is to make sure Helio wins the championship. We’re going to help him any way possible for the next four races.” 

Castroneves, who finished seventh in the 85-lap race on the 2.385-mile, 12-turn course, takes a 39-point lead over Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon into the Sept. 1 Grand Prix of Baltimore on a 2-mile street circuit.

It was Power’s 19th career victory and first of the season. He’s the 10th different winner through 15 rounds. That list includes four first-time winners (James Hinchcliffe, Takuma Sato, Simon Pagenaud and most recently Charlie Kimball on Aug. 4 at Mid-Ohio). 

The record is 11 different winners during the 20-race 2001 CART season, which matched the 20-race 2000 season.

Power presented Team Penske its fifth consecutive victory at Sonoma and secured his fifth top-five finish of the season. The victory was his first since April 29, 2012, at Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Power said he’s “learned a lot about myself” through the uncharacteristic results on the mixture of road/street courses and ovals.

“I just think you start really looking close at your weaknesses,” he said. “My oval performance wasn’t very good. This year I definitely had to get points on ovals because we weren’t winning races on road courses. Also, the mental aspect. I really believe it makes you stronger, having a year like this. You’ll come back next year a serious contender.”

2013 IZOD INDYCAR SERIES WINNERS

2. Wilson looks forward to debut: Stefan Wilson is looking forward to the upgrade in Honda horsepower.

The 23-year-old Englishman, who has spent much of the season as one of the race drivers who gives VIP rides in a Honda Civic Si safety car, will make his IZOD IndyCar Series debut on the streets of Baltimore.

“I’ve known about it for about six weeks and I want to get there now because I’ve spent so much time thinking about it,” said Wilson, who will drive the Honda-powered No. 18 Nirvana Tea car for Dale Coyne Racing in the 75-lap Grand Prix of Baltimore on Sept. 1. “Every now and again you start psyching yourself up but then you realize it’s still two weeks out. I’m just ready to be in the car and get a feel for what it’s like.”

Wilson, a Firestone Indy Lights race winner, will be a teammate to his brother, Justin, who drives the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America car. It will mark the first time that brothers will compete as teammates in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Mike and Robbie Groff competed at Walt Disney World Speedway in 1998 but not on the same team.

“I’ve been trying to do everything I can to prepare, but it will be tough because we’re not going to get any testing beforehand,” Wilson said. “It’s kind of going to be thrown into the deep end without any armbands. I’ve been studying data and video from Justin’s race last year.

“It’s going to be a tough weekend to get up to speed,  but the main thing I’m concentrating on is having a clean weekend and an opportunity to get experience for next year.”

Stefan Wilson competed on the Baltimore circuit in 2011, finishing fifth in an Andretti Autosport-prepared car on the way to placing third in the championship. He graduated to open-wheel cars in 2007 in the Formula Palmer Audi Series, where he earned four victories and four poles on the way to being the championship runner-up.

“I am very happy for Stefan and this great opportunity. It should be a lot of fun racing against each other as we both have similar driving styles,” Justin Wilson said.

As part of the sponsorship, Nirvana Tea will create special blend of tea for the race that will feature the No. 18 team on the packet.

“It’s quite fitting that an Englishmen will be representing a tea company,” Stefan Wilson added. “I’ll definitely be switching out the traditional energy drink bottle full of water, for a cup of Nirvana Tea at the post-race interview.”

3. Inside the numbers – GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma: Some numbers to note from the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, the 15th race of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season. 

3.32 – Average running position of Will Power during the 85 laps of racing.

5 – Consecutive top-five finishes by Dario Franchitti.

7 – Leaders during the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, a race record. The previous record was five in 2005.

8 – Consecutive top-five starts by Will Power.

10 – Different winners in the 15 IZOD IndyCar Series in 2013. 

11 – Consecutive top-10 finishes for Helio Castroneves.

13 – Positions improved by Simona De Silvestro (22nd to ninth) in the race, the most gained by any drivers.

27 – Laps that JR Hildebrand improved his position over the 85 laps of competition, most of any driver.

153 – Consecutive Indy car starts for Scott Dixon dating to the 2004 race in Michigan. Dixon ranks seventh on the all-time list.

211 – Consecutive Indy car starts for Tony Kanaan dating to the 2001 CART race in Portland. Kanaan tied his team owner Jimmy Vasser’s record of 211 straight starts at Sonoma.

1,928 – Laps completed by Helio Castroneves. He is the only driver to complete every lap of every race.

***

The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Grand Prix of Baltimore on Sept. 1 on the Streets of Baltimore. The race will be televised live at 2 p.m. (ET) by NBC Sports Network and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 211, www.indycar.com and the INDYCAR 13 App for most smartphones and tablets. The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Baltimore 100 on Sept. 1 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 1 p.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 26, 2013) – There was a time not all that long ago that D.J. Kennington struggled in pressure situations. Now, he thrives on them.

Before winning the 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 championship Kennington had the proverbial monkey on his back. After several near championship misses in CASCAR – the Canadian Tire Series’ predecessor in Canada – and a couple of tough-luck finishes in the series’ very early years, the St. Thomas, Ont., driver closes with the best of them these days with two titles and 19 series career victories.

“There was a time when I didn’t get it done at crunch time,” said the driver of the Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge. “Experience is the key to everything, though. You learn what to look out for and know what to expect.”

The championship battle in the Canadian Tire Series has never been closer. Scott Steckly (No. 22 Canadian Tire Dodge) has a slim four-point advantage on Kennington heading into the Pinty’s presents the Clarington 200.

“I love it,” says Kennington of the tight points race. “I think I have the best team in the business, so we’re ready for whatever comes our way down the stretch.”

It has been a season unlike any other in the previous six in series history. While the competition has always been tight, there was always a rabbit out front setting the pace. That’s not the case this year with adversity of some sort striking each of the teams at various points throughout the year.

“We’ve all had some bad luck this year, but everyone has battled back,” said Kennington. “The points lead has never been more than 10 or so. It’s wide open.”

Racing on the road course at CTMP is not a new experience for Kennington, but this event will be a little different from the previous six series events at the track. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will make its Canadian debut and a handful of regulars from that series will tackle both races in the companion event.

“I’m not sure how those guys will impact that race,” said the two-time Canadian Tire Series champ. “They’re obviously great drivers and they’ll be in good cars. I know they are just looking for track time, but racers want to win. We’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out.”

With 38 cars on the entry list, a full field of 34 cars is expected to start Sunday’s race in front of a live television audience on TSN2.

“It’s going to be a great show,” said Kennington. “Let’s line them up and get started.”

Race: Pinty’s presents the Clarington 200

Place: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville, Ont.

Date: Sunday, Sept. 1

Time: 11:06 a.m. ET

TV Schedule: TSN2, Sun., Sept. 1, 11 a.m. ET (LIVE); RDS2, Fri., Sept. 27, 8 p.m. ET

Track Layout: 2.459-mile permanent road course

2012 Winner: Event Not Held

2012 Pole Sitter: Event Not Held

Event Schedule: Sat., Aug. 31 – Practice 10:40-11:45 a.m.; Final Practice 1:10-1:55 p.m.; Autograph Session 2:50 p.m.; Qualifying 4 p.m. Sun., Spet. 1 – Driver Introductions 10:45 a.m. ET

TRACK CONTACT: Ryan Chalmers at (905) 983-9141 or ryan@canadiantiremotorsportpark.com

TWITTER: @CTMP_Official

EVENT TWITTER HASHTAG: #PintysClarington200

FAST FACTS

The Race: This is the 10th event of the 2013 season for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 and the last of four road-course events on the schedule. This is the series’ eighth visit to the road course at CTMP. It’s first time for a second visit in a season to the iconic circuit after opening the season there in May.

The Procedure: The starting field is 34 cars, including provisionals. The first 29 cars will qualify through NASCAR road-race style (group) qualifying. The groups will be determined by practice times. The remaining five spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 51 laps covering 201.8 kilometers (125.4 miles).

The Track: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formerly known as Mosport International Raceway, is Canada’s largest motorsports complex. The 750-acre, multi-track facility is located within the Greater Toronto Area, north of Bowmanville, Ont. CTMP features the 2.459-mile road course; a half-mile, paved oval; a 2.4-kilometer advanced driver and race driver training facility and a 1.4-kilometer kart track. The facility opened in 1961 and has hosted stock car, Formula 1 and IndyCar events over the years. The road-course track was resurfaced in 2000 and widened to 40 feet. Canadian Tire acquired the naming rights to the facility in early 2012 and new ownership has made several improvements to the facility over the last two years.

The Records: The single-lap qualifying record is held by J.R. Fitzpatrick and was set on May 18, 2013 at 106.289 mph (83.286 seconds). Andrew Ranger holds the race record at 1 hour, 26 minutes, 39 seconds for an average speed of 86.838 mph on June 17, 2007.

The History: In the previous seven NASCAR Canadian Tire Series events on the road course at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, J.R. Fitzpatrick (2008, 2010 and 2012) and Andrew Ranger (2007, 2009) have accounted for five of the seven wins. D.J. Kennington claimed his first series road-course victory in 2011 while Louis-Philippe Dumoulin scored his first career win in May. Ranger has claimed three starts from the pole while Steckly has two. Fitzpatrick won the pole position in the first visit this year. Qualifying in 2011 was rained out.

CTMP RACE NOTES

A Picture Paints A Thousand Words: Fans not able to attend the Pinty’s presents the Clarington 200 can still watch much of the action. Qualifying video from 4-5 p.m. ET on Saturday will be streamed live on the NASCAR page at http://www.tsn.ca website while the race will be telecast live on TSN2 with coverage beginning at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Irregularity: Andrew Ranger, a two-time winner on the road course at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, will not be with his familiar Jacombs Motorsports team. Instead he will be in a DJK Racing entry. He’ll be in the same car that Alex Tagliani drove to the pole at Trois-Rivieres, Que.

Track Time For Truck Drivers: The CTMP road course is familiar turf for Canadian Tire Series competitors, but it’s uncharted territory for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series which is making its Canadian debut. James Buescher, NASCAR Next member Jeb Burton, Ty Dillon and Chad Hackenbracht are making the most of the opportunity to gain valuable track time by doing double duty this weekend. On the flipside, Canadian Tire Series regulars Martin Roy (No. 90 Batteries Expert/Gamache/Veloce Dodge) and rookie Alex Guenette (No. 39 Kawasaki/Motos Illimitées/DLGL Dodge) will make their Camping World Truck Series debuts.

Not Much Wiggle Room: Just 10 points separate the top three drivers in the championship standings. Scott Steckly leads D.J. Kennington by just four points and Jason Hathaway (No. 3 Snap-on Tools/Rockstar Energy Drink Dodge) is a close third. Kennington is the only one of the three with a road-course win at CTMP to his credit having taken the checkered flag there in 2011.

Duking It Out: Series rookie-of-the-year contenders Guenette and Ryley Seibert (No. 09 Lake Excavating/Emco Waterworks Dodge) are in a virtual dead heat for the 2013 honors. The two are tied atop the rookie standings with Seibert holding a slim two-point advantage in the drivers point standings – the tiebreaker for the competition.

LAST TIME OUT: Wilson Equipment 300 At Riverside International Speedway

Drought Snapped: It had been 59 races since Jason Hathaway had been in Victory Lane, but the Dutton, Ont., driver remained calm with D.J. Kennington and Scott Steckly, who have combined for four Canadian Tire Series titles, bearing down on him. Hathaway claimed his first series win since Sept. 2008 at Kawartha Speedway.

Not Much Resolved: The championship point standings have been tight all season long, but little was done at Riverside to remedy that. The top-three finishers – Hathaway, Kennington and Steckly – hold down the top three positions in the season standings. Steckly came into the race with a four-point advantage over Kennington and left with the same margin while Hathaway closed to within 10 points of the top spot.

Character Test: If hard luck builds character, then J.R. Fitzpatrick (No. 84 Equipment Express Chevrolet) is reaching rare air in that department. The Ayr, Ont., driver led 72 laps in the early going before suffering an engine failure while leading on Lap 166 of the 300-lap affair. Fitzpatrick has led 387 laps this season, but has not yet reached Victory Lane.

Standing Up: Despite not racing in the Canadian Tire Series very regularly, Donald Chisholm (No. 28 Keltic Ford/Nova Construction Ford) scored his third straight top-10 finish at his home track.

NEXT TIME OUT: Hudco Electric Supply 300 At Barrie Speedway

With the road course portion of the schedule complete for the season, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 wraps up the 2013 campaign with a pair of oval track races. First up is the Hudco Electric Supply 300 at Barrie (Ont.) Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 8. The cozy .333-mile track breeds a physical style of racing that often ends in hurt feelings and thrilling action. Pete Shepherd III took the checkered flag a season ago just as he has twice already this season.

Concord, NC (August 27, 2013) – Fifteen-year old Venturini Motorsport’s driver Kyle Benjamin made history Sunday, becoming the youngest winner in ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards history, winning the 200-lap Herr’s Live Life with Flavor 200.

“Winning today is the highlight of my career! We had a top five car at the beginning before making our first and only pit stop. We got that two tires and the car came to life,” Benjamin said. “From there it was smooth sailing. Kevin Reed is such a good crew chief. I got the best team behind me. Billy Venturini is awesome. I had a great spotter. Everything just came together today. I’m really happy for all of the guys.”

Benjamin’s victory was the third consecutive victory for Venturini Motorsports (VMS) setting another series record for the most consecutive team/car wins with multiple drivers behind the wheel. Erik Jones and Brennan Poole found victory lane the two previous races (Berlin Raceway & Springfield) both driving the No.15 VMS entry. Furthermore VMS’s No.15 car has now won five times in 2013 all with crew chief Kevin Reed at the controls.

Justin Boston finished second at Madison earning a new career best driving his No.25 ZLOOP Computer and Electronics Recycling Toyota. Boston who is battling fellow competitor Mason Mingus (No.32 811 Call Before you Dig Toyota) for ARCA rookie of the year honors now has (6) top-5 and (13) top-10 finishes in 16 of 21 events.

“Solid finish and good point’s day,” Boston said. “We had a great car today but just missed out with that long green flag run. Our car was fastest on the track at the end of the race giving me opportunity move up to second but I just didn’t have enough laps to catch him. I wish a caution would have come out so I could have got up there and gave Kyle a battle. He earned that win, though, with only taking on those two tires early. He drove the heck out of it today.”

Sunday’s race will air on NBC Sports Network Thursday night at 11:00 P.M. ET.

Drivers Justin Boston, Brennan Poole, Taylor Ferns and Milka Duno will try to make it four in a row for team VMS this week when the ARCA Racing Series returns to the DuQuoin, Illinois State Fairgrounds and the Magic Mile on Labor Day, Monday, September 2nd.

Practice for the Southern Illinois 100 presented by Federated Car Care is scheduled from 9:00-10:00 a.m. with Menards Pole Award Qualifying presented by Ansell following at 11:15. The 60th annual Southern Illinois 100 starts at 1:30 p.m. All times are local. The event will feature live timing and scoring for all on-track activity at ARCAracing.com, as well as live flag-to-flag audio coverage of the race.

About Venturini Motorsports
Venturini Motorsports (VMS), fielding cars for over 30-years in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, is one of the premier NASCAR driver development programs in the country. 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, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Brian Scott, Kevin Swindell, Miguel Paludo, John Wes Townley, Josh Richards and Johanna Long.

In 2012, VMS and the Venturini family was inducted into the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame and now find themselves enshrined with such sports icons as Joe DiMaggio, Mario Andretti, Vince Lombardi, Tommy Lasorda and Rocky Marciano, among others.

After nearly two decades away from NASCAR, 2013 marks VMS’s modern day return to the series with John Wes Townley driving the team’s familiar No.25 in selective NASCAR Nationwide Series events.

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

NEW CASTLE, Ind.— Aug. 27, 2013—  For a lot of people, Labor Day and the days leading up to it are all about that one last trip to the lake or having a family picnic as summer winds down. For racers like Tracy Hines, it’s one of the busiest weeks and weekends of the year and he wouldn’t want it any other way. Four races over a five-day stretch at four different states await the veteran driver as Labor Day approaches.

Hines will open the four-race stretch on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at Wayne County Speedway in Illinois, for the running of the inaugural Jason Leffler Memorial for the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series. The native of New Castle, Ind., will then head to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, on Friday, Aug. 30 with the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series. He’ll then hit the track at the historic Terre Haute Action Track in Indiana on Saturday, Aug. 31 for the Tony Hulman Classic, which was postponed by rain earlier this year. On Sunday, Sept. 1, Hines will wrap up the weekend by competing with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in Illinois.

Wayne County Speedway is a dirt oval located in Wayne City, Ill, and Hines will be making his debut at the track aboard the Parker Machinery/Powered by Toyota Spike. Proceeds from the Jason Leffler Memorial will go to the Charlie Dean Leffler Discretionary Fund, which benefits Leffler’s son Charlie Dean. Hines has competed in a four races this season that were co-sanctioned by the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series and Honda USAC National Midget, finishing seventh or better in all four events.

“It’s going to be an emotional night for everyone, that’s for sure,” said Hines. “Jason was a great competitor and we sure miss him. It’s great that an event like this has been put together to benefit Charlie Dean and hopefully the fans support the race like a lot of us drivers are.”

Hines has made two career starts at 34 Raceway. He competed with both the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series and the Honda USAC National Midget Series at the three-eighths-mile in a doubleheader in 2010. Hines finished fourth in the midget portion of that event and was caught up in an opening lap accident in the sprint car feature. He has raced once in Iowa this season with the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series, finishing seventh at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa earlier this month in his self-owned Hansen’s Welding Inc. DRC.

“We didn’t have the best of luck at Burlington (34 Raceway) in the sprint car last time there, so we are looking to make up for that,” he shared. “We’ve been getting more consistent in the sprint car and as long as we put ourselves in a good position at the beginning of the night, we should be okay. The fans in that area don’t get to see non-wing sprint cars very often, so we always look forward to putting on a good show for them.”

Hines has made one start at the Terre Haute Action Track in 2013, with the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series. That race at the half-mile was during Indiana Sprint Week and he started second, before mechanical problems forced him to the pit area and relegated him to a 22nd-place finish. He was scheduled to compete with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series at the track, but that event fell to rain.

“It’s kind of amazing that we’ve only raced at Terre Haute once this year,” Hines noted. “Mother Nature definitely has gotten in the way a few times. We’ve run well on the bigger tracks this year in the sprint car and feel like we have a good package for places like Terre Haute. We started on the front row there during Sprint Week and had a DNF, so we know we have the speed to be up front, we just need a little luck on our side as well.”

At the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, Hines has had quite a bit of success in his career with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series. He was victorious on the one-mile dirt oval for the first time with the series in 2005 and followed that up with another win in 2006. He led 110 of the 200 total laps in those two races. In his last visit to DuQuoin in 2011, the 2000 Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series champion finished third. Last year’s event at the track was rained out. In his most recent start on a one-mile dirt oval earlier this month, Hines finished fourth at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, piloting the Lightfoot Racing Beast. He came home third at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in May, in the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series season opener.

“We only have two Silver Crown races left and they are both at tracks I’ve well at in the past, so that bodes well for us,” he said. “The miles have been good to us this year and it would get great to get another win at DuQuoin. It’s been a few years since I’ve won over there. We’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing and as long as we start toward the front, we should have a good shot.”

Hines is currently seventh in the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series championship standings. He has won two races this season with the series and recorded 10 top-10 finishes. With the USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series Hines leads the points on the strength of a win and five top-five finishes in six starts as he chases his second series title.

Tracy Hines Racing would like to thank: Hansen’s Welding Inc., Parker Machinery, Turbines, Inc., Afco Racing Products, Daum Crop Insurance, Schoenfeld Headers, Allstar Performance, Kenny’s Components, Race Bumpers and Bell Racing.

For more information on Tracy Hines Racing, visit http://www.tracyhinesracing.com. Follow Tracy on Twitter atwww.Twitter.com/TracyHinesRacin.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP QUEST RETURNS TO CHARM CITY    

Race Notes:

• The Grand Prix of Baltimore will be the third Indy car race on the streets of Baltimore. Ryan Hunter-Reay is the defending race winner. Will Power is the defending pole winner. 

• Three drivers entered in the event – Luca Filippi, Tristan Vautier and Stefan Wilson will make their first attempt to start an IZOD IndyCar Series race at Baltimore. Vautier and Wilson competed on the track in Firestone Indy Lights.

• Ryan Hunter-Reay and Will Power are the only drivers to win at Baltimore. Both are entered in the event.

• Will Power is the only driver to win the pole position at Baltimore. Power won from pole in 2011.

Championship Facts:

• Helio Castroneves leads the IZOD IndyCar Series championship with four races to go for the first time in his career. Castroneves has been in contention for the series title in four of the last five years.

• Castroneves leads Scott Dixon by 39 points – matching his largest lead of the season. He also led Ryan Hunter-Reay by 39 points following Toronto1.

• There are 13 drivers mathematically eligible for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series championship. Any driver who trails the leader by 163 points or more following Baltimore will be eliminated from contention.

• Seven drivers were eliminated from championship contention at Sonoma.

• This is the third event at Baltimore. Defending race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay also won the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series championship.

Season to Date:

• Will Power won his 19th Indy car race in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway. It was his third win in four years at Sonoma.

• Charlie Kimball won his first Indy car race in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. He was the 210th driver to win an Indy car race and the fourth first-time winner in 2013.

• Scott Dixon swept the Honda Indy Toronto doubleheader to become the active leader in wins. The wins were his 31st and 32nd of his Indy car career. 

• Scott Dixon led the first podium sweep for Chip Ganassi Racing when he won the Pocono INDYCAR 400 Fueled by Sunoco. It was his first win of 2013 and the 30th of his Indy car career.

• Marco Andretti won his second pole position of 2013 at Pocono. It was his fourth career pole position.

• James Hinchcliffe won the Iowa Corn Indy 250. It was his third win of 2013 and the fourth straight win at Iowa for Andretti Autosport. Helio Castroneves won qualifying heat No. 3 to secure his first pole of the season.

• Ryan Hunter-Reay won the Milwaukee IndyFest for the second consecutive year. It was Hunter-Reay’s second win of 2013 and the fourth for Andretti Autosport.

• Helio Castroneves won his 28th Indy car race in the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.

• Will Power won his 31st career Indy car pole at Texas. 

• Mike Conway and Simon Pagenaud split the wins in the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit. It was Conway’s second Indy car win and Pagenaud’s first Indy car victory.

• Tony Kanaan won the 97th Indianapolis 500 to record his 16th Indy car victory.

• Ed Carpenter won his first pole position since 2010 at Kentucky when he won the pole for the 97th Indianapolis 500.

• There were a race-record 14 leaders and race-record 68 lead changes at Indianapolis. 

• James Hinchcliffe won the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 with a last-lap, last-turn pass of Takuma Sato. It was his second win of 2013 and the third win in four races for Andretti Autosport.

• Takuma Sato won his first Indy car race in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He was the 208th driver to win an Indy car race and first Japanese driver to win. It was A.J. Foyt’s first win as a car owner since 2002. 

• Dario Franchitti won his 30th career Indy car pole at Long Beach.

• Ryan Hunter-Reay won his 10th Indy car race in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park from the pole position. It was the second time he had won a race from pole.

• James Hinchcliffe won the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It was the first win of his Indy car career. He was the 207th driver to win an Indy car race.

• Will Power won his 30th career Indy car pole at St. Petersburg. 

• Tristan Vautier started his first career IZOD IndyCar Series race at St. Petersburg.

• James Davison and Luca Filippi made their first career IZOD IndyCar Series starts at Mid-Ohio

• Lucas Luhr started his first career IZOD IndyCar Series race at Sonoma.

Milestones & Records:

• Should Dario Franchitti win the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series championship, he will join A.J. Foyt as the only drivers to win at least five Indy car titles in their career. Franchitti won the title in 2007 and again from 2009-2011. Foyt won seven championships in his career.

• Scott Dixon moved into sole possession of seventh  place on the all-time wins list with his wins at Toronto’s Exhibition Place. Dixon won his 31st and 32nd race to pass Sebastien Bourdais, Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy.

• With their next victory, either Dario Franchitti or Sebastien Bourdais will move into a tie for  seventh place with Scott Dixon on the all-time wins list if Dixon does not win before they do. Franchitti and Bourdais are tied with Paul Tracy with 31 wins for eighth.

• Scott Dixon extended his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to nine with his win at Pocono Raceway.

• Helio Castroneves moved into sole possession of 11th place on the all-time victory list with his win at Texas Motor Speedway on June 8. Castroneves won his 28th race to break a tie with Johnny Rutherford.

• Helio Castroneves needs two earned poles to reach 40 in his Indy car career after he won the Verizon P1 Award at Iowa Speedway.

• Will Power recorded the 30th pole of his Indy car career at St. Petersburg and his 31st pole position at Texas.

• Dario Franchitti recorded the 33rd pole of his Indy car career at Sonoma, which gave him sole possession of sixth on the all-time list.

• Scott Dixon needs one earned pole to reach 20 in his Indy car career.

• With his pole at Toronto 2, Scott Dixon extended his IZOD IndyCar Series streak to eight  consecutive seasons.

• Scott Dixon’s second-place finish at Barber was the 30th of his Indy car career. It tied Helio Castroneves, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Jr., and Bobby Unser for fifth on the all-time list.

• Dario Franchitti is the active leader in top-five finishes with 119, which tied Bobby Rahal for sixth on the all-time list. Franchitti finished third at Sonoma.

• Helio Castroneves tied Rick Mears for ninth on the all-time list by recording the 111th top-five finish of his Indy car career at Toronto 2. 

• Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 212th consecutive start, which will break Jimmy Vasser’s all-time record of 211. Scott Dixon with 153 straight starts, Marco Andretti with 129 straight starts and Ryan Hunter-Reay with 104 straight starts are the only other active driver with a streak of 100 consecutive starts or more.

At-Track Schedule (all times local):

Friday, Aug. 30

10:10-10:55 a.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series practice #1 (all cars)

2:30 -3:15 p.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series practice #2 (all cars)

Saturday, Aug. 31

9:05-9:50 a.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series practice #3 (all cars)

Noon – 1:10 p.m. – Grand Prix of Baltimore qualifying for Verizon P1 Award. (Knockout qualifying/Firestone Fast Six), NBC Sports Network (Delayed, 6 p.m. ET)

Sunday, Sept 1

10:15- 10:45 a.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series warmup

2:33 p.m. – Grand Prix of Baltimore (75 laps/153 miles), NBC Sports Network (Live)