Category: Other Series PR

INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, Aug. 2, 2013) – INDYCAR announced today it has updated three rules in its 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series Rulebook, effective beginning this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Race Restart – In the event of a restart with 15 laps or less remaining in the race, all lapped cars will be moved to the rear of the field. (7.6.1.2).

Race Procedure Penalties – If circumstances do not permit for a penalty to be served during a race, the Race Director shall declare the race results provisional and officials will review the penalty.  This review is independent of technical inspection. (9.2.2).

Tires – If a car receives tire damage due to contact during a race, the two-lap requirement for that type of tire will be considered fulfilled (14.14.6.6.5).

LEXINGTON, Ohio – Will Power’s lap of 1 minute, 05.4332 seconds on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was the fastest among 24 drivers participating in practice for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 4.

Power’s lap in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car was more than two-tenths of a second faster than his 2012 pole-winning lap time. The track record of 1:05.347, held by Dario Franchitti (August 1999) and Gil de Ferran (August 2000), will be challenged in the three rounds of knockout qualifications for the Verizon P1 Award on Aug. 3.

“We got a good time in at the end. A few mistakes during the session but we’re narrowing it down,” Power said. “I’d love nothing more than to get on the pole here and have a chance to win a race. But good so far, and we’ll keep working hard.”

Scott Dixon, who has won the past three races to vault to second in the championship standings with six races remaining, was second fast (1:05.4469) in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car. In addition to seeking his third consecutive victory at Mid-Ohio (and fifth overall), Dixon is seeking to become the first driver under INDYCAR sanction to win four races in a row. Sebastien Bourdais won four consecutive events in the Champ Car World Series in 2006.

Reigning series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay was third (1:05.5018) in the No. 1 DHL car for Andretti Autosport, while Franchitti was fourth (1:05.7019) in the No. 10 GE car for Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

Luca Filippi, who hours earlier was confirmed by team co-owner Bryan Herta as the driver of the No. 98 Barracuda Racing car for the 90-lap race, checked in fifth on the time sheet at 1:05.7364. Filippi, an 11-time winner in five seasons in GP2, tested the car for the first time July 31 at Mid-Ohio.

Six different teams were represented in the top 10 as 24 drivers completed 797 laps combined in the two sessions. The top 18 cars were separated by less than a second.

Also on Aug. 2, Firestone Indy Lights championship points leader Carlos Munoz was fastest in practice for the Mid-Ohio 100 with a lap of 1 minute, 13.5625 seconds in the No. 26 Dialy-Ser car for Andretti Autosport.

Jack Hawksworth, coming off a victory at Toronto on July 13, was .1921 of a second behind in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian car. Axcil Jefferies, a 19-year-old from Zimbabwe who is making his series debut, posted the third-fastest time of 1:13.8848 in the No. 28 Starting Grid JMM/BHA with Curb-Agajanian car.

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

1. Castroneves’ aim is keep championship lead

2. If you missed it: INDYCAR Conference Call with Sebastien Bourdais

3. Panther goes pink to honor female soldiers

1. Castroneves’ aim is keep championship lead: Helio Castroneves is the only IZOD IndyCar Series driver to complete all 1,753 race laps this season.

That statistic is a statement of consistency that has led to and kept the veteran atop the series championship standings entering round 14 of 19 and a testament to the No. 3 Team Penske car’s crew. Castroneves, who has finished in the top 10 the past nine races, enjoys a 29-point advantage over Scott Dixon heading into the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio this weekend.

“Our approach is the same. That’s what got us here,” said Castroneves. “Hopefully with that same kind of consistency, mentality, when we have a car to go for it we go for it. I think with that kind of thinking, it’s going to take us there, as well.”

Enjoy might be too strong, though, considering Dixon has won the past two races on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course and the past three races this season to vault into contention.

“We just have to keep focused on our work. I’m not worried less or more because it’s Scott,” Castroneves said. “The same thing was with (third-place) Ryan (Hunter-Reay). They’re both on great teams. I trust my guys. I know we have the best equipment, the best guys out there. We know what we’re capable of. That’s what we’re focused on at this point.”

Castroneves has held the top spot in the standings for a career-high eight races, dating to Race 1 at Detroit in early June, in pursuit of his first series title. The 90-lap race at challenging Mid-Ohio, where he last won in 2001 and last placed in the top five in 2010, is the next step to realizing his goal.

“I want (the title) more than anybody,” he said. “Especially having those guys behind me, I have that chance. Experienced guys, experienced teams. When you put yourself in this position, yes, I’m going to fight as much as I can.  If I have a good car to finish, I will finish strong.  If I don’t have a good car to finish, I’ll play smart.  You use different strategies, ways to put us there. That’s what’s happening at this point.”

2. If you missed it: INDYCAR Conference Call with Sebastien Bourdais: Earlier today, IZOD IndyCar Series driver Sebastien Bourdais participated in an INDYCAR conference call to discuss the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Selected quotes from the call are below. An MP3 Audio recording and full transcript of the call is available on http://media.indycar.com

Q: Sebastien, racing success can change with having two or three good races in a row. The team gets more confident and you get some momentum.  With your runs at Toronto and the July 31 Open Test at Mid-Ohio, do you sense a swing in momentum for Dragon Racing?

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: I don’t really see it this way. I think it’s more we finally got the car to where we needed it to be, and the performance of it was definitely a lot higher in Toronto than we had been so far. So that changed the results and it sure felt really good for the whole team, and pumped everybody up and boosted spirits. It’s not all finally we’ve got momentum hopefully we can hang on to it. It’s just we definitely found some pretty big improvements on the car and that translated into a very nice weekend in Toronto, which we very much needed. We kind of had the same approach at the test yesterday and made steady progress, and the car has responded pretty well. And (race engineer) Tom Brown and the entire engineering office has done a pretty nice job so, hopefully we can have a repeat of Toronto in Mid‑Ohio.

Q: You mentioned having a good test day. Mid‑Ohio is a place where you had one of your best races last year with a fourth-place finish. You were competing with Simon Pagenaud for that final podium spot. What is it about Mid‑Ohio that suits your style so well? 

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Last year we hit the set‑up pretty good.  But, again, this year it’s a different tire and everything, and we had to work at it pretty big between the start of the test and to end up where we ended up yesterday. The pace is about eight-tenths (of a mile) faster than it was last year, nearly a second on prime tires, so it’s definitely everybody did their homework, and it translates into pace and you’ve got to keep up and improve yourself if you want to stay at the front. 

The team did a very nice job yesterday in the short amount of time we had because we got rained out in the morning. Hopefully we can keep on making steady progress through the weekend and contend for another podium or a win.

Q: Tom Brown was brought in and then you alluded to him and his addition to the team as you started to get some better results.  I’m not going to ask you for all your trade secrets, every team likes to protect those.  But talk a little bit about what Tom has brought into the team.  He seemed to work very well in concert with you that definitely has Dragon Racing pointed in the right direction. 

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: We’re very short staffed in the engineering office, and obviously when everything works and the philosophy of the race engineering is working, everything is good.  Then when you’re struggling, sometimes you need a different eye and some additional analysis and more brain storming going on.  We couldn’t just quite bounce ideas off of each other because there were just not enough people. 

I think quite honestly, Tom just basically arrived and looked at the set‑up and the data and everything that we had done with Neil (Fife) that I’ve been working with for a couple years now and pretty successfully.  But when Firestone changed the tires for 2013, it just wasn’t the best, basically.  Every set‑up we had from 2012 were just not working anymore, and everybody had stepped up their game and we just looked like we were stuck.  We just couldn’t find the gains that we needed to go back to our form of last year. 

Tom definitely looked at that and had a couple of different ideas and from his previous experiences as well, and just kind of started to creep into the right direction.  It definitely clicked in Toronto.  It was pretty good yesterday.  I think we definitely have a direction now where we know we need to put the car in to be competitive, and that’s what we’re going to try to do.  Hopefully it works out pretty good until the end of the season.

Q: I know you don’t like to look, as you say, in the rear view mirror, but I’m still getting notes from fans about what exactly happened on the victory podium in Toronto when the trophy fell over.  There were some embarrassing moments that turned into some pretty funny moments.  (Honda Indy Toronto president) Charlie Johnstone told me the top of the trophy is never attached to the base.  But what happened, happened, kind of a tragedy, but kind of a fun eye incident as well.  If you care to offer anymore comments about what happened there because I’m still getting people asking me about it? 

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Well, clearly, the person who was supposed to hand me the trophy was just supposed to hand me the crystal bowl.  When you looked at it, it looked like it was attached with the base and the crystal glued to it or bolted on or something, which is usually the shape of the trophies.  But it wasn’t like that.  When he handed me the whole thing, I shook his hand, grabbed the base, and trophy is up.  All right.  Trophy is up. 

The crystal bowl just kind of went overhead.  Actually, I was kind of lucky I didn’t put it over my head.  I might have knocked myself out.  But I was so damn happy that finally we got that result that anything could have happened, I think.  I could have fallen off the podium or whatever, it would not have mattered at that point. 

We just turned it into a comedy in the end because what else do you want to do?  Nobody could take away that result that we were looking for.  We’re not looking for a trophy; we were looking for a result.  And everybody was just in great spirits.  I guess we made every morning and evening show there was to be.  All in all, it wasn’t so bad.

3. Panther goes pink to honor female soldiers: Panther Racing will return this weekend to its “pink camo” livery to honor female soldiers serving in the National Guard. Firestone has joined the team in honoring females serving in the military and has created a pink sidewall tire that will replace the traditional black primary Firehawk tires.

“I’ve never driven a pink race car before and I can’t wait,” Oriol Servia said. “As a kid I always liked the Pink Panther, so hopefully we can be sneaky like the Pink Panther this weekend.”

The Ohio National Guard is led by Maj. Gen Deborah Ashenhurst, the only female adjutant general in the country, who will join the team this weekend to help celebrate the key role females play in the military.

“We’ve been very fortunate to see up close how integral females are in the National Guard and we’re excited to recognize their effort with the pink camo No. 4 car this weekend,” Panther owner John Barnes said. “Our friend Gen. Ashenhurst is one of the best military leaders in the country and a perfect representation of the role females play in the military. I also want to thank everybody at Firestone for helping us out with this effort and creating a pink sidewall tire for the weekend.”

The team debuted a pink camo car in 2011 at Kentucky Speedway and brought the popular livery back at Mid-Ohio last year after Ashenhurst was named adjutant general. The car’s design has remained similar until Firestone jumped in to add the pink tires to the mix.

***

The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 4 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race will be televised live at 3 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 Mid-Ohio 100 on Aug. 4 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 2 p.m.

WATERTOWN, Conn. — Aug. 1, 2013— Competing on the most challenging sprint car circuit in the world, it’s only fitting that David Gravel will race this weekend in the Ironman 55, the longest and probably the most grueling race of the year for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series. This season marks the fifth edition of the Ironman 55 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., just outside of St. Louis.

The Ironman 55 returns to a two-night event this year and is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 2 and Saturday, Aug. 3. A full racing program will encompass each night, with a 30-lap feature highlighting the first night and the 55-lap, $20,000-to-win Ironman 55 capping the weekend.

“You definitely have to be up on the wheel and usually against the fence at I-55,” said Gravel. “It’s a pretty intense race track. I’m excited to get back there, as it’s been a few years since I’ve raced there. Hopefully we don’t have too much of a learning curve. Being a $20,000-to-win race, you have to be on your game and there will be a strong field of cars there.”

Gravel competed in both nights of the inaugural Ironman 55 in 2009. He came up just one spot short of earning a spot in the main event in the opener of that two-night event, finishing fifth in the B-main. Gravel opened the night by qualifying 20th-fastest in the 42-car field. He crossed the line sixth in the fourth 10-lap heat race, again missing transferring to the main event by just a single spot. In the finale of the 2009 edition of the Ironman 55, Gravel finished 11th in the B-main. He charged from the 10th starting spot to seventh in the second heat race, which put him in the B-main.

“The main thing in an event like the Ironman is to make sure you stay hydrated and rested up,” he shared. “Track position is important early in the race, to be as near to the front as you can get and then around 20 or 30 laps in, you get more aggressive and try to make your moves. There is nothing easy about a race like the Ironman 55 and we are looking forward to the challenge.”

Gravel recently competed in a pair of event in Canada with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series aboard the FMR Racing/JRC Transportation/Musco Fuel/Model Craft J&J, finishing eighth at Autodrome Drummond in Quebec and 11th at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario. A third scheduled event at Cornwall Motor Speedway was rained out and not rescheduled.

Entering the stretch run of the “Month of Money,” Gravel is seventh in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He was victorious at I-94 Speedway in Minnesota in May and has accumulated 24 top-10 finishes, of which seven are top-five showings.

“We’ve run well on the smaller tracks, so hopefully we can keep that up this weekend,” Gravel said. “It’s a different style of racing when you go to a place like Pevely and with all those laps and the heat and humidity, you really have to make sure everything is buttoned up and running well, especially the engine, and our Kistler engines always run well.”

Keep up-to-date with David Gravel and DDR Motorsports by visiting www.DavidGravel89.com. Follow David on Twitter @davidgravel89gand like David on Facebook.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—August 1, 2013— There are only two events all season in which Kraig Kinser and his fellow World of OutlawsSTP Sprint Car Series counterparts get to race 50 or more laps. One is next week when the series invades the famed Knoxville Raceway for the FVP Knoxville Nationals, and the other is this weekend, when the best sprint car drivers in the world tackle the high-banked bullring in Pevely, Mo., for the longest event of the season, the Ironman 55.

The Ironman 55 weekend will begin on Friday, August 2 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 and conclude on Saturday, August 3, with the fifth running of the Ironman 55, which pays $20,000 to the winner.

“The Ironman is a pretty unique event,” said Kinser, who pilots the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/King Racing Products Maxim. “I’m glad it’s back to a two-night show this year, especially for the fans. It’s usually pretty hot down at Pevely, so you have to make sure to keep plenty of fluids in yourself and watch how long you are out in the sun during the day. Racing 55 laps definitely takes a lot of concentration at a place like Pevely and really tests your equipment as well.”

The native of Bloomington, Ind., finished fifth in two main events, including the Ironman 55 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 last season. Both of those features took place on October 14, after the Ironman 55 was rained out, just as the feature was lining up, and the spring race earlier in the year was rained out and rescheduled for the fall. Kinser was victorious for the first time at the high-banked, one-third-mile bullring in 2005.

“I’ve always enjoyed racing at Pevely and we’ve had a good amount of success there over the years,” he noted. “Last year we were fast at the Ironman and were all ready for the feature when the rain came. When we returned in the fall we were fast again and were in the top-five in both features, which was great. Hopefully we can pick up right where we left off this time around.”

Last year, Kinser was fastest in time trials for the Ironman 55 and finished fifth in the first heat race to earn a spot in the dash. He finished seventh in the dash, which gridded him on the inside of the fourth row for the main event, and he moved up a spot when the sixth-place starting driver did not return for the completion of the Ironman 55 in the fall. In the main event, Kinser would run all 55 laps, crossing the finish line in fifth.

In the nightcap, the third-generation driver timed in sixth and finished fourth in his heat race to earn a spot in the A-Feature. He lined up 13th and finished fifth, steadily working his way forward in a caution-plagued 40-lap main event, that saw the yellow and red flags fly a total of seven times. To date, he has eight top-10 finishes at the track, with five of those being top-five performances. Kinser has finished sixth or better in each of his last four starts Pevely. The spring event this year for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series at the high-banked bullring was rained out and not rescheduled.

“That was a lot of racing for sure last fall, but the weather cooperated and we had a really good surface for both shows,” said Kinser. “The track crew at Pevely usually works the surface a couple of times over the course of the race event and it’s worth waiting a few extra minutes for them to do that. There will be a lot of good cars there, so like always, getting qualified and in the dash and starting up front will be important, especially in the 55-lapper, as you want to be on the lead lap in the late going.”

Kinser raced twice in Canada over the last week, finishing third at Autodrome Drummond in Quebec on July 28 and 11th at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario on July 30. He was also scheduled to race at Cornwall Motor Speedway, but that event fell to rain and was not made up.

The 2005 winner of the Knoxville Nationals is currently 13th in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He has one win this season to go along with 23 top-10 and eight top-five 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: Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55
0.33- Miles around Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55
2- Nights of racing that comprise the Ironman 55 weekend
4- Consecutive top-10 finishes at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55
5- Career top-five finishes at Pevely
8- Career top-10 finishes at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55; Top-five finishes this season through July 30
10.189- Track record at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55
12.3- Average finish in 17 main events starts at Pevely
17- Main event starts with the World of Outlaws at Pevely
23- Top-10 finishes this season with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
30- Laps scheduled for the main event at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Friday, Aug. 2
55- Laps in the Ironman 55 on Saturday, Aug. 3
740- Miles from Ohsweken Speedway in Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada, where the World of Outlaws raced on July 30 to Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo.
2001- Year of first start at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55
2005- Year of first win at the Pevely
2009- Year of the first Ironman 55
6044- Points earned this season through July 30

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.

LEXINGTON, Ohio – Ryan Hunter-Reay saved his best lap for his last lap at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion showed no ill effects for a two-week layoff turning a lap of 1 minute 5.6358 seconds on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course to lead the one-day IZOD IndyCar Series Open Test in advance of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.

“It was a good day,” said Hunter-Reay, driver of the No. 1 DHL Chevrolet. “Made some major gains and we’re pretty happy with the car. This track is similar to Barber and we’ve been quick on the big natural terrain road courses. I’m happy with the work that the Andretti Autosport boys have done over the last two weeks and I’m sure we’ll find even more speed for Friday.”

Simon Pagenaud turned the second-quickest lap of 1:05.7965 in the No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda followed by Will Power (1:05.8206) of Team Penske, Sebastien Bourdais (1:05.9654) of Dragon Racing and IZOD IndyCar Series points leader Helio Castroneves (1:05.9710).

Scott Dixon, who has won the last three IZOD IndyCar Series races and is aiming for his third straight win at Mid-Ohio, was sixth at 1:06.1025. A little more than a second separated the top 16 drivers on the timesheet.

Hunter-Reay expects the field to be just as tight when practice for the Aug. 4 race begins on Aug. 2.

“I expect the Penske and Ganassi boys to be right up there on Friday,” Hunter-Reay said. “It’s going to be super-tight as it always is here. Hopefully, the No. 1 DHL Chevy can stay up front.”

***

De Silvestro really gets into her role: KV Racing Technology’s Simona De Silvestro drove home the importance of science, technology, engineering and math to more than 30 middle-school students July 30 in the Ohio Energy Project’s Activating and Energizing Girls’ Involvement in Science (AEGIS) program in Columbus, Ohio.

De Silvestro, who drives the No. 78 Chevrolet-powered Nuclear Clean Air Energy IndyCar, spoke about the connections between racing, clean energy and engineering. She also participated in the hands-on activities, including donning the protective safety clothing used by nuclear energy facility personnel during outage service activities.

“They call it the banana suit, which was pretty funny,” De Silvestro said during a break at the Open Test. “I think my driving suit is a lot more comfortable.

“It was awesome to see the girls take an interest in the program and what’s available. I told them that in racing I wouldn’t be fast if I didn’t have engineers behind me to make the car go fast and the same thing is in the nuclear clean energy business. The other thing is the teamwork we have so it all kind of ties together.”

Of note: Firestone Racing took advantage of the morning rain at Mid-Ohio by having Hunter-Reay compare the current spec and new-for-2014 wet tires on the road course. … James Jakes, driver of the No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, celebrates his 26th birthday on Aug. 4 (race day). … Justin Wilson turned 35 on July 31. … Ryan Briscoe will join Leigh Diffey and Townsend Bell in the NBC Sports Network broadcast booth for the Mid-Ohio race.

***

Selected quotes from the media availability with IZOD IndyCar Series drivers.

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, IZOD IndyCar Series points leader): Racing at Mid-Ohio is a tradition. I’ve been racing here a long time, but before me, they were racing here since the early 1970’s. It shows the tradition of Indy car and it’s a great track. The design of the track from back then is still in fashion today. It’s a challenging place. Over the years, the asphalt has changed and the track gets faster, every time you go on it. The first two laps you do today, it’s very different from where you finish. Every time you go out there, you learn something. Even with the experience that I have, there’s always something new. The fans are so great and are a big part of why I like coming here.

Q. Scott Dixon has been so good here. When you go somewhere where one guy is so good, do you measure yourself against him?

CASTRONEVES: The good news when you see someone has adapted to a track is that every driver has a track that suits their driving style. For the competitors it’s good because it pushes you to the next level. You look a little at what they’ve done in the past and work it out.  That’s the way I see it. Our PPG boys are working hard. It was good we’ve had these two weeks off because our boys have been working to find things to help us that we haven’t seen before.  In that aspect, we’re not focusing on what (Dixon) is doing. We’re focusing on what we can do. But we know how good he’s going to be.

Q. You are six races away from achieving your goal of a championship. What’s your mindset heading into these final six races?

CASTRONEVES: “It’s still a long way to go. Six races. A lot of points are involved. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing. It’s gotten us here to this point (where we’re leading the championship). The results we’ve achieved have come from our consistency. We’re pushing the limit of the car and myself. We’re not trying to overdo it. If the cars good,  we’ll go for it. If the car’s not good, then we have to find ways to make it happen. That’s what we’ve done in the past. We’ve always been very close (to winning the championship) and right now things are going our way. Hopefully we keep it this way.

Q. Do you feel like this is a charmed season? You’ve finished every lap of every race and finished in the top-10 in all but one race.

CASTRONEVES: At Detroit, we got pushed into the wall and we were still able to come away with a top-10 finish. Things happen for a reason. You can’t always explain what the guy upstairs has planned for you. I’ll tell you one thing. We’re not trying to change the focus. We’re not trying to do anything different.  We’re not stopping in believing what we’ve got. I think this team has a lot of heart, and combined with what we want, hopefully our wish comes true.

Q. Does this season feel different from year’s past because you seem so locked in

CASTRONEVES: Not really. We shuffled some guys around, but last year was a success. We finished in the top four again and we were mathematically in the championship until the last race of the season. Things fall into place at this point. We have to keep going and they have to worry about us, not us worrying about them.

***

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Midas/Big O Tires Honda): I don’t think the championship is within reach for us. There’s only five or six races left and to rescue the season would be a difficult thing to do. For us, now, it’s about winning a couple of races and building momentum for 2014. Unfortunately, as things came together for the team this year, we didn’t have speed in the car from the get go. At a couple of different tracks this year, it clicked for us. We ran up front at Long Beach and at Iowa, we were really strong. When I can only list two races out of all the ones we’ve done, it’s been a frustrating year. At this point, we’re doing some things, making some changes within the team that will benefit us into 2014.

Q. How do these changes help you for next season?

RAHAL:  It helps us because if this is the way the team is going to stay in ’14, we get time to work together. I’m mean Neil Fife, who will be my engineer for the rest of this season. I’ve known Neil for a long time, but we’ve never worked together. It’s a new thing. That’s why today we were hoping to get a lot of running out there. It’s  a time for him to figure out what I want in a car and vice versa. Unfortunately, we lost the morning with the rain, but that’s the way it goes. It’s all about building momentum and the more time you spend and get more familiar with everybody, it’s only going to help you in the future.

Q. What does this weekend mean to you, even if the season hasn’t been what you’ve planned? Is it more pressure racing at home?

RAHAL: I don’t feel more pressure racing here. I always want to do well here. I have a lot of family and friends here. My whole family will be here. A lot of my friends. Central Ohio in general, if you look at the TV ratings, this is one of our strongest markets. Ohio, in general. Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton. There are a lot of open-wheel racing fans here and I hope they are fans of the Rahals. I want to do well here.  A win here would mean a lot to us. Not only for me as a person, but for the whole team. It would mean a ton.

***

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 1 DHL Chevrolet): “We’re trying to defend the championship and that’s how it’s been all year. We’ve been right there second in the points pretty much the whole year, we have two race wins, but we’ve just had a string of bad races recently. Hopefully we’ll be getting over that soon, and there’s no better place to turn that around than Mid-Ohio.

Q. How do things fall into place for a championship season?

HUNTER-REAY: You hear past champions talk about that and in a championship run year things tend to go your way and you get on a hot streak and things fall into place. I thought we were on that earlier in the year and we still can be on it. We’ve come back from bigger deficits than this so I’m optimistic. From Pocono to Toronto – eight days – we had a terrible run and we’re ready to turn that around.”

Q. Talk about this track

HUNTER-REAY: Mid-Ohio has a flow to it that no other racetrack has. It has high-speed corners – we’re using fourth gear at 140 mph through Turn 1 and doing probably 4 Gs through there – and it just gives you that reward. It’s a track that when you get it right it’s so rewarding because you’re hanging it out on the edge and you can feel the risk is there. It has elevation changes, braking zones, fast corners; it has everything you’d want in a racetrack. This is one of my favorite racetracks, and you always have to be a student of the game. You have to over-analyze every bit. You have to constantly be digging to find the place in your driving style to put it all together.”

Q. What are your expectations for the weekend:

HUNTER-REAY: “It’s going to be a tight competition here this weekend. IndyCar is always tight, but this is going to be a real shootout.”

***

Q. Scott, are you on a roll?

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): I hope so. I hope we can keep these results coming. It was much needed. It was a big turning point for us in the championship. Before Pocono, we were 92 points out and now 29 and second in the championship. Typically, Mid-Ohio has been a great circuit for us. Hopefully, that transfers.

Q. What is it about this place that figured out a way to win?

DIXON: I think it’s a combination of the team. They’ve always had good results here and both cars have been very quick. If you could put your finger on it, you would try to replicate it at every track. It makes it tough to work out why, but if you are, you just roll with it, and hopefully, you can continue to (stay on the roll) each year.

Q. Do you enjoy being on this roll and having everybody watching you as the guy to beat?

DIXON: You’ve got to do your own thing. Yes, you can take in more information and see what other people are up to, whether it’s on a practice day and going out and having a look around and seeing what everyone is doing in each corner.  The best way for you to focus on what you need to change and what direction to go is to go do it yourself with your team. We approach each weekend the same. As a standalone, we can’t go off the results we had last week. We’ve got to go here and make the best of this weekend.

Q. Do you look back at the last three races and say ‘wow?’

DIXON: “It was a big wow to win three in a row. Pocono was more a shock. My first comments to (team owner) Chip (Ganassi) when I got out of the car, ‘This morning I didn’t expect to be sitting here.’ When you have a weekend that turns you like that and the confidence with the team and the driver and everybody, it gives you a better flow. Going into Toronto, we had a few problems on the first day and we seem to correct those quickly and made the most of the weekend. “

TEST DAY QUOTES:

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet): “The PPG crew guys did an awesome job. We got a bit of a late start due to the rain this morning but we were able to use the entire afternoon session to test a few things for the race this weekend. I am happy with the set-up of the car and the track seems to be getting faster and faster every time we went out. But today gave us a good gage as to where we are and I’m excited to get back behind the wheel on Friday.”

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “It was a good day for our No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. This track takes rubber (from the tires) all day and with that becomes quicker and quicker. The team made great changes to the car and we will continue to work on it during practice on Friday and see if we can improve. Overall, I’m happy with the day and look forward to the rest of the week.”

***

The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 4 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race will be televised live at 3 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 Mid-Ohio 100 on Aug. 4 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 2 p.m.

The bad luck would continue for Tolton Motorsports as Bobby Tolton would fail to start the OSCAAR Modified feature at Sunset Speedway on Sunday night due to mechanical problems.

Tolton started off the night by finishing third in the first heat after starting first.

The second heat would be where the problems would start as the car would fail to start for the heat.

The crew was unable to repair the car before the motor, resulting in a DNS.

Special thanks to Eloquip, Engines from Hal, Knightwork Designs, Bolt-On Performance, Amsoil, Crazy Bill’s Paintball, Tri-Country Sandblasting, At A Glance Screenprinting, Black Magic Racing and Around the Howse Contracting for their support.

Photos from the night can be viewed on Bobby Tolton’s website at http://bit.ly/bobbytolton.

The next race for the OSCAAR Modifieds is Peterborough Speedway this weekend.

The OSCAAR Super Late Models and OSCAAR Modifieds will make their first of three trips to Peterborough Speedway this season on Saturday August 3 as part of the Chase for the Colours.

The event will serve as a qualifying event to lock-in the top two starting spots for both divisions for the 21^st Annual Autumn Colours Classic, which runs at Peterborough from October 11-13.

With local drivers having already had the chance to secure starting positions for the Classic, OSCAAR drivers will receive the same opportunity this weekend. The top two finishers in Saturday?s events will sit on the front row for one of Ontario?s most prestigious races come Thanksgiving weekend.

This weekend marks the first time the Super Late Models have competed at Peterborough under the Chase format. Last year, three different drivers earned wins at Peterborough including Gary Passer (No.13), Charlie Gallant (No.40P), and Brandon Watson (No.9).

Passer won a rain shortened race last August for his second career win, while Gallant earned his first ever OSCAAR feature win on Labour Day weekend in 2012. Brandon Watson capped off his championship season with a win at the Autumn Colours Classic last October.

Along with last year?s winners, the cast of tour regulars will be in tough to finish in the top-pair. A high car count of Super Late Model teams is expected for Canada?s Toughest 1/3-mile oval Saturday night as drivers search for all important starting positions for the year-end finale and one of the most competitive races of the year.

The OSCAAR Modifieds competed as part of the Chase last July with Gary McLean (No.8) winning one of his eight features to guarantee his spot on the front row for the Classic. McLean battled Justin Demelo (No.82) all afternoon long at the front of the field as the two drivers earned their spots at the front of the field.

McLean would take his pole starting spot all the way to victory lane at Autumn Colours to end his championship season as part of the tour?s inaugural campaign. Brian McLean (No.47) also won at Peterborough in 2012.

The Modifieds will compete twice at Peterborough this season (Aug. 3 and Oct. 11-13), while the Super Late Models will make three trips (Aug. 3, Aug.24, and Oct. 11-13).

In addition to both OSCAAR tours, Peterborough Speedway?s Battlefield Equipment Four Funs, Peterborough Hyundai Mini stocks, and Parry Springs Renegade Trucks will also be in action.

Saturday?s event will also feature a pre-race corn roast for fans and drivers. Racing gets underway at 6:00pm, with spectator gates opening at 4:00pm. Pit gates will open at 2:00pm for all competitors.?

By Clayton Johns (@cjohnsmedia)

Photo Credit: Dan Little Jr.

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Stroud, ON – Dwayne Baker (No.48 Baker Performance Plus/Zancor Homes) utilized the final restart of the evening to make a lap 47 pass by Shane Maginnis (No.03 Budd´s GMC) to win his second OSCAAR Super Late Model feature of the season.

Baker, who won earlier this season at Sunset as part of the Don Biederman Memorial, started outside the front row for the 50-lap main event. The Stayner, Ont. based driver ran most of the night in second, until he was finally able to get my Maginnis, who held the lead for most of the night, with three laps to go.

“The car was good. All of the restarts hurt me,” said Baker. “I have to say thanks to Shane Maginnis. He ran be strong, door handle to door handle. He made it a really good race.”

Despite holding off Baker on numerous restarts in the final six laps, Maginnis fell three laps shy of his first OSCAAR victory of the season. Maginnis would finish third after Jeff Hanley (No.70 Raylene Racing) slipped past the No.03 with two to go, but the veteran driver was more than satisfied with his result.

“When you´re running out front of Dwayne, you know he´s good here,” said Maginnis. “You´ve got to stay on it. The car got just a little too tight towards the end, and we went first to third. The Budd´s Chevrolet Camaro, it´ll win a race soon. You watch.”

The race was a war of attrition, with a total of 13 caution periods for the 21-car field. The first came on lap three when Sean Cronan (No.8 SuperCuts/Lockeroom Sports Bar) appeared to lose power in turn two.

Caution flew again when Kevin Cornelius (No.17 Halton Crushed Stone) was tagged in turn two on lap nine by Mike Beyore (No.54 Stemac/Millenium Crane) resulting in both drivers restarting at the tail of the field.

Cautions also came at laps 13 and 17 when Rob Gibson (No.3) spun a pair of time as well as Ian Bourque (No.83 Muskoka Mobility Transport) on lap 17.

The red flag was displayed once at lap 22 for clean up when Roy Passer (No. 551) spun in turn one, collecting Gibson and Corey Jones (No. 82 RBC/Remax), who was making his first career start. The contact would end Jones´ night. Mike Beyore was attended to by paramedics during the red flag for dehydration, ending his night.

Caution flew again on lap 26 when Wayne Isaacs (No.00 First Canadian Auto Collision) made contact with Tyler Hawn (No.42 Belford Haulage) on the backstretch.

The race ran green for 18 laps with Maginnis out front, followed by Baker and Andrew Gresel (No.81 CUSW/Sauble Falls Trailer Park) holding down the third spot. The top trio broke away from the rest of the pack and ran nose to tail.

A lap 44 caution slowed the field once again when Hawn lost power on the frontstretch after contact in turn four. The ensuing restart would see Brandon Watson (No.9 Shear Metal Products/Ken Mackinnon Construction) and Gresel spin in turn one, forcing both drivers to the rear of the field with six laps remaining.

With the field reorganized, the caution flew again when Jesse Kennedy (No.10 Quality Collision/Cameron Crane) touched Derrick Tiemersma (No.7 Wayfreight/Spira Fire Protection) on the backstretch, sending the No.7 spinning.

Maginnis continued to lead Baker through the carnage, choosing the outside line on each occasion, to keep Baker pinned to the bottom of the speedway. Baker felt as though it was good strategy on Maginnis´ part.

“It kept me pinched down on the bottom so I would get a little bit loose,” said Baker. “He was probably a little bit tight and he liked the outside. That´s why he stayed with the outside and I had to fight with the bottom.”

The field would complete one more lap before the final caution of the night came on lap 46 when Passer spun in turn four.

The final restart set the stage for Maginnis to cap off his strong run, but Baker got the best of the restart to take the lead.

With a quick Hanley sitting on the inside groove, Maginnis made a small slip off a corner that allowed Hanley to slip in to the second spot with two laps remaining.

Had the final caution of the night not come out, Maginnis felt he would have been able to hold off Baker for the win.

“It was the cautions (that hurt us),” said Maginnis. “When you´re side-by-side, you have to give it everything you´ve got. When you have four or five cautions in a row, you use up everything that´s there.”

The OSCAAR Super Late Model tour returns to action next Saturday August 3 at Peterborough Speedway as part of the Chase for the Colours for the first of three trips to the 1/3-mile oval in 2013. The top two finishers in the event will be locked in to the front row for the Autumn Colours Classic. Stay tuned to www.oscaar.ca for more information regarding gate times and ticket pricing.

By Clayton Johns (@cjohnsmedia)

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Results: Sunset Speedway 50-Lap A-Main (July 28, 2013) – (Starting Position in Parentheses)

1. 48 Dwayne Baker (2); 2. 70 Jeff Hanley (4); 3. 03 Shane Maginnis (1); 4. 22 Glenn Watson (7); 5. 9 Brandon Watson (3); 6. 7 Derrick Tiemersma (11); 7. 83 Ian Bourque (13); 8. 81 Andrew Gresel (6); 9. 42 Tyler Hawn (12); 10. 17 Kevin Cornelius (5); 11. 10 Jesse Kennedy (15); 12. 39 Shane Gowan (14); 13. 551 Roy Passer (17); 14. 00 Wayne Isaacs (10); 15. 7m Brent McLean (DNF) (16); 16. 8 Sean Cronan (DNF) (9); 17. 3 Rob Gibson (DNF) (19); 18. 82 Corey Jones (DNF) (18); 19. 54 Mike Beyore (DNF) (8); 20. Kyle Passer (DNF) (20); 21. 27 J.R. Fitzpatrick (DNS).

Heat Winners: 48 Dwayne Baker, 81 Andrew Gresel, 9 Brandon Watson, 22 Glenn Watson, 7 Derrick Tiemersma, 70 Jeff Hanley.

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.

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