Category: Other Series PR

KANAAN AND VISO WILL BE PENALIZED 10 GRID POSITIONS FOR UNAUTHORIZED ENGINE; BARRICHELLO TO START 11^TH 

[media-credit name=”iowacorn.org” align=”alignright” width=”168″][/media-credit]NEWTON, IA – June 22, 2012 – KV Racing Technology driversTony Kanaan, Rubens Barrichello and E. J. Viso technically qualified ninth, 13^th and 16^th respectively for tomorrow’s Iowa Corn 250 on the .875-mile Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.  However, after penalties are assessed for unauthorized engine changes, it is predicted that Barrichello will start 11^th, Kanaan 19^th and Viso, last.

In a departure from normal single-car oval qualifications, three 30-lap heat races were held today to set the starting grid for tomorrow’s race.  Qualification groups were determined by lap times recorded in today’s second (45-minute) practice session.

• Heat race No. 1 consisted of even-numbered positions, starting with the 10th-quickest practice time overall, and determine the even-numbered positions in the starting field from 10th down.
• Heat race No. 2 consisted of the odd-numbered positions, starting with the ninth-quickest practice time overall, and determine the odd-numbered positions in the starting field from ninth down.

• ·         Heat race No. 3 consisted of drivers ranked one through eight by combined practice times.  Results of Race 3 determined the first four rows, with the winner taking the pole position.

Barrichello in the No. 8 BMC | EMBRASE – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone entry, was ninth after the second practice session with a fast lap of 17.4353 seconds (184.591 mph)  just missing a chance to compete for the pole.  He therefore ran in heat race No. 2.  He started in the pole position, but dropped to third on lap six when both Alex Tagliani and teammate Tony Kanaan slipped past.   Barrichello held station for the remaining 24 laps holding off Justin Wilson who made several attempts at passing.  The third place finish in the odd-numbered heat race initially put Barrichello 13^th on the grid, however after the penalties are assessed to other drivers, he will move up at least two positions putting him 11^th tomorrow on the inside of row six. 

“For a rookie it was a great day because I could do a 30 lap mini race,” Barrichello said.  “I wasn’t sure whether I had a car to win, but it was good to race Tagliani and Kanaan and learn the high and low lines.  My car was a little loose in places, but I feel more confident now for the race tomorrow.”

Kanaan, in the No. 11 GEICO | MOUSER ELECTRONICS – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet/Firestone machine, was 15^th on the speed charts following the second practice with a lap of 17.5121 seconds (183.781 mph), so he also ran in heat race No. 2 which he won after going by Barrichello on lap six, then passing Tagliani on lap 20 and running away from the field over the final 10 laps of the race.  The win would have put him ninth on the starting grid however, due to a 10 grid spot penalty he will receive for an unauthorized engine change, which was necessary due to high mileage, it is estimated that Kanaan will start 19^th tomorrow on the inside of row 10.

“Great job by the GEICO | Mouser guys,” Kanaan said.  “It’s doesn’t help getting a 10 grid penalty, but we will just have to battle from the back.  We have a good car.  It was nice having the 30 lap race so I can see how my car will react in the race tomorrow and I’m pleased with how it felt.”

 

Viso, driving the No. 5 CITGO | PDVSA – KV Racing TechnologyChevrolet/Firestone car, was 14^th on the second practice reportposting a fast lap of 17.4940 seconds (183.972 mph) putting him in heat race

No. 1 where after starting third he finished fourth, which would have put him 16^th on the grid.  However, Viso was also penalized for an unauthorized engine change and will lineup near the back of the field.

“Iowa is a place that has provided me with a lot of satisfaction by giving me my first podium finish back in 2010,” Viso said.  “This race is going to be very challenging.  I am startingfrom the back of the field as a result of a penalty given to us by IndyCar because we changed the engine under the minimum mileage.  This will also be a difficult race because of the change in the downforce rules.  We are running a lot less downforce than in the past.  Looking ahead, I have a lot of faith in the car that my crew is going to give me.  So far I have had strong cars that have allowed me to fight hard in the races.  That is what I am looking forward to doing tomorrow.”

Barrichello, who will contest just his third career oval race (he did not start in Texas because of a non-team related component failure) and first at Iowa, has qualified in the top-10 twice in nine races this year, both times on ovals, (10^th in his Indianapolis 500 and a season-high fifth last weekend at Milwaukee, started third due to penalties).  The 40-year-old Brazilian and Formula One veteran has fared well on ovals in his rookie IndyCar season  In two starts, he has notched his first top-10 oval performance placing 10^th  last weekend in Milwaukee and finished 11^th, earning the Chase Rookie of the Year Award, at Indy.  Barrichello has had four top-10 performances in the first eight races this season and currently sits 16^th in the championship standings with 138 points, just 35 points out of 10th.

Kanaan, who will be contesting his sixth race at Iowa, has qualified in the top-10 five times in six attempts here although because of the penalty he will only have four top-10 starts at Iowa.  Kanaan’s best starting position here is third which he achieved last year.  In five previous races he has finished on the podium twice including a win in 2010 (the 15^th and most recent of his 15-year career) and a second last year.  Kanaan has qualified in the top-10 a team-high seven times this season (season-high sixths at Barber and Milwaukee), but a penalty in Long Beach and the one here means he has only started five of nine races in the top-10.  Kanaan has qualified in the top-10 for all four oval events this year.  This will be the first time he won’t start in the top-10 on an oval.  The 37-year-old Brazilian, who has been strong in the oval races, has earned four top-six finishes this season including a season-high second at Milwaukee (third at Indy).  He is eighth in the championship race with 200 points, 74 points out of first and second in the A. J. Foyt Oval Championship with 101 points just seven points behind the leader.

Viso, who will be contesting his fifth race at Iowa, has a best qualifying position of 13^th in 2008 and a best finish of third, his IndyCar career-high in 2010.  He has qualified in the top-10 five times this season including making the Firestone Fast Six, the final round of street/road course qualifying twice and twice on ovals (an Indy 500 career high ninth, eighth at Milwaukee, started fifth due to penalties).  His career best oval qualifying effort is a sixth at Milwaukee last year. Viso has qualified a season-high fifth twice, first at Long Beach (started 15^th due to a penalty assessed an unauthorized engine change) and at Detroit.  The 27-year-old Venezuelan has scored three top10 finishes including a season-high fifth last weekend at Milwaukee (the third top-five performance ofhis career) and is 14^th in the standings with 148 points, just 25 points out of 10^th place.

In the first practice session, Kanaan led the team with the 11^th fastest lap posting a speed of 182.422 mph.  Viso was 13^th on the speed charts with a lap of 181.984 mph while Barrichello was 24^th with a speed of 178.001 mph.

The Iowa Corn Indy 250 will be broadcast live on Saturday, June 23 on NBC starting at 9:00 p.m. ET.

KV Racing Technology was founded in January 2003 and joined the IndyCar Series in 2008.  The Indianapolis based team is owned by successful venture capitalist Kevin Kalkhoven and 1996 IndyCar Champion Jimmy Vasser.  Veteran Motorsports manager, Mark Johnson, is the team’s General Manager.  Johnson is assisted by Team Manager Tom Wurtz, Technical Director Eric Cowdin and Operations Manager Steve Moore.

For more information about KV Racing Technology visit: www.kvracingtechnology.com or follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kvracingand Facebook: www.facebook.com/kvracingtechnology

[media-credit name=”iowacorn.org” align=”alignright” width=”168″][/media-credit]Utilizing a unique format of three 30-lap heat races to qualify for Saturday night’s running of the Iowa Corn Indy 250 with the heat race fields set by times in the second and final IZOD IndyCar Series practice, seven Chevrolet IndyCar V-6 drivers posted top-10 qualifying efforts for the 250-lap race.

Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet, will start second in the 25-car field. Marco Andretti, No. 26 Team RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, will start third, with James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 Team GoDaddy.com Autosport Chevrolet, in the fourth starting position. Ryan Briscoe, No. 2 PPG Automotive Refinish Team Penske Chevrolet, captured the fifth starting position. Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, will start in sixth position. Milwaukee winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Andretti AutosportChevrolet will start in the seventh position.

The field for the third heat that raced for the pole was the eight fastest cars from practice. Heat race one set the even-numbered starting positions from 10^th to the end of the field; while the second heat race set the odd-numbered starting positions from ninth position to the back of the grid.

Tony Kanaan, No. 11 GEICO/MOUSER Electronics KV Racing Technology Chevrolet, won the second heat that put him in the ninth qualifying position, but will start 19^th as a result of a 10 grid starting position penalty for an unapproved engine change.

The Iowa Corn Indy 250 is scheduled to start Saturday, June 23, 2012, at 9:00 p.m. CT (10:00 p.m. ET) with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network. Live radio coverage will be on XM Radio Channel 94 andSirius Satellite Radio Channel 212. In addition, IndyCar live timing and scoring with the radio broadcast can be found at www.indy.car.com.

Fans can follow Team Chevy on Team Chevy Facebook, @TeamChevy on Twitter and on Google+.

CHEVROLET INDYCAR V-6 DRIVER QUALIFYING QUOTES:

HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 PENSKE TRUCK RENTAL CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 2^ND: POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE – PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT: WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE HEAT RACE QUALIFYING FORMAT? “I like it, but I don’t love it as much as I like it, if it makes sense. (LAUGHS). No, joke aside, this is a joke between myself, Will Power and Ryan Briscoe. Honestly the practice, it was a little bit more risky than actually the heat race because you were really taking chances, and no know what the other guys are doing. I think, if we do that again, we would run qualifying, one lap or two laps to determine where you are going to go for the heats instead of just going 30 minutes, or 45 minutes, everybody out there. This is the only think I would probably suggest. But other than that, it was okay. Certainly 30 laps, I believe was enough. It was getting tough out there. We were able to make a pass of Marco (Andretti), but not enough time to catch Dario (Franchitti, pole winner). There was not that many cars out there so it was difficult to catch traffic, and things like that. For the first time, like I said, it was positive in terms in the trying. Certainly this Is the things we have to do for the future.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE A HEAT RACE FORMAT WHERE MAYBE THE TOP-TWO IN HEATS ADVANCED TO A FINAL TO SLUG IT OUT? “Good question. Maybe we should discuss more this format, or should have discussed more before. Brainstorm a little bit more so we could get examples and try. I don’t know if that would be the right thing. Maybe it is, but I’m not sure about the tires; how those guys would have done it, and things like that. But at the end of the day, like I said, I’m happy that we try and we should keep discussing and brainstorm other possibilities so it can become better and better. So that in the future, I don’t know if you are even going to try different ovals, but for sure here, it seemed different. I’m starting in the front row, and that is what I care right now.”

THERE WERE NO INCIDENTS IN ANY OF THE THREE HEATS, ARE YOU SURPRISED BY THAT? “I think everybody was using their heads. It was a heat race, it’s not a race. We should do that as well in an actual real race. Again, at that particular time, I feel like there were not many cars around, eight cars, so that gives space enough for everybody to have clean air. So when you have 20-something cars, it becomes much more turbulent, it will become a little more difficult to do it. Plus, now, in this configuration because there were less cars, some of the guys were trying different setup of wings. Maybe trying to go faster because it was only 30 laps so that would be enough time to do it, it was the first time. That is probably some of the cars that were in front end up going a little bit backwards. It was good practice for the race tomorrow. To understand what your car is going to do. That is probably why there weren’t any incident. It was probably like a little bit of a practice rather than an actual race, and people seemed to behave a little bit better understanding that.”

 

DID YOU LEARN SOMETHING TO USE TOMORROW NIGHT? “Despite it only being 30 laps, I would say it gives at least an indication of how it’s going to be. Our cars are very sensitive to the weather. It causes them to change quite a lot. That could be an interesting factor tomorrow. But, again, at the same time, you are going to have 20-something more cars out there that might give a little bit of difference. As I said for me, we started a little bit near the front, stayed in the front. We didn’t’ particularly face any real deal what’s going to be tomorrow. But at least I feel we have a good direction for tomorrow. Even if the weather is hotter.”

MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 26 TEAM RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORTCHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 3^RD : “We really wanted to get the pole, but we were a little off on our gearing for the car. We can work on that for tomorrow – that’s really the race that counts. We were pretty good, but we need to give ourselves a little more grip and we can be right there. The RC Cola car was fast all day, so we just need to tune on it a little bit to get back out front when it really means something. We can win it from there.” 

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY.COM ANDRETTI AUTOSPORTCHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 4^TH: “I think we learned a little bit tonight. I’m actually glad, almost, that we had heat races this weekend because, with so little practice we had so little time to work on our race cars and (the heat races) gave us a good taste of what we are going to see tomorrow night. Obviously, the track conditions will be a bit different, but we learned a bit. It was nice to move the Go Daddy car up a couple of spots because it was tough to pass out there. Ryan (Briscoe) got a bunch of different runs on me, but it’s so tough to hold the bottom of the racetrack and our car was working pretty decent up high. We were struggling off of Turn 2 and he was getting some good runs on us. That last lap I started really pushing up the track and my spotter told me Ryan was going high – I had to really try and get out of it; I feel bit bad there so, sorry to him for that. But overall, not a bad night and I’m happy to be starting on the outside of Row Two.” 

RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 2 PPG AUTOMOTIVE REFINISH TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET. QUALIFIED 5^TH: “The heat race was definitely a sprint race and I think we were able to learn some things about how the No. 2 PPG Automotive Refinish will perform in tomorrow’s race. I felt like I had a good car, we were a little off on the gear ratio which was making the good runs a little difficult to complete. I think it will be a good race tomorrow, it felt like a couple of lanes opened up for good some racing. We are starting fifth and hopefully will have a good race.”

[media-credit name=”iowacorn.org” align=”alignright” width=”168″][/media-credit]NEWTON, Iowa (Friday, June 22, 2012) – Dario Franchitti, who leaped into the top eight on the time chart in the final seconds of practice to qualify for the heat race, passed Marco Andretti on Lap 8 of 30 and went on the claim the pole for the 250-lap race under the lights June 23.

It was the second consecutive week that Franchitti has started on pole, and was the 28th of his Indy car career (passing Al Unser for seventh on the all-time list).

Results of the second practice session determined the fields for the 30-lap qualifying races. The top eight comprised Race 3, while Race 1 consisted of even-numbered positions in practice to determine the even-numbered spots in the starting lineup starting from 10th down. Race 3 followed the same format for odd-numbered cars.

Franchitti led Helio Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Penske Truck Rental car, to the start-finish line of the .894-mile track by 1.4671 seconds. It will be the second front-row start of the season and the fourth at Iowa Speedway for Castroneves, who won the opener at St. Petersburg.

Andretti, who topped the time chart in the two practice sessions, and Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe will be on Row 2.

Team Penske teammates Ryan Briscoe and Will Power, the IZOD IndyCar Series championship points leader, will start on Row 3. Ryan Hunter-Reay, the winner last week at Milwaukee, will be on Row 4 with Scott Dixon.

Tony Kanaan and Graham Rahal were the other heat race winners to qualifying ninth and 10th, respectively, but they’ll incur 10-grid spot penalties for unapproved engine changes. Alex Tagliani and Josef Newgarden will take their spots on Row 5.

Also on June 22, Tristan Vautier’s first qualifying lap of 160.066 mph on the .894-mile Iowa Speedway oval paved the way to a two-lap average of 159.973 mph (40.2368 seconds) and the pole position for the Firestone Indy Lights Sukup 100 on June 23.

Vautier, driving the No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/Sam Schmidt Motorsports with Curb Agajanian car, earned his third pole of the season — and second in a row. He went on to win the race last weekend at the Milwaukee Mile.

Esteban Guerrieri will start on the front row for the third time this season, posting a qualifying speed of 159.597 mph (40.3316 seconds). He started from the pole in the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights race at Iowa Speedway.

Victor Carbone, the final qualifier, jumped to third in the No. 3 Mav TV/Nevoni/SSM with Curb Agajanian car to provide the sixth 1-2-3 starting lineup for the team in Firestone Indy Lights. Sebastian Saavedra will join Carbone on Row 2 in the No. 27 Team AFS car.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES QUALIFYING RACES NOTES:

• This is Dario Franchitti’s second pole of 2012 and his first pole at Iowa Speedway. It is the 28^th pole of his Indy car career. Franchitti won the pole at Milwaukee last weekend.
• It is the 77^th pole in Indy car racing for Chip Ganassi Racing and the third time a Ganassi car has started on pole at Iowa Speedway.
• Helio Castroneves qualified second, his second front-row start in 2012. He started on pole at Barber Motorsports Park in April. It is his fourth front-row start at Iowa Speedway.
• Marco Andretti qualified third, his best qualifying performance in 2012.
• James Hinchcliffe qualified fourth, his fifth top-five start of 2012.
• Ryan Briscoe qualified fifth, his third top-five start of 2012.

IZOD INDYCAR SERIES QUALIFYING RACES QUOTES:

DARIO FRANCHITI (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): “We were struggling a little bit this morning with the Target car in race trim but we made it much better in the second session of practice. But the heat (race) the car stuck and we were able to put the Target car around the outside of Marco, kind of liked I watched T.K. (Tony Kanaan) do in the heat race before me.    I got out in front and the car felt good – no troubles for the rest of the run with no real fall off till the end of the race. Physically it is a tough track so it will be an interesting race for us tomorrow night. But overall a very good day for the Target boys. Good to be starting up front here for sure.”

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team RC Cola Chevrolet):  “”We really wanted to get the pole, but we were a little off on our gearing for the car. We can work on that for tomorrow – that’s really the race that counts. We were pretty good, but we need to give ourselves a little more grip and we can be right there. The RC Cola car was fast all day, so we just need to tune on it a little bit to get back out front when it really means something. We can win it from there.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet): “Honestly, the practice, it was a little bit more risky than actually the race because in the heat race, you really are taking chances and not knowing what other guys are doing, but you know I think if we had to do that again, we should go qualifying one lap or two laps, whatever, to determine where you’re going to go for the heats, instead of just going 30 or 45 minutes with everybody out there. So I would have probably suggested, but other than that it was okay. Certainly, 30 laps I believe was enough, but it was getting tough out there. I was able to make a pass on Marco, but then there wasn’t enough time to catch Dario, there was not that many cars out there so it was difficult to catch traffic and things like that. For the first time, it was positive in terms of a big lead. Certainly these are the things that we’ve got to do for the future. In the end of the day I’m happy that we tried (heats) and we will keep discussing and brainstorming all the possibilities so in the future, maybe we’ll try different ovals, but for sure here it seemed different. I’m starting on the front row, and that’s what I care about right now.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet): “”I think we learned a little bit tonight. I’m actually glad, almost, that we had heat races this weekend because, with so little practice we had so little time to work on our race cars and (the heat races) gave us a good taste of what we are going to see tomorrow night. Obviously, the track conditions will be a bit different, but we learned a bit. It was nice to move the Go Daddy car up a couple of spots because it was tough to pass out there. Ryan (Briscoe) got a bunch of different runs on me, but it’s so tough to hold the bottom of the racetrack and our car was working pretty decent up high. We were struggling off of Turn 2 and he was getting some good runs on us. That last lap I started really pushing up the track and my spotter told me Ryan was going high – I had to really try and get out of it; I feel bit bad there so, sorry to him for that. But overall, not a bad night and I’m happy to be starting on the outside of Row Two.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): “It was kind of a mixed day. We struggled a little bit, we had some traffic in practice two which set the grid for the heat. We still made it to the top-eight which is what we needed to do. We still weren’t real happy with the car so we kind of threw the kitchen sink at it for the heat race and we started on scuffs, six-lap tires, so it was kind of just feeling it out. It was okay, after 20 laps I felt pretty loose so we started to back up towards the end. The No. 10 car seemed to have a good handle on it so we’ll look at their stuff tonight but all and all a pretty up-and-down day.”

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda): “”It was evil. We took it as a practice run because we’re starting last anyway because of the engine change. Obviously, we’re not where we want to be yet. We’re going to think about it over night and come back stronger tomorrow.”

TONY KANAAN (No. 11 GEICO /Mouser Electronics- KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): “Great job by the GEICO | Mouser guys. It’s doesn’t help getting a 10 grid (spot) penalty, but we will just have to battle from the back. We have a good car. It was nice having the 30-lap race so I can see how my car will react in the race tomorrow and I’m pleased with how it felt.”

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy Lotus HVM Racing Lotus): “Today was a big learning curve. We’ve never been here with this car; we didn’t test here, so we just threw some things at it this morning and it was alright; we worked through it. We learned a lot in the first session, improved it in the second session and I think even in the third session we went a bit quicker, so those are really good things. If we keep progressing like this it really shows that we’re a pretty strong team and can improve every session out there. I think we have a good car. We’re hoping that tomorrow some people will fall off a little bit like in Milwaukee and that’s going to play in our favor. You know if we have a solid car for a full stint, so we’ll see. We’re just working at it, progressing. I don’t think we’ll be able to make real passes at real speed, but if people are going to struggle that’s where our chance is going to come. We’re really going to be ready when that chance comes.”

RUBENS BARRICHELLO (No. 8 BMC/Embrase – KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): ” “For a rookie it was a great day because I could do a 30 lap mini race. I wasn’t sure whether I had a car to win, but it was good to race Tagliani and Kanaan and learn the high and low lines. My car was a little loose in places, but I feel more confident now for the race tomorrow.”

E.J. VISO (No. 5 CITGO-PDVSA KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): “Iowa is a place that has provided me with a lot of satisfaction by giving me my first podium finish back in 2010. This race is going to be very challenging. I am starting from the back of the field as a result of a penalty given to us by INDYCAR because we changed the engine under the minimum mileage. This will also be a difficult race because of the change in the downforce rules. We are running a lot less downforce than in the past. Looking ahead, I have a lot of faith in the car that my crew is going to give me. So far I have had strong cars that have allowed me to fight hard in the races. That is what I am looking forward to doing tomorrow.

TAKUMA SATO (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda): “”It wasn’t an easy day for us; quite difficult actually through the sessions and practice. We made good progress internally but we need a lot more speed. It won’t be easy to make progress but surely we will move forward. We will gather all of the data tonight and be prepared for tomorrow. It was good to have a sprint race like this to get a better understanding of the car.”

ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): “That race is pretty much what I expected. Single file. Unless someone’s car goes off in a stint, it will be very difficult to pass people. I thought the aero package we tested here was pretty good. But they (INDYCAR officials) changed the package last week for this weekend. I tried to make a move on (Mike) Conway in the low line early, and the car just got too loose. Later in the race we were as fast as the leaders but there was no way to close the gap. I hope it is more exciting on Saturday night than that heat race. We used to put on some good racing at Iowa before and I hope this new package doesn’t hurt the racing here. We’ll wait and see what happens in the 250-lap race.”

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 38 Service Central Honda): “Certainly, the car felt really strong. Now, we go into tomorrow night and let’s hope we keep that momentum. We know we have a good race car. We’ll start 20th so we know we have a lot of work ahead of us but we feel pretty good.”

MIKE CONWAY (No. 14 ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): “We treated that as a test session and we did get the ABC Supply car more comfortable. We still need to work on some bits and get it more dialed in. It was not an easy day, but it sounds like others had similar things.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): “I was a little surprised by Graham to be honest. I’m just glad we didn’t have an incident. He clearly had more speed though. He wanted to go low on the back straight. I had a slow start. It was a lot slower than we predicted when we took off. We just didn’t get out of the hole very well. Luckily we were able to hold Viso on the outside. I got a good run on Graham early on. He wanted to go low when he saw I had a run on him. That was fine, so I chose the outside. The next thing I knew, when we got in the corner he was going straight up the race track in front of me. I thought we were going to hit the wall, and I don’t know how we didn’t. Luckily we didn’t tear up any race cars. It’s just one of those things. You’re always learning new things about your competitors and how you can race people. That will be valuable information for tomorrow. (About his car for tomorrow): “We’re going to have to work on our car quite a bit for tomorrow. We need to get a bit more speed. This heat race was only half distance compared to a race stint for us on a set of tires. We need to figure out how the car and tires will handle on the next half of the stint. If we can optimize the car and get a little more out of it we’ll be fine for tomorrow. If we can hold the tire degradation tomorrow we’ll be competitive.”

KATHERINE LEGGE (No.  6 TrueCar Dragon Racing Chevrolet): “The car was much better in the heat race than it was in practice today,” continued Legge. “We had a really good test here recently, so we thought we would come back with a really good car for this weekend’s race. Seemingly, it wasn’t like that, but my crew are some of the best and worked really hard to correct that. We have a little bit of work left to do, but we made some progress and we look forward to tomorrow night. I am really just happy to have the opportunity that TrueCar and my other sponsors have provided. We hope to give them a great show.”

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “These heat races were a good chance for the Verizon Team Penske crew to get some racing under our belts and have a better understanding of what to expect during the race. I like the way the car feels and we are ready for a good performance in the race tomorrow.”

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 2 PPG Automotive Refinishes Team Penske Chevrolet): “”The heat race was definitely a sprint race and I think we were able to learn some things about how the No. 2 PPG Automotive Refinish will perform in tomorrow’s race. I felt like I had a good car, we were a little off on the gear ratio which was making the good runs a little difficult to complete. I think it will be a good race tomorrow, it felt like a couple of lanes opened up for good some racing. We are starting fifth and hopefully will have a good race.”

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 18 Sonny’s Bar-B-Q Honda): “It was a reasonable day. Lots of learning, you know, everyone oval we’ve been on is quite different, so it’s been interesting to see how it plays out each week. I liked the concept of the heat races. We were hoping to move forward a bit, but the car was loose during the heat race, so unfortunately we couldn’t do all we wanted to do. But it was a good opportunity to see what the cars are like, and I think with a little fine tuning it could be a really exciting thing.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet, qualified third): “I think we had a pretty good day. We checked our first box off the list, which was making the fast-eight heat race. We treated the heat as a test session instead of an actual race. We found some things that might work for tomorrow night and we definitely found some things that didn’t. We didn’t race very impressive, but we kept our starting position of seventh. The Andretti Autosport crew was able to learn some things, which is good. We could have been more aggressive, but we felt like the big picture was to learn more for tomorrow night and that’s what we did. Thanks to all of my guys for their hard work and also to DHL and Sun Drop.”

 

JAMES JAKES (No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda): “I think we’ve got a good race car. I made a mistake on the start which cost us a few positions, but I know the Dale Coyne Racing guys have worked so hard, especially after the contact we had last week. The car has been good in practice, so hopefully we can move forward and make up for it tomorrow.”

SUNOCO POLE QUALIFYING REPORT

Sunoco Pole Qualifying consists of two warm-up laps followed by a two-lap qualifying attempt. Cars are ranked in order based on the quickest cumulative time. Only one attempt is allowed per car. One-lap qualifying record: Wade Cunningham, 24.5189, 149.028 mph (June 2011); Fastest Firestone Indy Lights lap today: #27 Sebastian Saavedra, 20.0615 seconds, 143.984 mph (Practice 1).

At 5:15 p.m., the ambient temperature was 83 degrees with a relative humidity of 35 percent. Skies were sunny. The track temperature was 114 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.

Time of Day	Car	Driver	Time	Speed	Rank
5:32 p.m.	2	Gustavo Yacaman	40.7438	158.017	1
5:34 p.m.	27	Sebastian Saavedra	40.3810	159.402	1
5:36 p.m.	76	Juan Pablo Garcia	41.2080	156.203	3
5:37 p.m.	26	Carlos Munoz	40.5500	158.753	2
5:39 p.m.	22	David Ostella	40.4985	158.939	2
5:41 p.m.	4	Jorge Goncalvez	40.9475	157.196	5
5:42 p.m.	28	Anders Krohn	40.9074	157.351	5
5:44 p.m.	24	Bryan Clauson	41.1343	156.483	7
5:46 p.m.	7	Oliver Webb	40.5388	158.742	3
5:48 p.m.	11	Esteban Guerrieri	40.3316	159.597	1
5:49 p.m.	9	Alon Day	40.8381	157.618	7
5:51 p.m.	86	Chase Austin	41.0067	156.969	10

On his first qualifying lap, #19 Larrison spun and made contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4. Larrison climbed from the car without assistance from the Holmatro Safety Team.

5:59 p.m.	77	Tristan Vautier	40.2368	159.973	1
6 p.m.	3	Victor Carbone	40.3707	159.442	2

                                                 

SUNOCO POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:

· This is Tristan Vautier’s third pole of 2012 and the third pole in Firestone Indy Lights. He was previously on pole at St. Petersburg and last week at Milwaukee. He won both of those races.

· This is Sam Schmidt Motorsports’ fourth pole of 2012 and the team’s 52^nd pole in Firestone Indy Lights. Vautier (St. Petersburg, Milwaukee) and Oliver Webb (Belle Isle) won poles for the team this season.

· Esteban Guerrieri qualified second and on the front row for the third time in 2012. He also started second at St. Petersburg and Long Beach.

· This is the sixth time that teammates have started 1-2-3 in a Firestone Indy Lights race – all by Sam Schmidt Motorsports. The last time it occurred was at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2011 with Josef Newgarden, Bryan Clauson and Esteban Guerrieri.

SUNOCO POLE QUALIFYING QUOTES:

TRISTAN VAUTIER (No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/SSM with Curb-Agajanian): “Yes it was really good, the car was just stuck on the track, it was a bullet. Just had to keep it flat and be careful with my ends, do a good job with the lines I was taking, and I’m really happy. We were good in practice again and good run, another good position with the draw so that was nice even if it doesn’t count as much here in Iowa. Very happy and big thanks to the guys, obviously the car matters a lot on this track so my team gave me a great car and so really a big thanks to SSM, very good to have our third pole of the season. But as they say, qualifying is only two laps, tomorrow there is 115 to complete so going to be very tough, going to be a long race, tough race, so we have to stay focused and make the most of the practice we have tomorrow to prepare for the race as best we can. I think the race is going to be very tight. This track, usually you stay flat all lap long, so it’s going to very tight. We’re 1-2-3 for the team which is very good, and we’re all going to be very close, obviously we all have similar cars, so it’s going to be very competitive. Going to be very important to be consistent and have a good start, good restart, be good with lap traffic. We’re in a good position so I’m looking forward to it.

ESTEBAN GUERRIERI (No. 11 Pistas Argentinas/SSM with Curb-Agajanian): “It was a good lap and these cars are all very closely matched. It is a good place to start – last year I started first and crashed – so second will hopefully be better for me and the team.   I am very proud of everyone at Sam Schmidt Motorsports – qualifying 1-2-3 is very nice. I expect it to be a very good race and there will passing on the high side if people are going to be passing tomorrow. I hope we all have a good race tomorrow and the whole team does well, but I want to be the one to win this week. It will be a long race and we just need to be running at the end – not like last year.”

VICTOR CARBONE (No. 3 Mav TV/Nevoni/SSM with Curb-Agajanian): “The car was pretty good. Nothing to complain about at all. It’s really important to start up front at a track like this. It can be had to pass here. Hopefully, I’ll get a good start. That will be crucial tomorrow. I’ll have to see how the race plays out to decide when to pass. Traffic will be a factor in determining that as well.”

OLIVER WEBB (No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports): “I like Iowa Speedway. It’s challenging. Everyone talks about the bump and getting rid of it. But the bump kind of gives it a little bit of character that people talk about. Without it, people would be comparing the track to Vegas and how easy it would be. The ovals are still my weak thing. We know I can pole and podium on street courses because I’ve always done them. I just need to work on my oval racing.”

JORGE GONCALVEZ (No. 4 Belardi Auto Racing): “I feel pretty good. The car feels much better in qualifying than it did during practice, but I think we still need to do a little bit more for the race. I’ll keep working with my engineer and mechanics to prepare for tomorrow. Luckily we have a long practice so we can set [the car] up a bit better for the race.

ALON DAY (No. 9 Belardi Auto Racing): “To be honest, I’m pretty disappointed in qualifying P9. But practice earlier today was really hard, and we’ve still got a lot to do, unfortunately. Fortunately we do have another practice tomorrow to test the car, so I hope it gets better and we can find the right setup.

MIKE LARRISON (No. 19 Belardi/TruFuel/Royal Oak Charcoal): “We kind of struggled with the car in practice. It was tight. It was a typical qualifying thing. You just put in it on the floor.   The car was really good, it just stepped out.”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 27 Team AFS): “I think we gave it our best qualifying run today. Unfortunately it was not enough for the pole position. This doesn’t mean that we can’t go out there tomorrow and fight our way through the three guys in front of us. They have shown all season that they are the ones to beat. In the first practice session, we were able to learn a lot about the car. We just need to keep focused and do a good job tomorrow at the start of the race. Thanks to my AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport team for all of their work today.”

CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 26 Team Dialy-Ser): “This was my first time on the track at Iowa Speedway. In the practice session, I felt really good about my car and the track. Today’s qualifying did not go quite as well as I was hoping. This is my worst attempt this season starting seventh. It will be a long race tomorrow and we will have the opportunity to warm-up beforehand. The Andretti Autosport guys will work hard tonight so we are able to learn more about the car before the race. I hope to move through the field and finish on the podium.”

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE:

1:55 – 2:40 p.m. – Firestone Indy Lights practice

2:55 p.m. – Star Mazda qualifying

3:50 – 3:55p.m. – Systems check

5:05 p.m. – Star Mazda Iowa Speedway Foundation 100

6:40 p.m. – Firestone Indy Lights Sukup 100 (115 laps/100 miles), NBC Sports Network (Taped, 11:59 p.m. Saturday)

9 p.m. – Iowa Corn Indy 250 (250 laps/187.5 miles), NBC Sports Network (Live)

(WASHINGTON, N.J. – June 22, 2012) – Officials from the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards and Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis have announced that Messina Wildlife Management, a New Jersey-based manufacturer of organic animal repellents, will sponsor the Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 at the track on Friday, July 27.

The Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 – scheduled to be televised live on SPEED – represents the Washington, N.J.-based company’s third race title sponsorship in three years of involvement with the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. In 2010, Craig Goess won the Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania. Ty Dillon won the Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 150 at Chicagoland Speedway one year ago.

“We are anxiously awaiting the return of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards and the running of the Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200,” said Wes Collier, general manager of Lucas Oil Raceway. “This event will be the crown jewel race on the oval this year and will be one that draws fans in from across Indiana and the Midwest to witness this exciting form of racing.”

The Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 sponsorship is part of the comprehensive Menards Racing vendor program that includes not only an Official Company sponsorship with ARCA, but also a special award sponsorship in the Team Messina Rookie Challenge. Registered first-year ARCA competitors compete for per-race cash bonus awards as well as the year-end Team Messina Rookie Challenge bonus of $10,000.

Messina’s planned involvement in Indianapolis will place the company’s products in high visibility in Menards’ third-largest market. Companies connected to the Menards Racing vendor program have signed on as title sponsors of six of the 20 races in ARCA’s 60th Anniversary Season.

Messina Wildlife Management is a family-owned corporation that manufactures a full line of organic animal management tools. Messina Wildlife offers a complete line of animal repellents that are proven effective, safe, organic, and pleasant-smelling pest repellents designed to control and stop unwanted animals from damaging gardens and decorative vegetation. The products were developed by landscape architect and president and CEO James J. Messina, whose personal goal is to provide homeowners, hunters, gardeners, farmers and wildlife management experts with innovative, proven effective, well-researched, safe, convenient organic animal management tools.

“We are thrilled to bring our name to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis and to the thousands of race fans in the market as we continue to raise our brand awareness,” said James Messina, vice president of Messina Wildlife Management. “We’ve seen a tremendous response from the racing community as they’ve gotten to know the Messina Wildlife brand over the past several years, and we’re excited to use this event to let fans in Indianapolis and around the country know that safe, effective and pleasant to use products are out there to help them stop animal damage.”

Messina’s motorsports involvement and role in the Menards Racing vendor program began in 2009, when the company joined a business-to-business vendor program with current series presenting sponsor Menards, allowing Messina the opportunity to sell products through more than 250 Menards Home Improvement locations nationwide.

All on-track activity for the Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 will take place on Friday, July 27. The ARCA Racing Series will hold two practices, from 1:35-2:20 p.m. and 3-3:45 p.m. Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell will begin at 5:30 p.m., with the 200-lap race scheduled to begin at 9 p.m.

The series races this weekend at another Indiana track, Winchester Speedway. Activity for the Herr’s Chase the Taste 200 begins Saturday, with Sunday’s 200-lap, 100-mile race starting at 2 p.m. ARCARacing.com will feature live audio and timing and scoring coverage of the race. The weekend will feature two other ARCA divisions, as the ARCA CRA Super Series and ARCA Truck Series will race on Saturday.

[media-credit name=”hometracks.nascar.com” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]SONOMA, Calif. – Eric Holmes turned in the quickest lap in NASCAR K&N Pro Series West practice on the road course at Sonoma (Calif.) on Friday as teams prepared for the Pick-n-Pull Racing To Stop Hunger 200.

The three-time series champion, who is seeking his first career series road-course win, lapped the winding 1.99-mile track in 77.477 seconds (92.466 mph).

Michael Self – who scored his first career series win in the most recent series visit to a road course at Brainerd, Minn. – was second quickest at Sonoma with a lap of 77.565 seconds (92.361 mph). He was followed by David Mayhew, Greg Pursley and Dylan Kwasniewski.

Rounding out the top 10 in practice were David Gilliland, Derek Thorn, Austin Dyne, Cameron Hayley and Austin Cameron.

Several cars encountered mechanical trouble during practice – with Jim Inglebright, Kyle Heckman and Dylan Hutchison all replacing transmissions.

Holmes of Escalon, Calif., has finished in the top five in the past five races at Sonoma, but has yet to get to Victory Lane. His best effort was 2008, when he won the pole and finished second in the race. His average finish at Sonoma is 6.83. In two previous road course events this season, Holmes finished second and sixth.

Qualifying for the Pick-n-Pull Racing To Stop Hunger 200 is set to start at 1:50 p.m. today.

 

FINAL PRACTICE

Pos	No.	Name	Sponsor	Best Tm	Best Speed	In Lap	Laps	Diff
1	20	Eric Holmes	NAPA Auto Parts	1:17.477	92.466	7	9
2	21	Michael Self	Rockwell/Golden Gate Meat	1:17.565	92.361	8	9	0.088
3	17	David Mayhew	Madorom/Steak & Grape	1:18.261	91.540	4	4	0.784
4	26	Greg Pursley	GPM/Star Nursery/Real Water	1:18.292	91.504	6	7	0.815
5	03	Dylan Kwasniewski	Royal Purple/Rockstar	1:18.299	91.495	4	8	0.822
6	25	David Gilliland	Pick-N-Pull	1:18.667	91.067	3	8	1.190
7	6	Derek Thorn	Sunrise Ford/Lucas Oil/Eibach	1:19.094	90.576	11	15	1.617
8	9	Austin Dyne*	William Rast/Sunrise Ford/Lucas	1:19.187	90.469	13	14	1.710
9	24	Cameron Hayley*	Cabinets by Hayley	1:19.237	90.412	13	13	1.760
10	12	Austin Cameron	AC Motorsports	1:19.386	90.243	4	4	1.909
11	61	Johnny Borneman	Red Line Oil	1:19.398	90.229	1	10	1.921
12	1	Jim Inglebright	Federated Auto Parts	1:19.608	89.991	3	5	2.131
13	31	Eric Norris	Kickstart Kids	1:19.738	89.844	11	13	2.261
14	22	Jonathon Gomez	Century Boatland	1:19.900	89.662	4	11	2.423
15	88	Jessica Brunelli*	Pick-N-Pull	1:21.029	88.413	8	12	3.552
16	14	Travis Milburn	Cooks/Holleran’s Perf.	1:21.229	88.195	7	11	3.752
17	86	Tim Spurgeon	Kleen Blast/David’s Racing Products	1:21.610	87.783	3	10	4.133
18	47	Scott Ivie	MSI Development Inc.	1:21.648	87.743	12	18	4.171
19	90	Chris Evans*	GASS	1:22.600	86.731	5	9	5.123
20	51	Carlos Vieira*	51 FIFTY Energy Drink	1:22.663	86.665	11	17	5.186
21	38	Dave Smith	Sonoma Harvest Critelli Olive Oil	1:23.346	85.955	7	9	5.869
22	04	Hershel McGriff	Park Corporation	1:24.468	84.813	9	13	6.991
23	07	Daniel Graeff*	Children’s Tumor Foundation	1:26.368	82.947	3	5	8.891
24	36	John Wood	Pegasus Transport & Towing	1:27.482	81.891	11	14	10.005
25	44	Tom Regan*	Ultra Lube	1:29.988	79.611	1	2	12.511
26	5	Dylan Hutchison*	Bay Bio Diesel/Johnnie Walker	1:30.894	78.817	1	1	13.417
27	15	Jack Sellers	Bay Bio Diesel	1:32.209	77.693	2	2	14.732
28	52	Ryan Philpott	51 FIFTY Energy Drink		–	0

FIRST PRACTICE

Pos	No.	Name	Sponsor	Best Tm	Best Speed	In Lap	Laps	Diff
1	21	Michael Self	Rockwell/Golden Gate Meat	01:18.4	91.359	8	8
2	6	Derek Thorn	Sunrise Ford/Lucas Oil/Eibach	01:18.7	90.992	9	9	0.316
3	20	Eric Holmes	NAPA Auto Parts	01:18.8	90.864	8	8	0.427
4	17	David Mayhew	Madorom/Steak & Grape	01:18.9	90.800	9	12	0.483
5	25	David Gilliland	Pick-N-Pull	01:18.9	90.779	4	8	0.501
6	26	Greg Pursley	GPM/Star Nursery/Real Water	01:19.2	90.496	5	7	0.748
7	61	Johnny Borneman	Red Line Oil	01:19.2	90.428	4	4	0.807
8	03	Dylan Kwasniewski	Royal Purple/Rockstar	01:19.3	90.335	6	11	0.889
9	9	Austin Dyne*	William Rast/Sunrise Ford/Lucas	01:19.6	89.991	13	14	1.192
10	24	Cameron Hayley*	Cabinets by Hayley	01:19.8	89.783	10	11	1.376
11	1	Jim Inglebright	Federated Auto Parts	01:19.9	89.634	10	11	1.509
12	19	Kyle Heckman*	MMI Services/Ron’s Rear Ends	01:20.1	89.434	7	12	1.688
13	22	Jonathon Gomez	Century Boatland	01:20.5	88.969	6	16	2.106
14	88	Jessica Brunelli*	Pick-N-Pull	01:20.8	88.677	5	7	2.372
15	12	Austin Cameron	AC Motorsports	01:21.2	88.205	5	9	2.804
16	86	Tim Spurgeon*	Kleen Blast/David’s Racing Products	01:21.2	88.172	12	15	2.834
17	14	Travis Milburn	Cooks/Holleran’s Perf.	01:21.7	87.650	11	11	3.318
18	31	Eric Norris	Kickstart Kids	01:21.8	87.603	11	13	3.362
19	47	Scott Ivie	MSI Development Inc.	01:22.9	86.457	11	15	4.446
20	51	Carlos Vieira*	51 FIFTY Energy Drink	01:23.3	85.975	6	11	4.911
21	90	Chris Evans*	GASS	01:23.7	85.629	20	23	5.247
22	07	Daniel Graeff*	Children’s Tumor Foundation	01:27.0	82.379	11	11	8.548
23	04	Hershel McGriff	Park Corporation	01:27.3	82.091	4	4	8.853
24	44	Tom Regan*	Ultra Lube	01:29.1	80.418	5	5	10.669
25	36	John Wood	Pegasus Transport & Towing	01:29.8	79.806	9	9	11.352
26	5	Dylan Hutchison*	Bay Bio Diesel/Johnnie Walker	01:31.8	78.082	4	4	13.334
27	38	Dave Smith	Sonoma Harvest Critelli Olive Oil	01:35.4	75.130	1	1	16.939

* Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender

Newton, IA – June 22, 2012 – Bryan Herta Autosport is announced today that Anders Krohn will pilot the No. 28 entry for the Firestone Indy Lights race this weekend at Iowa Speedway.

The 24-year-old driver hails from Stavanger, Norway and currently resides in St. Petersburg, FL. Nicknamed “The Viking,” he began racing at the age of three. Krohn climbed the karting ladder in Europe, culminating with a win in the North-European Karting Championship. He then made the step into European Formula Ford in 2007, finishing second in the championship. He’s been racing in the U.S. since 2008, earning the championship and being named Rookie of the Year in the F2000 Series. Krohn competed in the Star Mazda Series for two years before stepping into a Firestone Indy Lights car in 2011.

Through the 115-lap FIL race, Krohn aims to create awareness for the I-Tec and Yellow Jacket ‘Wanna Frac More?’ campaign, which showcases their supreme technology in Hydraulic Fracturing. In addition, Premiere Glass & Mirror will make their racing sponsorship debut on BHA’s No. 28 car.

“It was a great pleasure to work with Bryan Herta Autosport in Indianapolis and I feel like collectively, we have some unfinished business,” said Krohn. “Therefore, I’m thrilled to be back with them at Iowa. I’m really looking forward to a strong showing for my sponsors, i-Tec, Yellow Jacket and Premiere Glass & Mirror.

“BHA is such a tight-knit group and I feel very fortunate to have such quality people working on my behalf. A special thanks to Bryan Herta and Steve Newey for working tirelessly to help me put this deal together.”

The Firestone Indy Lights race at Iowa Speedway will take place on Saturday, June 23, just before the IZOD IndyCar Series hits the 0.875-mile oval. Pre-race activities start at 6:30 p.m. CST (local) with the estimated green flag drop at 6:40 p.m. The race will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network after the IndyCar race (estimated time is approximately 12 a.m. CST).

 

About Bryan Herta Autosport

Founded by veteran driver Bryan Herta and noted race engineer and team manager Steve Newey, Bryan Herta Autosport (BHA) has been a race-winning team in Firestone Indy Lights competition since 2009 and recently won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dan Wheldon in only its second IZOD IndyCar Series start. The Indianapolis, Ind.-based squad made its IndyCar debut in 2010 contesting the Indianapolis 500. New for 2012, BHA has formed a joint venture with Bowen and Bowers Motorsports, Inc. (BBM) to field a full time entry in the IZOD Indycar Series for Canadian driver Alex Tagliani. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Bowen and Bowers Motorsports, Inc. is the coming together of leadingsports and entertainment property development professionals, Chris Bowers and David Bowen, along with the financial management experience of Trapeze Asset Management Inc. For more information, please visit www.bryanhertaautosport.com.

 

About Barracuda Networks Inc.

Barracuda Networks combines premises-based gateways and software, virtual appliances, cloud services, and sophisticated remote support to deliver comprehensive content and network security, data protection and application delivery solutions. The company’s expansive product portfolio includes offerings for protection against email and Web threats as well as products that improve application delivery and network access, message archiving, backup and data protection. Coca-Cola, FedEx, Harvard University, IBM, L’Oreal, and Europcar are among the more than 150,000 organizations protecting their IT infrastructures with Barracuda Networks’ range of affordable, easy-to-deploy and manage solutions. Barracuda Networks is privately held with its International Headquarters in Campbell, Calif. For more information, please visit www.barracudanetworks.com.

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

[media-credit name=”IZOD IndyCar Series” align=”alignright” width=”287″][/media-credit]1.      Heat is on in three short Iowa qualifying races

2.      Engine manufacturers can submit proposed changes to INDYCAR

3.      Camera on starter to aid Race Control

4.      Franchitti gets speedy flight

5.      Of note

1. Heat is on in three short Iowa qualifying races: Rahal Letterman Racing managing director of motorsports Tom Anderson knows all too well that though they’re 30-lap heat races to set the starting lineup for the Iowa Corn Indy 250, nonetheless they’re races.

“It is going to be challenging because the drivers will all nod and say, ‘Yes, this is just a qualifying race and it’s only to determine a specific position to start and, really, the big show is Saturday night,’ ” Anderson said. “That somehow seems to change when they put their helmets on, so it will be quite interesting to see and I’m sure it will be worth the ticket price for those that show up (June 22).”

Qualification groups will be determined by lap times recorded by entries on the .875-mile oval in the second (45-minute) practice session (3:30 p.m. ET).

Race 1 will consist of the even-numbered positions, starting with the 10th-quickest practice time, and determine the even-numbered positions in the starting field from 10th down.

Race 2 will consist of the odd-numbered positions, starting with the ninth-quickest practice time, and determine the odd-numbered positions in the starting field from ninth down.

Race 3 will consist of drivers ranked one through eight from the practice. Results of Race 3 will determine the first four rows, with the winner taking the pole position.

Each race is projected for 12-14 minutes duration. Cars will carry about one-third of the E85 fuel load, which shouldn’t impact tire wear or the car’s consistency with its maximum 37-degree rear wing flap angle on the compound banking.

“Even though Iowa is a 7/8-mile track, it races a lot more like a mile-and-a-half superspeedway than it does a short track,” said Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won the Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by XYQ at the Milwaukee Mile on June 16. “It’s high-banked, so it’s a reset from Milwaukee, which is flat. You really have to have a superspeedway mentality to race there.

“I’m interested to see what we have with the new car and new downforce. With the qualifying heats, it’s going to be mixed up. It’s tough because you’ll really have to take it easy and not hurt your race car in a heat race.”

 

Andretti Autosport drivers have won the past three short oval events: Hunter-Reay at Milwaukee and New Hampshire (August 2011) and Marco Andretti at Iowa (June 2011).

“Certainly, there’s a bit of an unknown going into this race and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out,” said James Hinchcliffe, who’s second in the championship standings. “I think it’s cool we’re trying something different and we’ll see if this format is the right way to do it. We won’t know until we get out there and give it a run.

“It puts a lot of emphasis on practice. It does change our focus a bit; in practice we are trying to set up for our race cars and be sure we have the best car over a distance. Now for session two we have to focus on making it quick for at least one lap to get into a good group for the heat races. I think everyone is anxious and excited to see how it plays out.”

2. Engine manufacturers can submit proposed changes to INDYCAR: In mid-June and again at the end of the year, manufacturers whose engines are statistically more than 2.5 percent deficient in power may, at the discretion of INDYCAR, make improvements to components to be homologated.

Alterations are allowed to make up 2 percent of shortcomings, and they will be introduced on only new engines being sent to the track.

Manufacturers must present data to support their case, which is reviewed with relevant data collected by the sanctioning body’s engine support engineers. Manufacturers provide which components they seek to modify, along with projected gains and their scheduled introduction. INDYCAR will permit all, some or none of the proposals and the manufacturer may revise its plans accordingly.

Once approved, INDYCAR will inform the other manufacturers which components are being changed. The new parts will be homologated (sealed) before being incorporated, and the old parts remain homologated until the 2013 homologation date. For end-of-season upgrades, work must be completed and homologated before the first race of 2013.

The engine rules will be stable through the 2016 IZOD IndyCar Series season, with any corrections or modifications decided by INDYCAR after consultation with the INDYCAR Engine Committee.

3. Camera on starter to aid Race Control: IZOD IndyCar Series Race Director Beaux Barfield said a video camera will be fixed on the starter to capture green flag on starts and restarts, which will be recorded in the DVR and automatically synchronized to the other video in the system, eliminating the need to manually sync to Timing & Scoring. “It unquestionably improves our ability to precisely officiate starts and restarts,” Barfield said.
4. Franchitti gets speedy flight: Dario Franchitti was looking forward to seeing the decidedly new spin on the helicopter June 20 in Grand Prairie, Texas. He saw it — and the ground — from different angles.

The four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion and helicopter pilot was among more than 1,000 guests, including Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, at the event to view the new X3 hybrid at American Eurocopter. The X3 cancruise at 264 mph, considerably faster than a conventional helicopter, and demonstrates unique maneuverability.

Following the public unveiling, Franchitti attended a briefing conducted by Eurocopter flight test engineers to go over the characteristics of the X3 before climbing into the co-pilot seat for a 20-minute test run.

 

“The flight was really incredible,” said Franchitti, who has flown and owned a Eurocopter EC120 and AS350 B3. “(American Eurocopter president Marc Paganini) and I had this joke that my IndyCars are faster than all of his helicopters, but I guess that they’ve fixed that one now. The X3 is now faster than the IndyCars. That says it all.”

Franchitti, driving the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, enters the Iowa Corn Indy 250 on June 23 with two victories in four starts at Iowa Speedway.

5. Of note: The A.J. Foyt Trophy will be decided at the final oval race of the season. James Hinchcliffe leads Tony Kanaan by seven points heading into the Iowa Corn Indy 2550. … A.J. Foyt Racing principals A.J. and Larry Foyt and driver Mike Conway attended the ABC Supply Founders Day Celebration at the company’s headquarters in Beloit, Wis. … Jimmie Johnson will wear the Graham Rahal Foundation helmet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race June 24 at Sonoma Raceway. The Graham Rahal Foundation, which was selected as one of the 12 charities through the Helmet of Hope program, will receive a $10,000 grant from Johnson.

***

The 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series race continues with the Iowa Corn Indy 250 on June 23 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 8 p.m. (ET) and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network on SiriusXM (XM 94 and Sirius 212). The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Sukup 100 on June 22 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network immediately following coverage of the Iowa Corn Indy 250.

NEWTON, Iowa, Thursday, June 21, 2012 – The state-of-the-art 7/8-mile Iowa Speedway is short in length like the Milwaukee Mile, but it’s high-banked tri-oval design produces racing and speeds similar to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Fortunately for Canadian David Ostella, he showed speed and race craft at both in his No. 22 Global Precast/LiUNA/Xtreme Coil Drilling car.

The Maple, Ontario native was second fastest in the open test at Indianapolis and posted a fifth qualifying position capitalizing on Team Moore Racing’s strength at the high-speed oval. His late run to a fourth place finish at Milwaukee shows the young Canadian has the patience of a veteran and an ability to manage his race equipment.

“Going to Iowa this year will be great,” said the 20-year-old. “It is a fast oval similar to Indy and is flat out the whole way around. It just doesn’t have the 90-degree corners. It is a fast track and I’m really looking forward to racing there again.“

Ostella is looking to continue his current streak of four top-ten starts and improve on his 2011 finish of ninth at Iowa Speedway.

He continued, “After finishingfourth in Milwaukee, I’m looking to bring that momentum to Iowa for another top-five finish or better. The team and I needed a good finish and with spirits high, I think we can do even better here.”

 

Sunoco Pole Qualifying is set for Friday, June 24 at 5:15 p.m. Central Time. Saturday’s Firestone Indy Lights Sukup 100 begins at 6:40 p.m. Central. Follow David Ostella on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

Weekend Schedule: (All times local)

Friday, June 24

1:30 – 2:15 a.m. – Firestone Indy Lights practice
5:15 – 6 p.m. – Sunoco Pole Qualifying

Saturday, June 25

2:10 -2:55 p.m. – Firestone Indy Lights practice
6:30 p.m. – Sukup 100 pre-race
6:40 p.m. – Sukup 100 (115 laps/100 miles), NBC Sports Network (Taped) 11:59 p.m., Saturday June 25)

Target Chip Ganassi Racing Iowa Advance Notes

[media-credit name=”iowacorn.org” align=”alignright” width=”168″][/media-credit]Race: Iowa Corn Indy 250 (Saturday, June 23 at 10:00 PM ET, NBC Sports Network)
Track: Iowa Speedway (.875 mile oval)
Location: Newton, IA

NOTES/NEWS

Follow Team Target on Twitter: Continue to follow @TCGRTeams for official updates from Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR).

Making History Together: Minneapolis-based Target celebrates its 23rd anniversary in motorsports with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2012. Since its formation, Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) has amassed 88 victories and nine titles (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), including four Indianapolis 500 victories (2000, 2008, 2010, 2012). The 2012 season includes two full-time entries in the IZOD IndyCar Series with Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti and a full-time entry in the NASCAR Sprint Car Series (NSCS) for 1999 CART Champion and 2000 Indianapolis 500 Winner Juan Pablo Montoya. Team Target continues to feature some of the world’s most accomplished race car drivers.

Iowa Qualifying Races: The starting lineup for Saturday night’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 will be determined by three heat races. The first race will determine even-numbered positions from 10th down, while the second race will determine odd-numbered positions from ninth down. The third race will include the top-eight drivers from practice, with the winner of that race securing the pole.

Managing Director Mike Hull on Iowa: “It’s great to be going to Newton, Iowa with our Target cars, but this time it will be on Saturday night. The track is 0.875-miles in length, so it will have plenty of short-track action. Just like Texas, the aero rules have been carefully chosen to put the cars back into the drivers’ hands. The short-oval aerodynamic packageutilized at the Milwaukee Mile this past weekend will be employed; however, there will be a reduced rear wing main plane angle without “wicker” trim allowed. The drive-style will require real throttle input from the drivers as they go through a full fuel load. The other tweak will be that Scott and Dario’s grid positions will be determined by how they finish in the qualifying heat races – real “old school” Saturday night action will be had by all. See you there.”

 

TCGR at Iowa: TCGR drivers have made 10 starts at Iowa, earning two wins (2008: Dan Wheldon; 2009: Franchitti), one pole (2007: Dixon), three podiums, six top-fives and eight top-10 finishes. In those 10 starts, Team Target drivers have led 402 of 2,500 laps (16%).

Running circles: Since 1990, Indy cars have visited oval tracks 212 times. In those 407 starts, TCGR drivers have accumulated 45 victories, 44 poles, 161 top-fives and 260 top-10s on ovals. Out of a possible 84,365 laps for all Team Target starts on ovals, TCGRdrivers have completed 75,336 laps (89.2%).

Leading the pack: In 407 starts on ovals since 1990, TCGR has led 10,133 laps out of a possible 43,902 laps (23%). So far this season, TCGR has led 272 of the 653 laps run on ovals (41.6%).

Honda Power: Honda remains second in the manufacturer point standings with 63 points, six markers behind Chevrolet. Lotus remains third with 32 points.

There’s an App for that: Chip Ganassi Racing Teams (CGRT) and SapientNitro SM recently re-launched an updated mobile application, which is one of the first for the high-velocity world of racing. The application brings fans updated driver and event information, and exclusive content in one centralized and expansive mobile experience, bringing to life the rich heritage and legendary success of CGRT. The unique mobile application conveys the high-octane rush of the racing experience for a team that competes at the highest levels in three series – NSCS, IZOD IndyCar Series and GRAND-AM Rolex Sports CarSeries. Click here to visit the iTunes Application store and download the CGRT mobile app.

SCOTT DIXON AND THE NO. 9 TARGET TEAM

Dixon on Twitter: Catch the latest from the driver of the No. 9 Target Honda by following Dixon’s personaltwitter account, @scottdixon9.

Connected: Fans can check out Dixon’s season-long blog throughout the 2012 campaign on www.Racer.com.

Milwaukee Recap: Dixon qualified 11th, but started the No. 9 Target Honda 21st as the result of a 10-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change prior to the event weekend. He quickly began moving through the field and pitted during a caution on lap 67. While running third and going back to green after a caution on lap 108, Dixon was served a drive-through penalty for passing a car before the green flag on what turned out to be an aborted restart. After serving the penalty, Dixon rejoined the field in 17th. The team would eventually finish in 11th. Following the race, INDYCAR Race Control acknowledged the penalty was a mistake, but the No. 9 team was still credited with 11th.