Liberty Challenge, sixth race in 12-race 2006 Indy Pro Series™ season.
WHERE:
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2.605-mile, 13-turn, road course
WHEN:
2:40 p.m. (EDT), Saturday, July 1
DISTANCE:
25 laps/65.125 miles
CARS:
Dallara chassis; Firestone tires
PREVIOUS RACE WINNERS:
2005 – Marco Andretti
2005 SERIES CHAMPION:
Wade Cunningham
TV:
ESPN2, 2 p.m. (EDT), July 6
Announcers: Dr. Jerry Punch, Robbie Buhl
Pit reporter: Marlo Klain
SCHEDULE: (all times local; subject to change)
Friday, June 30
7 a.m. – Garages open
8:45-9:20 a.m. – Indy Pro Series practice
12:30-1:15 p.m. – Indy Pro Series SWE Race Car Parts pole qualifying
Saturday, July 1
7 a.m. – Garages open
2:40 p.m. – Liberty Challenge Indy Pro Series race (25 laps/65.125 miles)
• Rahal, Gomez up to the Challenge: Graham Rahal and Logan Gomez will become the first 17-year-olds to race in an Indy Pro Series event. Rahal, the son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar Series team co-owner Bobby Rahal, will be the youngest-ever starter (17 years, 178 days). Earlier this year, Rahal was the youngest-ever winner in Champ Car Atlantic history when he won at Monterrey, Mexico. Gomez will be the second-youngest starter in Indy Pro Series history (17 years, 197 days). Gomez hails from Crown Point, Ind. CR Crews was the youngest race starter (18 years, 5 days) when he started the Watkins Glen event on June 4.
• Young guns: Seven starters in the Liberty Challenge won’t be able to celebrate a victory with champagne because they’re under 21. The average age of the starting field is 23 years, 130 days with CR Crews, Chris Festa, Logan Gomez, Jonathan Klein, Scott Mansell, Graham Rahal and Brett Van Blankers all have yet to celebrate their 21st birthday. In addition, Wade Cunningham and Alex Lloyd are 21.
• Cunningham returns to defend series title; eyes Indy sweep: Wade Cunningham is the first Indy Pro Series champion to return to defend his series title. Cunningham won the season finale at California Speedway in 2005 and had 10 podium finishes en route to the Firestone Firehawk Cup. He missed the two St. Petersburg races this March after undergoing an emergency appendectomy race week, but returned with a win in the Freedom 100 on May 26 in Indianapolis. He ranks eighth in points.
• Racing for $3 million: The Indy Pro Series announced numerous enhancements during the offseason as the series continues to grow. Most notably, the series tripled the total prize purse for the season to $3 million, spreading the payout throughout the field. The series also introduced a balanced schedule of six oval races and six road-course races, a testing policy which rewards IndyCar Series teams with bonus test days if they also participate in the Indy Pro Series, and a dual shock system on the front of the race car, making it more similar to an IndyCar Series car. The purse for the Liberty Challenge is more than $300,000.
• They’re back: The Indy Pro Series is the only series in the world to conduct races on both the oval and road-course circuits at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Freedom 100 was May 26 on the oval. The Liberty Challenge is July 1 on the road course.
• Liberty Challenge marks season’s halfway point: The Liberty Challenge is the sixth of 12 races in 2006. The remaining schedule features four races on ovals and two races on road courses. The top six drivers are separated by just 59 points.
• Brits welcome chance to race for F1 crowd: Growing up in England, Indy Pro Series drivers Jay Howard, Alex Lloyd and Scott Mansell developed their passion for racing by watching Formula One. While they have chosen to race in the U.S., it means a lot to them to race as part of the U.S. Grand Prix. Jay Howard will have a large contingent of family on hand for the race.
RACE NOTES:
• Herb holds consecutive starts lead: Jon Herb is the ironman of the Indy Pro Series. The Liberty Challenge will be Herb’s 22nd consecutive race.
• Camara holds record for consecutive top-10 starts: Jaime Camara holds the Indy Pro Series record with 18 consecutive top-10 starts. He’ll look to extend that streak in qualifying June 30.
• Five race winners in the field: Five winners of Indy Pro Series races are entered in the Liberty Challenge. Jaime Camara (1 win), Wade Cunningham (2), Jon Herb (1), Raphael Matos (2) and Bobby Wilson (1) will look to increase their series win totals.
***
The next IndyCar Series event is the Kansas Lottery Indy 300 at 1 p.m. on July 2 at Kansas Speedway. The race will be telecast live by ABC and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network. A Spanish-language telecast of the race will be carried by ESPN Deportes. The IMS Radio Network broadcast also is carried on XM Satellite Radio channel 145 “IndyCar Racing” and indycar.com. The fifth season of Indy Pro Series competition continues with the Liberty Challenge on July 1 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The race will be telecast by ESPN2 at 2 p.m. on July 6.
