IndyCar® Series: Firestone Indy 200, ninth race in 14-race 2006 season; third and final night race of the season.
Indy Pro Series™: Sunbelt Rentals 100, seventh race in 12-race 2006 season.
WHERE:
Nashville Superspeedway, 1.33-mile concrete oval
WHEN:
IndyCar Series: 9 p.m. (EDT), Saturday, July 15
Indy Pro Series: 5 p.m. (EDT), Saturday, July 15
DISTANCE:
IndyCar Series: 200 laps/266 miles
Indy Pro Series: 77 laps/100 miles
POSTED AWARDS:
IndyCar Series: More than $1 million
Indy Pro Series: More than $275,000
CARS:
IndyCar Series: Dallara and Panoz chassis; Honda Indy V-8; Firestone tires
Indy Pro Series: Dallara chassis; Firestone tires
PREVIOUS RACE WINNERS:
IndyCar Series: Dario Franchitti (2005), Tony Kanaan (2004), Gil de Ferran (2003), Alex Barron (2002), Buddy Lazier (2001).
Indy Pro Series: Jaime Camara (2005), Thiago Medeiros (2004), Mark Taylor (2003), Cory Witherill (2002).
2005 SERIES CHAMPIONS:
IndyCar Series: Dan Wheldon
Indy Pro Series: Wade Cunningham
TV:
IndyCar Series: Race: ESPN (live), 9 p.m. (EDT), July 15
Talent: Marty Reid, Scott Goodyear, Rusty Wallace (announcers); Jack Arute, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch (pit reporters)
Indy Pro Series: Race: ESPN2 (tape-delay), 2 p.m. (EDT), July 20
Talent: Dr. Jerry Punch, Robbie Buhl (announcers); Jamie Little (pit reporter)
RADIO:
IndyCar Series: Qualifying: IMS Radio Network, live web-cast 4:45 p.m. (EDT) July 14
Pre-race: IMS Radio Network (live), 8:30 p.m. (EDT), July 15
Race: IMS Radio Network (live), 3:45 p.m. (EST), July 15
Area affiliates: WHIN-AM 1010, Gallatin, Tenn.
Talent: Mike King (host); Davey Hamilton (analyst); Dave Wilson (color commentary); Mark Jaynes (turns); Kevin Lee and Patrick Stephan (pit reporters); Kevin Olson (special assignments)
Live coverage of Marlboro Pole Qualifying (4:45 p.m. EDT, July 14) and the race also will be available at www.indycar.com. The race broadcast is also available on XM Satellite Radio channel 152 “Extreme XM.”
SCHEDULE (all times local; subject to change):
Friday, July 14
8 a.m. IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series garages open
9:30-10 a.m. Indy Pro Series practice
10:15-11:45 a.m. IndyCar Series practice (two groups)
Noon.-12:45 p.m. Indy Pro Series practice
1-2:30 p.m. IndyCar Series practice (two groups)
2:45 p.m. Indy Pro Series SWE Race Car Parts Pole Qualifying
4 p.m. IndyCar Series MBNA Pole Qualifying
5:45-6:15 p.m. Final Indy Pro Series practice
6:15 p.m. Autograph session
8 p.m. Final IndyCar Series practice
Saturday, July 19
2 p.m. IndyCar Series garage opens
4 p.m. Sunbelt Rentals 100 (77 laps/100 miles) (ESPN2, 2 p.m. EDT, July 20; taped)
5:30 p.m. Carolina Rain pre-race concert
7:15 p.m. Grid IndyCar Series cars
8 p.m. Firestone Indy 200 (200 laps/266 miles) ESPN & IMS Radio Network (live)
THE TRACK:
1.33-mile concrete oval
Frontstretch: 2,494 feet banked at 9 degrees
Backstretch: 2,203 feet banked at 6 degrees
Turns: 1,220 feet banked at 14 degrees
Width: 55 feet (minimum)
•Ground was broken on Nashville Superspeedway in August 1999, and the facility includes 3,000 acres of which 1,200 have been developed. The track, owned by Dover Downs Entertainment, Inc., is one of three concrete ovals in the United States, the others being Dover Downs and Bristol Motor Speedway. The facility has 50,000 seats (25,000 permanent, 25,000 temporary) and 24 luxury suites. Ken Schrader won an ARCA event on April 13, 2001, the first race at the new facility.
INDY-STYLE RACING IN NASHVILLE:
Middle Tennessee has hosted top-level auto racing since 1958, but open-wheel racing only has taken place there since July 2001.
NASCAR stock car races were held at Nashville Speedway USA from 1958-1984. The track’s weekly racing series helped launch the careers of Darrell Waltrip, Sterling Marlin and Bobby Hamilton.
In 2001, racing moved 30 miles east of Nashville to Nashville Superspeedway, which played host to its first IRL IndyCar Series event that July. Since then, five drivers have claimed the hand-painted Gibson guitar given to the race winner.
The 1.33-mile tri-oval is the only concrete track on the IndyCar Series schedule. The pavement, which consists of 7,500 cubic yards of concrete, was placed full-width for the entire length of the track by a concrete paving machine that was specially constructed for the project.
INDYCAR SERIES NOTES:
•Five Indianapolis 500 champions are expected to participate in the Firestone Indy 200: Eddie Cheever Jr. (1998), Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002), Buddy Rice (2004), Dan Wheldon (2005) and Sam Hornish Jr. (2006).
•Five IRL IndyCar Series champions are scheduled to participate in the Firestone Indy 200: Scott Sharp (1996 co-champion), Sam Hornish Jr. (2001, 2002), Scott Dixon (2003), Tony Kanaan (2004) and Dan Wheldon (2005).
• Drivers entered in the Firestone Indy 200 have combined for 70 IndyCar Series victories, 66 IndyCar Series pole positions and 872 IndyCar Series starts.
•The Firestone Indy 200 is the only event in the series that takes place on a track with a concrete surface and the only track with a 1.33-mile distance. The event is the third and final night race of the season. Other events in 2006 that have taken place at night include the June 10 event at Texas Motor Speedway won by Helio Castroneves and the June 24 event at Richmond International Raceway won by Sam Hornish Jr.
•The Firestone Indy 200 will be the 129th IRL IndyCar Series event since the series’ inaugural race in 1996. In the 128 previous events, 25,575 laps of competition have been completed.
•In eight races thus far in 2006, there have been four winners. Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves are the only multiple winners, having won at Indianapolis, Richmond and Kansas and St. Petersburg, Motegi and Texas, respectively. Other winners in 2006: Dan Wheldon at Homestead-Miami and Scott Dixon at Watkins Glen. In those eight races, 14 drivers have finished in the top five in at least one event.
INDY PRO SERIES NOTES:
• Winner/pole setter records on the line: The Indy Pro Series records for most race winners and pole winners in a season could both be tied this weekend. Five drivers have won races this year and five have won poles. The record for both categories is six. Last year, six drivers won races while in 2003, six drivers won poles.
• Wilson a top-10 finisher: Bobby Wilson is the only driver to finish in the top 10 of every event so far in 2006. He’s also the only driver to have been running at the finish of each race. Wilson leads all drivers with 237 laps completed.
• Three veterans in the group: Nick Bussell, Jaime Camara and Chris Festa will make their 21st consecutive starts in the Sunbelt Rentals 100.
• Five race winners in the field: Five winners of Indy Pro Series races are entered in the Sunbelt Rentals 100. Jaime Camara (1 win), James Chesson (1) Wade Cunningham (2), Alex Lloyd (1) and Bobby Wilson (1) will look to increase their series win totals.
INDYCAR SERIES UPDATES
•Three-in-a-row for Hornish?: Sam Hornish Jr. enters the Firestone Indy 200 riding the momentum of back-to-back wins at Richmond and Kansas. Though Hornish has run well at Nashville Superspeedway, he’s never claimed the hand-painted Gibson guitar given to the race winner. Will Hornish, who also won back-to-back events in 2001 and 2003 with Panther Racing, match the IndyCar Series record of three-straight wins and finally win the one trophy he’d like to have?
•AGR still hunting for first victory of 2006: Andretti Green Racing, which won 21 of 49 events over the last three seasons, has yet to win an event this season. The team, though, has dominated at Nashville Superspeedway and returns to the 1.33-mile concrete oval with the last two race winners, Tony Kanaan and Middle Tennessee resident Dario Franchitti, top rookie Marco Andretti and proven race winner Bryan Herta.
•Another new face in Nashville victory lane: The five Nashville events have been won by five drivers – Buddy Lazier (2001), Alex Barron (2002), Gil de Ferran (2003), Tony Kanaan (2004) and Dario Franchitti (2005). Can Kanaan or Franchitti repeat? Or will there be another new face with the hand-painted Gibson guitar?
• Meira – Always in the Mix: Vitor Meira has climbed to fifth place in the IndyCar Series point standings on the strength of seven-consecutive top-10 finishes. Meira hopes to bring two-time IndyCar Series championship entrant Panther Racing its first win at Nashville. The combination has recorded three top-three finishes in the last four races including impressive second-place runs at Watkins Glen International and Richmond International Raceway. Is this the weekend that Meira earns his elusive first win?
•Local links: IndyCar Series driver Dario Franchitti is a native of Scotland, but the driver of Andretti Green Racing’s No. 27 Klein Tools/Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone calls the Nashville-area home. In addition, Nashville-based Firestone provides all of the tires for every Indy Racing League team. The company operates a distribution center near Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., which handles 90,000 tires per day and services customers in the company’s mid-South region, shipping tires to every state east of the Mississippi River. Firestone also serves as title sponsor of the Firestone Indy 200.
• The IndyCar Series – Powered by Ethanol: The IndyCar Series, which has been recognized for its technical leadership in automobile racing, is now the motorsports leader in renewable and environmentally responsible fuel produced in America. The Honda V-8 engines that will compete at Kansas Speedway are powered by an ethanol/methanol blend (methanol had been the fuel since the IndyCar Series’ inception). In 2007, 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol will flow through the systems. Find out how the IndyCar Series is leading the way in bringing renewable fuels to the forefront of American auto racing.
INDY PRO SERIES UPDATES
• Nashville starts second half: The Sunbelt Rentals 100 begins the second half of the 2006 season. The season has been the strongest yet in the five-year history of the Indy Pro Series. The series is averaging three more cars per race than last year and has had five race winners in six races. Series point leader Jay Howard has yet to win, but holds a 12-point advantage in the standings. Nashville is one of just three tracks (Chicagoland and Kentucky) that have hosted an Indy Pro Series race every season.
• Parity rules: Parity is the best word to describe the first half of the 2006 season. Five drivers won the first six races, with Raphael Matos’ doubleheader sweep in St. Petersburg accounting for the only repeat winner. Similarly, five drivers have captured the five pole awards (The pole for the second St. Petersburg race was based on the finishing order of the first race). Race winners thus far have been Jeff Simmons, Matos, Wade Cunningham, Bobby Wilson and Alex Lloyd. Pole winners have been Jay Howard, Matos, Cunningham, Wilson and Graham Rahal.
• Young guns: Five starters in the Sunbelt Rentals 100 won’t be able to celebrate a victory with champagne because they’re under 21. Chris Festa, Sean Guthrie, Jonathan Klein, Scott Mansell 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: 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.
• Camara returns to defend race win: Jaime Camara will attempt to become the first repeat race winner at Nashville Superspeedway. Camara led all 77 laps en route to last year’s victory. The pole position has been the key to winning at Nashville. The last three Indy Pro Series winners have led all 77 laps from the pole.
• Dodge, Fast Track to Indy program return: Last August, Geoff Dodge headed to the Knoxville Nationals sprint car event for the first time. He walked away as the Fast Track to Indy winner and a ride in the Indy Pro Series’ six oval races for 2006. He earned a seventh-place finish in his debut at Homestead-Miami and then charged from 19th to 8th in the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis.
• 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.
MILESTONES:
• Sam Hornish Jr. earned his 17th IndyCar Series victory at Kansas, extending his IndyCar Series-record for all-time victories.
• Sam Hornish Jr. won back-to-back events (Richmond and Kansas) for the third time in his IndyCar Series career. Hornish, who last won back-to-back events in 2003, will attempt to match Kenny Brack (1998) and Dan Wheldon (2005) as the only drivers to win three-straight races.
• Sam Hornish Jr. became the first IndyCar Series driver to surpass $11 million in career earnings with his victory at Indianapolis earlier this season. He needs $346,445 in earnings to surpass $12 million in his IndyCar Series career.
• Marlboro Team Penske won its 21st race in the IndyCar Series, tying Andretti Green Racing for most victories by a team.
• Marlboro Team Penske can break its tie with Team Menard for most pole positions by a team if either Sam Hornish Jr. or Helio Castroneves win the Marlboro Pole Award at Nashville. Castroneves can break a tie with Greg Ray for most poles in a career (13) if he wins the pole at Nashville.
• Scott Sharp needs one win to earn his 10th IndyCar Series victory and to tie Helio Castroneves and Dan Wheldon for second place on the IndyCar Series all-time wins list. Sharp will attempt to extend his series record for consecutive starts to 115 straight races.
• Marco Andretti would be the youngest winner of a major open-wheel event should he win at Nashville. Scott Dixon was 20 years, 9 months and 14 days when he won a Champ Car event at Nazareth in 2001. Sam Hornish Jr. (21 years, 259 days) was the youngest winner of an IndyCar Series event when he won at Phoenix in 2001. Andretti will be 19 years, 4 months and 2 days old on race day.
• Vitor Meira has gone 53 starts without a victory in the IndyCar Series, the longest drought of any IndyCar Series driver.
