IndyCar® Series: PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean, final race in 14-race 2006 season

Indy Pro Series™: Chicagoland 100, final race in 12-race 2006 season

WHERE:  Chicagoland Speedway, 1.5-mile asphalt oval

WHEN: IndyCar Series: 1:30 p.m. (EDT), Sunday, Sept. 10

Indy Pro Series: 4:55 p.m. (EDT), Saturday, Sept. 9

DISTANCE: IndyCar Series: 200 laps/300 miles

Indy Pro Series: 67 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: Dan Wheldon (2005), Adrian Fernandez (2004), Sam Hornish Jr. (2002-2003), Jaques Lazier (2001)

Indy Pro Series: Jeff Simmons (2005), Thiago Medeiros (2004), Mark Taylor (2003), Aaron Fike (2002)

2005 SERIES CHAMPIONS:

IndyCar Series: Dan Wheldon

Indy Pro Series: Wade Cunningham

TV:

IndyCar Series: Race: ABC Sports (live), 1:30 p.m. (EDT), Sept. 10

Talent: Marty Reid, Scott Goodyear, Rusty Wallace (announcers); Jack Arute, Jamie Little, Dr. Jerry Punch (pit reporters)

Live streaming video of all practice sessions, Marlboro Pole Qualifying (6 p.m. EDT, Sept. 10) and the in-car footage of the race also will be available at www.indycar.com.

Indy Pro Series: Race: ESPN2 (tape-delay), 2 p.m. (EDT), Sept. 14

Talent: Dr. Jerry Punch, Robbie Buhl (announcers); Jamie Little (pit reporter)

Live streaming video of all practice sessions, SWE Race Car Parts Pole Qualifying (5:30 p.m. EDT, Sept.8) and the race also will be available at www.indycar.com/pro.

RADIO:

IndyCar Series: Qualifying: IMS Radio Network, live web-cast, 5:45 p.m. (EDT) Sept. 9

Qualifying wrapup: IMS Radio Network, 6:30 p.m. (EDT), Sept. 9

Pre-race: IMS Radio Network (live), 1 p.m. (EDT), Sept. 10

Race: IMS Radio Network (live), 1:30 p.m. (EDT), Sept. 10

Talent: Mike King (host); Davey Hamilton (analyst); Dave Wilson (color commentary); Mark Jaynes (turns); Kevin Lee and Bob Jenkins (pit reporters); Kevin Olson (special assignments)

Live coverage of Marlboro Pole Qualifying (5:45 p.m. EDT, Sept. 9) and the race also will be available at www.indycar.com. The race broadcast is also available on XM Satellite Radio channel 145 “IndyCar Racing.”

SCHEDULE (all times local; subject to change):

Friday, Sept. 8

7 a.m. Indy Pro Series garages open

9 – 9:45 a.m.  Indy Pro Series practice

Noon – 12:45 p.m. Indy Pro Series practice

4:30 p.m. Indy Pro Series SWE Race Car Parts Pole Qualifying

Saturday, Sept. 9

6 a.m. IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series garages open

8:15 – 9:45 a.m. IndyCar Series practice (two groups)

10 – 10:30 a.m.  Indy Pro Series final practice

10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. IndyCar Series practice (two groups)

3:30 p.m. Chicagoland 100 pre-race

3:55 p.m. Chicagoland 100 (67 laps/100 miles) ESPN2 (taped, 2 p.m., Sept. 14)

5 p.m. Indy Pro Series Marlboro Pole Qualifying (65 minute session)

Sunday, Sept. 10

6:30 a.m. IndyCar Series garage opens

8:45 – 9:15 a.m. Final IndyCar Series practice

12:45 p.m. PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean (200 laps/300 miles)

ABC & IMS Radio Network (live)

THE TRACK:

1.5-mile D-shaped asphalt oval; 75 feet wide

Frontstraight: 2,400 feet banked at 11 degrees

Backstraight: 1,700 feet banked at 5 degrees

Turns: Banked at 18 degrees

Width: 55 feet

•Chicagoland Speedway opened in 2001 and is owned by Raceway Associates, LLC, made up of interests from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, International Speedway Corp. and Route 66 Raceway.

INDY-STYLE RACING IN CHICAGOLAND:

The first automobile race in Chicago occurred shortly after Thanksgiving in 1895, when eight racers, seeking a $2,000 prize offered by the Chicago Times-Herald, raced on a 52.4-mile course that began just south of what is today’s Loop to Evanston.

Road racing continued between 1910 and 1915 (and again in 1919, 1920 and 1933), when the Elgin Watch Company sponsored a road-racing series through its hometown, Elgin, Ill., west of Chicago.  

Oval racing came to Chicago when Illinois lumber baron Edward Hines built Chicago Speedway, a 2-mile, high-banked board track. The speedway held its first race on June 26, 1915, with future Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Resta claiming the victory.

Oval racing remained popular in Chicago as board tracks, and later dirt and paved ovals were built around the area for midget, sprint and champ car racing.

In 1999, Chip Ganassi headed a group of private investors who renovated Sportsman’s Park and ran three Champ Car World Series events at the track before closing it in 2002.

The IRL IndyCar® Series made its debut at Chicagoland Speedway in 2001 with Jaques Lazier winning the first race.

INDYCAR SERIES NOTES:

•Four Indianapolis 500 champions are expected to participate in the PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean: Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002), Buddy Rice (2004), Dan Wheldon (2005) and Sam Hornish Jr. (2006).

•Five IndyCar Series champions are scheduled to participate in the PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean: Scott Sharp (1996 co-champion), Sam Hornish Jr. (2001, 2002), Scott Dixon (2003), Tony Kanaan (2004) and Dan Wheldon (2005).

•Drivers entered in the PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean have plenty of talent and experience. The 19 drivers entered in the PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean have combined for 72 IndyCar Series victories, 70 pole positions and 1,003 starts.

•The PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean will be the last of six events in 2006 contested on a 1.5-mile track. Winners in 2006 on 1.5-mile tracks: Dan Wheldon (Homestead-Miami Speedway), Helio Castroneves (Twin Ring Motegi and Texas Motor Speedway) and Sam Hornish Jr. (Kansas Speedway and Kentucky Speedway).

•Sam Hornish Jr. and Dan Wheldon are the only former Chicagoland winners expected to participate in the PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean. Wheldon is the defending champion of the event. Hornish won in 2002 and 2003.

• The PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean will be the 134th  IndyCar Series event since the series’ inaugural race in 1996. In the 133 previous events, 26,680 laps of competition have been completed.

• In the 13 races thus far in 2006, there have been six winners. Sam Hornish Jr., Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves are multiple winners. Hornish won at Indianapolis, Richmond, Kansas and Kentucky, Castroneves won at St. Petersburg, Motegi, Texas and Michigan and Dixon won at Watkins Glen and Nashville. Dan Wheldon won at Homestead-Miami, Tony Kanaan won at Milwaukee and Marco Andretti won at Infineon. In those 13 races, 16 drivers have finished in the top five in at least one event.

INDY PRO SERIES NOTES:

• The 2006 season has seen the most parity in Indy Pro Series history. A record seven drivers have won races while a record six drivers have earned pole positions.

• 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 and the only driver to have completed all 541 laps.

• Nick Bussell and Jaime Camara will make their 26th consecutive starts in the Chicagoland 100. Arie Luyendyk Jr. holds the Indy Pro Series record with 31 consecutive starts. Bussell leads all drivers with 11 consecutive top-10 starts.

INDYCAR SERIES STORY IDEAS:

•It all comes down this: Helio Castroneves enters the PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean leading one of the closest title races in IndyCar Series history. Castroneves leads his teammate Sam Hornish Jr., by 1 point with reigning series champion Dan Wheldon 19 points behind. 2003 IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon is 21 points back.

•Top IndyCar Series teams shoot for first Chicagoland win: Marlboro Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing have dominated the 2006 IndyCar Series season, but neither team has ever visited victory lane at Chicagoland Speedway. Is this the year that changes?

•A Game of Inches: Three of the 10 closest finishes in IndyCar Series history have occurred at the Chicagoland Speedway, including  the closest finish in league history when Sam Hornish Jr. defeated Al Unser Jr. by .0024 seconds in 2002. Two of the top five closest 1-2-3 finishes in Series history also occurred at the Chicagoland Speedway. The closest of these came when Sam Hornish Jr. led Scott Dixon and third-place finisher Bryan Herta to the stripe by .0100 seconds in 2003.

•Mid-Pack Movers:  Positions seven through 11 in the 2006 IndyCar Series point standings are separated by just 39 points. Even though these individuals have been eliminated from championship contention they will still be scratching and clawing for every position they can get.  Involved in this battle is last year’s PEAK Antifreeze Indy 300 pole sitter Danica Patrick as well as this year’s Bombardier Rookie of the Year and first-time race winner Marco Andretti.

• Chalk up a Top 10: Outside of those drivers left in the championship hunt, Bryan Herta, Tomas Scheckter, and Danica Patrick all have average finishes of 10th or better at Chicagoland Speedway.  Herta’s average finish is 6.33, Scheckter’s average finish is 9.33, and Patrick finished 6th in her debut at Chicagoland Speedway in 2005.

• Rookie Rumblings: Marco Andretti clinched the Bombardier Rookie of the Year honors with his win at Infineon Raceway.  Andretti is currently seventh in the 2006 IndyCar Series point championship, the second-highest position a rookie has been in the series championship battle.  Felipe Giaffone holds the honor as he finished 6th in the 2001 point race.  Andretti is 45 points out of sixth position in the championship.

• Driving for a job?: Heading into the last race of the season many drivers know that the pressure is on to perform well. Despite not contending for the 2006 IndyCar Series championship, a strong finish at the season-ending event at Chicagoland Speedway can easily set the tone for next season.  What do the non-championship contending drivers hope to accomplish in the final race of the season that will set them up for success in 2007?

•Sarah vs. Danica: For the second time this season, two women drivers are entered in an IndyCar Series event. Sarah Fisher, the first female to start on the pole in the IndyCar Series when she won the pole at Kentucky in 2003, is scheduled to compete against Danica Patrick for the second time in the IndyCar Series. Patrick claimed three poles in her rookie season, including at Chicagoland Speedway last season.

•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 Chicagoland 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 STORY IDEAS:

• Closest points race in series history: For the second consecutive season, the championship points race comes down to the season’s final race. Four drivers – Jay Howard, Jonathan Klein, Bobby Wilson and Wade Cunningham – remain eligible for the championship. A mere eight points separate Howard and Klein.

• Hometown hero hopes to claim championship: Long Grove, Ill.’s Jonathan Klein is second in the points race. The 19-year-old St. Viator High School graduate hopes to make up the eight-point deficit and claim the championship at his home track.

• Last year it was McCune, this year it’s McCann: In 2005, Sarah McCune made her Indy Pro Series debut at Chicagoland Speedway, becoming the second woman to compete in the series. She captured the SWE Race Car Parts Pole Award and led the first five laps driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. This year, Veronica McCann will attempt to make her Indy Pro Series debut at Chicagoland driving for Brian Stewart Racing. McCann hails from Australia where she drove sprint cars.

• One race, two champions: The Indy Pro Series could crown two champions at Chicagoland. Jay Howard, driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, leads the driver point standings, however, Kenn Hardley Racing’s No. 24 car leads the entrant point standings.

• Championship could come down to thousandths of a second: Chicagoland Speedway features some of the closest racing in the Indy Pro Series. Last year, the top six cars finished within 0.5727 of a second of each other (9½ car lengths). Three of the four races at Chicagoland have featured a margin of victory of less than 0.1 of a second.

• Championship contenders on 1.5-mile ovals: Chicagoland will be the third 1.5-mile oval on the Indy Pro Series schedule in 2006. At Kentucky in mid-August, the top five cars were separated by 0.3138 of a second. The top seven cars were within 1 second of each other. How the championship contenders fared on 1.5-mile ovals:

Driver Homestead

SP – FP Kentucky

SP – FP Average

SP – FP

Jay Howard 1 – 3 3 – 1 2 – 2

Jonathan Klein 2 – 15 1 – 2 1.5 – 8.5

Bobby Wilson 11 – 5 9 – 7 10 – 6

Wade Cunningham 4 – 10 2 – 3 3 – 6.5

• By the numbers:

  Wins

  7 – Wins by Mark Taylor in 2003, the most by a champion

  1 – Wins by Wade Cunningham in 2005, the fewest by a champion

  4.5 – Average number of wins by the series champion

  2 – Wins by Jay Howard, 2006 points leader

  Weeks at No. 1

  12 of 12 – Weeks atop the point standings by Mark Taylor in 2003, the most by a

  champion

  10 of 14 – Weeks at No. 1 by Wade Cunningham in 2005, the fewest by a champion (by

  percentage)

  86.7 – Percentage of weeks the champion has led the series in points (39 of 45)

  7 of 10 (70%) – Weeks at No. 1 by Jay Howard in 2006

  Age

  25 – Mark Taylor’s age in 2003, the oldest Indy Pro Series champion

  18 – A.J. Foyt IV’s age in 2002, the youngest champion

  21.5 – The average age of the four Indy Pro Series champions

  25 – Jay Howard’s age in 2006

  Final Points Margin

  134 – Thiago Medeiros’ margin in 2004, the widest margin in series history

  30 – Wade Cunningham’s margin in 2005, the closest margin in series history

  73.25 – The average margin in the first four seasons

  8 – Jay Howard’s lead in 2006 with three races remaining

  Number of points leaders during the season

  3 – Point leaders in 2005, the most in a season (Cunningham, Travis Gregg, Jon Herb)

  1 – Point leader in 2003, the fewest in a season (Taylor)

  2 – Average number of points leaders per season

  2 – Points leaders in 2006 (Howard, Jeff Simmons)

• Cunningham first champion to return: 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 is fourth in points and leads all drivers in pole positions (4) and laps led (275).

• 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.

INDYCAR SERIES PRE-RACE QUOTES:

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, point leader): “In previous years, Marlboro Team Penske has had difficulty on the 1.5-mile ovals like Chicagoland, but this year we seem to be consistently strong on them, so we’re definitely looking forward to getting out there and fighting for the championship. It’s going to be a very exciting race with four guys, who all seem to do well on this type of track, fighting for the title. I feel as though I need to win this race to win the championship, so we’re going to give it our all. I’ve been chasing an Indy car championship my entire career, and have never been able to accomplish this goal, so winning it would be a dream come true. Plus, it would mean a lot to me to be able to give Roger and Marlboro Team Penske their first IndyCar Series championship.”

SAM HORNISH JR. (No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, second place, 1 point behind): “Chicagoland Speedway is a track where I’ve always been strong, so I feel like we have a great opportunity to do well here.  With only a one-point deficit in the Championship, a win takes all, so that's what we're shooting for next weekend.  To be honest, with some of the problems we've had at a couple of the races this year, I feel that we could've been a lot farther behind; so I'm happy with where we're at heading into the final race.   It should be a great show for the fans, and hopefully we'll be able to bring home Marlboro Team Penske's first IndyCar Series Championship."

DAN WHELDON (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, third place, 17 points behind): “As fast as we’ve been all year, as aggressive as everyone knows I can be, no one is going to want to mess with me in Chicago. I have nothing to lose now, and I’m not ready to give up and neither is the Target team. We’ve been really strong on mile-and-a-half ovals, and we can still win. We’re still in this. We just have to win at Chicago and the rest will be in the Racing Gods’ hands. We’ve worked very hard all year to make a championship possible and it’s not over yet. ”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, fourth place, 31 points behind): “Anything is possible in Chicago. I wasn’t very optimistic about my championship chances following the Sonoma race because I was so disappointed with the result there, but stranger things have happened. If you look back at the 2003 finale in Texas, two of the top contenders took themselves out by hitting each other and falling back, and I won the championship with a second-place finish as a result. For the finale, all the pressure is on the Penske guys. With just one point between them, they’ll be battling each other. Dan (Wheldon) and I have nothing to worry about now. We can work together since we have nothing to lose, and we will go all out for that win. Put enough pressure on people and they can make mistakes. We hope to do that to the Penske team. There are so many races this year that I really thought we had in the bag but then something completely unavoidable happened!. Both Dan and I have had our fair share of rotten luck. No one is immune so who knows when it might be Penske’s turn, and we get to be the benefactors. The fastest car doesn’t always win the race; we’ve seen that first hand too many times this year at the Target team. It comes down to the fact that we are going for the win and it might just turn out to be the Target team’s best finish of the season. As exciting as it may be for us, I think the real winners will be the fans in Chicago. They’re going to get quite a show.”

INDY PRO SERIES PRE-RACE QUOTES:

JAY HOWARD (No. 7 Lucas Oil/Isilon/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, point leader): “This season has been up and down like no other season I’ve ever been through. I can’t believe we’re already down to the last race of the year. We’ve had to work really hard this year and I wish we had more than an eight point lead, but that certainly hasn’t been from lack of effort from the team. I don’t want to take the fact that we have the championship lead for granted, but it’s always nice to have a large lead. Going into Chicago we just need to do the things that we have done all season to get us into the lead. I plan on going out there and winning the race and the championship. Depending on who the contenders are for the race (win) will determine how I run my race. I think all of the championship contenders are a big threat to win, but we just have to go out there and take it as it comes.” (About preparing for Chicagoland race): “I’ve been training in the gym quite a bit this week and will do so !again next week. My trainer knows how to get the best out of me in the gym, and that helps me to stay focused on the upcoming race.”

JONATHAN KLEIN (No. 27 Klein Tools/Turn-Key Forging, second): “My game plan, I cannot afford any mistakes. I have to run a perfect race at Chicago, make sure I finish the race. You know, if we win, I think that pretty much sums up the championship. If we come in second, it’s going to be hard from there because of the points spread, the way that works. The pressure’s on. It’s going to be up to me to see if I can handle it and perform.”

BOBBY WILSON (No. 24 Kenn Hardley Racing, third): “We’ve had some ups and downs this season so far. I’ve just been trying to take it race by race and have been trying to pick up my performance for the end of the year. We definitely showed how strong we can be with the win at Watkins Glen earlier this year, and now we need to show that on the oval at Chicagoland as well.” (About strategy heading into Chicagoland): “It’s basically go big or go home for us. We need to win this race and hope that we get a little help from the others. It’s just one of those situations where we have to do our best and the points will take care of themselves if we can do that.” (About preparing for Chicagoland race): “I’ll be running my go-kart at Ocala Grand Prix to stay focused and to get myself prepared for the race, and I’ve also been working with the people at Pit Fit to make sure I’m ready from a fitness standpoint as well.”

WADE CUNNINGHAM (No. 1 Brian Stewart Racing, fourth): “I’m not really going to Chicago to win the championship. It’s pretty unrealistic. To make up 30 points would take winning the race, getting the pole, and Jay (Howard) would have to finish nearly last. We’re going to go there and try for the pole like we did at Nashville, Milwaukee and Infineon, race hard, finish up front and have a good race. That’s all we’ve been going for since St. Pete, and it’s been working. If we can do that, then I won’t be overly disappointed about not repeating as champion.”

MILESTONES:

• Marco Andretti became the youngest winner of a major open-wheel event when he won at Infineon Raceway. At 19 years, 5 months old, Andretti eclipsed the mark of Scott Dixon, who 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 previous youngest winner of an IndyCar Series event when he won at Phoenix in 2001.

• Marco Andretti became the first rookie to win an IndyCar Series race since 2002, when Tomas Scheckter won at Michigan. Andretti is the 36th driver to win an IndyCar Series event, and the 11th to win in his first IndyCar Series season.

• Andretti Green Racing tied Marlboro Team Penske for most victories by a team when Marco won at Milwaukee. Each team has 23 wins in the IndyCar Series.

• Scott Dixon won the sixth pole of his IndyCar Series career when he won the pole at Infineon International Speedway. It was Dixon’s first pole since his championship-winning season in 2003.

• 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 $14,445 in earnings to surpass $12 million in his IndyCar Series career.

• Scott Sharp needs one win to earn his 10th IndyCar Series victory and to tie Dan Wheldon for third place on the IndyCar Series all-time wins list. Sharp will attempt to extend his series record for consecutive starts to 119 straight races.

• Vitor Meira has gone 58 starts without a victory in the IndyCar Series, the longest drought of any IndyCar Series driver.