HOMESTEAD, Fla., Friday, March 23, 2007 – Dan Wheldon will start his bid for a third-consecutive win at Homestead-Miami Speedway from the best place – the front.
Wheldon edged defending IndyCar® Series champion Sam Hornish by .0028 of a second to claim his fifth career IndyCar Series pole position.
“I think everybody at Target Chip Ganassi Racing has been working very hard over the winter,” Wheldon said. “The No. 9 crew and the No. 10 crew have really tried to evolve from what we learned last year. Homestead obviously seems to be a very good place for me. In 2007, right now everybody has zero points and nobody has won the race yet so we’ll have to see what I can do. I think it’s going to be a very competitive race, and the fans are going to be in for a treat.”
Hornish, who will make his 100th career start, will start on the front row for the seventh time in eight IndyCar Series races. A trio of drivers from Andretti Green Racing – Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti – rounded out the top five.
It was a banner day for Chip Ganassi’s team as it also claimed the SWE Race Car Parts Pole Award for the Miami 100 Indy Pro Series event with driver Chris Festa. It was the first career pole for Festa.
***
This is the seventh IndyCar Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Dan Wheldon is the defending race winner. Sam Hornish Jr. holds the qualifying record with a lap of 24.4625 seconds, 218.539 mph set in March 2006.
This is the fifth Indy Pro Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Jeff Simmons is the defending race winner. Paul Dana holds the qualifying record with a lap of 28.1746, 189.745 mph set in March 2004.
***
Each of the six previous IndyCar Series winners at Homestead-Miami Speedway is entered this weekend: Sam Hornish Jr. (Team Penske, 2001, 2002 and 2004 winner) Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing, 2003 winner) and Dan Wheldon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing, 2005 and 2006 winner). Five Indianapolis 500 winners are entered: Sam Hornish Jr. (2006), Dan Wheldon (2005), Buddy Rice (2004) and Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002).
***
Volusia Properties has announced today its continued sponsorship presence with Sam Schmidt Motorsports for the 2007 Indy Pro Series season.
Highly regarded in providing luxury, oceanfront condominiums in Daytona Beach, Fla., Volusia Properties will have its website, www.flacondos.net , displayed on the No. 7, No. 23 and No. 38 Dallaras driven by Alex Lloyd, Logan Gomez, and Ryan Justice, respectively.
JIM MACK (CEO, Volusia Properties): “The opportunities Sam Schmidt Motorsports and the Indy Pro Series have offered our business have been tremendous. We’ve successfully used our access to the Indy Racing League paddock and its exposure to fans to spread the word about our oceanfront living opportunities while selling beautiful condos on the Daytona Beach shore. We couldn’t be happier to continue our relationship with Sam and the team.”
SAM SCHMIDT (Owner, Sam Schmidt Motorsports): “We’re excited to welcome back FlaCondos.net. Volusia Properties has been a great supporter of our team since the 2005 Indianapolis 500. Our teams and series spend a lot of time in Florida, and we feel this is a great opportunity to continue helping Volusia Properties sell some of their beautiful oceanfront condos in the Daytona Beach area.”
***
The XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 marks the competition debut of 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol, a worldwide racing first. Here are a few fun facts going into ethanol's first race weekend:
BY THE NUMBERS:
• 5,000 - The number of gallons of ethanol that were shipped to Homestead-Miami Speedway for use by IndyCar Series teams this weekend.
• One - The number of plants that produce ethanol for the IndyCar Series. Renova Energy in Torrington, Wyo., is the exclusive supplier.
• 2005 - The year the IndyCar Series first announced plans for use of ethanol, after years of running on methanol.
• 10 - The percentage of ethanol blended with methanol in 2006, to prepare the IndyCar Series to the move to 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in 2007.
• 22 - The size of an IndyCar Series car fuel tank. Since ethanol is more efficient than methanol, the IndyCar Series has reduced the size of its fuel tanks to 22 gallons this season.
• 6,372 - The number of laps run during the preseason Open Tests using 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol and the new 3.5 liter Honda HI7R V-8 Indy engine with no failures.
Timeline of Ethanol:
• March 23, 2003 - Ethanol debuts as Paul Dana's sponsor at Kenn Hardley Racing in the Indy Pro Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
• March 3, 2005 - Tony George, Brian Barnhart, Sen. Evan Byah (D-Ind.), Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.), Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Paul Dana announce plans at Union Station in Washington D.C. for the IndyCar Series to transition to 100 percent ethanol by 2007.
• March 6, 2005 – Ethanol and Dana make their IndyCar Series debut at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
• March 26, 2006 - The IndyCar Series uses a 90 percent methanol-10 percent ethanol blend at Homestead-Miami Speedway to prepare for the transition to 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in 2007.
• September 26, 2006 - Vitor Meira turns the first laps on 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol during the IndyCar Series compatibility test at Daytona International Speedway.
• March 21, 2007 - Tony George, Jeff Simmons, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Sen. Evan Byah (D-Ind.) are joined by a non-partisan group of legislatures to honor the IndyCar Series' first race run on 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol.
• March 24, 2007 The IndyCar Series debuts 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol in competition at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
***
Firestone is celebrating Page Mader’s 35th anniversary with the company today. Mader serves as general manager for race tire development.
***
Chip Ganassi Racing is fielding entries in Indy Pro Series, Rolex Sports Car Series and IndyCar Series events at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Chris Festa and Pablo Perez drive for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in the Indy Pro Series while Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon drive the team’s IndyCar Series entries. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas drive for Telmex Chip Ganassi Racing in the Rolex Sports Car Series. All the entries are prepared at the team’s Indianapolis headquarters.
MIKE HULL (Team managing director, Target Chip Ganassi Racing): "The possibility of winning is important for the team, but I don't want to put the cart before the horse. I think the way that good race teams achieve success is with really great drivers and really great people, which we have on all three teams. It’s coincidental that although we're racing all three races on the same day; sometimes coincidence leads to success. We're certainly capable and up to the job. Everybody is excited on the race team. We're looking forward to Saturday."
***
Indy Pro Series drivers Sean Guthrie and Shane Lewis will pull double duty on the season’s opening race day March 24 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In addition to driving in the Miami 100 at 12:30 p.m., both drivers will also compete in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series event at 2 p.m. Guthrie, driver of the No. 4 Guthrie Racing entry in the Indy Pro Series and Matt Connolly Motorsports in Grand Am, and Lewis, driver of the No. 8 Michael Crawford Motorsports entry and Southard Motorsports Daytona Prototype, will spend the day hopping back and forth between the two types of cars. There will be morning practice sessions for both series before the afternoon races. The Miami 100 is a 67-lap, 100-mile event on the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval while the Grand-Am event is a three-hour event on the facility’s road course.
SEAN GUTHRIE: “I have done a lot of road course racing in the past in karting and the Star Mazda series, have tested on Homestead’s road course in the Indy Pro Series car, and have tested a Miata and Mustang, but I have not done any endurance racing. My longest races to date have been 45 minutes. My stint in the M3 will be about 75 minutes, so that will be a challenge I’m look forward to conquering.”
SHANE LEWIS: “Racing in completely different cars, in two different series, on a different course configuration all in the same day will be a blast. I think it will keep me sharp and focused. I am lucky that I have the support of both teams and the sanctioning bodies. The schedule works out great. I have just enough time to work with both teams and cars properly. I wouldn’t do this if I thought I couldn’t give 100 percent and do it right. After all, I plan on winning both of these races.”
***
At a press conference earlier today, SAMAX Motorsport owner Peter Baron and CITGO Petroleum Corp. president and CEO Felix Rodriguez announced that Milka Duno would drive the No. 23 CITGO Racing/SAMAX Motorsport Dallara/Honda/Firestone in 10 IndyCar Series events this season – including the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race.
After testing and passing her rookie test in early April, Duno will launch her long-time aspirations April 29 at Kansas Speedway. She'll also compete at Texas Motor Speedway (June 9), Iowa Speedway (June 24), Watkins Glen International (July 8), Nashville Superspeedway (July 14), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (July 22), Michigan International Speedway (Aug. 5), Kentucky Speedway (Aug. 11) and the season finale at Chicagoland Speedway (Sept. 9).
MILKA DUNO: "It is a special moment for me, just something I've been dreaming about for a long time. It's difficult to explain how I feel because I have so many emotions -- a little nervous, a little anxiety, very excited. It's a big step for me. It's going to be very tough because it's a very competitive championship and I'll be racing ovals and everything will be new for me. But I'm trying to learn whatever I need to learn. I have a good team behind me, which makes me comfortable and so good for me. As I was thinking about this decision, I wanted it to be with a good team and people I know." (About preparations for switch): “A long time ago, even when people didn't know it was my dream to drive in this series, I was asking many things of the drivers. I was asking Darren (Manning), Patrick (Carpentier), Dario Franchitti and Dan Wheldon about the racing and how they do things because I need to learn so much. I wanted to go to this level, and that was the first step. I want to !have good preparation. I have all the determination and all my concentration will be on learning to do the best I can."
PETER BARON (Owner, SAMAX Motorsport): "I feel we have done a tremendous job creating a team with the perfect mix of 'Indy talent' and team members that have worked with Milka from the beginning. Milka is already at home with the team, which is the foundation from where all the growth and success begins. We know this effort, with a new sponsor, driver and team will not be easy, but we are thrilled to have this opportunity and will work our hardest to give Milka the necessary tools to succeed on track.”
***
The USAC Silver Crown Series cars owned by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar Series team owner A.J. Foyt finished 1-2 in the Homestead-Miami 100. Tracy Hines won the race with teammate Pablo Donoso second.
***
***
Playa Del Racing will honor a fallen student athlete, Steve Scotton, of Fishers, Ind., on their Indy Pro Series entry at the first two events of the season. Scotton, 16, died Feb. 9 while playing in a high school hockey game for the Hamilton Southeastern Hockey Club. Scotton's leadership had earned him the role of captain for the team.
Jim Cochran, president of Fair/Finance, a supporter of the PDR team is also actively involved with the HSE Hockey Club. PDR will place upon the nose of the No. 12 car a HSE Hockey Club decal as well as the number 96, which Steve wore for his team.
AJ RUSSELL (No. 12 Playa Del Racing): “Sadly I never had the opportunity to meet Steve. I hope to relieve the pain felt by his family and friends for at least a short time by giving that car a run everyone can be proud of.”
***
Playa Del Racing brings back a familiar look to its No. 12 Indy Pro Series car by adding the Ethos Fuel Reformulator logo to the sidepods. Ethos first partnered with PDR for the 2006 Indianapolis 500-mile race when the company was the primary sponsor for the Playa Del Racing No.12 entry driven by Roger Yasukawa.
Ethos Environmental specializes in the development of a fuel reformulator that can help make vehicles around the world run more efficiently, and do so while reducing the emissions that have become so harmful to our environment.
GARY SALLEE (owner Playa Del Racing): “Ethos and Playa Del Racing are going to be a winning combination. We are in this business to perform well, and Ethos makes engines of all types perform better. By helping Ethos promote their product we are helping solve the world’s emissions problem while saving money for those who use the product. This is a great deal for everyone involved.”
***
***
Selected quotes from Brian Barnhart’s media availability:
(About Milka Duno Announcement): “By the time she enters her first race event and races, she’ll have thousands of miles under her belt. It’s not like she announced today that she’ll be racing next week in St. Pete. I think they have five scheduled test sessions. We’ll do plenty of testing on track with her including start and restart practice and pit stop practice. We’ll even consider putting other cars out there with her to replicate traffic and give her an opportunity to get accustomed to running in dirty air. By the time she enters her first event, she’ll have plenty of experience in terms of testing experience under the belt.” (About ethanol): “The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indy Racing League have long been leaders in the industry. I think it was important to us to take the first step to make the switch and be the first series to ever run on renewable fuel. It has been a tremendous step for us in terms of publicity and excitement around the series. It’s creating a !lot of buzz about what we’re doing. It has had a seamless transition from the competition, the competitors. Honda’s switch over in engines has been seamless. They’ve run without any kind of failures. As you saw in our practice sessions and our Open Test, it’s a switch without a hiccup.” (About the addition of a third female driver): “We have not gone out and actively pursued males or females. It’s about opportunity. The league was created to give opportunity to owners, to drivers, to promoters, to tracks, that type of deal. And that’s something we’re proud of. I think we’ve given a lot of drivers opportunities to participate at this level that never would have had the chance to do so if the league hadn’t been created. And Milka is another one coming on board. We’re very happy to have Sarah (Fisher) back. I think it’s great. She did a great job in this morning’s practice. And of course Danica (Patrick). I don’t think we ever looked at it and tried to create a side show. They’r!e just competitors. That’s what Sarah’s always wanted to be. That’s what Danica wants to be. I think, as a league, in our operations and procedures and our fellow drivers treat them just like competitors, just like they are.” (About closer competition this season): “It certainly looks that way. From the Open Test at Daytona and here at Homestead to the first session today, it looks like the other competitors have closed the gap. Clearly, the Penske and Ganassi cars are still going to be the teams to beat. It certainly looks like Rahal and Andretti Green have closed the gap a little bit. It should make for better competition still.
***
Exactly 10 years ago today, Jim Guthrie celebrated with his 8-year-old son Sean in Victory Lane at Phoenix International Raceway after winning the IndyCar Series race on the 1-mile oval. Jim Guthrie was the first rookie to win an IndyCar Series race.
Of the 10 races on the IndyCar Series schedule in 1997, the race at Phoenix was one of four that Sean was able to attend due to its proximity to the Guthrie’s hometown of Albuquerque, N.M.
JIM GUTHRIE: “We were having dinner as a team two nights ago, and some of them even had their old Phoenix shirts, because these are the same guys, and they said, ‘Jim, this is the weekend,’ ” Jim Guthrie said. “And I was like, ‘What weekend?’ ‘This is the weekend you won Phoenix.’ Sure enough it is. It’s been pretty special. A little trip down memory lane. It was a good day for us. That was one of the highlights of my career,” recalled the elder Guthrie, who now campaigns Sean in the No. 4 car in the Indy Pro Series. “The ’97 year was awesome. Running at Indy was a highlight. Starting outside second row that year (in the Indianapolis 500), leading four races that year. It was hands down the best year of racing I’ve ever had in my life.”
SEAN GUTHRIE: “I was there with my uncle, my grandparents, everybody,” Sean remembered. “We were standing up in the stands, and about two or three laps to go we all started to get excited and we walked down to start/finish. I can actually remember the car going by and jumping up and down, and after that I don’t really remember much. There are pictures of me standing on the car with my dad’s arm around me. It was definitely an exciting time.”
***
SWE RACE CAR PARTS POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES:
CHRIS FESTA (No. 9 CGR Indy Pro Series, SWE Race Car Parts Pole Winner): “It's a great thing. The team is starting out for the first time, so to come out and get a pole is just a really good thing. They've worked so hard over the winter. I'm just so proud to be a part of this team. When somebody like Chip Ganassi hires you to drive his car, it definitely builds your ego a little bit, but I don't want it to get too big because that's when things start happening. We're feeling pretty good. We ran race setup in the session this morning, and we can put the car anywhere we wanted, so we're feeling very confident. We're looking forward to tomorrow." (About expecting to go 187 mph) "Honestly, no I didn't. I was expecting probably around 186, but I'm not going to complain. I'll take it. That was a pleasant surprise."
ALEX LLOYD (No. 7 Lucus Oil/Isilon Systems/SSM, qualified second): “Qualifying went really well. We are disappointed not to be P1. We had a really good car. The car was quite fantastic but we had the wrong gear, which cost us the pole. We are on the front row and it is going to be anybody’s race tomorrow. We are in a good position, and we are going to put it all together for the race tomorrow. (About his second season in the Indy Pro Series): “I think it is going to be an advantage later in the year. This is my first time here, so I still feel a bit of a rookie. The ovals are still quite new to me. I only drove in three last year. I do feel as we will have an advantage as we go on throughout the year. When we visit some of the tracks that the new guys haven’t been to.”
HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 55 Panther Racing, qualified third): “This was my best job so far. This is my first time on an oval. I like the speed and being close to the wall and it is fast. I still need to learn in the traffic. And that is my target for tomorrow.”
BOBBY WILSON (No. 1 Brian Stewart Racing, qualifed fourth): “The car was great. We haven't tested at night. The air is a little different, the track is a little different, and we were probably too conservative. It's going to be a tight field. I expect some good racing tomorrow."
***
XM SATELLITE RADIO INDY 300 POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES:
SAM HORNISH JR. (No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified second): “I think the car was handling pretty good, and I’m pretty happy with where we’re at. I would have been a little happier if we would have been on the pole, but we were close and that’s all we can say right now. Hopefully we’ll be able to work on the car tonight, get the proper changes made and be able to move up spots in the race tomorrow. We were second here in the preseason test and we were second in both sessions today. Now we were second in qualifying. I guess if worse comes to worse, we'll finish second tomorrow. That will be OK.”
DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 27 Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified third): “I'm surprised. I'm not surprised at the speed. I'm surprised because we didn't even do a qualifying run today because we just concentrated on race set up. Thanks to my engineers and the Canadian Club team because they did a really good job and they could have guessed a little bit and it seems to be okay. Now, it would be ideal to test this time of night similar to what we race because the track really does seem to change so much. We'll just see what we've got for tomorrow night."
TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified fourth): “Obviously I would like to be higher but this is a big step from last year. I think Team 7-Eleven worked so hard during the off-season and I've got to thank my crew, my engineers and Tino Belli, our engineer who wasn't able to make it here this weekend. Dan (Wheldon) and Sam (Hornish) are going to be strong but I feel good. I think I can pass three cars on the start. I've done it before.
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 NYSE Group Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified fifth): “We weren't particularly quick during the day but we didn't want to get ahead of ourselves and make crazy changes. Fortunately the NYSE car came back to us. This was the same setup we used during the test and we were definitely rolling the dice. We might as well have just rolled the car off the truck before qualifying because we didn't change much from the open test.
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified eighth): “The Team Penske car improved significantly throughout the day. Qualifying was challenging, because the track changed a lot between this evening and when we were last out there in practice. But at the end of the day, we were faster than we were in both sessions, so we're happy. We need to keep improving tomorrow and if we can do that, we'll be in good shape for the race."
SARAH FISHER (No. 5 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, qualified ninth): “I’m so happy to be back. We’ve just been working on a solid race car today; that’s the goal. Everyone got faster, but we’re on our race day set-up because we know that’s big picture and that’s what matters. We really want to be good in traffic on race day and both Buddy (Rice) and I are really happy with what we’ve got. Buddy has run more in traffic, but we’ve both got good racecars. I don’t know what else I can ask for.”
***
SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE:
8 a.m. Indy Pro Series garages opens
9:35 – 10 a.m. Indy Pro Series final practice (two groups)
12:30 p.m. Miami 100 (67 laps/100 miles), ESPN2 (5 p.m., March 28)
8 p.m. XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 (200 laps/300 miles), ESPN2 & IMS Radio Network (live)
