IndyCar® Series: ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225 presented by Time Warner Cable, 6th race in 17-race 2006 season.
Indy Pro Series™: Road Runner 100, 5th race in 16-race 2007 Indy Pro Series™ season.
The Milwaukee Mile, 1-mile asphalt oval
IndyCar Series: 4 p.m. (ET), Sunday, June 3
Indy Pro Series: 6:15 p.m. (ET), Saturday, June 2
DISTANCE:
IndyCar Series: 225 laps/225 miles
Indy Pro Series: 100 laps/100 miles
POSTED AWARDS:
IndyCar Series: More than $1 million
Indy Pro Series: More than $275,000
CARS:
IndyCar Series: Dallara chassis; Honda Indy V-8 engines; Firestone tires; 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol
Indy Pro Series: Dallara chassis; Firestone tires
PREVIOUS RACE WINNERS:
IndyCar Series: Tony Kanaan (2006), Sam Hornish Jr. (2005), Dario Franchitti (2004).
Indy Pro Series: Jaime Camara (2006), Jeff Simmons (2005), Paul Dana (2004).
2006 SERIES CHAMPIONS:
IndyCar Series: Sam Hornish Jr.
Indy Pro Series: Wade Cunningham
TV:
IndyCar Series: Race: ABC (live), 4 p.m. (ET), June 3
Talent: Marty Reid, Scott Goodyear, (announcers); Jack Arute, Brienne Pedigo, Vince Welch (pit reporters)
Note: Live streaming video coverage of AAMCO Transmissions Pole Qualifying (3:45 p.m., (ET) June 2) is available at www.indycar.com
Indy Pro Series: Race: ESPN2 (tape-delay), 6 p.m. (ET), June 7
Talent: Bob Jenkins, Robbie Buhl (announcers); Mike King (pit reporter)
Note: Live streaming video coverage of the SWE Pole Qualifying (2:40 p.m. (ET) June 2) and the Road Runner 100 (5:15 p.m. (ET) June 2) is available at www.indycar.com
RADIO:
IndyCar Series: Qualifying wrapup: IMS Radio Network, 5:30 p.m. (ET), June 2,
Pre-race: IMS Radio Network (live), 3:30 p.m. (ET), June 3
Race: IMS Radio Network (live), 4 p.m. (EDT), June 3
Talent: Mike King (host); Davey Hamilton (analyst); Dave Wilson (color commentary); Mark Jaynes (turns); Bob Jenkins and Kevin Lee (pit reporters); Kevin Olson (special assignments)
Live coverage of AAMCO Transmissions Pole Qualifying (3:30 p.m. ET, June 2) and the race also will be available at www.indycar.com. The race broadcast is also available on XM Satellite Radio channel 144 “XM Sports Nation” and XM channel 145 “IndyCar Racing”
SCHEDULE (all times local; subject to change):
Saturday, June 2
6 a.m. IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series garages open
8 – 9 a.m. Indy Pro Series practice (two groups)
9:10 – 11:10 a.m. IndyCar Series practice (two groups)
11:20 – noon Indy Pro Series practice (two groups)
12:30 – 2:30 p.m. IndyCar Series practice (two groups)
2:40 p.m. Indy Pro Series SWE Pole Qualifying
3:45 p.m. IndyCar Series AAMCO Transmissions Pole Qualifying
4:50 p.m. Road Runner 100 pre-race
3:40 p.m. Road Runner 100 (100 laps/100 miles), ESPN2 (6 p.m., June 7; taped)
Sunday, June 3
9 a.m. IndyCar Series garage opens
9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Autograph session
2 p.m. Grid IndyCar Series cars
3 p.m. ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225 (225 laps/225 miles) ABC & IMS Radio Network (live)
THE TRACK:
1-mile oval
Frontstretch: 1,265 feet banked at 2.5 degrees
Backstretch: 1,265 feet banked at 2.5 degrees
Turns: Banked at 9.25 degrees
Width: 70 feet
• Located on land that was originally a horse farm, The Milwaukee Mile was used for training and racing thoroughbreds. Now used for car racing, the historic track is one of the flattest on the circuit.
INDY CAR RACING IN MILWAUKEE:
The first auto race held at the Wisconsin State Fair Grounds, site of the Milwaukee Mile, took place in 1903. Indy car racing in Wisconsin dates to 1911, when 10 of the 40 starters in the inaugural Indianapolis 500 raced at the Milwaukee Mile in a pair of races on the dirt oval.
Wilbur Shaw won when the Indy cars returned to the dirt oval in 1933, the first of four races held at Milwaukee before World War II. Open-wheel racing returned to the track in 1948. In 1963, the first rear-engined car, a Lotus-Ford driven by Jim Clark, won at Milwaukee, and the following year, A.J. Foyt claimed the final win for a front-engine roadster. In 1982, Indy-style cars debuted at Road America, a 4.3-mile road course 60 miles north of Milwaukee, in a race won by Hector Rebaque.
The IndyCar Series debuted at Milwaukee in 2004, with Dario Franchitti winning the first A.J. Foyt Indy 225.
INDYCAR SERIES NOTES:
• Five Indianapolis 500 champions are expected to participate in the ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225: Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002), Buddy Rice (2004), Dan Wheldon (2005), Sam Hornish Jr. (2006) and Dario Franchitti (2007).
• Five IndyCar Series champions are scheduled to participate in the ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225: Scott Sharp (1996 co-champion), Sam Hornish Jr. (2001, 2002, 2006), Scott Dixon (2003), Tony Kanaan (2004) and Dan Wheldon (2005).
• Drivers entered in the ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225 have combined for 77 IndyCar Series victories, 74 IndyCar Series pole positions and 1,106 IndyCar Series starts.
• The ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225 is the first of three short-oval races this season. Other events in 2007 that will take place on short ovals include the June 24 event at Iowa Speedway and the June 30 race at Richmond International Raceway.
• The ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Indy will be the 140th IndyCar Series event since the series’ inaugural race in 1996. In the 129 previous events, 25,775 laps of competition have been completed.
• In five races thus far in 2007, there have been four winners. Dan Wheldon is the only multiple winner. Wheldon won Homestead-Miami and Kansas. Other winners in 2007: Helio Castroneves at St. Petersburg, Tony Kanaan at Twin Ring Motegi and Dario Franchitti at Indianapolis. In those five races, 10 drivers have finished in the top five in at least one event.
INDY PRO SERIES NOTES:
• Camara can tie ‘Iron man’ record: Jaime Camara has made 30 consecutive Indy Pro Series starts entering race weekend. Camara competed for Sam Schmidt Motorsports in 2005 and for Andretti Green Racing in 2006. He returns in the AGR entry in 2007. Camara can tie Arie Luyendyk Jr.’s all-time mark for consecutive starts (31) at Milwaukee on June 2.
INDYCAR SERIES
• A tradition returns: For the first time in its history, the IndyCar Series will race at Milwaukee following the Indianapolis 500 at the ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225. From 1947-1995, The Milwaukee Mile traditionally hosted the cars and drivers of the Indianapolis 500 in the weeks following the 500-Mile race.
• Franchitti goes for Indy-Milwaukee double: Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti will attempt to join an elite group of drivers who have won the Milwaukee race the week following an Indianapolis 500 win. Eight drivers have been able to pull the Indianapolis-Milwaukee double, including four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt, for whom this weekend’s race is named. The last driver to win Indianapolis and Milwaukee in the same year was Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000. The last driver to double up in the same series was Al Unser Jr., in 1994.
• Race for title starts at Milwaukee: After spending the Month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the IndyCar Series begins a tough stretch of eight races over the next 10 weeks beginning with the ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225. The championship race is as tight as the schedule with seven drivers within 55 points of series point leader Scott Dixon.
• Bonus test to key Target’s turnaround?: Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon struggled to find success on short ovals in 2006, but hope to another team’s formula for success at Milwaukee. Andretti Green Racing turned a Bonus Test with Indy Pro Series driver Jaime Camara and Tony Kanaan into instant success on the 1-mile oval. Target Chip Ganassi Racing was the first team to use the program this year, testing at Milwaukee in early May with Scott Dixon and Chris Festa.
• Ethanol Power: The 2007 IndyCar Series season marks the first year where the full field will be fueled by ethanol. All IndyCar Series competitors will employ the 3.5-liter Honda Indy V-8 engine fueled by 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol. The IndyCar Series is the first in motorsports to embrace a renewable fuel source. Ethanol is an environmentally-friendly fuel, distilled from high-starch crops (primarily corn) grown in the United States.
• Lloyd eyes another record: Alex Lloyd is the first driver in Indy Pro Series history to start the season with four consecutive victories. The wins also tied the Indy Pro Series mark for consecutive victories which was set by Thiago Medeiros in 2004. Lloyd’s win May 25 in the Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway made him the first driver in the history of the track to win races on both the oval and the road course. If Lloyd can win at Milwaukee, he’ll become the first Indy Racing League driver to win five consecutive races. He’ll also record his seventh career victory, which would tie him with Medeiros, Jeff Simmons and Mark Taylor for most career wins.
• Wilson hopes for home track advantage: Bobby Wilson, who grew up in Oconomowoc, Wis., hopes returning to The Milwaukee Mile changes his luck for the season. Wilson started the Freedom 100 from the last row and retired from the race after 22 of 40 laps. He remains fourth in points courtesy of a third and two sixth-place finishes to start the season. Wilson finished fourth at Milwaukee last year.
• Others come home, too: In addition to Wilson, the Western shores of Lake Michigan are home to two other prominent figures in the Indy Pro Series. Team owner Michael Crawford hails from Mequon, a city 18 miles north of Milwaukee. Crawford earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Another driver with a short drive to The Milwaukee Mile is Jonathan Klein. Klein grew up in Long Grove, Ill., a suburb on the northwest side of Chicago.
• Camara eyes repeat: Jaime Camara won the pole at Milwaukee in 2005 and won the race from the fourth starting position in 2006. He hopes a return to The Mile can reverse his qualifying fortunes from this season. In four races, Camara’s best qualifying effort has been 18th. From the back of the field, he’s been able to drive to third, fourth and eighth-place finishes.
• Six of top eight drivers return: Six of the top eight drivers from last year’s championship are entered in the Road Runner 100, including series runner-up Jonathan Klein, Wade Cunningham, the 2005 series champion who missed repeating the feat by only 11 points, and Bobby Wilson, who finished fourth just 47 points out of first. Also returning are Jaime Camara (6th), Alex Lloyd (7th) and Chris Festa (8th).
• IndyCar Series influence: Four of the top IndyCar Series teams are fielding cars in the Indy Pro Series this season, including two for the first time. Andretti Green Racing returns for its third season in the series while Panther Racing returns for the first time since its championship-winning campaign in 2003. Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Rahal Letterman Racing enter the Indy Pro Series for the first time.
MILESTONES:
• Dario Franchitti won his fifth IndyCar Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, tying Gil de Ferran, Eddie Cheever Jr. and Greg Ray for eighth place on the IndyCar Series all-time victory list.
• Dario Franchitti’s Indianapolis 500 win was Andretti Green Racing 25th IndyCar Series victory, breaking a tie the team had with Team Penske for most wins by an entrant.
• Dan Wheldon failed to lead a lap for the first time this season. Wheldon has led 484 of 866 laps this season or 55.9 percent of all laps. Tony Kanaan holds the IndyCar Series record for most-laps led with 889 during the 2004 season.
• Sam Hornish Jr. can tie the record that Helio Castroneves and Scott Sharp share for most consecutive seasons with at least one win should he win the Indianapolis 500. Sharp claimed at least one win from 1997-2003 while Castroneves has won in every season since 2001.
• Scott Sharp needs one win to earn his 10th IndyCar Series victory and Sharp will attempt to extend his series record for consecutive starts to 127 straight races at Milwaukee.
• Scott Sharp needs to earn $317,437 to surpass $10,000,000 in career earnings.
• Vitor Meira has gone 64 starts without a victory in the IndyCar Series, the longest drought of any IndyCar Series driver.
