DIXON CLOSING IN ON 2008 CHAMPIONSHIP

Meijer Indy 300 - Saturday, Aug. 9 - 6:30 p.m. (EDT)

 Track  Kentucky Speedway

 Distance  200 laps / 300 miles

 TV  ESPN2 (Live)

 Radio  IMS Radio Network / XM Satellite Radio (Live)

 2007 Winner Tony Kanaan

 2007 Polesitter  Tony Kanaan

 Kentucky Speedwa 1.5-mile oval

First IndyCar Series race in 2001 Seats: 66,089

 Kentucky 100

 Date / Time 9:15 p.m. (EDT) Saturday, Aug. 9

 Track Kentucky Speedway (1.5-mile oval)

 Distance 67 laps/100 miles

 TV ESPN2 (Taped) 2 p.m. (EDT) Aug. 14

 Radio IMS Radio Network

 2007 Winner Hideki Mutoh

 2007 Polesitter Hideki Mutoh

 Meijer Indy 300

Four races remain in championship battle

With four races remaining in 2008, Scott Dixon holds a 65-point lead over Helio Castroneves. Dan Wheldon is 115 points back, and Tony Kanaan trails by 118. Dixon has five wins this season, while Castroneves has six second-place finishes. Can Dixon extend his lead or will his competitors close the gap?

Women eye success at Kentucky

For the second time this season, three women are entered in an IndyCar Series event, and two of them have enjoyed previous success at Kentucky. Sarah Fisher, a native of Commercial Point, Ohio, returns to competition for the first time since the Indianapolis 500, driving her second event under the Sarah Fisher Racing banner. Fisher won the pole at Kentucky in 2002 and finished third at the track in 2000. Danica Patrick, who claimed her first career victory on the 1.5-mile oval at Twin Ring Motegi earlier this season, makes her fourth start at Kentucky. She won the pole there in 2005. Milka Duno, whose career-best finish of 11th came on the 1.5-mile oval at Texas, will make her first start at Kentucky.

Andretti Green Racing looks to rebound

Tony Kanaan, who won at Kentucky last year, hopes to lead Andretti Green Racing back to Victory Lane again this year. The four-car team hasn’t placed a driver in the top five in the last two races. Kanaan has led more laps at Kentucky, 285, than any other driver entered in this year’s race. The other AGR drivers include Marco Andretti, who has one top-five finish in two starts at Kentucky, Danica Patrick, the 2005 pole winner at Kentucky, and Hideki Mutoh, the Firestone Indy Lights winner at Kentucky in 2007. Can AGR rebound to the front at Kentucky?

Getting Closer

Twelve drivers in the 26-car field entered for the Meijer Indy 300 have never raced at Kentucky Speedway in the IndyCar Series. Most of those drivers have transitioned to the IndyCar Series from Champ Car and have limited experience racing on ovals. Those drivers are catching up. In the series last race on an oval July 12 at Nashville, two of those drivers, Will Power and Oriol Servia, scored top-five finishes. Is a podium finish possible at Kentucky?

Race Notes:

The Meijer Indy 300 will be the ninth IndyCar Series event conducted at Kentucky Speedway. Buddy Lazier is the only repeat winner (2000-01). Last year’s winner, Tony Kanaan, is the only past winner entered in this year’s race.

Fourteen drivers entered in the Meijer Indy 300 have raced in previous IndyCar Series events at the track. Nine of those drivers have led laps (Tony Kanaan 285, Dan Wheldon 176, Helio Castroneves 35, Sarah Fisher 35, Scott Dixon 26, Vitor Meira 16, A.J. Foyt IV 13, Buddy Rice 8 and Marco Andretti 2).

The Meijer Indy 300 will be the fifth event on a 1.5-mile oval this season. Target Chip Ganassi Racing has three victories (Scott Dixon 2, Dan Wheldon 1) and three poles (Dixon 3) in the previous four races. The only 1.5-mile oval where Ganassi drivers did not win the race or the pole was at Twin Ring Motegi in April. The pole was awarded to Helio Castroneves based on points, and Danica Patrick won the race.

Season-to-Date:

Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon are the only drivers to finish in the top five in 11 of the 13 races this season.

Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan are the only drivers with 11 top-10 finishes.

Helio Castroneves is the only driver running at the finish of every race in 2008.

Seven drivers have won races in 2008. The IndyCar Series record is nine drivers in 1996/97, 2002, 2003 and 2005.

Team Penske has won four consecutive poles, the fifth time in IndyCar Series history that a team has won four consecutive poles. In 2006, Team Penske drivers started from the pole in five consecutive races, however, one of those was awarded on points.

Scott Dixon has five victories this season. He needs one more to tie Dan Wheldon’s record of six in 2005.

Ryan Briscoe needs one more victory in 2008 to become the 13th driver to win three or more races in a season. That has happened 18 times in IndyCar Series history.

A.J. Foyt Racing has its most top-10 finishes (6) since Eliseo Salazar had seven for the team in 2001.

Teammates have started 1-2 in five races this season, the fifth time that has occurred in IndyCar Series history. The record is six in 2005.

Helio Castroneves has finished second in consecutive races. Another second at Kentucky would tie Scott Dixon’s and Sam Hornish Jr.’s record of three consecutive second-place finishes.

Milestones & Records:

Helio Castroneves will attempt to make his 111th career IndyCar Series start. It would also be his 109th consecutive start. If Castroneves starts at Kentucky and Infineon, he will tie Sam Hornish Jr. for second all time with 110 consecutive starts. Helio Castroneves can establish an IndyCar Series record for most consecutive seasons with at least one win should he win the Meijer Indy 300. Castroneves is tied with Scott Sharp with victories in seven consecutive seasons. Helio Castroneves extended his IndyCar Series record for consecutive seasons with a pole to seven when he won the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award at Nashville. His pole at Mid-Ohio was the 25th of his career. Tony Kanaan finished fourth at Nashville, giving him the 63rd top-five finish of his career, an IndyCar Series record. Helio Castroneves is tied for second with Sam Hornish Jr. with 62. Helio Castroneves has passed Scott Sharp as the all-time leader in top-10 finishes. Castroneves has 84. Sharp has 82. Scott Dixon needs to lead two laps to become the fifth driver to lead 2,000 laps in his career. The others to lead at least 2,000 laps are Sam Hornish Jr. (3,428), Helio Castroneves (2,868), Dan Wheldon (2,735) and Tony Kanaan (2,487). Scott Dixon has led 716 laps this season. The record for most laps led in a season is 889 by Tony Kanaan in 2004. Helio Castroneves has led laps in 67 IndyCar Series races, tied with Sam Hornish Jr. for the all-time record. Vitor Meira has gone 89 starts without a victory in the IndyCar Series, the longest drought of any IndyCar Series driver. Helio Castroneves has gone 28 starts without a victory, the longest drought of his IndyCar Series career. Marco Andretti’s next top-10 finish will be the 20th of his career. Scott Dixon needs to win one more pole to tie Greg Ray for second all time with 13.

Kentucky 100

Race for Firestone Firehawk Cup resumes at Kentucky Speedway

The Firestone Indy Lights season kicks off the race for the Firestone Firehawk Cup at the fast 1.5-mile oval at Kentucky Speedway. San Diego’s Richard Antinucci leads Brazil's Raphael Matos by a single point while Ana Beatriz, the series' most recent winner on an oval is third, 44 points behind. J.R. Hildebrand, who won on the series' last 1.5-mile oval stop at Kansas Speedway in April, is 51 points behind.

Could Bia Win Again?

For the first time in series history, a female driver could walk away with the Firestone Firehawk Cup. Brazil's Ana Beatriz, who is third in points, became the first female driver to win in the Firestone Indy Lights on July 12 at Nashville Superspeedway. Beatriz benefits from the championship experience of Sam Schmidt Motorsports, which has won two of the last three races at Kentucky.

His Old Kentucky Home?

Travis Gregg will look to add to his impressive resume on Kentucky Speedway's 1.5-mile oval. The Camden, Ohio-native is a two-time pole winner at Kentucky and did his celebratory backflip following his win at the track in 2005. Gregg, who made his series debut at Kentucky in 2004, has three top-five finishes in four career starts at Kentucky.

Race Notes:

Familiar names race in Kentucky

The Kentucky 100 entry list features several drivers hoping to emulate their family’s success in open-wheel racing

Richard Antinucci, the nephew of 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever Jr., drives the No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car. The defending race winner at Mid-Ohio will attempt to maintain his series points lead at Mid-Ohio.

Sean Guthrie, driver of the No. 4 Carcrafters Guthrie Racing car, is the son of three-time Indianapolis 500 starter Jim Guthrie. Guthrie will make his second start at Mid-Ohio this weekend in search of his first win.

Arie Luyendyk Jr., driver of the No. 26 Andretti Green Racing/AFS Racing car, also seeks his first win at Mid-Ohio. The second-generation driver, who makes his first start at Mid-Ohio, is the son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk.

Season To Date:

A record-tying seven drivers have won races this year – Dillon Battistini, Raphael Matos, Richard Antinucci, J.R. Hildebrand, Bobby Wilson, Ana Beatriz and James Davison. Battistini and Matos have the most wins with three (Homestead, Indianapolis and Iowa). Antinucci is the only other multiple winner with two wins.

A record-tying six drivers have won the SWE Pole Award this season – Raphael Matos, Dillon Battistini, Pablo Donoso, Arie Luyendyk Jr., Franck Perera and James Davison. Matos is the only driver to win more than one pole (Homestead, St. Pete and Mid-Ohio).

Richard Antinucci has finished on the podium in seven of the 12 races this season. He won St. Petersburg 2 and Watkins Glen 2 and finished second at Homestead, St. Petersburg 1, Indianapolis and Watkins Glen 1. Antinucci was third at Mid-Ohio #1.

Milestones:

Arie Luyendyk Jr. will attempt to make his 59th Firestone Indy Lights start at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, which would extend his series record.

Bobby Wilson will attempt to make his 41st consecutive start, which is second on the all-time list. Jaime Camara holds the series record with 42 consecutive starts from 2005-2007.

Raphael Matos moved into a tie with Wade Cunningham for fifth on the Firestone Indy Lights all-time win list with his victory at Mid-Ohio.

James Davison claimed Sam Schmidt Motorsports 26th Firestone Indy Lights victory at Mid-Ohio, extending the team's series record for wins by a team.

Schedule (local time):

Aug. 8

10-11 a.m. – Firestone Indy Lights practice

11:15 a.m. – 1 p.m. – IndyCar Series practice

1:15-2:15 p.m. – Firestone Indy Lights practice (two groups)

2:45-4:45 p.m. – IndyCar Series practice (two groups)

5 p.m. – SWE Pole Qualifying

6:30 p.m. – PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award Qualifying presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts

Aug. 9

5:30 p.m. – Meijer Indy 300 pre-race

6:30 p.m. – Meijer Indy 300 (200 laps/300 miles)

8:45 p.m. – Kentucky 100 pre-race

9:15 p.m. – Kentucky 100 (67 laps/100 miles)