Drivers look forward to challenge at Iowa Firestone Indy Lights to race under the lights at Iowa Unser among "Father of the Year" honorees
1. Drivers look forward to challenge at Iowa: Iowa Speedway is just three years old, but already it has produced exciting, side-by-side racing. In 2007, Dario Franchitti won the first IndyCar Series event at the .875-mile oval by .0681 of a second ahead of Marco Andretti. Last year, Dan Wheldon edged Hideki Mutoh by .1430 of a second.
Billed as a short oval when it opened, the track's variably banked corners (12-14 degrees) lends itself to racing more like a speedway.
"The key to Iowa Speedway is getting your car balanced so that it works in both the low and high grooves," said Ryan Hunter-Reay, who will race with A.J. Foyt Racing for the first time. "It races like a 1.5-mile track because of the banking, so in that sense you approach it the same as you would a 1.5 mile track only with more downforce."
One team that has found the right setup for its cars at Iowa in the past has been Andretti Green Racing. Franchitti's win came with the team, while Andretti and Mutoh's second-place finishes also came with the team.
"I'm looking forward to returning to Iowa Speedway," said Andretti, who earned his first top-five finish of the season June 6 at Texas. "It's a track where I think the No. 26 car and Andretti Green as a whole have been very strong. Hideki (Mutoh) and I both finished on the podium last year, and I brought home second the year before that. Hopefully we can keep at least the podium streak alive, although maybe on the top step this year."
Also looking forward to returning is Wheldon, who is eyeing his first victory with Panther Racing after recording five consecutive top-10 finishes.
"It's always a nice feeling going back to a track were you've won, and Iowa is going to be a very competitive race," said Wheldon, whose win at Iowa came with Target Chip Ganassi Racing. "They key here is having a car that works well through Turns 1 and 2. If you're good through there, then Iowa is a fun place to race. I figured I had to win the race last year after crashing on the first lap two years ago. Last year, I was actually quicker with old tires if that makes sense. I was a lot slower after our pit stops, so we decided to not stop late in the race and leave the old tires on. The Panther Racing guys have been working very hard on the National Guard car, and we're continuing to get better. The key for us is if we've got a chance to win a race, we have to take advantage."
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2. Firestone Indy Lights to race under the lights at Iowa: Firestone Indy Lights drivers return to action June 20 at Iowa Speedway, three weeks after Mario Romancini won at Milwaukee, the fifth driver to win in the season's first six races. The race will mark the third time the series has raced under the lights - the first time at Iowa.
While technically Iowa is another short oval - .875 mile as compared to 1 mile at Milwaukee - it races like a superspeedway.
Panther Racing drivers have been strong at the track the past two seasons. Dillon Battistini won last June with a late-race pass of Arie Luyendyk Jr. and teammate Brent Sherman finished fourth. In 2007, Hideki Mutoh posted a third-place finish (Alex Lloyd gave Sam Schmidt Motorsports the victory).
The results - and the data collected through two years of racing at the facility - should benefit Panther drivers Pippa Mann and Martin Plowman. At Milwaukee, Mann recorded a season-high ninth place.
"Milwaukee was my first short-track experience, and that turned out pretty well with a top-10 finish, so I'm confident going into Iowa that we will have a good weekend," said Mann, driver of the No. 16 entry. "Panther raced exceptionally well there, winning the race last season with one car and finishing in fourth position with the other. Having a good base setup helps a lot when you go to a track that you never raced before, so I'm looking forward into this race to bring the car home with a good result and help us build our points in the championship."
The Panther rookies are 15th (Plowman) and 17th (Mann) in the standings, with a mix of road/street circuits and 1.5-mile ovals ahead. J.R. Hildebrand, driving the No. 26 ARPRO car for AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing, is the championship front-runner. Sebastian Saavedra is 10 points behind and Romancini is 17 points off the pace.
"We've had a few weeks off to get prepared for Iowa," said Saavedra, an 18-year-old rookie who drives the No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers Inc. car for AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing. "We'll work even harder to get as many points as possible, since I think the points we get around this time of the season are most important for the championship."
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3. Unser among "Father of the Year" honorees: Al Unser's success in and longtime contributions to motorsports are unparalleled. National Father's Day Committee chairman Glen Schanen says Unser's contributions extend to being a role model to generations, which elevates him into another category.
Unser and five other men will be honored June 18 during the 68th Annual "Father of the Year" Awards presentation in New York hosted by MSNBC's Chris Matthews.
"We are privileged to pay tribute to this outstanding group of men who exemplify the characteristics of not only great fathers but as great role models for children and parents across the country," Schanen said.
The others:• Michael Krzyzewski, basketball coach, Duke University• General D. H. Petraeus, Commander, United States Central Command, U.S. Army• George Stephanopoulos, ABC News journalist• Jonathan M. Tisch, co-chairman of Loews Corp• Ronald Wurtzburger, President of Peerless Clothing
"I am sincerely honored to be in the company of men who I have admired my entire life," said Unser, who celebrated his 70th birthday on May 29.
Unser is the second of three drivers to have won the Indianapolis 500 four times, the fourth of five to have won the race in consecutive years and is the only person to have a sibling (older brother Bobby) and child (Al) as fellow winners. Between them, the Unsers have nine 500-Mile Race victories.
His father, Jerry, and uncles, Louis and Joe, also were auto racing drivers - competing in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, among other events, beginning in 1926. Al began racing in 1957, initially competing in sprint cars, midgets and roadsters. He competed at Indianapolis for the first time in 1965, and won for the first time at the Speedway in 1970. That year, he won the USAC National Championship; he added CART titles in 1983 and '85.
Unser holds the laps led record at Indy (644) - breaking Ralph DePalma's mark of 612 on the final lap of his fourth victory in 1987 when he was 47 years old.
Unser also was the 1978 IROC champion, and competed in select NASCAR Winston Cup and Grand National races during his career. He retired in 1994. The
