Menards Infiniti Pro Series Grand Prix of St. Petersburg,  - 3rd race in 14-race 2005 IRL Menards Infiniti Pro Series™ season.

Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., 1.8-mile temporary street course - 11:30 a.m. (EDT), Sunday, April 3 - DISTANCE: 40 laps/72 miles

CARS: Dallara chassis; Infiniti V8 engines; Firestone tires

PREVIOUS RACE WINNER: Inaugural event

2004 SERIES CHAMPION: Thiago Medeiros

TV: ESPN2, 3 p.m. (EDT), April 8 / Announcers: Dr. Jerry Punch, Robbie Buhl / Pit reporter: Cameron Steele

SCHEDULE: (all times local; subject to change)

Friday, April 1

7 a.m. – Garages open

12:50-1:35 p.m. – Menards Infiniti Pro Series practice

3:30-4 p.m. – Menards Infiniti Pro Series practice

Saturday, April 2

7 a.m. – Garages open

8:30-9 a.m. – Menards Infiniti Pro Series practice

10:45 a.m. – Menards Infiniti Pro Series qualifying

2-2:30 p.m. – Menards Infiniti Pro Series practice

Sunday, April 3

11:30 a.m. – Menards Infiniti Pro Series Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (40 lap/72 miles)

2005 MENARDS INFINITI PRO SERIES STATISTICS

Driver Points

1. Jon Herb  87

2. Travis Gregg  82

3. Wade Cunningham 67

4. Chris Festa  60

5. Jaime Camara 59

Entrant Points

1. Racing Professionals #6  87

2. Sam Schmidt Motorsports # 7  82

3. Brian Stewart Racing #33  67

4. Sam Schmidt Motorsports #19 60

5. Sam Schmidt Motorsports #1  59

Wins

1. Travis Gregg  1

    Jon Herb  1

Pole Positions

1. Travis Gregg  2

Laps Led

1. Travis Gregg  88

2. Jon Herb  69

• St. Petersburg marks first non-oval event in series history: The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is the first non-oval race in Menards Infiniti Pro Series history. The temporary circuit is the only street circuit on the 2005 schedule, and is one of only four road/street course races on the 14-race schedule. The Menards Infiniti Pro Series also will join the IndyCar Series at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., and Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, N.Y., for road-course events on Aug. 28 and Sept. 25, respectively. The Pro Series drivers also will race on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the United States Grand Prix weekend in June, becoming the first series to compete at IMS twice in the same year since 1916.

• Festa, Simmons have St. Petersburg experience: Chris Festa and Jeff Simmons are the only two Menards Infiniti Pro Series drivers who have previously raced on the streets of St. Petersburg. The two competed against each other in 2003 in the Fran-Am 2000 series race. Simmons captured the pole position for the race.

• Andretti, Luyendyk and Unser continue family legacies: Marco Andretti, Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Al Unser continue the racing legacy of their families competing in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series. Andretti, 18, is the son of IndyCar Series team owner Michael Andretti, and the grandson of Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti (1969). Andretti will make his Menards Infiniti Pro Series debut in St. Petersburg. Luyendyk, 23, has made 32 career starts in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series and was the series runner-up in 2002. He is the son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk (1990, 1997). Unser, 22, is in his second season of competition in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series. He is the son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. (1992, 1994), and the grandson of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser (1970, 1971, 1978, 1987). Unser’s great uncle, Bobby, also won the Indianapolis 500 three times (1968, 1975, 1981). The three families have not been represented at !the same race since the 2002 Indianapolis 500 when Michael Andretti, Arie Luyendyk and Al Unser Jr. competed against each other. A.J. Foyt IV, grandson of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt, won the Menards Infiniti Pro Series championship in 2002 and now races full time in the IndyCar Series.

• Floridian is first woman to compete in Menards Infiniti Pro Series: Mishael Abbott of Coral Springs, Fla., is the first woman to compete in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series. Abbott, 23, began karting when she was 14. She also has competed in USAC Midget events, Formula Mazda competition and the SCCA National Runoffs. Abbott is studying elementary education at Florida Atlantic University. She qualified fourth and finished eighth in her Menards Infiniti Pro Series debut at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 6.

• Sam Schmidt Motorsports defends title: Former IndyCar Series driver Sam Schmidt continues defense of his team’s 2004 Menards Infiniti Pro Series title with a three-car effort in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Travis Gregg has won the pole position at both races in 2005, and has started on the front row in all five races in his career. He is second in points. Chris Festa, a freshman at Florida State University, finished second in the Phoenix 100 on March 19. He ranks fourth in points. Jaime Camara ranks fifth in points. He finished second at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 6.

• Four drivers boast Florida ties: Four drivers in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg live in Florida. Mishael Abbott resides in Coral Springs where she is a senior at Florida Atlantic University. Jaime Camara lives in Miami. Chris Festa is a freshman at Florida State University. Jon Herb lives in Orlando where he is the director of residential marketing for Aercon Industries.

• Drivers graduate to IndyCar Series: The Menards Infiniti Pro Series continues to graduate drivers to the IndyCar Series. Menards Infiniti Pro Series champion A.J. Foyt IV (2002) and series runner-ups Ed Carpenter (2002, 2003) and Paul Dana (2004) are regulars in the IndyCar Series. Last year’s Indianapolis 500 featured five drivers who had competed in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series.

PRE-RACE QUOTES:

MISHAEL ABBOTT (No. 91 Hemelgarn Johnson Motorsports Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “Being the first woman to compete in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series means the world to me. I’ve always been proud of my accomplishments, being the first female to win a professional shifter kart race in the United States, being the first to test the Infiniti Pro Series car at Las Vegas two years ago, and now the first woman to actually compete in the series fulfills one of my life long goals.”

 (About the St. Petersburg event) “It’s on to St. Petersburg for the first IRL road race, on a downtown city street course no less. The learning curve there will be steep, but I have every confidence in the team and Mike Colliver, our engineer, in having us ready to compete at the front of the pack.”

NICK BUSSELL (No. 21 JL West Motorsports Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “Given that my roots are firmly planted in road racing, it's only natural that I have anticipated the first road race of the season. After last week’s test at Indianapolis, I know who I’ll need to beat, and they know they’ll have to beat me. All bravado aside, it will be a fantastic race for both drivers and fans.”

JAIME CAMARA (No. 1 CELG-Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “To a certain extent, a street course is a new thing for me as I am more familiar with proper road courses. But with more testing and time on that kind of race track, I am sure it will come to me right away, and we will be competitive in St. Pete. I do not want to create expectations, especially before a street race, as I do not know the track, and I understand there are a few tricky corners. But I am sure it will be a great race.”

WADE CUNNINGHAM (No. 33 Visit New Zealand Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “I learned enough (at the Indianapolis test), but not enough. I’m glad we had the test. I would have liked a couple more days, but most people are in the same boat. The car seems quite good. It has 200 more horsepower than what I am used to. Other than that, it’s very balanced. It seems to have a lot of mechanical and aerodynamic grip, so it’s reasonably good to drive.”

JAY DRAKE (No. 20 Vision Racing Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “Well, (road racing) I’m definitely going to be a rookie at. I don’t have hardly any kind of road racing experience. I’ve played around with some go-karts here and there, but nothing to speak of. That’s going to be a huge learning curve for me. I did actually go out and do a Russell Racing School for three days and got a lot of laps on that road course (Infineon). So that was a big help right off the bat, but still, it’s going to take a lot of luck and a quick learning curve on my part to be able to compete with some of these guys that have run a lot of road course racing. But I’m confident that we’ll pick up on it fairly quickly, and I’m really looking forward to it because I had a blast when I went out there and did that driving school. It’s a lot of fun.”

CHRIS FESTA (No. 19 SpacePak/CareCentric/SSM Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “That street course is a little bit better than most in my opinion because it’s a little bit wider, and you’ve got some longer straights than most street courses, so you can be a little bit more aggressive and race a little bit more. But it’s also a lot smoother than most street courses, so it’s much more road course like than it is actual street course. So that will be good from a fan perspective because they’ll be able to see a lot more racing going on and a lot more aggressive driving, I guess could you say. But it will be a good one also, because it’s a fun track for the drivers to drive, as well.

TRAVIS GREGG (No. 7 Lucas Oil Products/Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “I’m looking forward to St. Petersburg. We’re going to be right by the bay. I think it’s going to be a challenge. I’ve never raced on a street course before, and it’s going to be different variations in pavement and concrete. I’m looking forward to it and just have to take it one step at a time.”

JON HERB (No. 6 AERCON Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “St. Pete will be tricky, as none of us have gotten to test there, but I started out as a road course racer, so I’m not concerned about my ability to perform on a road or street course. Obviously, we’ll take the momentum we gained from winning in Phoenix into St. Pete and hope to run well there and continue to lead the point standings in our chase for the championship. I think we’re in a good position to do that.”

JEFF SIMMONS (No. 24 Team ISI Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone): “Some things are still a question mark going into (St. Pete). I know the track a little bit. I think only a couple of guys have been on track, so that will give us a bit of an advantage for the first 15 minutes or so until the other guys learn the track. Hopefully, we can keep that advantage for the whole weekend. This is a much different car than the last car I drove there, so we have some questions about what we need to do to optimize our setup for down there. Hopefully, we can take our data from (the test at Indianapolis) and correlate that with St. Pete.”