INDYCARNATION

Welcome to the Honda Indy Edmonton, the 11^th race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season. Amy Konrath, vice president of communications/public relations for the Indy Racing League, Sid Priddle, of the Honda Indy Edmonton, and their staffs are here to assist you. Please direct your questions and requests to anyone in the Media Center.

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TODAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):

11:30 a.m.  – 12:30 p.m.	IZOD IndyCar Series practice
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.	Firestone Indy Lights practice
2:45 – 3:45 p.m.	IZOD IndyCar Series practice

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The IZOD IndyCar Series will compete in the Honda Indy Edmonton, a 95-lap race at 4 p.m. (MT) Sunday (live on VERSUS). The Firestone Indy Lights series will compete in the Edmonton 100, a 50-lap race at 1 p.m. Sunday.

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Live timing and scoring reports from the Honda Indy Edmonton and Edmonton 100 are available on the Internet at www.indycar.com. The live timing and scoring module provides statistical information, including track segment speeds, lap information and much more.

Feature stories, reports, driver quotes and notes, and photos will be posted on the site each day. More detailed information, including media advisories and VNF coordinates, is available at media.indycar.com.

 

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IZOD IndyCar Series technical information for the Honda Indy Edmonton:

Honda overtake assist

Overtake assist was introduced to the series in August 2009 and will make its debut at Edmonton City Centre Airport in the Honda Indy Edmonton.

The system employed by Honda Performance Development is an ECU software alteration. It is activated by the driver via a button on the steering wheel and provides an extra 200 RPM (about 10 horsepower) to the Honda Indy V-8 engine. Parameters are updated before each race weekend to meet the circuit layout.

For the 1.973-mile, 14-turn Edmonton City Centre Airport course:

20 uses

18 seconds duration each use

10-second recharge period between uses

Firestone Firehawk tires

Each car receives six sets (24 tires) of primary tires and three sets (12 tires) of the alternate (red-sidewall) tires.

Firestone Racing has developed an all-new primary tire specification for Edmonton this year, while the alternate was previously used at Barber Motorsports Park. The primary is on the more durable end of Firestone Racing’s road/street course spectrum, while the alternate is in the mid-range of its tire lineup. The rain is the softer rain, and is the only rain tire we will be using for the 2010 season.

AL SPEYER (Executive Director of Firestone Racing): “This track is one of the bumpiest and fastest of the road and street course races, so we are bringing a durable primary tire to withstand the challenge. The alternate spec is a few steps softer than the primary, so it should create a noticeable difference in speed and durability.”

Aero package

Edmonton is in the road course/short oval category of aero packages for the IZOD IndyCar Series. Here are mandatory and optional items for teams:

Rear wings: Tire ramps and sidepod extensions are optional.

Front wings: Wing flaps are open development area. Maximum of two elements per side is permitted and a divider is mandatory.

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Andretti Autosport driver Danica Patrick is among the three top female sports stars in the nation, according to an annual Harris Interactive poll. Tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams are Nos. 1 and 2.

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Team Penske has won the pole in Edmonton each of the past two seasons (Ryan Briscoe in 2008 and Will Power in 2009) and it’s earned three podium finishes and one victory (last season with Power).

“It’s a very tough, fast circuit and the No. 3 Team Penske car has done well, finishing second the last two years,” Helio Castroneves said. “I love the fans in Edmonton. They appreciate our racing and they always seem to draw a big crowd.”

Penske Racing earned its 150th open-wheel racing victory as Power won on the Toronto street circuit. Sixteen drivers have combined to produce the record number of wins since 1968.

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Tony Kanaan of Andretti Autosport and Justin Wilson of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing incorporate cycling into their workout regimens. On July 21, they rode in Colorado with tria

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