INDYCARNATION

Welcome to the Kentucky Indy 300, the 15th race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar® Series season. Amy Konrath, vice president of public relations/communications for the Indy Racing League, and Tim Bray, director of media relations for Kentucky Speedway, 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):

9 – 10 a.m. Firestone Indy Lights practice #1

10:15 – 11:15 a.m. IZOD IndyCar Series practice #1

Noon – 1 p.m. Firestone Indy Lights Sunoco Pole Qualifying (All cars/two timed laps)

1:30 – 3 p.m. IZOD IndyCar Series PEAK Performance Pole Qualifying (All cars/two timed laps)

6:15 – 6:45 p.m. Firestone Indy Lights practice #2

7 – 7:30 p.m. IZOD IndyCar Series practice #2

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The IZOD IndyCar Series will compete in the Kentucky Indy 300, a 200-lap race at 8:45 p.m. (ET) Saturday (live on VERSUS). The Firestone Indy Lights series will compete in the Drive Smart. Buckle Up Kentucky 100, a 67-lap race at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

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Live timing and scoring reports from the Kentucky Indy 300 and Drive Smart. Buckle Up Kentucky 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. 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. 

Real-time information is available via the Indy Racing League PR’s twitter account at www.twitter.com/indycarpr.

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This is the 11th IndyCar Series event held at Kentucky Speedway. Ryan Briscoe is the defending race winner, while Scott Dixon was awarded the Peak Performance Pole Award last year after qualifying was cancelled due to rain. Briscoe ( 2009,) Scott Dixon (2007 and 2008), Tony Kanaan (2006) are past winners of the event who are entered in the event.

 

IZOD IndyCar Series technical information for the Kentucky Indy 300:

Honda overtake assist

Overtake assist was introduced to the series in August 2009 and will make be used for the second time at Chicagoland Speedway in the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.

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 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway

20 uses

12 seconds duration each use

10-second recharge period between uses

 

Firestone Firehawk tires

Each car receives eight sets (32 tires) of tires.

Firestone’s tire specification for Kentucky Speedway was developed from testing at Chicagoland Speedway in June and is the same spec used at the race there last week. It places new, higher-grip tread compounds for the right-side tires onto the same right-side tire constructions used this season at Kansas and Texas, and pairs that with the identical left-side tire construction/compound specs used at Kansas.

AL SPEYER (Executive Director of Firestone Racing): “Drivers should be happy to know they will be racing on the exact same tire at Kentucky Speedway that they used with such confidence last weekend at Chicagoland.  In fact, Dario Franchitti and his Target Chip Ganassi Racing team had enough confidence to not change tires on their last pit stop, which gave them enough of an advantage to hang on for a victory and take a big chunk out of Will Power's championship lead with just three races left in the season.  No one knows exactly what surprises the Kentucky Indy 300 race has in store, but I can't wait to see it all play out on our Firestone Firehawk race tires."

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Earlier this week, IZOD IndyCar Series team owner Chip Ganassi was city hall in his native Pittsburgh. He received a proclamation that declared it Chip Ganassi Day.

“I never thought about something like this happening, because I've always been a guy who just wanted to go racing,” Ganassi said. “I’ve transformed my avocation into my livelihood.”

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Andretti Autosport drivers Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay tested on the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway two weeks ago. Andretti, who placed third at Chicagoland Speedway on Aug. 28 to lead Hunter-Reay (fourth) and Tony Kanaan (fifth) across the line, believes he’s poised to be a contender.

“I’ve had a podium (third in 2008) here in the past so I’m optimistic that the Meijer car will be a contender this weekend. We need to keep the momentum from Chicago going and I think the three remaining ovals should give a good opportunity to end the season on a high note.” 

Added Hunter-Reay, who has a high finish of ninth in three races at Kentucky Speedway: “I'm looking forward to the payoff this weekend. As a team, Andretti Autosport has worked very hard to raise its game on the ovals this year and we’re seeing the benefits of that hard work. It’s great to go to the track every week knowing that Team IZOD will have something to say about the outcome and I expect more of the same at Kentucky.”

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Vitor Meira made his IZOD IndyCar Series debut in 2002 at Kentucky Speedway. He missed last year’s race while recuperating from a back injury suffered in the Indianapolis 500.

“The learning curve was just so steep and I had so much to learn. It was the first time I raced on an oval, the first time I did pit stops, my first time for wheel-to-wheel racing, so I had a lot to learn. We had 25 cars and I ended up finishing 13th, which was good and the reason is I learned a lot. I remembered in the last 50 laps passing Raul Boesel. I used to watch him when I was in go karts and he was in Formula 1 and Indy cars so it was a cool feeling and from that point on things took off.”

Meira, who injured his wrist in an incident at Chicagoland, declared his wrist to be 80 percent.

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Strong history for Panther: Panther Racing earned the pole with Scott Goodyear in the first IZOD IndyCar Series event at the track in 2000, and finished on the podium in each of its first four starts. Sam Hornish Jr. captured the team’s only victory at the track in 2003, when he started from the pole, led 181 of 200 laps and lapped every car in the field except second-place finisher Scott Dixon. More recently, Vitor Meira started on the front row in 2008 and led five laps before finishing in the fourth position. Current driver Dan Wheldon, who was runner-up Aug. 28 at Chicagoland Speedway, twice has finished third in the race.

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FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS PRACTICE #1:

Temps at the start of the Firestone Indy Lights were 77 ambient, 84 degrees track.

9 a.m. – GREEN. 

#29 Saavedra has not practiced due to an electrical issu

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