Dario Franchitti takes Pivotal Pole for IZOD IndyCar Finale at Homestead

Photo Credit: Dana Garrett

Arriving at the 1.5 mile oval of Homestead-Miami Speedway, North America's top open wheel series sets for a late Saturday night running of a 300-mile event.With 27 cars running in this finale round of the IZOD IndyCar Series, the cars of Will Power and Dario Franchitti are likely to dominate the spectator's focus of the 200-lap distance.

Concluding what has been a memorable 2010 season, the final race of this year's IZOD IndyCar Series season will resolve whether two-time and reigning series champion Dario Franchitti will pull off another 'come from behind' points victory. Franchitti also claimed the single championship point which closes the Scot to only 11 markers to the Australian Will Power. Both previous championships, Dario Franchitti was lacking behind other drivers heading into the last round of the IndyCar championship. In 2007 driving for Andretti-Green Racing (now Andretti Autosport), Franchitti won the title on the final lap of the final corner at Chicagoland Speedway as then-leader Scott Dixon ran out of fuel. Last year, a crash by Ryan Briscoe in Japan gave another opening for Franchitti now with Target-Chip Ganassi Racing. Through pit stop strategy at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Franchitti found himself again the champion.


While Dario Franchitti's #10 car took top spot in qualifying with a 213.187 MPH average speed, Target-Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon positioned himself into 2nd place. Helpful to his Scottish teammate starting on the front row with a trust-worthy competitor, Dixon holds Will Power one more position at bay. Building more confidence on ovals, Australian Will Power qualified 3rd for the IZOD IndyCar Saturday finale. Even though he continues to sit in the lead of the 2010 championship into the last race, Power is finding himself surprisingly an underdog after a sensational first full season effort with Penske Racing.

Penske Racing #6 car of Ryan Briscoe accompanies his teammate in the second row off the start of the Cafes Do Brasil Indy 300. In 5th, Panther Racing's Dan Wheldon once again quests for another top oval finish backed up by the final time this season by teammate Ed Carpentier in 7th place. When the IZOD IndyCar Series returned to the ovals, Panther Racing has found themselves a close competitor to the Penske/Chip Ganassi superteam bunching providing someone outside of the Andretti Autosport camp to see as a spoiler. Also showing flashes of brilliance this season has been the #22 car of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing piloted by Justin Wilson. However, following the spin-out during the Honda Indy Toronto, the Z-Line Design car appeared to be suffering an off-note through the latter half of the open wheel season. Wilson has placed 6th on the lineup for the Homestead-Miami finale as one of his stronger oval qualifying effort this year.

Andretti Autosport's Tony Kanaan, hard-luck rookie for KV Racing Technology Takuma Sato and the third Penske Racing car of Twin-Ring Motegi winner Helio Castroneves wraps up the top-10 in qualifying for the Cafes Do Brasil Indy 300.

With the Indy Racing League and Homestead-Miami Speedway's parent company International Speedway Corporation at apparent odds with each other, likelihood dictates that this might be the last time for a while that IZOD IndyCars will visit the Florida oval. For 2011, indications point to Las Vegas Motor Speedway filling in the season finale spot but the IRL has still left the final date TBA on the upcoming season schedule.

Hardly known as an action track, the Homestead-Miami Speedway is known as a difficult place to pass under long green flag conditions. Barring cautions, the best way IndyCar teams will gain track position is through the pits. Though the normally bulletproof crews of Penske Racing appear to hold an edge, the Target Chip Ganassi Racing pit crews are certainly championship quality.
Coverage of the Cafes Do Brasil Indy 300 will start on Versus at 6 P.M. in the United States. Canadian fans will finally receive a break as TSN is simulcasting the final race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series on the main TSN channel.

2010 IZOD IndyCar Series

Cafes Do Brasil Indy 300

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Qualifying Results

Pos | Car# | Driver/Country of Origin | Sponsor/Team

1. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
2. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
3. 12 Will Power/Australia Penske Racing
4. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia Penske Racing
5. 4 Dan Wheldon/England Panther Racing
6. 22 Justin Wilson/England Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
7. 20 Ed Carpenter/ United States Panther Racing
8. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil Andretti Autosport
9. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan KV Racing Technology
10. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil Penske Racing
11. 7 Danica Patrick/United States Andretti Autosport
12. 34 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium Conquest Racing
13. 24 Ana Beatriz/Brazil Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
14. 26 Marco Andretti/United States Andretti Autosport
15. 67 Sarah Fisher/United States Sarah Fisher Racing
16. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela KV Racing Technology
17. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil KV Racing Technology
18. 02 Graham Rahal/United States Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
19. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada FAZZT Race Team
20. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States Andretti Autosport
21. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil AJ Foyt Enterprises
22. 19 Alex Lloyd/England Dale Coyne Racing
23. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil Luczo Dragon/de Ferran Motorsports
24. 36 Sebastian Saavedra/Colombia Conquest Racing
25. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
26. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
27. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela Dale Coyne Racing

  

Countdown to the Honda Indy #4: Justin Wilson Scores Toronto Pole Over Penske's Power

Honda Indy Toronto
2010 IZOD IndyCar Series
Starting Order

1. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
2. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
3. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
4. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
5. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
6. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
7. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
8. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
9. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
10. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
11. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ de Ferran Dragon Racing
12. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
13. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
14. 02 Graham Rahal/United States/ Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing
15. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
16. 36 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing
17. 34 Mario Romancini/Brazil/ Conquest Racing
18. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
19. 24 Tomas Scheckter/ South Africa/ Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
20. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
21. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
22. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
23. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
24. 15 Paul Tracy/Canada/ KV Racing Technology
25. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing
26. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises

Will Power Wins IZOD IndyCar Race at the Glen

Photo Credit: Steve Swope/ Penske Racing

On a 4th of July afternoon, a northern New York track was alive as the IZOD IndyCar Series trekked to the Watkins Glen International for this year's open wheel event. Competing on the expanded 3.4 mile Grand Prix course, the Sunday Camping World at the Glen held at the 11-turn road course would be the first time in 2 months that the IZOD Indy cars find themselves battling their left and right turns.

Taking pole on Saturday, Penske Racing's #12 Will Power returned to his dazzling road course form after four races of oval racing where the Australian experienced more difficulty than the first four road courses. Power led a 1-2-3 Penske Racing performance in qualifying with Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe assembling themselves in a position to atone for Penske Racing's NASCAR Sprint Cup late race collapse at Daytona the previous night. Starting on the slower but harder Firestone black tires, the Penske Racing group started the race confident to run at the front. In first laps, Briscoe's #6 found his way around Castroneves' #3 with the first non-Penske Racing challenge on the top-3 wouldn't come until lap 4.

Starting on faster, softer red option tires, the Target/Chip Ganassi Racing pair of Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti ran down the 3rd place running Castroneves pressuring the Brazilian at one point with a three-wide passing attempt. While the #3 Penske Racing car averted the aggressive Target cars for that instant, Dario Franchitti's #10 car would find his way around Helio Castroneves on lap 6 with Franchitti's #9 teammate of Scott Dixon eager to follow. Through the Esses Dixon thought he saw a chance but ended up colliding with Castroneves. Damaging the #9 car's right front wing plate and the puncturing the left rear of the #3, both cars would continue the race but their early race pit stops required both teams to fall off sequence with the field. Ultimately ending up as a disadvantage dropped them down the leadership late in the Camping World at the Glen running, Helio Castroneves would assess blame to Dixon in post race as "..a little impatience by the #9."

Several newcomers to the 2010 IZOD IndyCar schedule were featured at the Camping World at the Glen race. Starting his first race of the year, Paul Tracy took over the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing #24. Just missing the field for the Indy 500, Tracy's presence at Watkins Glen comes weeks before two races in Canada which he is guaranteed to be a favourite. In this preparation event with the #24 team however, Paul Tracy his way up from 12th to 9th at lap 4 but was dealing with an ill-handling race car deeper into the run which erased those early gains. While the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing crew were able to get the race vehicle more to Tracy's liking later in the race but lost too much distance to become a factor within the event. However, Paul Tracy did have a spirited bout with former A1 Grand Prix driver Adam Carroll. Driving a 5th Andretti Autosport car, team driver Marco Andretti helped the driver get noticed to driver this race as well as the upcoming Mid-Ohio round.

On lap 17, a spin and stall by the #4 car of Dan Wheldon brought out the race's first full course caution. Many drivers pitted to the attention of their pit crews with the #9 of Scott Dixon being one exception to lead the race with #8 KV Racing Technology car of EJ Viso and the FAZZT Race Team #77 driven by Alex Tagliani following, each running on different pit stop strategies. Once the race restarted, the #8 and #77 would pit 6 laps later leaving the participants of the early race incident Dixon and Castroneves in the top-2 spots. As the continued, the #9 and #3 would pit returning the lead to the #12 of Will Power by lap 32.

Following the previous year minor upset victories, the #2 HP de Ferran Dragon Racing team car piloted by Raphael Matos was delivering a strong mid-race emergence from 9th starting spot. In past runnings of the Watkins Glen IndyCar round the race was highlighted by the performance of incredible drivers behind the wheel of non-superteam cars. In 2008, Ryan Hunter-Reay drove to a fierce victory in the last full season of the Rahal-Letterman Racing outing. Last season, Justin Wilson delivered another minor upset to win the race for Dale Coyne Racing delivering the popular long-time owner his first win in top open wheel series. The efforts of Matos in the 2010 Watkins Glen race was complicated since lap 17 when his car's telemetry system malfunctioned. Ending up with a convincingly brilliant finish of 4th at the end, team president Gil de Ferran was quick to credit everyone when the de Ferran Dragon Racing team for the season-best run. “First, the engineers made some great decisions overnight and the crew made the car reliable. Second, we have been struggling lately with pit stops, but the crew was flawless today and even gained us a position on one of the stops. And last but certainly not least, Rafa drove a champion’s race today. He was calm, cool and collected. He was extremely fast all day, running at the same pace as the leaders and attacked when he needed. In short he was flawless and drove a really smart race."

Since winning the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year award, Swiss driver Simona de Silvestro has been involved in a fire-filled crash at Texas and another terrible run at Iowa Speedway. Hoping to turn her fortunes back on the road courses would not allow de Silvestro to escape the recent streak of poor runs. At Watkins Glen, he #78 car slid through turn 8 on lap 40 and collided with the inner Armco barrier when she attempted to countersteer through the slide. Alright physically, de Silvestro remarked afterwards "...I tried to make up too much time. I made a mistake." Finishing 24th, this race is one the rookie and the Team Stargate World/HVM Racing organization will be working to put behind them as they head for the Toronto Honda Indy.

On what would be the Camping World at the Glen's final restart, Ryan Briscoe led Will Power out of the pits but the #12 of Power immediately put pressure on Briscoe's #6 car before reaching the bus stop. On lap 46, the #10 car of Dario Franchitti moved past Ryan Briscoe through the bus stop as he then mounted a challenge to Will Power. Looking good early for giving Target/Chip Ganassi Racing a fourth victory at the Watkins Glen IndyCar race, Franchitti would only fall within a second of the #12 on two separate laps. Admitting his used too much of his tires to get up to second place, Dario Franchitti would fall back into the clutches of Ryan Briscoe through the final lap passing the worn #10 car on the frontstretch through the final lap.

Taking victory for the first race since St Petersburg, Will Power drove a quiet, dominant race to keep him out front in the #12 Penske Racing car. Briscoe, Franchitti, Matos and the KV Racing Technology #32 of Mario Moraes rounded out the top-5 at the line.

Scoring the majority of points, Will Power pads his lead for the IZOD IndyCar Series overall standings as well as for road racing points total for the newly-named Mario Andretti Trophy.

As the Penske Racing team finished their celebration at Watkins Glen, the race enters 2011 as a question mark. Presenting a struggle for attracting fans and corporate hospitality, the IZOD IndyCar Series is unlikely to award a fourth of July weekend date next year. Unlike the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series which has heavily-invested corporations ready to sure up Coke Zero 400 hospitality to the event, the IZOD IndyCar Series is struggling to find companies and people willing to work through the July holiday weekend leading many rumours to assume the race is at least going to be moved elsewhere in the 2011 schedule. Other suggest the venue will leave the IZOD IndyCar tour altogether next year.



2010 IZOD IndyCar Series

Camping World at the Glen

Watkins Glen International


1. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
2. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
3. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
4. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ de Ferran Dragon Racing
5. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
6. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
7. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
8. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
9. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
10. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
11. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
12. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
13. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
14. 24 Paul Tracy/Canada/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
15. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
16. 27 Adam Carroll/Northern Ireland/ Andretti Autosport
17. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
18. 36 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing
19. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
20. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
21. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
22. 34 Mario Romancini/Brazil/ Conquest Racing
23. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing
24. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
25. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing

Briscoe Two-Steps Past Patrick to Win Texas IndyCar Event

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney


Following the Indy 500, Scot Dario Franchitti is walking on cloud 9 capturing his second Borg-Warner Trophy impression in dominant fashion. On the other side of the fence, the favoured three-car team of Penske Racing faced a surprising meltdown. Suffering a pit road mistakes and a crash to Ryan Briscoe, it was the worst overall Penske performance since the 1995 race where Penske's two-car team of Emerson Fittipaldi and defending race winner Al Unser Jr failed to qualify. With the next 500 mile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway a year less a week away, Penske Racing will use the IZOD IndyCar Series schedule as a measure to reassert their dominance.

The early laps of the Firestone 550k at Texas Motor Speedway was the latest edition in the Penske Racing vs. Target Chip Ganassi Racing bout. With Ryan Briscoe leading the first 7 laps from pole, 2010 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti took the lead wanting an encore performance of last Sunday. Leading 86 laps total through the night, Franchitti would have a strong follow-up to this Indy win at Texas. The first caution came out on lap 57 for KV Racing Technology's #5 of Takuma Sato who collided with the wall within turn 2.

Just 6 days later the Indy 500 wreck which featured Mike Conway suffering a nasty impact with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway catch fence, another frightening impact occurred when 2010 Indy 500 Rookie of Year Simona de Silvestro slid into the wall on the backstretch on lap 98. While the impact was not severe, her #78 HVM Racing/Team Stargate Worlds car erupted into flames. With fire rapidly rushing to the cockpit, de Silvestro was in a rush to get out of her car. With the aid of some safety crew workers, Simona de Silvestro was hurriedly extracted from her vehicle. Sustaining a burn to her right hand, de Silvestro was expressing more disappointment in the fact she was unable to fight her loose race car through the laps leading to her crash.

The most significant crash in the Firestone 550k occurred on lap 129. Coming out of turn 4, Helio Castroneves had been setting up the KV Racing Technology #32 car of Mario Moraes to pass on the outside. As the #3 Verizon car began to blaze past Moraes on the outside, the #32 edged up and tangled with the Castroneves. As the two race cars of Castroneves and Moraes would slid down the front tri-oval stretch, the Conquest Racing #36 of Bertrand Baguette would become a casualty to the incident as he attempted to duck between the wrecked cars. As the vehicles of Castroneves and Moraes were still in motion, Baguette clipped both cars suffering race-ending suspension damage. Immediately after getting out of his #3 Penske Racing machine, Helio Castroneves quickly approached Moraes expressing some passionate words of displeasure. After the accident, it was reported that the #32 car did not receive radio communication of Castroneves passing him. In the final results for the Firestone 550k, Helio Castroneves would place 20th for what might amount as a costly night for the overall IZOD IndyCar Series points.



Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

Through a final round of pit stops proceeding under green, pressure was placed on the crew members and drivers in the late stages of the Firestone 550k at Texas Motor Speedway. Appearing as if they could expect another respectable oval finish in 2010 leading a midway portion of the event, the FAZZT Race Team #77 car driven by Alex Tagliani would see their day go sour on pit road. Through the completion of their pit stop, the #77 car left before the refueling hose was disconnected. FAZZT Race Team fueler Phil McRoberts was struck by the fuel hose but was fortunately unhurt thanks to wearing his helmet (a requirement of all over-the-wall crew member in IRL sanctioned events). However, the FAZZT Race Team would be required to bring Tagliani back into pit lane for a drive-through penalty on the miscue.

As the field cycles through under pit stops, Ryan Briscoe relinquished his lead position for fuel and tires coming down to his Penske Racing pit crew. However, as Briscoe is released back into competition around the 1.5 mile oval, the #7 Andretti Autosport team preformed a stunning pit work for their driver Danica Patrick which allowed her to come out of pit road ahead of Briscoe. As Dan Wheldon and Hideki Mutoh had pit stops upcoming, this fight for third would end up becoming the battle for the race lead and victory. With Patrick briefly able to use her crew's gain on pit road to keep the #7 car ahead of the Penske Racing machine of Briscoe, the #6 car would be relentless charging back on Danica Patrick's car. After several laps of dicing, Ryan Briscoe was able to emerge with the upper hand.

Holding the lead through the final 35 laps, Ryan Briscoe captured a much-needed first win for 2010 after experience a difficult year so far in the IZOD IndyCar Series. The fourth win for Penske Racing on the 2010 tour, all three team drivers have collected at least one victory for the Verizon-sponsored team.

While Team Penske recovered nicely at Texas, the efforts of Andretti Autosport is worth special consideration. Perhaps running her best race since her 2008 win at the Twin-Ring Motegi race in Japan, Danica Patrick gave a consistently strong run for the Godaddy.com #7 car finishing a little more than 1.4 seconds behind Briscoe. Following up his podium run finish at Indy, Marco Andretti secured another 3rd place finish at Texas. the final two Andretti Autosport drivers also made massive gains from their starting spots with Tony Kanaan going from 13th to 6th and Ryan Hunter-Reay improving 17 positions to finish 7th.

Thanks to three races of oval success, Dario Franchitti has overcome the early season lead that Penske Racing's Will Power gained through the road courses. Standing a slight 3 points ahead of Power, 1st through 6th in the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series overall championship is separated by only 45 points.

The next race is in two weeks at Iowa Speedway on June 20th.


Firestone 550k 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Final Results
1. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
2. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
3. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
4. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
5. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
6. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
7. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
8. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
9. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
10. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
11. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
12. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
13. 24 Tomas Scheckter/South Africa/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
14. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
15. 67 Sarah Fisher/United States/ Sarah Fisher Racing
16. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ Luczo Dragon/de Ferran Motorsports
17. 34 Mario Romancini/Brazil/ Conquest Racing
18. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
19. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
20. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
21. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
22. 36 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing
23. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing
24. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
25. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
26. 66 Jay Howard/England/ Sarah Fisher Racing

Will Power Secures 3rd Straight IZOD IndyCar pole at Long Beach

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

Unleashed on the hot California street circuit on Saturday afternoon, the IZOD IndyCar Series drivers and teams focus on achieving the best possible starting position for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

With 25 Indy cars taking to the 1.968 mile Long Beach streets for qualifying, the 3 rounds of timed times wrapped with the Firestone Fast Six. Prevailing on the final session of qualifying, Australian Will Power posted top time with a blazing 1 minute, 9.3185 second lap. More than 4/10th of a second faster than second place, the #12 Verizon Penske Racing car arrived as a favourite front-runner for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Having defended his 2009 pole run, Power's effort on the temporary street course added his 3rd consecutive pole of this 2010 IZOD IndyCar season. "We certainly have the car figured out, and I'm very happy that the Verizon car is P1 again." Power said in a post-race press conference.

Showing speed potential again on the temporary tracks after topping Friday practice, Ryan Hunter-Reay backed up Friday's performance with a 2nd fastest time on Saturday afternoon. Driving his #37 Andretti Autosport car for Sunday, Ryan Hunter-Reay is also entered in the American Le Mans Series event running a LMP Challenge car.

Behind Hunter-Reay, Justin Wilson brought the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing #22 car to 3rd place through qualifying. While Penske Racing has been enjoying a potentially record-setting season, the growing Dreyer and Reinbold Racing team has shown some great progress with driver Justin Wilson teaming with Mike Conway. Through qualifying this season, the team has placed one of their two cars in the top-3 fastest competitors since St Petersburg.

With Will Power posing another very strong effort for the #12 Penske Racing car, car owner Roger Penske profited heavily from his entire three-car team as Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe joined his teammate in the Firestone Fast Six. Narrowly missing the Justin Wilson's 3rd place mark, Indy Grand Prix of Alabama winner Helio Castroneves will start 4th tomorrow just one spot ahead of Ryan Briscoe.

Completing the Firestone Fast Six, Tony Kanaan will start 6th in his #11 7-Eleven sponsored car for Andretti Autosport. Andretti Autosport teammate Marco Andretti provided a 9th fastest time at Long Beach while Danica Patrick starts deep in 20th place. In 2009, Patrick posted her highest road course finish on the Long Beach circuit crossing the line in 4th place.

2009 winner of the Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix race Dario Franchitti slotted in 12th fastest on the race track for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. Teammate Scott Dixon compared better to the field with an 8th place run but it remains apparent that the #9 and #10 cars on the IZOD IndyCar Series tour are having a hard time matching their 2009 vigor. With Scott Dixon claiming a runner-up position at Barber Motorsports Park, Target/Chip Ganassi Racing is turning the corner back to American open wheel racing victory lane.

Under severe pressure to perform at Long Beach on Sunday will be Graham Rahal. Driving for the 3rd time and final scheduled time with Sarah Fisher Racing, the results have been less than desirable. With a highest finish of 9th at St Petersburg, Rahal in Long Beach qualifying could only beat 3 cars on track rounding up 22nd in the starting lineup. Rahal commented in post race saying "It's again been a very frustrating day, and I think that pretty well caps it off. Never have I ever been the slowest one in qualifying in my entire career. It's pretty frustrating; we just can't seem to get the car to react to any changes that we make."



Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney


With the race set to roll 1:15 p.m. local time (4:15 p.m. Eastern time), street course of Long Beach presents some passing opportunities. However, like many race tracks, considerable ground can be made up in the pits. Reminiscing about next week's IZOD IndyCar round at Barber Park Motorsport, Will Power is mindful to never discount the importance of pit road strategy. "Strategy can screw you, but it also can go your way. So we've got to read that well tomorrow."

Television coverage for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar race of Long Beach starts on Versus at 3:30 p.m. for American viewers. Canadian viewers will have to catch the race on TSN2 at 5:00 p.m.


2010 IZOD IndyCar
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Starting Lineup

1. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
2. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
3. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
4. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
5. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
6. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
7. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
8. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
9. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
10. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
11. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
12. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
13. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
14. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Enterprises
15. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
16. 24 Mike Conway/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
17. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
18. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ Luczo Dragon/de Ferran Motorsports
19. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
20. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
21. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
22. 67 Graham Rahal/United States/ Sarah Fisher Racing
23. 34 Mario Romancini/Brazil/ Conquest Racing
24. 36 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing
25. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing

Graham Rahal Driving Limited Schedule for Sarah Fisher Racing: Will miss Sao Paulo Opener

Photo Credit: IndyCar Media

As many participants of the IRL IZOD IndyCar Series were heading to Sao Paulo, Brazil for the 2010 season opening race, one team sitting out the inaugural IRL trip to the South American country is Sarah Fisher Racing. Nonetheless, the part-time race team attracted some considerable attention on Thursday presenting Graham Rahal as a driver of the Sarah Fisher Racing #67 Dallara/Honda for upcoming St Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park rounds of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar schedule. The official statement arrived today but media reports leaked shortly after Graham Rahal indicated on his Twitter account that a big announcement was planned.

Driver/owner Sarah Fisher indicated through the official team release that she contacted team sponsor Dollar General after realizing Rahal was unsigned and arranged this deal for the 21 year old American driver. "We are all very enthusiastic about having Graham in the seat for the two road course races that start off our season". With Sarah Fisher herself dedicated to only a part-time schedule in 2010 for US oval races in the #66 Indy car, her team also added a #67 car which will be driven by Jay Howard for 4 IndyCar events and now Rahal for 2 races. As Rahal was named to Sarah Fisher Racing, Rahal stated "I can't wait to get behind the wheel of the Dollar General No.67 car and hopefully contribute to the success of SFR."

A talented second-generation driver, Graham Rahal has come into he own through a short career which includes 5 Atlantic Championship wins and a victory on the IndyCar tour in 2008's running the road course of St Petersburg. Moving with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing from the defunct Champ Car series into IndyCar, the 2009 season ended with less than spectacular on-track results and the departure of McDonalds as a team sponsor. Rahal spent the entire IndyCar series pre-season in the rumour mill as a return to Newman/Haas/Lanigan in 2010 was judge highly unlikely. Rahal's name has been pegged to both Gil de Ferran's attempt to build an IndyCar team and Dale Coyne Racing's second car. However, rides in the series soon filled up and Graham Rahal remained a free agent. Some sources alleged that Rahal was casting feelers to NASCAR but there were no major teams expressing interest.

While economics in auto racing have stuttered a multitude of racing efforts, the effect on young American open wheel talent is risking to erode future interest in homegrown IndyCar drivers. Tony Stewart, AJ Allendinger, Scott Speed and Sam Hornish Jr are a few American racers lured by the more abundant corporate funding in stock car racing. However, even this pathway for rideless open wheel drivers has dried up (well, with the exception of Danica Patrick).

As only two races are currently planned between Rahal and Sarah Fisher Racing for 2010, Graham Rahal's plans for the rest of the year will likely depend on the outcome in the St Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park road races for whether he'll have backing for more races in the IZOD IndyCar Series in the future.

Simona De Silvestro Driven with HVM Racing in IZOD IndyCar for 2010

Photo Credit: IndyCar Media


Thanks to HVM Racing, a stand-out driver from the now suspended Atlantic Championship will bolster the female driver contingent to four at the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series opening race on the Streets of Sao Paulo. Announced officially after the major Barber Motorsports Park test for the series, Swiss driver Simona De Silvestro joins the IZOD IndyCar tour for 2010.

De Silvestro is one of only two women to claim victory in the Atlantic Championship by winning the 2008 Atlantic Championship race on the street of Long Beach. Looking to improves from the previous year results, Simona De Silvestro switched from Newman Wachs Racing to Team Stargate Worlds where she was teamed with actor-turned professional race car driver Frankie Muniz. In 2009, De Silvestro not only won four races on the tour (making the than 20 year old the winningest female in a single major open wheel racing series in the United States) but served as a serious title threat for the Atlantic Championship. Late season race day misfortunes at Mosport International Raceway and Mazda Raceway of Laguna Seca derailed De Silvestro's best efforts. Finishing third overall to the season's victor John Edwards, Simona De Silvestro efforts destined the young driver for brighter skies beyond the darkening clouds that eventually collapsed the Atlantic Championship.

Besides Simona De Silvestro's presence on the race track, she has a part in the long-delayed but upcoming multi-player video game Stargate Worlds. While race drivers have been appearing in the multitude titles of sports-related games, De Silvestro role with Stargate Worlds become a rarity being a professional racer in a non-racing game.

Created through a partnership agreement with De Silvestro's 2009 Atlantic team Team Stargate Worlds, the Switzerland-born driver describes her opportunity ride with the #78 HVM Racing car as "a true honor".