Penske's Power Pulls Off Pivotal Pole at Kentucky

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

The second to last event in the 2011 IZOD INDYCAR Series season, the open wheel racing tour has arrived at the Kentucky Speedway with a full field of contenders. With 29 cars entered in the Kentucky Indy 300, primary attention will be directed to the season-long fight between Dario Franchitti and Will Power for this year's IZOD INDYCAR Series overall championship. Separated by only 11 points entering Kentucky, Will Power gained the points lead after the Japanese event at the Twin Ring Motegi road course. Following a self-professed "stupid move", Dario Franchitti spent much of the event recovering from a INDYCAR-issued penalty while Will Power followed race winner Scott Dixon in second place all-day.

 

Coming at right the right time for the Australian driver, Will Power gained the advantage in qualifying for the Kentucky Indy 300 race. Taking his #12 Penske Racing car around the 1.5-mile tri-oval in just 48.5948 seconds, Power was the only driver to record a time faster than 219 miles per hour. An eighth pole for the 2011 IZOD INDYCAR Series season, this is Power's first top qualifying result on an oval since the 2010 Iowa event.

 

Starting in second place, Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing car of Graham Rahal was about 0.21 seconds slower than Power's pole time. A front row spot for the Kentucky Indy 300, Rahal has placed the #38 car into a top-3 starting spot for the 3rd straight IZOD INDYCAR qualifying session. Despite strong runs in the past two races in qualifying, race results have been tampered by unfortunate developments.

 

Rounding out the top-5 in qualifying for the IZOD INDYCAR Series Kentucky Indy 300 is Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe, Ed Carpenter and JR Hildebrand. Other notable runs performed in qualifying worthy of honourable mention came from Charlie Kimball in 10th, Simona Silvestro in 13th and Wade Cunningham driving the #17 car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. As for Sam Schmidt Motorsports #77 car, Alex Tagliani is a healthy scratch from the team in preference of 2011 Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon. Announced to be driving the #77 car at the Kentucky event less than a week ago, Wheldon's limited time with the team was reflected in a 28th place starting spot for the 300-mile race. Dan Wheldon's main purpose in the Kentucky Indy 300 is to gain preparation for the upcoming Las Vegas event where he holds the key to a 5 million dollar challenge issued by GoDaddy.com.

 

In the important championship points battle for the 2011 IZOD INDYCAR Series, the pole-sitting Will Power who start comfortably ahead of Dario Franchitti's #10 car. The Scottish Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver was only 11th fastest on the day. The Kentucky Speedway his not been historically strong for Franchitti with 5th place effort in 2010 being the strongest finish in 6 races at the track. The Kentucky oval was also the scene where Dario Franchitti crashed spectacularly in 2007 running for Andretti Green Racing.

 

Prepared to run 200 laps around the 1.5-mile tri-oval track, the 2011 IZOD INDYCAR Series race is set for 2:45 PM Eastern time start Sunday.

 

2011 IZOD INDYCAR

Kentucky Indy 300
Kentucky Speedway
Starting Line-up


Pos. # | Car # | Driver | Nationality | Team

 

1. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
2. 38 Graham Rahal/United States/Chip Ganassi Racing
3. 06 James Hinchcliffe/Canada/ Newman/Haas Racing
4. 67 Ed Carpenter/ United States/ Sarah Fisher Racing
5. 4 JR Hildebrand/United States/ Panther Racing
6. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
7. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
8. 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/Andretti Autosport
9. 2 Oriol Servia/Spain/ Newman/Haas Racing
10. 83 Charlie Kimball/United States/ Chip Ganassi Racing
11. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
12. 27 Mike Conway/England/Andretti Autosport
13. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland/ HVM Racing
14. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
15. 17 Wade Cunningham/New Zealand/ Sam Schmidt Motorsports
16. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
17. 44 Buddy Rice/United States/Panther Racing
18. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
19. 82 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
20. 24 Ana Beatriz/Brazil/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
21. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
22. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
23. 59 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
24. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/Dale Coyne Racing
25. 34 Dillon Battistini/England/ Conquest Racing
26. 22 Townsend Bell/ United States/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
27. 18 James Jakes/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
28. 77 Dan Wheldon/England/ Sam Schmidt Motorsports
29. 30 Pippa Mann/ England/ Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Kyle Busch Wins Inaugural Cup Race At Kentucky

 Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

By Reid Spencer


Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(July 9, 2011)

SPARTA, Ky. — What was Kyle Busch’s dominant impression of his victory in the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway?

It wasn’t that he’ll be written into the record book as the first Cup winner at the 1.5-mile track, the first speedway introduced into the series in 10 years.

No, Busch will remember Saturday’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky as the last thing he won on the way to his next race—in this case Sunday’s marquee Super Late Model event at Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin.

That’s the way Busch thinks—win and move on.

In holding off fast-closing David Reutimann and Jimmie Johnson in a two-lap stretch run, Busch won for the third time this season, the 22nd time in his Cup career and the 99th time across NASCAR’s top three national series, third most all-time.

Even though he won two of the three events at Kentucky Speedway over the weekend—he won the Camping World Truck Series race Thursday—Busch wasn’t thinking about the numbers, not even that he had leap-frogged past Kevin Harvick (16th Saturday) and Carl Edwards (fifth) into the top spot in the series standings.

Asked what the most impressive part of the Kentucky win was to him, Busch replied, “That I won on the way to Slinger. I’ve got to go to Slinger (Sunday). I’m going to stay here tonight, chill out and get a good night’s sleep, get out of here in the morning and head up there and, hopefully, win a Late Model race.”

Saturday’s race wasn’t settled until Busch kept Johnson at bay on the last restart, clearing Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet off Turn 2. Reutimann restated in the fourth spot but charged forward, passing Johnson just short of the finish line on the final lap. Reutimann finished .179 seconds behind Busch.

Johnson said his inability to stay beside Busch on the next-to-last lap cost him a chance to win the race.

“I was able to hang with the 18 (Busch) inside of Turns 1 and 2, and he just cleared me going down the back,” Johnson said. “The outside lane had a little bit more momentum coming off of (Turn) 2 down the back. If I could have stayed inside of him, it would have been one heck of a finish at the end.

“But it didn’t happen that way, and then he cleared me and went on, and then I had my hands full with the 00 (Reutimann). David was probably the best car at the end, and if he had cleared me sooner, I think he would have been up there with the 18 racing for the win.”

Ryan Newman played pit strategy perfectly and came home fourth, followed by Edwards. Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, David Ragan, Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon completed the top 10.

Busch had regained the lead during a cycle of green-flag stops late in the race, but a caution for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s blown left front tire slowed the race for the fifth time and set up a restart on Lap 260 of 267.

Busch pulled away, with Johnson chasing, but Clint Bowyer’s wreck in Turn 2 bought out the sixth caution on Lap 262 to bunch the field for a restart with two laps left.

During a 105-lap green-flag run that began on Lap 36 after a competition caution and included two rounds of pit stops, Busch opened a lead of more than eight seconds, but his advantage disappeared when NASCAR called a caution on Lap 140 for debris on the backstretch.

Keselowski and Tony Stewart opted not to pit under the caution and restarted on the front row on Lap 147. Earnhardt, who had fallen off the lead lap during the long green-flag run, got his lap back on a wave-around, and a quick caution on Lap 151 gave him a chance to pit for fuel and tires.

Keselowski and Stewart ran 1-2 after a restart on Lap 158, but both drivers had to pit for fuel early in the next cycle, and Busch reclaimed the top spot when Keselowski brought the No. 2 Dodge to pit road on Lap 186.

When Jamie McMurray’s engine erupted like Vesuvius on Lap 200, bringing out the fourth caution of the race, the lead-lap cars were back on similar pit cycles.

Busch, who led a race-high 125 laps, opened a four-point margin in the series standings over second-place Edwards and a 10-point cushion over third-place Harvick.

Note: When the green flag waved to start the race, cars carrying fans to the track were backed up on I-71, trying to get to the parking lots. Midway through the event, Kentucky Speedway G.M. Mark Simendinger issued the following statement: “We’ve had an overwhelming response to our inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400. We know we had challenges related to traffic. We’re already planning improvements and looking forward to a much better situation for next year’s event.”

Kyle Busch's Practice Speed Wins Pole at Kentucky

Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR

A predictable outcome for Friday's NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying at Kentucky Speedway resulted in the #18 M&M Toyota of Kyle Busch starting on the pole for the inaugural race on the 1.5 mile speedway. However, the predictability was not because the Joe Gibbs Racing driver (who came from back in the field to win Thursday's Camping World Truck Series race) fast outings on track throughout the weekend. Rather, the forecast fall of rain showers washed out the qualifying session for Saturday night's Quaker State 400. Under NASCAR's new-for-2011 using practice times instead of car owner points as the primary way to set race fields, Kyle Busch's 182.803 mile per hour time in the final practice session clinched the top spot when rain washed out the Kentucky Speedway. By virtue of their fast practice times, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson fills out the top-5 starting positions for the first Kentucky Speedway event with NASCAR Sprint Cup series.

As 48 cars would have vyed for the 43 starting spots through the time trial session, some cars were favoured entry into the Quaker State 400 as a result of qualifying attempts made by a car throughout the 2011 season. Solidifying Joe Nemechek's #87 Toyota, the #60 Toyota driven by Mike Skinner and Travis Kvapil's #38 Ford in the race field at Kentucky Speedway, the rain robbed an opportunity for other drivers. The most significant driver missing out on the Quaker State 400 is Michael Waltrip. The home state for theWaltrip brothers Michael as well as his three-time Cup champion driver Darrell, the first Kentucky Speedway Sprint Cup event will not have the famous racing family represented in the 43-car field.

NASCAR Sprint Cup regular Robby Gordon has also missed the chance to compete with his #77 car at the Quaker State 400 due to the wet track. Though Robby Gordon did not make it into the race, the #7 Dodge owned by the driver will start the NASCAR Sprint Cup Kentucky event in the hands of Scott Wimmer. TJ Bell, David Stremme and David Starr have into been forced to call their weekend's short without attempting a qualifying run.  



2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup
Quaker State 400
Sparta, Kentucky

1. 18 Kyle Busch M&M's Toyota
2. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
3. 22 Kurt Busch Shell/Pennzoil Dodge
4. 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota
5. 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevrolet
6. 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge
7. 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford
8. 6 David Ragan UPS Ford
9. 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet
10. 27 Paul Menard Sylvania/Menards Chevrolet
11. 9 Marcos Ambrose Porter-Cable Ford
12. 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet
13. 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford
14. 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet
15. 20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota
16. 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Good To Go Toyota
17. 0 David Reutimann TUMS Toyota
18. 39 Ryan Newman Tornados Chevrolet
19. 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet
20. 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet
21. 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford
22. 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet
23. 43 A J Allmendinger Valvoline Ford
24. 47 Bobby Labonte Cottonelle Clean Care Toyota
25. 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota
26. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota
27. 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota
28. 5 Mark Martin Quaker State/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
29. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Diet Mountain Dew/National Guard Chevrolet
30. 51 Landon Cassill Security Benefits/Thank A Teacher Today
31. 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota
32. 36 Dave Blaney Big Red Chevrolet
33. 60 Mike Skinner Big Red Toyota
34. 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald's Chevrolet
35. 34 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford
36. 46  J J Yeley Red Line Chevrolet
37. 38  Travis Kvapil Long John Silver's Ford
38. 66 Michael McDowell Standard Publishing/Relentless Hope Toyota
39. 71 Andy Lally # Cool Works Cup Ford
40. 81 Scott Riggs Whitney'sCollision.com Chevrolet
41. 37 Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Ford
42. 32 Mike Bliss Big Red Ford
43. 7 Scott Wimmer SPEED Energy Dodge

 

NASCAR Schedule & Weather Forecast: July 6th to 9th 2011

Photo Credit: Grant Halverson/Getty Image

Sparta, Kentucky
Kentucky Speedway
NASCAR Sprint Cup/ Nationwide Series/ Camping World Truck Series

Wednesday:

4:00 pm- NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Practice
Temperature: 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 0%

6:00 pm- NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Practice
Temperature: 31 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 0%


Thursday:

10:00 am- NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Practice
Temperature: 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 0%

11:05 am- NASCAR Sprint Cup Testing
Temperature: 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 0%

3:05 pm- NASCAR Camping World Truck Qualifying
Temperature: 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 0%

4:00 pm- NASCAR Sprint Cup Testing
Temperature: 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 0%

6:10 pm- NASCAR Nationwide Series Practice
Temperature: 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 0%

8:00 pm- NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race (UNOH 225)
Temperature: 29 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 0%


Friday:

9:00 am- NASCAR Nationwide Series Practice
Temperature: 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Rain Showers
Chance of Precipitation: 100%

11:30 am- NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice
Temperature: 22 degrees Celsius (72 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Rain Showers
Chance of Precipitation: 100%

1:30 pm- NASCAR Sprint Cup Practice
Temperature: 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Rain Showers
Chance of Precipitation: 100%

3:35 pm- NASCAR Nationwide Series Qualifying
Temperature: 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Clouds with chance of thunderstorms
Chance of Precipitation: 60%

5:10 pm- NASCAR Sprint Cup Qualifying
Temperature: 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 40%

7:30 pm- NASCAR Nationwide Series Race (Feed the Children 300)
Temperature: 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 40%


Saturday:

7:30 pm- NASCAR Sprint Cup Race (Quaker State 400)
Temperature: 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 0%



Toronto, Ontario
Streets of Toronto
NASCAR Canadian Tires Series

Friday:

12:30 pm- NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Practice
Temperature: 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 0%



4:10 pm- NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Qualifying
Temperature: 28 degrees Celsius (83 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 30%


Saturday:

2:30 pm- NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Race (Streets of Toronto 100)
Temperature: 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit)
Sky Conditions: Sun with clouds
Chance of Precipitation: 10%

Fuel Savings Allow Castroneves to Go the Distance for Kentucky Win

Photo Credit: Dana Garrett

With three races remaining in the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series as cars arrive for the season's last night race at Kentucky Speedway. Besides the aspirations of 20-plus regular competitors wanting to end the year off on a high note, a contentious overall points fight is brewing between current leader Will Power and reigning IZOD IndyCar champ Dario Franchitii. Optimizing his chance to collect a 3rd overall IndyCar title in 4 years, Franchitti's win at the last round in Chicagoland brought the driver of Target/Chip Ganassi's #10 car just 23 points away from Penske Racing's best hope.

In qualifying for the Kentucky Indy 300 on the 1.5 mile oval gave a snapshot of what could be a very extraordinary event. As the green flag dropped at Kentucky Speedway, wildcard Ed Carpenter led the 27-car field to the start. Immediately fighting off the charge of Penske Racing's Will Power, Carpenter would lead the first lap which was unfortunately greeted with the race's first yellow flag. The #5 KV Racing Technology vehicle of Takuma Sato crashed in turn 4 failing to complete a single lap in the Kentucky Indy 300.

After cleaning up the #5 car, racing action resumed on lap 9 with Carpenter out front. However, Ed Carpenter's reign in the lead in the Vision Racing car would come to an end when Panther Racing's Dan Wheldon passed him for lap 11. Under the Vision Racing/Panther Racing alliance that granted Carpenter a ride through the final races of the 2010 season, Wheldon's 43-lap lead in the #4 car after the #20 car allowed the Panther Racing team to stay out front for the first 54 laps.

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

Nearing the end on fuel and tires under green, the front-running teams shot to pit road. The well-funded, well-trained #12 Penske Racing and #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing crews performed effectively as the night hit the Kentucky Speedway. With Power and Dixon benefiting from their crew armed with almost a season worth of experience, the Ed Carpenter and the Vision Racing team appeared to have suffered from their limited 2010 race schedule. Entering lap 50 second behind Dan Wheldon, Carpenter dropped to 10th place once leaving pit lane. The #6 Penske Racing car of Ryan Briscoe and Paul Tracy driving the #24 Dreyer and Reinbold Racing machine would lead during the pit stop exchange before the #12 of Will Power found himself out front. Taking the lead on lap 61, Power found himself in a unusually strong position on an oval track this season. The #12 Verizon Penske Racing car spent 83 laps in the 1st place position with 81 of those laps occurring consecutively after the first pit stop.

With only two cautions flying in the Kentucky Indy 300, the final caution flew on lap 80 brought out for a multiple car crash involving the #6 of Ryan Briscoe, the #14 of Vitor Meira and the #78 of Simona de Silvestro. Created in turn 3, the incident occured when Meira attempted to pass de Silvestro on the inside while the faster Briscoe steered to the outside of both drivers. Contact was made between the #78 and #14 which would also catch the #6 as a bystander. Insisting that Vitor Meira was aggressive on passing, de Silvestro expressed deep regret for Ryan Briscoe being wrecked. "I knew that Ryan (Briscoe) was on the outside and he kind of stuck his nose in there. I didn't see him, and I didn't know he was there. I'm really sorry if I was in the way." Apart from a long caution, only the cars suffered any serious damage with all three drivers checked and received at the medical center.

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

Running clean and green through the second half, the Kentucky Indy 300 was shaping into a possible fuel economy run as pit stops within the lap 140-150 range left many teams on the edge of running to the finish or requiring a stop-and-go stop for fuel. As the numbers were being crunched by IZOD IndyCar race team engineers for each car, Dan Wheldon past Will Power to retake the lead through pit stops. In fact, Power's #12 car began showing troubles keeping his same pace as he fell down in the order of the top-5 cars. "The Verizon car was great out front. I had a little understeer back in traffic." Power commented on the problems through his last run. This was compounded by a near miss incident where the Australian get loose on track. Power, who finished 8th at the end said in post-race ".... I think I hit some oil from an earlier incident between Turns 3 and 4".

Without cautions, green flag pit strategy entered into effect in the races final 10 laps. Wheldon and Franchitti dropped into the pits by 196 for a quick splash of ethanol making it look less evident that lead cars would chance a winning run on a fuel gamble. Carpenter attempted to run his #20 car as close as possible to the checkered flag but just didn't have the reserves to go all the way. The one and only cars in the contending pack to make a fuel economy attempt was Helio Castroneves. Slowing drastically to a pace which involved laps more than 10 mile per hour than the leaders, Castroneves' skilled fuel consuming abilities allowed his #3 Penske Racing car to capture victory.

After a magnificant qualifying effort to grant his #20 car a pole, Ed Carpenter backed up his effort from Friday with a 2nd place in Saturday night's race. Carpenter finishes ahead of Panther Racing's Dan Wheldon who has now secured 2 top-3 results in the past 2 IZOD IndyCar races. In 4th place, the 26th place starting Andretti Autosport car of Tony Kanaan rocketed early in the race to an excellent efforton the night. In fact, after an overall dismal time trial for Andretti Autosport, 3 of the 4 cars finished in the top-9 after 200 laps in Kentucky. Marco Andretti 6th and Danica Patrick 9th, Ryan Hunter-Reay suffered a late-race mechanical issue on his #37 machine. Completing the Kentucky Indy 300's top-5 was Dario Franchitti who gained a small but possibly important 5 points on Will Power in the overall championship.

More than a month passing since his explosive objection to a penalization for blocking at the Edmonton Honda Indy, Helio Castroneves' emotions were more devoted to joy as he celebrates with his #3 Penske Racing team sharing the victory lane at Kentucky. Winning a Barber Motorsport Park earlier this season, Castroneves also becomes the only Penske Racing driver so far this year to win on a road course and an oval. Sitting mathematically a non-factor to the 2010 IZOD IndyCar overall championship in 4th place, Helio Castroneves could easily set sights on the AJ Foyt trophy for oval points scored in the season. The #3 Penske Racing driver is only 29 points away from leader Dario Franchitti for that honour.

Heading to the land of the rising sun next, the 2nd to last round of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season takes place at the Twin-Ring Motegi circuit.


2010 IZOD IndyCar Series
Kentucky Indy 300
Kentucky Speedway
Race Results


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

Ed Carpenter Delivers Surprise Pole Run for IZOD IndyCar's Kentucky Race

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

Competing in the second Saturday night race in a row, the IZOD IndyCar Series drivers are belting into their Dallara-Hondas for a high-speed battle at the Kentucky Speedway. At last week's race at Chicagoland Speedway, Target/Chip Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti rose late in the Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil 300 to win the event scoring maximum points in closing on Penske's Will Power for the overall 2010 IZOD IndyCar championship. As important as the points race is to those two racers, many of the fans enjoyed the close finish at Chicagoland with the #4 Panther Racing car of Dan Wheldon almost able to steal a win on the run to the checkered flag. Perhaps appearing as the ovals could provide a equalization for IZOD IndyCar competition, teams eager flood south to Sparta, Kentucky.

When IZOD IndyCar qualifying concluded for the Kentucky Indy 300, a lesser known face to the 2010 IZOD IndyCar campaign prevailed. Driving his #20 Vision Racing in partnership with Panther Racing, Ed Carpenter used a 217.933 mile per hour run to take the pole position for the Saturday night Kentucky Indy 300. Having run only two races this season due to funding troubles, Carpenter's qualifying run around this 1.5 mile oval is by no means a fluke. This Kentucky Speedway also the scene of Ed Carpenter's best career IZOD IndyCar Series finish of 2nd place last year. In post race, a highly satisfied Carpenter commented on his approach to the limited schedule he was relegated to running after Vision Racing loss of full season funding for 2010. "I'm just having a lot of fun right now; the Panther team is going a great job in addition with the Vision Racing part of it. It's just a lot of fun." he said.

For what will be understood as an interesting top-10 from qualifying led by Ed Carpenter, the #20 car narrowly beat Penske Racing's Will Power by a recordedly slim 23/1000th of a second margin. Fighting low and windy conditions, Power was pleased to start the #12 Verizon Penske Racing car on the front row. Complementing the #20 car, the teammate #4 vehicle will also start well in front of the field. Second place finisher at the Chicagoland Speedway event Dan Wheldon rotated the Kentucky oval for a third fastest effort through the Friday session.

While the #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car of Scott Dixon returned some IZOD IndyCar season-long norminality to the oval time trial session, 5th for Hideki Mutoh, 6th for Berthard Baguette, 7th for KV Racing Technology's Mario Moraes and 10th for Tomas Scheckter will continue to set a somewhat bizarre tone for the Kentucky Indy 300 race start. Driving for Conquest Racing, Baguette and Scheckter have brought some much needed excitement to the tightly-funded race effort.

Being a beneficial session for some smaller IZOD IndyCar teams, the Friday qualifying would see some normally pace-worthy cars of Andretti Autosport searching for speed. Marco Andretti accomplished the best effort for the team with a 15th best timed lap with Danica Patrick two spots lower. Tony Kanaan and Ryan Hunter-Reay will be starting from the tail end of the pack at Kentucky having the worst time finding competitive lap times. Planning to fight an uphill battle once the green flag drops, Ryan Hunter-Reay will be set last on the starting lineup in the #37 Andretti Autosport after crashing his primary car in a qualifying run.

With the Kentucky Indy 300 presenting another strong field consisting of 27 cars, it's fair to assume the action at Chicagoland Speedway should be replicated for the Kentucky Indy 300 set for television telecast at 8 P.M. Saturday night with the green coming around 8:30.


2010 IZOD IndyCar Series

Kentucky Indy 300
Kentucky Speedway
Starting Lineup


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

Bodine Parties in Bluegrass State; Wins NASCAR Truck Race

Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/ Getty Images for NASCAR

By Lee Montgomery


Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
(September 3, 2010)
SPARTA, Ky.—Todd Bodine is rolling toward his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, but he didn’t drive like it Friday night in winning the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway. And his team didn’t act like it, either.
Bodine spun while battling Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 81, but that trouble helped set up a fuel-mileage gamble for the No. 30 Germain Racing team.
“Our misfortune turned into our fortune because that’s what gave us a little extra fuel that we needed to get to the end,” Bodine said.
Johnny Sauter finished a distant second, with Aric Almirola third, Jason White fourth and Ricky Carmichael fifth. Timothy Peters, Busch, Ryan Sieg, polesitter Austin Dillon and Matt Crafton completed the top 10.
After a restart on Lap 80 of the 150-lap race, Busch and Bodine raced side by side for the lead in Turn 3 when Busch charged around on the outside lane. Bodine’s Toyota snapped sideways and spun in front of the field, though he didn’t hit anything.
A panel in the truck’s bed flew off, and Bodine made a couple of extra stops under that caution for his team to repair the damage. He restarted 25th.
The yellow flag waved again on Lap 91, and crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. brought Bodine to pit road again to top off the fuel tank as nine drivers stayed on the track.
Busch was one of them, and he pulled away to a 3-second lead before pitting on Lap 127. After rookies Austin Dillon and Justin Lofton also pitted under green, Bodine assumed the lead.
Conserving fuel, Bodine raced the final 55 laps under green on one tank of fuel.
“I pedaled pretty hard with about 20 laps to go,” Bodine said of saving fuel. “About the last 10 laps, I went around here about half-throttle.”

After taking the checkered flag, Bodine chastised Busch for “dirty driving,” claiming Busch intentionally pushed Bodine low on the track to cause him to spin. Busch also came to victory lane to have words with Bodine.
“It was the weather, how good the track is,” Bodine said jokingly of their conversation. “It’s two drivers who didn’t care what the other said or the other did, and we had words about it. That’s good, hard racing. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Kyle. Slowly but surely I’m, losing it. That’s a shame.”

Bodine led twice for 18 laps, far short of Busch’s race-high 73 laps. Bodine, though, extended his points lead to 261 over Almirola.
“We were two laps short (on fuel),” Hillman said. “That proves that we’re not points racing. If we were points racing, being two laps short we would’ve come in and splashed a couple gallons of gas and finished seventh or eighth.”

Weekend Racing Weather Forecast: Sept 3rd-5th, 2010

Sparta, Kentucky
Kentucky Speedway
IZOD IndyCar Series/ Firestone Indy Lights Series/ NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Friday: 40% chance of thunderstorms and rain in the late morning hours possibly able to affect on-track activities. Skies clear in afternoon with sun and light clouds. Daily high temperature is 27 degrees Celsius with night time temps. likely to drip below the mid- teens for the evening truck race. Winds will be strong at up to 28 kilometers per hour.
Saturday: Excellent racing weather throughout the day but night will become very chilly. From the daily high of 22 degrees Celsius, lows will fall at only 9 degrees. Fans are suggested to bring a jacket or wear a warm shirt for the late afternoon Firestone Indy Lights race or the IZOD IndyCar night race starting past 8 PM.


Hampton, Georgia
Altanta Motor Speedway
NASCAR Sprint Cup/Nationwide Series

Friday: Hot! 34 degree Celsius will be reached as a daily high. Qualifying for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is going to be sunny with cloudy skies occasionally blowing past the speedway. Winds will also be noticeable during qualifying coming from the West at 22 kilometers per hour.
Saturday: Hot! The cooler of the three days will be a daily high of 28 degrees Celsius. NASCAR Nationwide qualifying runs within the mid-afternoon heat. Unfortunately, the NASCAR Nationwide series race (which runs on the same day) will take place after 7 PM where temperatures are certain to drip into the lower 20s or higher teens. 
Sunday: Hot! 30 degree Celsius high will fortunately not have much of an effect on the 500 mile race scheduled at night. With only a 10% chance of precipitation, racing will take place in lower 20 degree weather.

Du Quoin, Illinois
DuQuoin State Fairgrounds
Arca Racing Series

Monday: Popular Labour Day dirt race will be run under hot 30 degree Celsius weather but promises no chance of precipitations for the one day ARCA show. Sunscreen well-advised for those attending the event.

Nationwide Race Proclaims Logano Kentucky King

Photo Credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images


By Lee Montgomery
Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(June 12, 2010)

SPARTA, Ky.—Joey Logano remained perfect in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Kentucky Speedway, winning the Meijer 300 from the pole on Saturday night.

Logano had lost the lead on two restarts late in the race but was able to power back to the top spot each time.

The first was with 44 laps to go when Mike Bliss took the lead, but after an extended caution period, Logano got back out front on Lap 169 of 200.

The second came when Brendan Gaughan charged around the outside after a restart on Lap 175, but Gaughan slipped off Turn 4 a lap later, and Logano again regained the lead.

Logano then held off a late charge from Carl Edwards to win for the third time at Kentucky.

Logano, 20, has won the pole and the race every time he has raced at the 1.5-mile track. The victory in 2008 was his first in one of NASCAR’s national series.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series double-duty drivers swept the top three positions, as Edwards finished second and NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader Brad Keselowski was third. Edwards moved up one spot in the standings to second, and is 272 points behind Keselowski.

Gaughan finished fourth, with Reed Sorenson fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Steve Wallace, Scott Wimmer, Justin Allgaier, Scott Riggs and Raybestos Rookie Colin Braun.