IRL: Richmond fast facts

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SunTrust Indy Challenge FAST FACTS

WHAT:
SunTrust Indy Challenge; seventh of 13 races in 2001 Indy Racing Northern Light Series season

WHERE:
Richmond International Raceway, .75-mile paved oval

WHEN:
8 p.m. (EDT) Saturday, June 30

DISTANCE:
187.5 miles/250 laps

POSTED AWARDS:
More than $1 million

CARS:
Dallara and G Force chassis; Oldsmobile V8 and Infiniti Indy V8 = 3.5-liter engines; Firestone tires

2000 RACE WINNER:
This is the inaugural Indy Racing Northern Light Series event at Richmond International Raceway

CURRENT SERIES POINTS LEADER:
Sam Hornish Jr.

TV:
(Pre-Race)
Indy Racing 2Day ESPN2 (live), 7:30 p.m. (EDT), June 30

(Race)
ESPN (live), 8 p.m. (EDT), June 30
Announcers: Bob Jenkins, Larry Rice, Jason Priestley
Pit reporters: Vince Welch, Jack Arute
Replay: ESPN, 3 a.m. (EDT), July 6

(Qualifying)
ESPN2 (tape delay), 12:30-1:30 a.m. (EDT) June 30
Announcers: Bob Jenkins, Larry Rice, Jason Priestley
Pit reporters: Vince Welch, Jack Arute

RADIO:
(Race)
IMS Radio Network (live), 8 p.m. (EDT) June 29
Pre-race show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Host: Mike King; Analyst: Johnny Parsons Jr.
Announcer: Jerry Baker
Sr. Pit Reporter: Mark Jaynes; Pit reporter: Kim Morris
Area affiliate: WRVA-AM 1140, Richmond, Va.

SCHEDULE (all times local):

(Thursday, June 28)
Noon: Indy Racing League garage opens
3:30-5 p.m.: Practice (two groups)
7-8:30 p.m.: Practice (two groups)

(Friday, June 29)
10 a.m.: Indy Racing League garage opens
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.: Practice (two groups)
3:30 p.m.: MBNA Pole Qualifying
5:30-6:30 p.m.: Autograph session (Commonwealth Grandstand)
7-7:30 p.m.: Final practice (All cars)

(Saturday, June 30)
10 a.m.: Indy Racing League garage opens
7 p.m.: Cars to grid
8 p.m.: SunTrust Indy Challenge (187.5 miles/250 laps)

THE TRACK:
.75-mile D-shaped oval racetrack
Frontstraight: 1,290 feet
Backstraight: 860 feet
Width: 60 feet=20
Banking: Turns - 14 degrees; Frontstraight - 8 degrees; Backstraight - 2degrees

Richmond International Raceway was originally a half-mile oval that began
playing host to dirt races in the 1940s. The surface was paved in 1968 and
the present racing facility was redesigned in September 1988 and
reconstructed on the site of the half-mile track. The raceway has played
host to the NASCAR Winston Cup series since 1953 and has 94,030 permanent
grandstand seats and 34 skybox suites.

THE RACE:
The SunTrust Indy Challenge marks the first time the Indy Racing Northern
Light Series has visited Richmond International Raceway. The event also
marks the first Indy-style race in the state of Virginia.

RACE NOTES:
Three Indianapolis 500 winners are entered in this event: 1998 = champion
Eddie Cheever Jr., 1996 champion Buddy Lazier and 1992 and 1994 = champion
Al Unser Jr.

The SunTrust Indy Challenge is the third night race of the season for the
Northern Light Series. A state-of-the-art Musco Lighting system illuminates
the .75-mile D-shaped oval.

The SunTrust Indy Challenge is the third race in a stretch of four races in
five weeks following the Indianapolis 500 for the Indy Racing Northern Light
Series. Following Richmond, the series moves to the new 1.5-mile Kansas
Speedway for a 300-mile event July 8.

Two Indy Racing rookies are confirmed to participate in the SunTrust Indy
Challenge: Felipe Giaffone (Treadway-Hubbard Racing) and Didier Andre'
(Galles Racing).

-IRNLS/IMS-

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