Sunday, May 20, 2012
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Heather Meyer
May 20, 2012, 1:31:01 PM5/20/12
to stockca...@googlegroups.com
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T H E * S T O C K
* C A R * G A
Z E T T E
Do you know for
sure?
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The Stock Car Gazette is sponsored by:
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Wow if you didn’t like the racing last night you are crazy.
Yes the segment winners hanging out in the back was stupid. Also think it needs
to be more an ten laps for last segment.
Hanging out at PPIR this weekend, we have motorcycles ,SCCA
and drifting this weekend.
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Stock Car Gazette
Columnists Speak Out!
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Stock Car Gazette
Atop the Spotters Stand: All Star Race
by Heather Meyer
Stock Car Gazette
TV Times – Speed Channel, Where Art Thou?
by Lou Modestino
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N A S C A R * S P
R I N T * C U P * S E R I E S
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Courtesy of www.Catchfence.com
Calculated Strategy Earns Jimmie Johnson Third NASCAR All-Star
Win
CONCORD, N.C. – May 19, 2012 – Jimmie Johnson used a
carefully planned strategy of driving his No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet
hard for the first and last segments, ...
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Courtesy of Google Alerts
France:
NASCAR studying ways to improve racing
San Jose Mercury News
By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer Jimmie Johnson, left, talks with NASCAR CEO Brian France, right, during a news conference before the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star auto race in Concord, NC, Saturday, May 19, 2012. CONCORD, NC—NASCAR Chairman Brian France ...
San Jose Mercury News
By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer Jimmie Johnson, left, talks with NASCAR CEO Brian France, right, during a news conference before the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star auto race in Concord, NC, Saturday, May 19, 2012. CONCORD, NC—NASCAR Chairman Brian France ...
Fan's
View: NASCAR's Truck Series Has Five Winners in First Five Races
Yahoo! Sports
Contributor Network – 11 minutes ago While the Sprint Cup Series gets most of the attention when it comes to NASCAR, the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series have both seen a resurgence in competition in the 2012. The Nationwide Series has ...
Yahoo! Sports
Contributor Network – 11 minutes ago While the Sprint Cup Series gets most of the attention when it comes to NASCAR, the Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series have both seen a resurgence in competition in the 2012. The Nationwide Series has ...
Dale
Earnhardt Jr. wins his way into All-Star Race
USA TODAY
His exemption from his 2000 victory expired last year, and NASCAR's most popular driver needed fans to vote him into the exhibition race in 2011. This time, he just dominated the 40-lap qualifier to take a spot in the main event, which began shortly ...
USA TODAY
His exemption from his 2000 victory expired last year, and NASCAR's most popular driver needed fans to vote him into the exhibition race in 2011. This time, he just dominated the 40-lap qualifier to take a spot in the main event, which began shortly ...
NASCAR
accepts invitation to join Beyond Sport
PaddockTalk
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service "It puts us on a big stage. We're excited about it because of what all the teams and the individual drivers are doing (in the charitable realm). Frankly, it matches perfectly with directionally where we're going.
PaddockTalk
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service "It puts us on a big stage. We're excited about it because of what all the teams and the individual drivers are doing (in the charitable realm). Frankly, it matches perfectly with directionally where we're going.
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Courtesy of Insider Racing News
Jimmie Johnson Executes Knaus' Plan Perfectly
CIA Stock Photos
Johnson and Knaus Celebrate All-Star Win
Jimmie Johnson joined an elite club on Saturday night. In
beating Brad Keselowski to the finish of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at
Charlotte Motor Speedway by .841 seconds, Johnson won the exhibition event for
the third time, tying Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff
Gordon for most all-time. Matt Kenseth ran third, followed by Kyle Busch and
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who qualified for the event by winning the preliminary
Sprint Showdown. The All-Star Race win and accompanying seven-figure first
prize ended a spectacular eight days for Johnson, who delivered victory No. 200
to owner Rick Hendrick May 12 at Darlington and on Thursday night cheered his
crew to its first victory in the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge in Charlotte,
N.C.
All told, Johnson won $1,071,340 for his third win in 11
All-Star starts. "It means a ton to me," Johnson said of tying
Earnhardt Sr. and Gordon. "Those are two of the greatest drivers that have
ever been in a stock car. I want to set my goals high, and I want to be
considered one of the best to sit in a stock car, and the only way you can do
that is by winning big races and piling up those stats." The All-Star Race
victory was the seventh as a car owner for Hendrick, who sat on the window
ledge and took a ride on Johnson's winning Chevrolet after the race. "That
was the dumbest thing I've ever done in racing," quipped Hendrick, who
caught his foot in the dash while straddling the window. Johnson was the first
to stake his claim to a top spot in the running order, winning the first 20-lap
segment after passing polesitter Kyle Busch for the top spot on Lap 15.
In winning the first segment, Johnson earned the right to
lead the field to pit road before the final 10-lap dash. Thereafter, Johnson
made frequent pit stops and ran behind the rest of the field to save his car
for the finish. "I let it rip around the top and got to the lead, and we
were smart from there and made sure we worked on the car and got it right so we
could be there at the end," Johnson said. "Within two corners tonight
-- as I was on the outside, which is usually the place you don't want to be --
I knew it was on. I was able to get to the lead in that first segment and
really set our night in the right direction and have control of the night.
Everybody knew that, if you could win that first segment, you could control the
night, and we were able to do that starting sixth, so it was pretty
awesome."
Keselowski thought Johnson showed his hand in the first
segment. "He started sixth, I believe, and drove to the lead in 20
laps," Keselowski said. "I think that's probably a pretty good
indicator of the strength of his car. I don't believe he passed anyone that was
not good. We'll just leave it at that. He passed Kyle, I think Denny (Hamlin),
maybe (Kevin) Harvick. (Ryan) Newman. Those aren't slouches that he passed, and
he passed them in 20 laps. I think that's a pretty good indicator of the
strength of his effort. Whether that's car or driver, I'll let you all figure
that out. That's a pretty good indicator he was the guy to beat all
night."
Kenseth passed Hamlin with three laps left in the second
segment and secured the win in that leg. Like Johnson, Kenseth spent segment
No. 3 running at the back while Keselowski and Kasey Kahne waged an intense
battle for the win. Kahne got a strong run from the high line through Turns 3
and 4, but Keselowski held on to win the segment by .006 seconds.
Earnhardt won segment No. 4 by 1.618 seconds over Marcos Ambrose.
After the 20-lap run ended, Johnson, Kenseth, Keselowski and Earnhardt entered
pit road in that order, took no tires or gas and came out in those same top
four positions for the final 10-lap run. --/-- Of the top four drivers,
Keselowski and Kenseth had the freshest tires, having stopped under caution for
Greg Biffle's blown engine on Lap 73. But Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet was the
class of the field and pulled away for the win in an anomalous All-Star race
that did not see a single caution for a racing accident. Though Earnhardt
transferred into the main event with a decisive victory in the Sprint Showdown,
the compelling story of the preliminary event was polesitter AJ Allmendinger's
run from the back of the field to the second transfer spot after pitting with a
flat tire coming to green at the start of the race.
Allmendinger took four tires during a pit stop between the
Showdown's two 20-lap segments, and the new rubber paid off. After two cars
dropped out between segments and three others went to the rear because of pit
road penalties, Allmendinger restarted 13th. From the drop of the green flag on
Lap 21, Allmendinger surged forward, finally passing Jamie McMurray for the
second position with a hard run off Turn 2 on Lap 39 of 40. Allmendinger finished
third in the fourth segment of the All-Star Race, but a four-tire call on the
final pit stop dropped him to the back of the field. Allmendinger charged to
11th before time ran out. Jamie's real good—he knows how to get around this
place," Allmendinger said. "He kept making sure he got good exit
shots. Finally, he just got off the bottom a little bit. At that point, I
wasn't going to lift. I didn't care if we all wreck, if I got into him or what.
These guys on this Pennzoil Dodge, this Penske organization, they belong in
this race. They deserve it more than I do. I was going to do everything I could
to get ‘em in, or I was going to die trying." (NASCAR Wire Service)
Clint Bowyer Wins Burnout Challenge
After competing four previous Pennzoil Victory Burnout
Challenge’s, Clint Bowyer emerged as the victor in Saturday night’s
competition, earning $10,000 that will be donated to his charity of choice –
Emporia Community Fund. The Pennzoil Victory Burnout Challenge is known as
NASCAR’s version of a “slam dunk contest,” with the sport’s top talent showing
off their post-win celebration abilities in classic NASCAR tire-smoking
burnouts. This year’s format showcased five drivers burning rubber in identical
cars prepared by the Richard Petty Driving Experience and had 30 seconds to
execute and complete their respective runs. Fans at Charlotte Motor Speedway
participated in a text-to-vote campaign where they voted by texting in specific
codes that were placed on the World’s Largest HD Video Board and the top-two drivers
advanced to the final voting round. The celebrity judging panel determined
Bowyer as the 2012 winner who was awarded $10,000 for his designated charity,
bragging rights and a guaranteed spot in the 2013 Pennzoil Victory Burnout
Challenge.
In addition to Bowyer, this year’s all-star line-up included
Shell-Pennzoil driver AJ Allmendinger, his Penske Racing teammate Brad
Keselowski, 2010 burnout champion Joey Logano and 2011 event winner Kasey
Kahne. In addition to NASCAR’s biggest names, three celebrities joined the
Judges’ Panel for the Pennzoil Victory Burnout Challenge, including the host of
History Channel’s TOP SHOT show Colby Donaldson, Survivor’s most recent winner
Kim Spradlin and Miss Sprint Cup’s Jaclyn Roney. “It’s about time,” stated
Bowyer after failing to be victorious in his four previous attempts. “I love
competing in this event every year and I’m excited to finally win. My strategy
was plain and simple – make the best donuts and the most amount of smoke.
That’s what celebratory burnouts are all about.” “What’s pretty cool about this
event is the fact that I got to carry my charity’s logo – Emporia Community
Foundation – on the car and the $10,000 donated prize will certainly help them
in their efforts. The trophy is pretty cool, too. I’m definitely going to
display that in my dirt shop!” concluded Bowyer.
The fans selected Bowyer and Kahne as the top-two drivers
who performed the best burnouts. Both Spradlin and Donaldson determined that
Bowyer executed the best burnout while Miss Sprint Cup chose Kahne as the best
performer.
Elliott Sadler On Nationwide Pole
Elliott Sadler has made the transition from forgettable
finish to memorable start in one week. The NASCAR veteran suffered
disappointment when a late wreck damaged his car and the chance for a third win
last Friday at Darlington Raceway. He didn't wait long to put himself in
position for another victory. Sadler claimed his second Coors Light Pole of the
season, dashing to the fastest qualifying time Saturday for the NASCAR
Nationwide Series Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 at Iowa Speedway. It is also his second
pole in three career races at the 0.875-mile track. Sadler went from being one
top drivers in practice to being the best when it counted. He recorded a
fastest lap of 133.911 miles per hour, .6 seconds ahead of Sam Hornish Jr.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rounded out the top three.
Pole position has to soothe the sting from last week's race
when Joey Logano bumped Sadler during a restart with five laps left, sending
Sadler into the outer wall and out of the race. He had to settle for 24th his
worst finish of the season in front his mom, wife and other family members.
Sadler has a brief but successful history at Iowa Speedway, placing in the top
five of both 2011 Nationwide races, including the pole and a third-place finish
last August for the U.S. Cellular 250. He was able to handle the track and the
windy conditions that came into play on Turn 3. Hornish caught the wall on that
turn. He wasn't blaming the conditions, but realized the hiccup may have cost
him a spot. Hornish secured his fifth top-10 of the season and second in two
appearances at Iowa Speedway. Filling in for Brad Keselowski in August, Hornish
led 50 laps in Newton.
Things have worked out well for Stenhouse at Iowa Speedway,
and that didn't change Saturday. Stenhouse posted a fast lap of 133.114. He
liked his opening lap, slowing down after pressing too much on a slower second.
The team made adjustments, but there is still work. It is his 10th start in the
top-10 this season and gives him a shot at a third straight victory at Iowa
Speedway, sweeping the Nationwide events here last year. He expects a fast
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Courtesy of Jayski
- Johnson
wins the Sprint All Star race: #48-Jimmie Johnson won the NASCAR
Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the third time, tying
Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Jeff Gordon for most all-time. #2-Keselowski
finished 2nd followed by #17-Kenseth, #18-Busch [pole sitter],
#88-Earnhardt Jr. [winner of the Sprint Showdown], #29-Harvick,
#9-Ambrose, #51-Busch, #5-Kahne and #39-Newman. Johnson won the first
20-lap segment which earned him the right to lead the field to pit road
before the final 10-lap dash. Kenseth won the second segment, Keselowski
won the third segment over #5-Kahne by .006 seconds. Earnhardt won segment
No. 4. So after segment 4, Johnson, Kenseth, Keselowski and Earnhardt
entered pit road in that order, took no tires or gas and came out in those
same top four positions for the final 10-lap run. Sprint Fan Vote winner,
#47-Bobby Labonte finished 19th. There were no accidents and only two cars
failed to finish the race, #16-Biffle and last years winner #99-Edwards,
both with engine failures.
There were 6 cautions for 10 yellow flag laps. There were 7 lead changes among 7 drivers. The attendance is listed as 132,000 up from 125,000 from last season.
See segment results. links, notes and much info on my Sprint All Star Race & Sprint Showdown Info page.(5-19-2012) - Sprint
All Star Race Notes:
All Star Race winner: #48-Johnson
Segment 4 winner: #88-Earnhardt Jr.
Segment 3 winner: #2-Keselowski
Segment 2 winner: #17-Kenseth
Segment 1 winner: #48-Johnson
cars out: #99-Edwards (engine); #16-Biffle (engine) - Earnhardt
Jr. wins the Sprint Showdown: #88-Earnhardt Hr, led all 40 laps
to win his first Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway to transfer
into the Sprint All Star Race. #22-Allmendinger, who started on the pole,
finished 2nd after having a flat left front tire at the start of the race.
Allmendinger will also transfer into the All Star race. #1-McMurray
finished 3rd after starting from the rear due to an unapproved adjustment
after qualifying, followed by #56-Truex Jr., #42-Montoya, #20-LOgano,
#43-Almirola, #31-Burton, #83-Cassill and #93-Kvapil. #47-Bobby Labonte,
the 2000 Sprint Cup Champion, finished 12th but won the Sprint Fan Vote
and will race in the Sprint All-Star Race. There were no accidents and
seven cars took their cars to the garage before the end of the race.
See results and notes from each segment on my Sprint All Star Race & Sprint Showdown Info page.
See race results on the Sprint Showdown Race Results (pdf).(5-19-2012)
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Courtesy of Racin' Today
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P R E S S * R E
L E A S E S
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Chevrolet Racing V-6 IndyCar
IZOD IndyCar Series
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
96th Running of the Indianapolis 500
Pole Day Driver Quotes
May 19, 2012
Post Pole Day driver qualifying quotes and transcript of
press conference featuring Fast Nine at the conclusion of the day’s on-track
activities:
RYAN BRISCOE, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – POLE
WINNER: THE MODERATOR: Not sure your own teammates saw this coming, no
discredit to you, but they didn't see it and here you are.
RYAN BRISCOE: I don't know how many times I've been here and I've
been in both those seats before that we have rolled out feeling good and next
thing, Helio goes out and goes a mile‑an‑hour quicker than everybody. I'm
just glad it was my turn.
Q. What's it like when you go out and it's your teammate that can knock
you out of the top spot?
RYAN BRISCOE: It's usually like that. It's usually like that
and we prepare the cars so evenly and we always know we are going to head into
pole day or race day going up against each other. It's just part of the
game, but what we do is work so hard with each other and help each other
throughout all of the practice sessions so that we make that possible.
Because we want to be racing each other for the front, not for mid pack, and I
think the team work is how we get to the front. We have been working
really hard together throughout all the practice sessions on race setup.
And qualifying is a bit of a solo deal, but we share all the information.
We talk about how the car feels and how the drop‑off is with the tires and all
of that. It's totally transparent at Team Penske and always has
been. I think that's what Roger (Penske) and Tim (Cindric) really pride
themselves on.
Q. In many ways, winning the pole for the Indy 500 is going to be a lot more
exposure than winning another IndyCar Series race. Talk about what you
have coming up ahead of you. You're going to be the face of the race
leading into next Sunday?
RYAN BRISCOE: Well, I mean, I've never done so much race work
going into a qualifying weekend. I felt Thursday night, like we had done
really, really good work on our race cars. We are going to do a bit more
of that tomorrow.
But I feel like most of the focus has been on the race car. A week ago, I
don't think we thought we were going to have a shot at the pole. And you
know, we have just worked so hard, we have gotten the car a lot more
consistent. Chevy has done an awesome job. I think this extra boost
has certainly favored the Chevrolet cars and we took advantage of it.
Q. From an exposure standpoint, you're going to get a lot of attention this
week being the Indy 500 pole.
RYAN BRISCOE: Sounds good.
Q. Talk about what that is like, Helio has experienced it four times, and
now you get a chance to experience it.
RYAN BRISCOE: I'm just going to take it. We've got a few
days off, so you know, the exposure is good. Certainly the focus is the
race, and I'm sure I'll have no problem getting my priorities in line.
Q. All week long your team was a little bit off the pace. The whole
team was a couple‑mile‑an‑hour off of where the Andrettis, in particular, were
running. About four o'clock yesterday afternoon, you guys went out and
gained about three miles an hour, just like that. Did you find something
yesterday afternoon?
RYAN BRISCOE: I don't know if I ever felt that way to be
honest. I think we have been making lots of small gains but there was
nothing dramatic that gave us three‑mile‑an‑hour. Definitely when we had
the increase in boost that everybody got, that was a huge gain.
But we have not been out there all week searching for the big tows and putting
the big lap times on the board although it did happen, Helio was second at the
end of one of the days and we were second I think at the end of yesterday
maybe.
But yeah, I mean, it's been a work‑in‑progress, and here it's all about fine
tuning. You're not doing anything big.
Q. How confident do you feel with all of the Chevys up front? I
know you benefitted today with the extra boost, but no failures that I know
of. You've just been really superior and it's been the superior program
this month, and did you expect that in all of the hearing, wrangling that went
on?
RYAN BRISCOE: We have not been happy about the outcome of the
Turbogate. Seemed like a bit of an unfair rule change but Chevy has
worked hard.
You know, we just kept our heads down. I can't tell you how proud I am to
run with the bow tie here. The history of Chevrolet and their
involvement, I mean, it's just ‑‑ they are there, every step of the
way. They continually are giving us updates and they just don't stop
working.
So you know, we are extremely happy to have Chevrolet engines. They will
certainly, they are certainly the motor to have today, and they have been, I
believe, all year long. We are going to work hard to keep bringing those
wins home for them.
Q. With all of the changes in the car and everything else in the end, it's
still Team Penske. What sets this team apart? What sets Roger apart
from everybody else?
RYAN BRISCOE: Well, I mean, it's the preparation. It's
definitely the preparation. But I think it's the experience. Over
600 years of experience on the team ‑‑ that's a quote from Roger. I
haven't done that tally.
But it adds up. All of these guys with all of this experience, and
Roger's own experience; Helio's experience, Rick Mears' experience, all of
these guys, all of our mechanics are so experienced. I think that helps
us once we get here to do things methodically, not get ahead of ourselves,
never get overconfident and just keep working hard.
But it all starts with the preparation.
Q. Down deep inside what does this pole today really mean for you as a
person? I know it means a lot for the team but just talk about what it
means to you for your first pole here at Indianapolis?
RYAN BRISCOE: It's hard not to just be thinking about a starting
position for the race. But I guess it's an award where my name will go
down forever as something I've won here at the Indy 500.
You know, this race is just so important; it's so big, and I think even just a
pole win here is remembered. So it's a great feeling. They were
four really good laps and I was proud of myself and the team for the setup they
gave me today. They were really consistent. It was lap four that
got me the pole today. It wasn't the outright speed that we had. It
was the consistency we had over four laps.
It's just a great feeling. 17 poles for Roger here at the Indy 500 and to
have my name on the list of drivers that have done that for him, it's a great
feeling.
Q. When you think of all the names that have won races and poles here and
now Ryan Briscoe is part of that, that has to really be something that you
really thought about when you joined this team was something that you would
like to do, but now you've actually done that.
RYAN BRISCOE: Yeah, I mean, it's great. It's good.
Thank you. I don't know what else you want me to say, I've sort of talked
about it.
Q. You talked about how you're all for one, one for all, but how
seriously would you have felt if one of your own teammates knocked you off the
pole?
RYAN BRISCOE: Well, wouldn't have been the first time, would
it. So, hey, it's just part of the game, and as I said before, you know,
we work together. We push each other hard all the time, and it's great
that we are often competing against each other all the time, whether it's here
or the road courses or any track. We always seem to be going head‑to‑head
for the pole and obviously this one means more than any of the others.
But it would have been nice to be sitting here with both my teammates on the
front row with me. But we have got three cars in the front two rows and
that's a massive accomplishment.
Q. Probably would have been more dramatic to go out as the last guy and
knock somebody else off, but I take it you were fairly comfortable just sitting
in the car sweating while it happened?
RYAN BRISCOE: Yeah, it was hot. But I was ready to go.
If we had to go, I was ready to go, and you know, I felt like we could have at
least done the same again. We weren't going to make any changes, but I
was ready. I was focused and that was the big thing just sitting in there
for an hour and a half, just trying to keep focused and trying to keep cool.
It looked like second run on the motors, they might have been losing a bit of
horsepower, and so I was a little bit more comfortable having seen the Andretti
cars go through the second time and not better their speeds. It made me a
little bit more comfortable.
But (Ryan) Hunter-Reay, he had a good run that last run and I was ready ‑‑
gloves on, ready to go.
Q. Can you even fathom how small, was it three 1,000s of a second is?
RYAN BRISCOE: Well, I think that's a lesser margin than I beat (Scott)
Dixon to win Chicago a few years ago and that was like crossing the line side‑by‑side.
That's how close it was, if you had the ghost car out there, we would have been
crossing the line side‑by‑side. A hell of an accomplishment by (James)
Hinchcliffe. He did a great job and he may have just burnt up his tires a
bit much on the warm up lap.
THE MODERATOR: Side‑bar note. His pole speed, the difference
of 23 thousandths of a second for four laps, the ten miles, is 9.168
inches. So over the ten‑mile run, 9.168 inches.
RYAN BRISCOE: I told him he should have ducked his head coming
down the straight.
Q. The two guys starting to your right are going to be pretty formidable
foes. Talk about how Andretti has stepped themselves up and even Roger
looks at them as being the favorites; that they are the guys you've got to
beat?
RYAN BRISCOE: You know Andretti, they are always strong here in
the race. And the surprise was how good they were in qualifying, because
normally they are a little bit off in qualifying, but really bring it in the
race.
They have been strong in race runs. I feel like we have been just as
strong, though, and I feel like there are a lot of cars out there that have been
strong. I think it's going to be a pretty wild race. I think nobody
is going to be able to pull away. There's going to be a lot of
passing. It's going to be a pretty grueling 500‑mile race, and it's going
to be hard to predict a winner until you see them come out of turn four and
maybe even then, you won't know it.
So it's going to be a tough race. I think it's going to be all about
executing on the day, not making mistakes, having good pit stops and keeping
your nose clean
Q. Was it any easier the second qualifying session than it was in the
first?
RYAN BRISCOE: First of all, this place is never easier. You
can say less difficult maybe. But certainly, you always have to keep your
mind focused on this place. You can never think, just because you are a
mile‑an‑hour slower that it doesn't make a difference. You know, when
something goes wrong here, it goes wrong big.
But in the end of the day, I felt that all of the runs that I did, I tried everything
I could.
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 TEAM GODADDY.COM ANDRETTI
AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 2ND: MODERATOR: James, your
first lap of qualifying, we could hear the roar in here. People were
excited about your run you and made a great effort to get it done and came up
just a little short.
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah, the smallest of
margins. It's heartbreaking in a sense but the end of the day we get to
start on the front row for the Indy 500 and that's the coolest thing
ever. It's been a huge team effort, you see our cars were second, third
and fourth on the grid. The other two drivers that made the show today,
it's awesome to see the kind of results that we are getting because these guys
have been working so hard.
And having the Go Daddy car in the front row is exciting. Like I said,
I'm going to lose a little bit of sleep over how small that margin was to Ryan
and to know that we had it for three or four laps, but that's Indy, man.
It's a gust of kind; it's a shadow over a corner that changes, and that can
sometimes be the difference.
But at the end of the day, it's great result for us.
THE MODERATOR: I do want you to repeat what you said to me when you
looked up at the board.
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: I said, "226.484, those numbers will haunt me
for the rest of my life."
Q. I remember a different press conference last year from team Andretti,
and you weren't part of that, but you remember it, as well. Are we ready
now to say that there is no longer just big two, but perhaps big three with you
in that number and with Andretti in that number?
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: I have a little bit of ways to go before I'm at
Ryan (Hunter-Reay) and Marco's (Andretti) level. They have both been
around longer and are both race winners and I still have to earn those
things. It's cool that off the bat I have been able to keep pace with
them and compete with them. You've heard it so much from us this year and
even especially this month, how well we are working together is awesome.
We really are just one unit of three guys rather than three units of single car
team sort of thing.
It's just incredible to see three people in such a competitive environment able
to work so closely together and share that information and really push each
other. I think that's where these results are coming from.
Q. Andretti, Penske, Ganassi
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: There's three Andrettis in the top four, you tell
me.
Q. James, since 2009, your sponsor has put a lot of emphasis on the
Indianapolis 500. Talk about how it would be to be the driver that gives
them the victory here?
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: I don't even want to think about it. You start
thinking about winning the race, you're not going to win the race; you jinx
yourself.
Go Daddy, they have been such an incredible sponsor of this series and they
have been so good to me; they have treated me so well in the last six months.
It really has been more fun than I ever thought this job could be.
And I just want to give them their first win and if it happens to be at the
500, it makes it exponentially better. But at the end of the day, we want
to get into victory lane this year and we want to do it for the team and for
myself and like you say, forgo daddy. They have given this sport so much
and it's time we gave a little back.
Q. In a lot of ways, you've connected with the fans because you're not afraid
to interact with them. You'll walk back to the pits and sign autographs
and talk to them before the driver that as we said would get in the and buzz on
out of here. How much has that helped with your popularity here?
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: I don't know. I'm just me, man. The
big thing is I was the kid with the marker and a hero card for a long
time. I was on the other side of the fence for a long time, so I know
what it means for somebody to stop and sign an autograph. Obviously we
are really busy and especially at the racetrack, you're running back trying to
get de briefs and stuff.
I get yelled at by my engineers every once in awhile because I'm always the
last guy back after a session. It's part of our sport. As much as
drivers like to think we are here for us to go racing, we are really here to
put on a show for the fans. So it's a small thing for us to do.
Q. Three 1,000ths of a second is literally the speed it takes to blink
your eye.
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: It's considerably less than that, actually.
Q. I'll have to check that on Google. As you think about it and go
through your run, do you have any idea where you've lost that three 1,000s of a
second?
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Three 1,000s of a mile an hour, which average over
four laps the only reason I kind of know is this because last
year I missed out on fastest rookie to J.R. Hildebrand by four 1,000ths of a
mile an hour and I can tell you route now, over four laps, ten miles, that's
the physical distance that I lost it by. So, yes, I've thought long and
hard about how those ten miles unfolded, and where that could have been.
(Laughter).
Q. James, you're lighthearted and everything, how does your personality
change when you slip into the cockpit and take off on a run like that?
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: I try to have a lot of fun outside the car,
because let's face it, I've got the coolest job in the world. So it's
pretty easy to enjoy it. I think some people get kind of lost in it and
they don't enjoy it in the moment and we are here for such a short period of
time, it would be a shame to not enjoy the time you're given.
But at the end of the day, I take my job very seriously and I take the racing
very seriously. Yeah, there is, there's a switch, once the helmet goes on
and the visor goes down, the lighthearted, jovial character sort of disappears
a little bit and you have to get down to business.
So it's something I've worked on a little bit. I've worked with a sports
psychologist for a number of years when I was younger to learn how to flick
that switch and get that job done what I had to.
Q. Can you talk about the warmup lap? Was it 227, was that right?
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah (sighing). Let's talk about that.
Q. Did that warmup lap maybe cost you the pole?
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Yeah, probably. The thing is, I mean, I did
nothing different than I have ever other qualifying attempt and every other
qualifying simulation throughout practice, the exact same routine and I've
never had a warmup lap quicker than my first flyer. The car just seems to
wind p around here and I just haven't seen it.
I did everything exactly the same, and when I saw that 227 in the warmup, I
thought, all right, this will do, because it's probably going to go
quicker. And it didn't. It didn't go quicker. It went a
fraction slower on the first flyer and that definitely concerned me a little
bit because we have seen the tires fall off a little bit as the run goes on.
Man, yeah, that's why we went back out. We thought if we had a little bit
of a slower warmup lap, we would have a little bit more in the tank to do it
but unfortunately it just wasn't in the cards today.
Q. And if you would both answer this, do you have a
better race car or a better qualifying car?
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: Tell you in eight days.
I mean, I think we made a lot of good progress with the race car being able to
have a team of five cars and go out there and sort of orchestrate a little bit
of a mini race was awesome, and then tremendously beneficial.
Again it just goes back to what Ryan (Hunter-Reay) was saying about the team
work, and people will try and crash our party and we didn't like that.
But I think we are in a pretty good position, and it really just is going to
come down it's a long race. It's a lot of clean pit
stops and a lot of good strategy calls it's going to take to win it but we have
race cars as good as our qualifying cars.
RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 28 TEAM DHL/SUN DROP CITRUS SODA
ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 3RD : Q. Before
we go forward, let's welcome Ryan Hunter‑Reay who did a tremendous job getting
on the front row. We chatted earlier, we saw you agonize in this press
conference room when you had a car that could not find speed and now you have a
race car that has lots of speed.
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Yeah, and I definitely prefer this side of it.
It's a lot more fun this way. It's been a really enjoyable week,
and to have it come down to this where we are fighting for the pole and really
have a legitimate shot at getting the pole at Indy has been so much fun.
It's been all down to the team. This team has worked so hard over 364
days now, just a complete turnaround.
I cannot thank them enough for giving me such a fast race car. We let
(Ryan) Briscoe have it today but hopefully next week we'll go out and go two
better and win this thing.
Man, what a deal today. I thought that last lap, that last outing when we
did the 226.5 or whatever, the car felt the best I've ever had it and I thought
maybe, just maybe, we could stay at 226.5 or maybe go quicker. I wasn't
breathing much, I was just holding my breath and making sure everything was
perfect and the car was having every bit of room it wanted. That's what
Indy is about, enjoying that. It's good to be here.
Q. This is a question for both of you. Most of
the drivers saw their times fall way off from the first run to the second run,
or in a couple of cases, the third run. Both of you were able to keep
your speed or increase your speed. How much did the car change from the
first run in the last 90 minutes to the second, and then also, how are you guys
able to keep the speed up when a lot of other drivers couldn't?
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: I don't know, that's a good question. I
don't know.
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: We could tell you but we would have to kill
you.
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: When we are out there on a hot racetrack,
hopefully that means we are going to do the same thing next week.
We kept making changes to the 28 car, and we were trying anything we could to
get it going. We knew we needed a pretty calm wind to make it
happen. If you have a headwind or a tailwind here, you're going to be
fighting it one way or the other.
So to have it pretty calm would be critical and we were sitting there staring
at the flags hoping we would get it right. But it was definitely a
balance improvement when we went out and I think that was down to the changes
we made. I definitely have to thank the crew and team for that.
As we have been saying all month, the team work has been awesome. We have
been interchangeable, different set ups moving around, different changes, one
guy finds something that works and we plug it right on our car and vice versa;
the way it should be. It's been a very efficient process.
MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 26 TEAM RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT
CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 4TH: “We lost a mile an hour over night
and never found it, so that’s where the pole went. I'm surprised, because I'm
not sure where it went. But I'm not surprised, because it's Indy. It's a tough
place. We've had a really good car in traffic all week, so I'm confident we can
win it from fourth.”
WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET -
QUALIFIED 5TH: THE MODERATOR: Will, it's an interesting
format, and we have similar formats in the road courses. Just your
thoughts about the day overall, and you made a couple of runs at the top spot
and came up just a little bit short.
WILL POWER: Yeah, it was strange to me, our speed kind of really
dived there. We were wide open the whole time and the car was very
comfortable. You know, this place is very wind sensitive, temperature
sensitive.
Yeah, I was happy with Top‑5. This morning I would have said ‑‑ I thought
six was about as good as I could get, so fifth is not bad.
Q. Now over the years, having done a lot of these, we hear a lot of,
well, things change but for some reason it seems like we have heard more of
that in this press room that things dramatically changed and set up was about
the same. Did it feel that way to you or it just typical Indianapolis
from your perspective?
WILL POWER: Yeah, Indy is funny, every now and then, a guy will do
a run and just go much ‑‑ go, bam, put out a big time and you'll have no
clue why or what happened. That's what it seemed like today again.
And it seemed like that for me this morning. I didn't expect to go that
fast.
Yeah, it's that sort of place. I think 2010 Helio (Castroneves) punched
out a mega time, 28.0.
HELIO CASTRONEVES, NO. 3 SHELL V-POWER/PENNZOIL ULTRA
TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 6TH: HELIO CASTRONEVES:
I don't know, I guess you guys are following me. You take my thunder away
(LAUGHS). But good for him (Ryan Briscoe).
WILL POWER: Sorry. How was your day?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: My day was actually ‑‑ I really pushed,
man.
WILL POWER: Just tell us about the run and your afternoon.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: I don't understand, because we were actually
doing pretty good, 226 over there and all of a sudden it was 224.
WILL POWER: I was expecting you to go out and do 26.
RYAN BRISCOE: 27.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Happy for Ryan and happy for the team. I
feel that we both helped in a way because we are always sharing information and
that's the way we do it.
WILL POWER: We really helped in that we were slower, which allowed
him to ‑‑ (Laughter).
HELIO CASTRONEVES: But you know, in the end of
the day, you've got to have one fast guy, and he was able to make it
happen. So it's a very ‑‑ this place, it's very difficult. You
can't understand. If you think you understand, forget it, because it's
going to drive you crazy, and today, it just proved that Ryan, consistent,
ended up taking the pole today.
So happy for the No. 3 Pennzoil Ultra Chevrolet and Team Penske to have three
cars in the Top‑6.
WILL POWER: Pretty good.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: I'm happy; we can win the race starting from
six.
Q. So you truly have no clue why your teammate was awhile an hour faster?
WILL POWER: Man, I'll tell you, conditions change. Like you
get a gust of wind, it's really like that. But he was consistently quick
for four laps. He went we will over a‑mile‑an‑hour quicker than he had
gone all day, or all month.
Yeah, it is a strange place. I was surprised at how fast I was this
morning. I went out, suddenly 25.9, quicker than I had ever gone, for
what reason, not sure. But that's Indianapolis, and I think it's great
for the team to get a pole because I really didn't think we do. I thought
that ‑‑
HELIO CASTRONEVES: I thought we had a good chance.
WILL POWER: Actually I thought you had a good chance.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: I never thought we never had a chance.
Never lost faith. I knew we had three good cars. I felt like our
car was a little bit stronger, especially the many tries that we did in
practice above 226 that I felt very strong. But it wasn't meant to be.
Q. Knowing Ryan as you do, what do you think the significance of the pole
is for him personally and also why is it so important for Roger Penske, this is
number 17 with 11 different drivers.
WILL POWER: For Ryan, it will be a massive deal. He loves
this place. I think he had a bit of a rough start to the season, so, you
know, it all comes around, doesn't it.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah.
WILL POWER: It all works out in the end. I think that's
going to be a big tick in the box for him. I mean, he's been searching
for that one for a while.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: I agree. For him, it's a big deal.
Pole position, No. 2 of the season for him, and especially here in
Indianapolis, a place that he's been second before, and so he knows how to go
around for sure.
I'm honestly very happy for him.
Q. How about for Roger Penske, this is number 17.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Roger, he loves this place, and I have his car
that he commands from the race, I think starting from the pole for him is even
more special. You should ask this question for him but from my point of
view, he always says, when one guy wins, the team wins. And today, Ryan
is the guy that put the Team Penske up there.
Q. There's been a lot of talk about the changes that has gone through and
the weather today. Can you give us an idea, your fastest and the changes
you made to adapt to the weather?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yes, when you're running like that in a very
limited conditions, we really trimmed out and tried everything we could.
We started going a little bit crazy to a point that it started becoming a
little stupid. We were able to manage all of these little changes.
Like I said, this place, it's amazing. If you get the right time and have
the right equipment, you're probably going to be the guy.
But for me, I'm very happy with the way my car was handling out there for so
many runs that I did, and able to go flat out without any issues, for me, I'm
very ‑‑ I'm looking forward for the race to be honest.
Q. Both of you, when you go out in the morning or the
early, first qualifying round, do you show everything you've got or do you hold
back a little bit knowing you can be up in the first three rows?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: I show everything I've got to be
honest. I guess that the temperature was a little cooler in the air, so
maybe that's why times change. That's why sometimes it's good for
practice because you go and get warm and go again.
But yes, right at this time, I learned my lesson last year playing
conservative. This year, I didn't want to do it begin.
Q. You've won the pole here four times, so you know what it's like to
have ‑‑ you're the king of the week and when you ran, you were actually
the king for two weeks. Talk a little about how winning the Indy 500 pole
gets a driver probably more exposure than winning another IndyCar Series
race. Talk about what Ryan will have in store for him this week in terms
of being the guy that's going to be the face of the Indy 500 this year.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Certainly for him, he's
going to have a long week ahead of him, a lot of publicity, which is good, and
good for him, good for our sponsors. Not only that, I don't think he's
going to be sleeping very well. He's going to be very anxious to go to
the race, at least that's what happens. You kind of know that you have a
good car and good speed and you have to go for it, but you have to pace
yourself.
We are going to practice tomorrow. He might go out ‑‑ and he
actually, when we used to have the whole month, we did not practice on
Monday. We just shake down the cars and everything. So we used to
go out and celebrate the Saturday, but I don't think he's going to do
that. Going to have to practice tomorrow, we have to continue working on
the race car now. Focus changes completely.
The only tough part is waking up very early in the morning to take the picture,
because you want to stay out late. But that's a good refresh. Put
it this way, he's going to enjoy it very much, and I'm happy for him.
Q. As far as the news coverage, he's going to be the guy that everybody
is going to be talking about leading into the race.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Certainly people will recognize much better,
you're right. Anything you do here in Indianapolis, it's bigger than any
other race. Indy, you're talking about Indianapolis, everything knows,
everybody heard.
So when you succeed here, it's going to be bigger than any other race.
Q. I understand that there could be ‑‑ the way the car is this year,
a boost penalty if you go over a certain amount.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Correct.
Q. I was curious if either of you experienced that in practice or if it
even happened today in qualifying, and maybe you could describe how much speed‑wise
you might be losing, how it would affect you, and I assume it's going to be in
effect in the race as well even though you'll go back to the normal boost.
WILL POWER: It's a big hit if you get a boost penalty. You lose
a couple of mile‑an‑hour on that lap. It's just how IndyCar polices the
amount of boost you can run, so they have a very harsh penalty which if you go
over that for the engine manufacturers.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: If you are in the race, if you have that, you
might be passed, because it's like you're pushing the brake.
Q. You've grown up with Roger Penske; talk about why has he been in your
mind so successful here, even before you came, and how you've seen ‑‑
growing up with him and all of the poles and wins he has.
HELIO CASTRONEVES: For me, Roger is very passionate about
racing. He's a great human being. He has not only ‑‑ people
think it's a hobby for him but actually, it's not. This is
business. He likes to be involved. In fact, he was pretty much
every day here, and wants to know and be on top of it. At the end of the
day, he calls the shots, especially on the car No. 2. So when you see
someone with that experience and that success, and still with the love for the
sport, you start to admire ‑‑ that's why we call him the Captain.
Because we are the shirt, you know, like we are really part of the team.
It's not about me or we or Ryan. It's about Team Penske.
Today when Ryan is in the pole position, we are happy. I mean, obviously
we want to be in his shoes, but you know, we have three ‑‑ we are honored
to be driving for him, and if we are driving for him, that's because we deserve
it.
TONY KANAAN, NO. 11 ITAIPAVA | GEICO | MOUSER ELECTRONICS
– KV RACING TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 8TH: “It
was tough qualifying the first time and even tougher the second,” Kanaan
said. “The crew was very emotional because they felt they let me
down. But, how many times have I let them down. We win as a team
and lose as at team. I’m just glad we were able to get back into the Fast
Nine. We will finish working on our race setup tomorrow and then see what
we can do about getting my first win at Indy next Sunday.”
E .J. VISO, NO. 5 CITGO | PDVSA – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY
CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 9TH: “We had a big improvement in
speed for qualifying. It shows the hard work the team has done this
week. As I have said before we had our downs, however obviously today was
one of our highs. We are starting toward the front of the grid and ahead
of the pack, for such a long race that is always an advantage. You want
to have a much clean air as possible and out of the way of any incidents.
Now our goal is to work to have a great race car that will take us to the end
of the race and that is all I am looking for right now. I am very
thankful for all the hard effort my crew made this week and hopefully our dream
will come true a next weekend.”
RUBENS BARRICHELLO, NO. 8 BMC | EMBRASE – KV RACING TECHNOLOGY
CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 10TH: “I am really happy. It's been
one heck of a day and I can't tell you what my emotions were for the two hours
before I got back in the car after practice. To have been able to go as
fast as I have ever been around the track, makes me very proud. I want to
thank everyone in KV Racing Technology, for putting me through the process of
learning every stage carefully. I think today we conquered something and
to have qualified in the top-10 at my first Indianapolis 500 makes me feel very
privileged.”
ANA BEATRIZ, NO. 25 TEAM IPIRANGA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT /
CONQUEST RACING CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 13TH: “Today has put us in
a great position. If you had asked me at the start of the month if I’d be happy
with starting 13th, I would be very happy because it is a great
starting position for the race. I think we have a very good race car and also
have to congratulate my other teammates who did so well in qualifying. After
the times we were seeing yesterday, I really thought we had a chance in the top
nine. Somehow, we lost some speed today. However, we are still in a position
where we can move up in the race. I am confident and very thankful for all of
the Ipiranga Andretti Autosport / Conquest Racing team for all of their hard
work.”
JR HILDEBRAND, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING
CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 18TH: “In the big scheme of things the
race is what it’s all about. Qualifying is qualifying, while it certainly makes
a difference, if you’ve got a good racecar that’s all that counts on Sunday.
There are a couple of things that we think may have been issues, but in the big
scheme of things the setup of the car really hasn’t changed that much. Without
being able to practice some and get a couple of runs in to actually see the times
go back up, I think all we’d have done by doing another run is shoot ourselves
in the foot. It’s just kind of how it works sometimes. On Pole Day obviously
you’ve got a shot at it early in the morning, if everything isn’t right you
come out and then this is just kind of what you get. We were a late draw, and
we didn’t really have the time to go back out and figure out what was wrong. I
think rather than just throwing it back out there or getting into a tail spin
of trying a bunch of different things to work out an issue, the long and the
short of it is that we had a lot of speed yesterday, and it’s just not there
today.”
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA, NO. 17 TEAM AFS ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT
CHEVROLET – QUALIFIED 24TH – IS THE FINAL CAR LOCKED IN THE FIELD
FROM TODAY’S QUALIFYING: “It was another amazing day getting ready for the
Indianapolis 500. The show is what it’s all about. Unfortunately for us, we had
an engine issue going out for our (first) qualifying run. The AFS Racing /
Andretti Autosport crew guys did an amazing job getting the car back together.
There were four other (Andretti) teams involved that were giving everything and
putting all of their efforts into changing the engine. I am so thankful to them
for getting the car out there. I knew it was going to be tough once we went
back out to qualify. We basically went out there blind since we didn’t get to
do any practice laps. In the end, our qualifying position was not what we were
expecting. We wanted to be one of the cars in the top-nine positions. This is just
the beginning of the show, things got crazy out there at the end of the
session. That’s not exactly how we wanted to get into the race, but we will
start working on having an amazing car in traffic.”
ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S PREMIUM ULTRA VODKA ED
CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET – COMMENT FOLLOWING ACCIDENT DURING QUALIFYING-WILL
QUALIFY ON SUNDAY: “This car has been really inconsistent today. It
was slow and inconsistent in my first qualifying run. It was loose and
sliding around. We made some changes and it was pushing in the practice before
the second qualifying attempt. Then the thing got loose again so I really
don’t know where we are on our setups. We have had difficulty figuring
out this new car. It’s a strange car to get just right. I was trying
to qualify for the Indy 500 so I wasn’t going to lift (off the throttle).
I’ll do the same thing tomorrow to make this race. If I crash another
car, then I crash another car. It’s just very frustrating for me right
now. But we’ll rebuild the backup car and be ready to go on Sunday.
It will be a long night for the Fuzzy’s Vodka guys. It’s not the position we
wanted to be in right now. But it has to be done.”
ORIOL SERVIA, NO. 22 PANTHER/DREYER & REINBOLD RACING
CHEVROLET – COMMENT FOLLOWING ACCIDENT DURING QUALIFYING-WILL QUALIFY ON
SUNDAY: “I was a little loose in turn one on the outlap. Sometimes on
the outlap the tires are still not there. My teammate JR (Hildebrand) told us
his car was a little loose. We thought we adjusted it out of the car but
it wasn’t enough. I really didn’t think it was going to go, but it
did. It’s never fun but I’m sure the team is going to work hard to
put the car back together and we’ll be out there again.”
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 7 DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET – WILL
QUALIFY ON SUNDAY: “It’s just too bad that we couldn’t make the field today
but that is the way it is. We can’t only focus on the race tomorrow
because we’re going to have to make another attempt to get the car in the field
but that’s just the way it is. I wish we were faster but that is
where we are for the moment and maybe we can find some speed for
tomorrow. The boys did a very good job of putting the cars together but
it is difficult because it takes probably a bit more than to pull some strong
speeds. It is deceptive because this morning the car felt really
strong and now I’m struggling to understand how we lost speed. It’s
strange, but that’s Indy.”
KATHERINE LEGGE, NO. 6 TRUECAR-DRAGON RACING CHEVROLET –
WILL QUALIFY ON SUNDAY: “We had a very up and down day. This morning in
practice we were really getting somewhere and I think we were relatively
competitive, 24th so this morning’s time would have put us in the
field. Then this afternoon it got hotter and hotter and the track got
slicker and slicker. We went out to practice and had a bit of an issue
with the car that we managed to iron out and then went back out to qualify and
a glitch meant that the green flag wasn’t thrown so I had to pit. We went
back in line and Jay (Penske) decided to pull the car from the field because it
was probably safer to just put it in tomorrow with no pressure. The
entire TrueCar team have done an incredible job. My engineers have done
an outstanding job, my crew guys have been amazing, I think for them more than
anything, we could have put it in the field today, so I’m gutted we didn’t
because we had the speed, which is a miracle considering the lack of running
we’ve had so far. So yeah, we’ll have to regroup, refocus, come back tomorrow,
and instead of P24, we’ll be P25 or P26. The main thing is that we’ll be
in the Indy 500. We have the speed, we have a good car and we know which
direction to head. Yes, we’re behind the eight ball from the lack of
testing, but confidence is building.”
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centered around children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Our goal is
to help to unlock the hidden potential in children with Autism, and to promote
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___________________________________________________________
N A S C A R * N A
T I O N W I D E * S E R I E S
___________________________________________________________
Courtesy of Jayski
- Sadler on pole at Iowa: #2-Elliott Sadler won the Coors Light Pole for the Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 at Iowa Speedway with a speed of 133.911 mph. #12-Sam Hornish, Jr. will start second. The rest of the top ten: #6-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., #18-Michael McDowell, #31-Justin Allgaier, #3-Austin Dillon, #11-Brian Scott, #20-Darrell Wallace, Jr., #7-Danica Patrick, and #22-Parker Kligerman. Did Not Qualify: None. The starting lineup is posted on the Iowa starting lineup page (pdf).(5-19-2012)
- Iowa
Speedway Qualifying Notes:
Elliott Sadler won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 2nd Annual Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 with a lap of 23.523 seconds, 133.911 mph.
This is his 13th pole in 174 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his second pole and 10th top-10 start in 2012.
This is his second pole in three races at Iowa Speedway.
Sam Hornish Jr. (second) posted his fifth top-10 start of 2012 and his second in two races at Iowa Speedway.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (third) posted his fourth top-10 start at Iowa Speedway. It is his 10th in ten races this season.
Austin Dillon (sixth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.(NASCAR Statistics)(5-19-2012) - Hornish fastest in practice: #12-Sam Hornish, Jr. was fastest during the only practice at Iowa Speedway with a speed of 134.782mph. #3-Austin Dillon was second, followed by: #33-Brendan Gaughan, #2-Elliott Sadler, #31-Justin Allgaier, #6-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., #38-Brad Sweet, #54-Kurt Busch, #7-Danica Patrick, and #88-Cole Whitt. See complete results on the Iowa practice 1 speeds page (pdf).(5-19-2012)
- NASCAR Nationwide Series at Iowa on ESPN: The NASCAR Nationwide Series races this weekend at Iowa Speedway near Des Moines and the race airs live on ESPN on Sunday, May 20. NASCAR Countdown airs at 1:30 p.m. ET with the race's green flag at 2:24 p.m.(ESPN)(5-14-2012)
- Threewide Clothing joins Jeremy Clements Racing: Jeremy Clements Racing announces their newly formed partnership with Threewide Clothing. Threewide Clothing will be on board the #51 as associate sponsor beginning with Sunday's John Deere 250 in Iowa. Threewide is the maker of a wide assortment of race appearal for race teams and fans . They will offer an extended line of Jeremy Clements Racing merchandise.(Clements PR)(5-18-2012)
- Biagi returning to Nationwide Series: According to their website, "Biagi-DenBeste Racing is proud to anounce that we will be fielding the 98 car for the 2012 Nationwide race season. The car will commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Shelby American. We will not be doing a full season, but we are confirmed to race at Charlotte, Kentucky, Daytona, and Indianapolis. Driver information to be coming shortly." Biagi first appeared in the Nationwide Series in 2001 and operated until 2007. Team drivers included Mike Wallace, Mark Green, Jeff Green, and Ryan Hemphill.(5-18-2012)
- F.W. Webb to sponsor New Hampshire race: Over the last three years, they have sponsored races in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and Camping World Truck Series, as well as the most posh and expensive bathroom in New Hampshire. Now, in its fourth year with New Hampshire Motor Speedway, F.W. Webb Company is piping in again. The Northeast's largest plumbing, heating, cooling and industrial supplies distributor has signed on as the official title sponsor for the July 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series race, the F.W. Webb 200. "F.W. Webb has become a key fixture here at the speedway," said Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and general manager of NHMS. "In addition to the sponsorships, they have been an integral part of our building and renovation projects over the past four years. Through their great products and support, they are literally helping build a better New Hampshire Motor Speedway for our guests. This is a great example of a true business-to-business partnership. NHMS and F.W. Webb Company have been in partnership since signing a multi-year deal back in 2009. Since then, F.W. Webb Company has sponsored two Whelen Modified Tour races (a third this September named the F.W. Webb 100), a Camping World Truck Series race and Frank Webb's Bath House, a mammoth on-site bathhouse for race fans. It has also helped supply materials for millions of dollars in renovations throughout the speedway facility.(NHMS)(5-18-2012)
- Matt Carter to practice #87 at Iowa: While NASCAR driver Matt Carter continues to pursue sponsorship in order to return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series scene, he has been hustling in the garage area over the past month working in a variety of roles with Go Green Racing (GGR). This weekend, the Denver, North Carolina native will practice and qualify the #87 AM / FM Energy Wood Pellet Stoves Toyota Camry for NEMCO Motorsports at Iowa Speedway. The 31-year old will temporally pinch-hit for car owner Joe Nemechek who will be partaking in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series activities at Charlotte Speedway. While the avid racecar driver won't be behind the wheel for race day, he will spot for the former NASCAR Nationwide Series champion.(Carter PR)(5-17-2012)
___________________________________________________________
C A M P I N G * W
O R L D * T R U C K * S E R I E S
___________________________________________________________
Courtesy of Jayski
- Lofton wins at Charlotte: With less than ten laps remaining, Justin Lofton, driving the #6-College Complete.com Chevrolet for Eddie Sharp Racing, retook the lead from #19-Brad Keselowski; surviving two restarts, to win the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This is Lofton's first victory in 55 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts. Keselowski finished second. Rounding out the top ten were; #11-Todd Bodine, #18-Jason Leffler, #9-Ron Hornaday Jr., #23-Jason White, #22-Joey Coulter, #27-Jeb Burton, #17-Timothy Peters, #3-Ty Dillon. There were 8 lead changes among 7drivers, with 8 caution flags for laps. Complete race results are posted on the Charlotte Race Results page (pdf).(Unofficial)(5-18-2012)
- Race
Awards:
Featherlite Most Improved Driver: Jeb Burton, #27 28 Places
Keystone Light Pole Award: Ty Dillon, #3 181.616 mph
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Earnhardt-Childress Racing, #6
Mobil 1 Oil Driver of the Race: Justin Lofton, #6
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Jeb Burton, #27
(NASCAR Statistics)(5-18-2012) - Driver
point standings following race #5 at Charlotte Motor Speedway:
1) #6-Justin Lofton, 200
2) #17-Timothy Peters, 199 -1
3) #3-Ty Dillon, 184 -16
4) #31-James Buescher, 182 -18
5) #29-Parker Kligerman, 170 -30
6) #9-Ron Hornaday Jr., 169 -31
7) #23-Jason White, 158 -42
8) #30-Nelson Piquet Jr., 155 -45
9) #11-Todd Bodine, 151 -49
10) #22-Joey Coulter, 145 -55
Dover race to be broadcast live: During the race broadcast,
it was announced that the Dover NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race,
normally tape-delayed, would be broadcast live on SPEED at 4:50pm/et [estimated
start time]. [According to SPEEDtv's television schedule; Setup is scheduled to
start at 4:30pm/et with the race broadcast to follow. The race is also
scheduled to rebroadcast at 8:30pm/et.(SPEEDtv.com](5-19-2012)
Burton sponsorship set for only six races: During Friday
night's race broadcast, Ray Dunlap reiterated the fact that State Water Heaters
was set to sponsor Jeb Burton and the #27 Hillman Racing Chevrolet for the
first six races of the season. After, the upcoming Dover race [Friday, June
1st], Burton may be sidelined due to lack of funding. Dunlap reported that owner
Mike Hillman has said he won't run without sponsorship in place.(5-19-2012)
__________________________________________________________
Courtesy of TruckSeries.Com
Lofton
Scores First Victory
05-18-2012 | Mike Hembree, SPEED.com
Justin Lofton scores first victory in 55th career start…
05-18-2012 | Mike Hembree, SPEED.com
Justin Lofton scores first victory in 55th career start…
___________________________________________
A R C A
(Automobile Racing Club of America)
___________________________________________________________
Courtesy of ARCA
Race Fans: Three Ways to Follow the Menards 200!
(TOLEDO, Ohio - May 20, 2012) - Race fans have three ways to
catch all the action from today's Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care
at Toledo Speedway.
___________________________________________________________
N A S C A R * C A
N A D I A N * T I R E * S E R I E S
___________________________________________________________
Marcelli
tracking a win
London Free Press
BOWMANVILLE — Robin Buck only races on road courses in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. That is because he is truly one of those “road course specialist” who turns both left and right in a stock car with terrific results.
London Free Press
BOWMANVILLE — Robin Buck only races on road courses in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. That is because he is truly one of those “road course specialist” who turns both left and right in a stock car with terrific results.
___________________________________________________________
C O L U M N S / C
O M M E N T A R I E S
___________________________________________________________
Insider Racing News
It's Not Always About Racing
By Kim Roberson
__________________________________________________________
T V * L I
S T I N G S
___________________________________________________________
Courtesy of Race Fan TV
|
8:00am-9:00am (L)
|
MotoGP World Championship
|
Le Mans
|
SPEED
|
|
12:00pm (L)
Also on ESPN2 at 7:00pm |
NHRA
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Topeka
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ESPN3
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12:00pm-12:30pm
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Mobil 1 The Grid
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SPEED
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12:00pm-1:00pm (3/31-4/1)
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Star Mazda
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Barber
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VELOCITY
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12:00pm-6:30pm (L)
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IndyCar Bump Day
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Indianapolis
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NBCSN
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1:00pm-2:00pm (R)
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Truth in 24 II: Every Second Counts
The story of Audi's recent domination in the 24 Hours of Le Mans |
SPEED
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1:30pm-2:00pm (L) -Pre-Race
2:00pm-5:00pm (L) -Race |
Nationwide Series
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Iowa
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ESPN
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2:00pm-3:00pm
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Lucas Oil Off Road Racing
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Firebird
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SPEED
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3:00pm-4:00pm (SD/R)
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MotoGP World Championship
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Le Mans
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SPEED
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4:00pm-5:00pm (SD)
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MotoGP Moto2
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Le Mans
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SPEED
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5:00pm-7:00pm (SD)
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ARCA Racing Series
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Toledo
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SPEED
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7:00pm-8:00pm
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SPEED Center
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SPEED
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7:00pm-9:00pm (R)
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AMA Motocross
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Hangtown
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FUEL
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7:00pm-10:00pm (SD)
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NHRA
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Topeka
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ESPN2
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8:00pm-9:00pm (L)
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Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain
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SPEED
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9:00pm-9:30pm
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Inside the Headsets
-The 28th NASCAR All-Star Race |
SPEED
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11:00pm-12:00am (R)
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SPEED Center
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SPEED
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Monday, May 21, 2012
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|||
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12:00am-12:30am (R)
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Inside the Headsets
-The 28th NASCAR All-Star Race |
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SPEED
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12:30am-2:30am (R)
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Nationwide Series
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Iowa
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ESPN2
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1:00am-2:00am (R)
7:00am-8:00am (R) |
Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain
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SPEED
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8:00am-9:00am (R)
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SPEED Center
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SPEED
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9:00am-9:30am (R)
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Inside the Headsets
-The 28th NASCAR All-Star Race |
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SPEED
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10:00am-11:00am (R)
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Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain
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SPEED
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11:00am-12:00pm (R)
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1979 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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12:00pm-12:30pm (R) -Pre-Race
12:30pm-3:00pm (R) -Race |
Camping World Truck
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Charlotte
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SPEED
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12:00pm-2:00pm (R)
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1996 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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2:00pm-4:00pm (R)
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1997 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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3:00pm-3:30pm
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NASCAR Now
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ESPN2
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3:00pm-5:00pm (R)
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AMA Motocross
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Hangtown
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NBCSN
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4:00pm-6:00pm (R)
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1999 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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5:00pm-5:30pm (R)
5:30pm-6:00pm (R) |
IndyCar 36
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NBCSN
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6:00pm-7:00pm
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NASCAR Race Hub
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SPEED
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6:00pm-8:00pm (R)
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2006 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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7:00pm-7:30pm (R)
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Inside the Headsets
-The 28th NASCAR All-Star Race |
SPEED
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11:00pm-12:00am (R)
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NASCAR Race Hub
|
SPEED
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
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1:00am-1:30am (R)
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NASCAR Now
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ESPN2
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1:00am-2:00am (R)
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1967 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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2:00am-3:00am (R)
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1969 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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3:00am-5:00am (R)
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1981 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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3:00am-5:00am (R)
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AMA Motocross
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Hangtown
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FUEL
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7:00am-8:00am (R)
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NASCAR Race Hub
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SPEED
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10:00am-11:00am (R)
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1969 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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11:00am-1:00pm (R)
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2000 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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12:00pm-1:00pm (5/20)
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MotoGP Moto3
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Le Mans
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SPEED
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1:00pm-2:00pm (R)
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MotoGP Moto2
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Le Mans
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SPEED
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1:00pm-3:00pm (R)
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2001 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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2:00pm-3:00pm (R)
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MotoGP World Championship
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Le Mans
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SPEED
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3:00pm-3:30pm
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NASCAR Now
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ESPN2
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3:00pm-5:00pm (R)
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2002 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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5:00pm-7:00pm (R)
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2009 Indy 500
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Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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5:00pm-7:00pm (R)
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AMA Motocross
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Hangtown
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FUEL
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6:00pm-7:00pm
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NASCAR Race Hub
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SPEED
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7:00pm-9:00pm (R)
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2005 Indy 500
|
Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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10:00pm-12:00am (R)
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2011 Indy 500
|
Indianapolis
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ESPNCL
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11:00pm-12:00am (R)
|
NASCAR Race Hub
|
SPEED
|
|
We do not list all the programming offered by SPEED; for
complete listings go to their website, http://www.speedtv.com/schedule/
Always CHECK YOUR LOCAL LISTINGS!
___________________________________________________________
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Copyright 2002-2010 by MotorSportsNews.Net
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