Andretti Green Racing
IndyCar Series Pre-Race Report
Road Runner Turbo Indy 300
Kansas Speedway
April 22, 2009
Who: Andretti Green Racing drivers Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti and Hideki Mutoh
What: Road Runner Turbo Indy 300, Round 3 of the 2009 IndyCar Series
Where: Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas
When: Sunday, April 26, 2009, 4 p.m. (EDT)
Television: Versus, Sunday, April 26, 2009, 3 p.m. (EDT)
Driver: Danica Patrick
Car: #7 Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Danica Patrick Facts:
-Patrick is coming off a fourth-place finish at last weekend’s Grand Prix of Long Beach.
-Patrick won her first IndyCar Series race in 2008 at the Indy Japan 300.
-Patrick had three top-five and nine top-10 finishes in 2008 and finished sixth in the final IndyCar Series point standings.
Danica Patrick on the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300:
“I’m looking forward to the race this weekend in Kansas. While we had a great result last weekend in Long Beach, I’m looking forward to our first race on an oval. We did a lot of work during the off-season, so I hope our hard work shows. We had a strong qualifying run last year and started third, so hopefully we will do the same this year.”
Driver: Tony Kanaan
Car: #11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Tony Kanaan Facts
-Captured his first podium finish in 2009 at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, with a third place finish.
-Finished third in the 2008 IndyCar Series championship.
-Has led over 2,500 laps throughout his IndyCar Series career.
-Captured 11 top-five finishes during the 2008 IndyCar Series season.
Tony Kanaan on the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300:
“I finished second in Kansas last year and I think it was a pretty good result for a track that you can easily lose several positions if you are not careful. Kansas is an amazing racetrack, it’s a beautiful place and it will be nice to be on an oval again, flat-out all the way around. I hope to get the Team 7-Eleven car some more points for the championship.”
Driver: Marco Andretti
Car: #26 Team Venom Energy Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Marco Andretti Facts:
-Andretti drove to a sixth-place result in last weekend’s Grand Prix of Long Beach.
-Andretti finished the 2008 IndyCar Series season seventh in point standings with 363 points.
-Won his first career pole position when he claimed the pole at Milwaukee (2008), the same place where his father (Michael) recorded his first pole position.
-Captured six top-five finishes during the 2008 IndyCar Series season.
Marco Andretti on the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300:
“I’m really looking forward to Kansas and getting back to an oval. We had a strong finish last year and hope to do the same this weekend. My engineer (Pete Gibbons) and I have been working really well together this year, and I’m confident that the Team Venom Energy car will be running up front this weekend.”
Driver: Hideki Mutoh
Car: #27 Formula Dream Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Hideki Mutoh Facts:
-Mutoh is in his second season at Andretti Green Racing.
-Mutoh captured the 2008 Bombardier Learjet Rookie of the Year award by finishing 10th in the IndyCar Series championship.
-Mutoh has seven top-10 finishes in the 17 races this season and eight top 10s in his 18 career starts.
Hideki Mutoh on the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300:
“I hope we have a good result this weekend in Kansas. We finished sixth last year so it would be great if we could put the Formula Dream car in the top-five this weekend.”
- Andretti Green Racing Press Release