Friday
Qualifications Set Field For Kansas Speedway’s Road Runner Turbo Indy 300
Press ReleaseFisher to Start 16th; Howard 23rd in Saturday Afternoon’s Race
The duo turned a total of 104 laps during this afternoon’s practice session; Fisher completed 53 laps in her No. 67 Dollar General Honda powered Dallara, while Howard wheeled 51 laps in his SFR No. 66 Service Central sponsored car. Shortly following the extended practice session, qualifications set the field for Saturday’s Road Runner Turbo Indy 300.
Fisher clocked a four-lap average speed of 208.89 miles per hour during the evening qualifying session, which placed her in the 16th starting position, on the outside row 8, alongside Luczo Dragon Racing’s Raphael Matos.
“Qualifying was really a thrash for us because we were out for this afternoon’s practice session and we had to stop a little bit early because we were first out to qualify,” said Fisher, who is ecstatic to be back behind the wheel at Kansas Speedway this weekend. “I think our qualifying run was good. We ran faster than what we did in practice, which means we ran faster than what we did in the tow. We might have been a little bit heavier on downforce than we should have been, but I think it was a good solid run.”
Howard, pilot of the SFR No. 66 Service Central sponsored car, turned a four-lap average speed of 208.77 miles per hour, which placed him in the 23rd starting position, on the inside of row 12, alongside Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay.
“First of all, I obviously want to thank Service Central for putting this program together with Sarah,” said Howard, who will compete in five events for SFR this season. “We were pretty good in practice today, and we didn’t really concentrate on our qualifying run. I think we would have expected to do a little bit better than we did in qualifying, but the race is what counts. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.”
The IZOD IndyCar ® Series presents the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 tomorrow at Kansas Speedway, which will be the fifth race of the 17-race 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season. The race will be aired live on ABC at 1:30pm EST on Saturday, May 1, 2010. Additional coverage will be available on IMS Radio, XM Satellite Radio Channel 145 “IndyCar Racing,” along with broadcast coverage summaries available at www.indycar.com and www.sarahfisher.com.
About Jay Howard:
While closing out his 2009 racing schedule, Howard signed a deal to complete a tailored IZOD IndyCar® Series schedule that would include five events for Sarah Fisher Racing (SFR) in 2010, driving the No. 66 Honda-powered Dallara with backing from SERVICE CENTRAL-the automotive service offering available exclusively at Tire Kingdom, NTB – National Tire and Battery, Merchants Tire and Big O Tires.He’ll attempt to qualify for his first Indy 500 on May 15, 2010. In 2006, the England-born driver won the Firestone Indy Lights championship, an essential step into the top-level of open-wheel racing, the IZOD IndyCar Series. Howard won the championship by four points, marking the closest margin in the Series’ history. That same year, he won two races, had five podium finishes and won two pole positions. He ran five events for Roth Racing in the IndyCar Series in 2008, with a best start of 14th and a best finish of 13th. He competed in three Firestone Indy Lights events in 2007, and took home the U.S. Formula Ford Zetec Championship and Rookie of the Year Honors in 2005; breaking Indy 500 winner Dan Weldon’s Series record, with nine wins. That year, he captured six pole positions and established a Series record, with six consecutive victories. Howard has been a guest or profiled on national platforms such as MTV’s Real World Road Rules Challenge. For more information, pleas visit Jay Howard online at http://www.jayhoward.co.uk/.
About Sarah Fisher:
At just 29 years old, Sarah Fisher has already competed in eight Indianapolis 500′s, been voted “Most Popular Driver” four times in two separate Series (IndyCar and NASCAR), been awarded “Indy’s Best & Brightest Leaders Under 40″ and enters her third season as a team owner in 2010. Fisher is the first woman to qualify fastest for a major North American open-wheel event, the fastest woman to ever qualify for the Indy 500 and is the youngest woman to compete at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Fisher has been a guest or profiled on a variety of national platforms such as, LIVE! With Regis & Kelly, The Tonight Show, The Today Show, Glamour, People and Forbes Magazine, to name a few. In 2008, she formed her own race team: Sarah Fisher Racing (SFR), and made her first start as a team owner in the IndyCar Series’ Indy 500. In May 2009, Fisher made her eighth start in the Indy 500, marking the most number of starts for a woman in the 93-year history of the race.
About Sarah Fisher Racing (SFR):
Sarah Fisher Racing (SFR) is an auto racing team that competes in the IZOD IndyCar® Series, founded by IZOD IndyCar Series veteran racer, Sarah Fisher. Fisher announced plans to become the IZOD IndyCar Series first female owner/driver and the youngest team owner on February 27, 2008, at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS). The team competed in three events in 2008, grew 100 percent in 2009 to six races and will compete in nine events in 2010 with backing from Dollar General. The team also announced plans to run a tailored schedule in 2010 for 2006 Firestone Indy Lights Champion Jay Howard in the No. 66 Honda powered Dallara sponsored by SERVICE CENTRAL-the automotive service offering available exclusively at Tire Kingdom, NTB – National Tire and Battery, Merchants Tire and Big O Tires. The Service Central car is scheduled for five events, including the 94th running of the Indy 500, giving the team its first two-car entry in its two-year existence. For more information, please visit Sarah Fisher Racing online at http://www.sarahfisherracing.com.
- Sarah Fisher Racing, Press Release
Article Tags: IndyCar, IRL, IZOD IndyCar Series, Jay Howard, Kansas Speedway, Road Runner Turbo Indy 300, Sarah Fisher, Sarah Fisher Racing
