Firestone Racing

Late last week the companies announced that they would allow the Firestone sponsorship and supply contract to expire at the end of the 2011 season.

“At the end of last week, we had reached the deadline where both organizations had to make a decision regarding the future to prepare our individual operations for the long term,” said Randy Bernard, CEO, INDYCAR. “This is one of those decisions that it is imperative that you have the team owners 100 percent behind you. Early this week we called a meeting to walk the team owners through the process and hear their input. I’m happy to say we walk as one with Firestone.

“We feel that this new supply agreement will benefit everyone. It provides a proven safe and reliable Firestone product for the transition to the all-new cars for 2012. We have to thank everyone at Firestone for working with us to help ensure the best for the long-term growth of our sport,” Bernard concluded.

“INDYCAR called a meeting to inform the team owners of Firestone’s departure,” said Dennis Reinbold, Team Owner, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. “When we learned of this, we encouraged INDYCAR to check with Firestone to see if there might be any chance to continue. We feel that it is important to maintain continuity with their excellent tires as we transition to the new car for 2012. The team owners are collectively very relieved that Firestone had an open mind and that they were able to reach this agreement with INDYCAR. Firestone racing tires are not only important from a safety and reliability standpoint, but they contribute greatly to the wheel-to-wheel competition for which our sport is famous.”

INDYCAR LOGO

Firestone has supplied tires to the IZOD IndyCar Series since 1996. The new agreement does not include Firestone Indy Lights, the developmental series for drivers and teams striving to reach the top level of open-wheel racing in North America. Firestone will remain as title sponsor and tire supplier of the development series through 2011.

About Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations:
Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) is a business unit of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. Reporting into the BATO business unit are the company’s Latin American tire operations; the U.S. and Canadian consumer tire businesses; the U.S. and Canadian commercial tire businesses; and Bridgestone Retail Operations, LLC, which operates the largest network of company-owned automotive service providers in the world. BATO develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires. The business unit is focused on retail, wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off road, motorcycle, agricultural and other tires to its custo mers in the Americas. In addition, through its Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions unit, retreading customers have access to industry-leading research and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales expertise, providing them with a total tire solution.

About Firestone Racing:
The Firestone brand has appeared in world-class motorsports events across the globe since its first documented victory in the inaugural Indianapolis 500-Mile Race(r) in 1911. Since 2002, Firestone has served as the official tire of the IZOD IndyCar(r) Series, Firestone Indy Lights and the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race(r), which has been won by a Firestone-equipped driver 61 times in its 94-year history.

- Firestone Racing/INDYCAR, Press Release

Indy Racing League

Today’s IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights headlines:

1. Former driver Simmons engineering success for Franchitti
2. IZOD IndyCar Series viewership up in 2010
3. Barbosa officially awarded Force For Earth Hard Charger
4. McMillan joins O2 Racing
5. USF2000 National Champion Karam up for award:

1. Former driver Simmons engineering success for Franchitti: Working through the myriad of potential setups of an IZOD IndyCar Series car to maximize its potential on street/road courses and ovals, Target Chip Ganassi Racing engineer Chris Simmons has one constant: driver Dario Franchitti.

“Working with Dario is like having another data acquisition system on the car, he’s so experienced and knowledgeable,” says Simmons, a former Indy Lights competitor and USF2000 national titlist. “The feedback is so clear and concise. It makes mine and Eric’s (Bretzman, Scott Dixon’s engineer) job easier for sure.”

The Simmons-Franchitti duo has won the IZOD IndyCar Series in both years of their association, though the communication and trust foundation was laid years earlier.

“One of the impressive things with Dario is how much he is willing to look at himself to find improvement,” Simmons says. “It’s just not us working on the car. It’s looking at what Scott (Dixon) does and what we’ve done in the past both on the car and driving-wise to find out how we can make the car go faster.

“I’m lucky having worked with Dario at what was Andretti Green Racing, working more next to him than with him. But I knew a lot about him already and that helped jump-start the relationship last year.”

Franchitti won his first series title – and along the way the Indianapolis 500 – with then-Andretti Green Racing in 2007. After competing in stock cars for a half-season in 2008 with Ganassi Racing, he returned to the IZOD IndyCar Series, where Simmons was waiting at the Indianapolis shop after having worked with Darren Manning, Dixon and Dan Wheldon.

This season, Franchitti recorded three victories, two pole starts and 13 top-five finishes in securing the driver title by five points over Will Power. With six top fives, including two victories, on ovals, he earned the inaugural A.J. Foyt Oval Championship Trophy. In the ’09 title season, he had five victories and 13 top-five finishes. As was the case this year, the championship was decided in the final race.

“It’s been a bit different this year,” Simmons says. “You look at Long Beach, where last year we got going and everything went perfectly (started second; finished first). We were still learning about each other and making relatively big changes to the cars. This year, we kind of got ambushed and never really found the right set-up for the changing weather conditions, even though it was the same tire (starting and finishing 12th; a season-low on a street/road course).

“It was a little kick in the butt to get us thinking, ‘Hey, we still have to work at this. It’s not going to be easy and we’re not going to be making only small changes.’ There aren’t that many big things to go through to find speed because we’re more refined on what he wants and needs in the car and the car is even more refined this year. It was a bit more difficult to find speed when we we’ve been at a deficit.”

Franchitti earned the PEAK Performance Pole Award for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which corralled a crucial bonus point in attempting to track down points leader Power. Continual preparation, including testing at the 1.5-mile oval earlier in the week, also is crucial between Simmons, Bretzman and Julian Robertson on the diverse set of racetracks.

“We have checklists for everything thing we do,” Simmons says. “I spent more time than any other event in the past two years going through data and just trying to find any little thing to get us up front and win the race.”

Franchitti clinched the two bonus points for leading the most laps, putting more pressure on Power to overtake the reigning champion. When the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car brushed the wall on Lap 135, Franchitti didn’t have to win the race anymore. Eighth place wrapped up the title, with driver and engineer celebrating in Victory Circle.

A few weeks to celebrate (a team celebration lunch was held Oct. 8 at the shop) and rest, and the engineers and crews will reconvene to begin preparations for the 17-race 2011 schedule – the last in which the current Dallara-Honda package will be utilized.

“We still have a reasonably extensive list of things we want to improve on the cars we have; we’re not at a loss of things to do to prepare for next season,” Simmons says. “It will be a lot of smaller things as every year when you have the car for year and years. In some ways it becomes more significant because if you can find one little thing that nobody else has than that’s an advantage. If we don’t look for it then everybody else is going to catch up so we’re going to keep working.”

2. IZOD IndyCar Series viewership up in 2010: The IZOD IndyCar Series’ second season on Versus averaged 366,000 viewers for 12 telecasts, an increase of 16.2 percent  from 2009.

The championship-deciding Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Oct. 2 saw a 34 percent jump in viewers from last year.

Versus aired the final seven races of the 2010 season, averaging 316,000 viewers for those events. That is up 8.2percent from 292,000 viewers for the network’s final seven telecasts last year.

ABC’s four telecasts, which included the Indianapolis 500, averaged 2.696 million viewers, up 2.3 percent from 2.636 million viewers in ’09.

3. Barbosa officially awarded Force For Earth Hard Charger: Firestone Indy Lights driver Rodrigo Barbosa didn’t expect to receive a postseason award for his 2010 season, so he made plans to leave Miami before he could collect the Force For Earth Hard Charger Award.

“I was surprised when I got the call to tell me (I had won),” the Brazilian said as he accepted his award from two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr on Oct. 14 in Indianapolis.

Driving for his second Firestone Indy Lights season with PDM Racing, the Brazilian improved the most positions during the season to collect the award and its $5,000 prize. He credited his team for helping him achieve the award.
“PDM and I did a great job together,” Barbosa said. “We made a big improvement with the ovals and on the road courses, too. I hope we are working together again next year and can do a better job for next year.”

4. McMillan joins O2 Racing: O2 Racing announced Oct. 12 that veteran race engineer Dave McMillan has joined their team for the 2011 season.

McMillan, a native of New Zealand, has worked with drivers such as Jeff Simmons, Al Unser III, Phil Giebler, Marco Andretti, Jay Howard, Jonny Reid  and Charlie Kimball in his seven years in Firestone Indy Lights and led his drivers to eight  poles, eight wins and 23 podium.

“This action is part of O2 Racing’s long-term focus on team,” O2 Racing owner Mark Olson said. “Motorsport is a team sport, and a team is a group of like-minded individuals who are all willing to do whatever it takes to build something bigger than themselves, individually. Getting Dave on board now for off-season testing and for the 2011 campaign is a key element of our approach to the 2011 championship.”

5. USF2000 National Champion Karam up for award: USF2000 National Championship winner Sage Karam is a semifinalist for the Sports Illustrated Kids SportsKid of the Year.

SI Kids looks for a young athlete who excels in sports, the classroom and in his/her community. The winner will be featured on the cover of SI Kids, honored at Sports Illustrated’s annual Sportsman of the Year awards celebration in New York City and will appear on Cartoon Network’s “Hall of Game.”

Karam, 15, from Nazareth, Pa., recently finished his first season with Andretti Autosport in the USF2000 National Championship series. Karam scored nine victories in 12 starts. In addition to the driver championship title, he also won the VP Fuels Rookie of the Year award. The series is sanctioned by IndyCar.

Off the track, Karam volunteers with Operation Smile and the Michael Fux Foundation and is an honor student. Vote for Karam through Oct. 18 at www.SIkids.com.

- Indy Racing League, Press Release

FIRESTONE FIREHAWK FAST FACTS
IndyCar Series – Honda Indy Toronto
Streets of Exhibition Place – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
July 16-18, 2010 – Round 10 of 17

Race Distance: 148.75 miles/239.390 km (85 laps on the 1.75-mile/2.816-km street circuit).

Television/Radio Broadcast: Live – Sunday, July 18, at 12:30 p.m. ET on ABC, IMS Radio Network, XM Radio 145 and SIRIUS Radio 211.

Firestone Firehawk Race Tires Supplied:
* Primary (black-sidewall) dry-condition slicks: 750, each entry gets six sets (24 total tires);
* Alternate (red-sidewall) dry-condition slicks: 366, each entry gets three sets (12 total tires);
* Wet-condition (rain) tires with grooved tread pattern: 468, each entry has five sets available.

Per series regulations, all cars must use at least one primary set of tires and one new alternate set during the race, each for a minimum of two green-flag laps, unless rain tires are used – then teams are free to use their tire allotment as they see fit. The primary specification for Toronto is new in 2010, while the alternate spec is making an encore performance at the venue. The alternate spec was also used earlier this season at St. Petersburg and Long Beach. The primary spec features new compounds and a slight tire construction change from the ’09 Toronto spec, but is designed to mirror the performance of the Firestone primary spec used at the previous street-course races this season. The alternate tires are identical in construction to the primaries but contain a softer tread compound to provide more grip and faster lap times, yet will trade off compound durability in exchange for those shorter-term advantages. The Toronto wet-tire spec is the “softer” rain, and is the only rain tire Firestone is using for the 2010 season.

From Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing: “We head to the last true temporary street course of the season this weekend for what is always an exciting and well-received event in Toronto. The fans there are knowledgeable and passionate, and they have seen great racing over the years at Exhibition Place. Tire development for this circuit can be challenging, with the bumps inherent on any public street course and the numerous surface changes throughout the lap – and each surface demanding varying grip levels. Firestone has done a very good job over the years designing tires to accept that challenge and we’re confident the new Firehawk primary spec for Toronto is up to the task. As we’ve seen in the past here and at other tracks this season, proper tire management is a key to success; particularly with the Firestone alternates that are speedier but designed not to last as long as the primary tires. It will be fascinating to see how that strategy plays out again this weekend.”

Firestone “Tire-ific” Move of the Race: Following each race, Firestone Racing nominates three drivers who best utilized their Firehawk tires to make a bold, dramatic move during the event. Fans can go to www.indycar.com and vote for the nominee they believe made the most “Tire-ific” move of the race. Dan Wheldon, who recovered from an early spin to finish sixth two weeks ago at Watkins Glen, was voted the “Tire-ific” winner for that race and will receive his $10,000 prize in Toronto pre-race activities on Sunday.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

As the green flag dropped, both Wilson and Tracy had a flawless start and made it safely through the first lap. The first stint proved to be an exciting one for both DRR cars. Initially, Wilson gained a position and Tracy picked up four spots in the first two laps. By lap 10 Wilson was running in 4th position and Tracy was 9th, but both drivers started to lose grip, and fell back before pitting on lap 18.

On the first pit stop Wilson made the switch from the Firestone Firehawk Alternate (red-sidewall) tires to the Firestone Firehawk Primary (black-sidewall) tires. In addition, the team added more front wing, which lost them some time in the pits and as a result the Brit would lose more positions. He emerged in 13th place and at that point it was a battle the entire race. It was a similar story for Tracy as well. As the first stint came to an end, he would continue to fight under-steer. The Canadian came in the same time as Wilson and made the same adjustments to the car.

From that point on both drivers settled into a groove, but the two would fight balance issues for the remainder of the race. Luckily, that didn’t hold them back as they continued to work their way up the grid. Both drivers came in two more times for fuel and tires and then to top off again in the end. Wilson and Tracy brought their cars home safely with Wilson finishing 10th and Tracy 14th.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will have a weekend off before heading to Toronto for the Honda Indy Toronto. The race will take place on July 17th and will be live on ABC. For more updates on the team, please visit www.dreyerreinboldracing.com.

What they have to say…

Justin Wilson, No. 22 Z-Line Designs: “”It was a lot of work to finish 10th today. Everybody on the Z-Line Designs car worked hard, but we were fighting all the way through just trying to make something happen. The Firestone reds were graining pretty badly during that first stint, but that was the gamble we made starting on them. Unfortunately we lost several more spots in that first pit-stop which put us on the back foot. After that we were just working hard to make those positions back and move forward. We were reasonably quick, but just had too much work to do. We’re looking forward to Toronto now.”

Paul Tracy, No. 24 Honda Indy Toronto / Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Dallara: “It wasn’t the day we were hoping for with the DRR/Honda Indy Toronto/ Motegi Wheels car, but we kept fighting at it all day and got the handling better on the car and ultimately ended up with a 14th place result. We had some issues in the race with the radio and not having communication at times, which made it difficult at times.

Also, I think Justin struggled with the same thing as me which was the balance. It’s not what we wanted, but we brought the car home and got some points and that’s all that matters. I had a great time working with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and I hope that I get the opportunity to do it again and get to work with Robbie and Dennis and the rest of the team. Overall, it was a great group of guys and I would like to do some more.”

About Dreyer & Reinbold Racing:

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is entering its 11th season of full-time competition in 2010, making it one of the longest-tenured teams in Indy Racing League competition. Current co-owners, Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl, first teamed in full-time competition at the Walt Disney World Speedway in January of 2000. With Buhl behind the wheel, the two owners tasted victory in their debut race. The 2009 IZOD IndyCar Series season-opener on the streets of St. Petersburg marked Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s 200th series start.

DRR now has over 250 starts to tuck under its belt and has qualified a total of 27 cars for the Indianapolis 500. In its history, the team has boasted a championship list of alumni drivers. Besides Buhl, the team has run Indianapolis 500 winners, Al Unser, Jr., Buddy Lazier, and Buddy Rice, along with IndyCar Series race winner Ryan Briscoe. The team has one of the longest lines of heritage in American open-wheel racing and the Indianapolis 500 as Dennis Reinbold’s grandfather, “Pop” Dreyer, built leading roadsters that raced at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the 30s, 40s, and 50s.

More information on the team can be found at www.dreyerreinboldracing.com 


More information on the IZOD IndyCar Series can be found at www.indycar.com.

- Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Press Release

Race Distance: 218.75 miles/352.044 km (250 laps on the 0.875-mile/1.408-km short oval).

Television/Radio Broadcast: Live – Sunday, June 20, at 1:30 p.m. EDT on VERSUS, IMS Radio Network, XM Radio 145 and SIRIUS Radio 211.

Firestone Firehawk Race Tires Supplied:
* 892 dry-condition slicks; each car receives eight sets (32 tires) for the race weekend.

These tires use the same approach Firestone Racing engineers have employed for the last several years at Iowa Speedway.  The right-side tire is our 2010 Superspeedway tire specification from Texas and Kansas. The left-side tire is an all-new compound, but very similar to our 2010 Indianapolis left-side tire spec.  This combination of tires affords excellent durability from the right-side tires while using the left-side tires to enhance grip.

From Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing: “Iowa Speedway presents Firestone Racing with a very unique challenge.  Although it is technically a short oval, the high speeds and loads it produces require the durability of a superspeedway specification tire.  It’s difficult to believe the IZOD IndyCar Series season is almost at its halfway point, but here we are!  Iowa Speedway will be the last oval track on the schedule until the end of August, but our Firestone Racing engineers are already working on our next generation superspeedway specification tire after completing a tire test at Chicagoland Speedway earlier this week.  They will use that data to develop tires for use at Chicagoland, Kentucky and Homestead.  In the meantime, we look forward to exciting racing and a great challenge at Iowa, followed by seeing our primary and alternate road- and street-course tires in action agai n for the next several races.  There’s never a dull moment for Firestone Racing during the IZOD IndyCar Series season!”

Firestone “Tire-ific” Move of the Race: Following each IZOD IndyCar Series race again in 2010, Firestone Racing will nominate three drivers who best utilized their Firestone tires to make a bold, dramatic move during the event. Fans can go towww.indycar.com and vote for the nominee they believe made the most “Tire-ific” move of the race. The $10,000 prize from the Firestone 550k at Texas Motor Speedway – to Danica Patrick, for her most impressive performance of the season, finishing second – will be awarded in pre-race activities Sunday.

On-track photos from all sessions this weekend and every IndyCar Series race weekend are available for media use at the Firestone Media Gallery. Go to www.FirestoneMediaGallery.comand enter “media” when prompted for a log-in. Accredited media may publish the photos free of charge, provided each photo is credited “Firestone Racing/Dennis Ashlock.”

- Firestone Racing, Press Release



Scott Dixon with Family - Photo Credit: Firestone Racing/Dennis Ashlock

Race Temperatures: Track ranged from 83°-91° F (29°-33° C) and ambient from 67°- 69°F (20°-21°C).

Firestone Tire Performance Recap: Firestone Racing engineers brought an all-new tire specification to Kansas Speedway.  This tire was developed during testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway in early January.  The track was a bit green and abrasive today, so tire wear was significant – particularly in the first stint.  However, Danica Patrick was able to do extra laps on a single set of tires, and as the race progressed, tire wear became less and less of an issue.

From race winner Scott Dixon, #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The car was just so good today.  The whole team and the car couldn’t have gone any better.  The Firestone tires were fantastic for me.  I mean, we just didn’t have any problem.  I probably could have run them for about three stints – they were that good!  So our car was hooked up.”

From Joe Barbieri, Manager, Firestone Racing: “Congratulations to Target Chip Ganassi Racing for their fourth consecutive win at Kansas Speedway, and to Scott Dixon for two in a row here.  That was just a really impressive performance from the Target team.  In the first oval race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season, our new Firestone Firehawk tire specification performed well.  After the first pit stop, tires were showing 80 to 100 percent wear, but as the race went on, they got better and better.  Ryan Briscoe had a bit of an issue in the middle of the race after losing a wheel forced him to utilize a scuffed set of tires that didn’t last quite as long as a new set would have, but overall, Firestone Racing is very pleased with how our 1.5-mile superspeedway tire spec performed here today.  Now bring on Indy!”

Firestone “Tire-ific” Move of the Race: This $10,000 prize is awarded after each IndyCar Series race to the driver best utilizing his or her Firestone tires to make a bold, dramatic move during the event. Nominees from today’s race are: Scott Dixon, for leading the last 150 consecutive laps for a dominant victory; Tony Kanaan, for setting the fastest lap on lap 198 to pass Helio Castroneves for third; and Ryan Hunter-Reay, for advancing from 22nd to finish fifth. Fans can vote this week at www.indycar.comto determine the winner. In pre-race ceremonies today, Ryan Hunter-Reay was presented the Tire-ific award for his win two weeks ago in Long Beach.

- Firestone Racing, Press Release

Target Chip Ganassi Racing Pit Stop - Firestone Racing/Dennis Ashlock Photo

Television/Radio Broadcast: Live – Saturday, May 1, at 1:30 p.m. EDT on ABC, IMS Radio Network, XM Radio 145 and SIRIUS Radio 211.

Firestone Firehawk Race Tires Supplied:
* 1020 dry-condition slicks; each car receives eight sets (32 tires) for the race weekend.

New for 2010, this particular tire specification was developed at Firestone Racing’s tire test at Homestead-Miami Speedway in early January.  This spec uses the same construction as the 2009 Homestead race tire, with new compounds on both the right and left sides.  Kansas Speedway will be the first event for this new Firestone Firehawk tire, and it will also see action this season at the Kentucky open test and Texas race.  This tire spec should have slightly better grip than the 2009 Kansas tire, with similar consistency.

From Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing: “After starting the season with four road/street course events, Firestone Racing is eagerly anticipating the first of four consecutive oval races on the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule.  Kansas Speedway is an important stop on the calendar, because it really serves as a great precursor to the Indianapolis 500.  We are expecting 27 entries in this event, which should provide plenty of on-track action as teams and drivers try to acquire as much data and experience as possible in the only oval event prior to Indy.  Firestone Racing is bringing a new tire spec to Kansas Speedway, but based on testing results, we expect it will perform well with no issues.”

Firestone “Tire-ific” Move of the Race: Following each IZOD IndyCar Series race again in 2010, Firestone Racing will nominate three drivers who best utilized their Firestone tires to make a bold, dramatic move during the event. Fans can go towww.indycar.com and vote for the nominee they believe made the most “Tire-ific” move of the race. The $10,000 prize from Long Beach – to Ryan Hunter-Reay, for his nifty pass of lapped traffic to retain the lead and go on to win – will be awarded in pre-race activities Saturday.

- Firestone Racing, Press Release

Top-5 Finishers: 1. Ryan Hunter-Reay; 2. Justin Wilson; 3. Will Power; 4. Scott Dixon; 5. Tony Kanaan.

Race Temperatures: Track ranged from 115°-121° F (46°-49° C) and ambient from 75°- 79° F (24°-26° C).

IZOD No. 37 Team IZOD/Andretti Autosport/Ryan Hunter-Reay - Firstone Racing

From race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, #37 IZOD/Andretti Autosport Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The Firestone tires were unreal. I couldn’t believe they didn’t fall off; I turned my fastest lap at the last three laps of the race. The product that they put out – especially because I’ve raced in other series and I know how the varying levels of grip come from other tire companies – Firestone is just absolutely unreal. I don’t know what they do to their tires but I’d want nothing else on my car.”

From Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing: “We had yet another fantastic day at Long Beach, capping 20 years of consecutive racing here for us. We’ve got so many fond Long Beach memories and Ryan Hunter-Reay’s landmark win will certainly become a highlight as well. Both the primary and alternate Firestone Firehawks performed well throughout the weekend. I’m not sure a race day could be any more perfect than today, but we’re ready to come back next year and see if we can add even more excitement to this great event.”

Firestone “Tire-ific” Move of the Race: This $10,000 prize is awarded after each IndyCar Series race to the driver best utilizing his or her Firestone tires to make a bold, dramatic move during the event. Nominees from today’s race are: Ryan Hunter-Reay, for his nifty pass of lapped traffic to retain the lead and go on to win; Mario Moraes, for a quiet but spectacular drive from 15th starting position to finish sixth; and Justin Wilson, who recovered from a lengthy pit stop to replace a broken front wing to finish second. Fans can vote this week at www.indycar.com to determine the winner.

- Firestone Racing, Press Release

Indy Racing League

Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, recorded a quick lap of 1 minute, 09.3185 seconds in the 10-minute Firestone Fast Six shootout on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit April 17 to earn the PEAK Performance Pole Award for the 36th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

“We certainly have the car figured out, and I’m very happy that the Verizon car is P1 again,” Power said. “We’ve got to get the strategy right this weekend. I know sometimes it’s really hard to read, but we need to keep executing in races.”

Power, who won at Long Beach in 2008, recorded his third consecutive pole start (Dario Franchitti was P1 in Brazil). The series record is four by teammate Helio Castroneves and Billy Boat, and the next race is May 1 on the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway oval (Power started 18th in 2008).

“I think the key to success is starting up front,” Power said. “I think getting the yellow. You’ve got to get the lucky yellow. You can be out front leading and bam, get caught by a yellow. You could see it last weekend. Strategy can screw you, but it also can go your way.”

Power earned the pole by more than four-tenths of a second over Ryan Hunter-Reay, but less than three-tenths of a second separated the second through fifth positions on the grid. Just 1.6 seconds separated Power from No. 23 starter Mario Romancini.

Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 37 IZOD car for Andretti Autosport, notched a season-best second starting position (1:09.7506). Justin Wilson (1:09.7939) tied a season best with a third-place start in the No. 22 Z-Line Designs car for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and Castroneves (1:09.8470) will join him in Row 2.

Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe (1:10.0255) and Andretti Autosport’s Tony Kanaan (1:10.1618) will be on Row 3. Kanaan, driving the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car, posted his fourth consecutive top-10 start (and participated in the Fast Six for the third time).

It was the second time ever that Team Penske put three drivers into the Firestone Fast Six.

Conversely, Scott Dixon will start eighth and teammate Dario Franchitti will start 12^th – the first time that a Target Chip Ganassi Racing car has not qualified for the Firestone Fast Six. Dixon, though, extended his series record to 36 consecutive top-10 starts.

FAZZT Race Team’s Alex Tagliani (1:09.8730 in the second round) missed the Firestone Fast Six by 0.0367 of a second and will start seventh. Marco Andretti, who bumped Simona De Silvestro from advancing to the second round with a final-lap 1:10.3594, will start ninth in the No. 26 Venom Energy car for Andretti Autosport. Dan Wheldon in the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car will start a season-high 10.

In Firestone Indy Lights qualifying, James Hinchcliffe, driving the No. 2 TMR-Xtreme Coil Drilling car, earned his second pole start of the three-race season with a quick lap of 1:14.6261.

The top seven cars were separated by .9681 of a second after the 60-minute qualifying round for the 45-lap Grand Prix of Long Beach on the 1.968-mile temporary street circuit, and the gap between Hinchcliffe and 10th-place starter Junior Strous was 1.2969 seconds.

J.K. Vernay is positioned to make it three consecutive victories as he’ll start on the outside of the front row in the No. 7 Lucas Oil/CJ/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car. He produced a quick lap of 1:14.7829.

Charlie Kimball (1:14.9094) in the No. 26 Levemir FlexPen car for AFS Racing Andretti Autosport will share Row 2 with Sebastian Saavedra (1:14.9761), driving the No. 29 William Rast/Bryan Herta Autosport entry. Martin Plowman (1:15.4126) in the No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers/KEP Printing car for AFS Racing Andretti Autosport and Philip Major (1:15.4126), driving the No. 49 Sam Schmidt Motorsports car will be on Row 3.

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IZOD IndyCar Series Logo

SGT Louie M. Martinez , a native of National City, Calif., and a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, is the National Guard Panther Racing’s “Hometown Hero” for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

SGT Martinez was given a ride in the Indy Racing Experience two-seater by National Guard Panther Racing driver Dan Wheldon, had a special “hero card” with his picture and biography that he signed at the IZOD IndyCar Series autograph session and will be honored during the driver introductions.

Martinez, assigned to the HHC 40th Infantry Division, is a recipient of the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal and National Defense Service Medal among other commendations.

Panther Racing honors a “Hometown Hero” at each domestic IZOD IndyCar Series race.

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KV Racing Technology co-owner Jimmy Vasser won the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race today from the pole. Professional drift and rally driver Tanner Foust finished second, with actor Brian Austin Green in third. Green was the first celebrity finisher.

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Chef Giada De Laurentiis, host of the hit show “Everyday Italian” on Food Network, will be a guest of Target Chip Ganassi Racing during the IZOD IndyCar Series race Sunday.

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KV Racing Technology announced today that it is entering a car in the 2010 Indianapolis 500 for veteran Paul Tracy.

2003 CART champion Tracy will drive the No. 15 GEICO-KV Racing Technology car.

Tracy, 41, finished second in 2002 at Indianapolis to Helio Castroneves and finished ninth last year. He will attempt to make his seventh Indianapolis 500 start this year. This year’s edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” opens Saturday, May 15.

KV will grow to a four-car team at Indianapolis, as Tracy joins the team’s IZOD IndyCar Series regulars, E.J. Viso, Mario Moraes and Takuma Sato.

PAUL TRACY: “I want to thank (co-owners) Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser of KVRT and GEICO for the opportunity to return to the world’s biggest auto race. I have won races and championships at the top level during my racing career, but what I’m missing is a win at Indy. I feel I have some unfinished business at the Brickyard and, with the support of GEICO and an outstanding team like KV Racing Technology, I feel good about our chances at this year’s ’500.’”

JIMMY VASSER (Co-owner, KV Racing Technology): “It is tremendous to bring Paul back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway again this year. Paul was very competitive last year in the GEICO machine in his first Indy 500 in seven years. After last year’s return to the Speedway, we believe Paul will be a contender for the win.”

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Every driver in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will start the race Sunday on the alternate “red” tires except for #2 Raphael Matos, #7 Danica Patrick and #34 Mario Romancini. Each car must use the alternate (red) Firestone Firehawk tires for at least two green-flag laps per race.

***

PEAK PERFORMANCE POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:

•Will Power earned his third Peak Performance Pole Award this season. It was his third consecutive pole, tied for second all-time in series history with Helio Castroneves (2006), Scott Dixon (2003) and Greg Ray (2000). Billy Boat (1998) and Castroneves (2004) share the series record with four consecutive poles.

•This was the fifth career IZOD IndyCar Series pole for Will Power. He has three poles this season (St. Petersburg, Barber, Long Beach) and two poles in 2009 (Long Beach, Edmonton).

•Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified a career-best second. His previous best was third in 2008 at Watkins Glen. He won that race.

•Justin Wilson qualified third, tying a season-best set at Brazil.

•Ryan Briscoe qualified a season-best fifth. His previous best was eighth at Brazil.

•Dan Wheldon qualified a season-best 10^th. His previous best was 15^th at St. Petersburg.

•This is the second time that Team Penske has placed three drivers in the Firestone Fast Six since the qualifying format’s inception at the start of the 2007 IZOD IndyCar Series season. In 2009 at Edmonton, Will Power won the pole, Ryan Briscoe qualified second and Helio Castroneves third.

•This is the first time that a driver from Target Chip Ganassi Racing has not qualified at least one driver for the Firestone Fast Six since the qualifying format’s inception at the start of the 2007 IZOD IndyCar Series season. Scott Dixon will start eighth and Dario Franchitti 12^th in the race Sunday, as both were eliminated after the second session.

Scott Dixon (2007-10), Dario Franchitti (2009-10) or Dan Wheldon (2007-08) had made the Firestone Fast Six at the 21 IZOD IndyCar Series races on road or street courses since the start of the 2007 season.

***

PEAK PERFORMANCE POLE QUALIFYING QUOTES:

WILL POWER (No.12 Verizon Team Penske, pole): “We certainly have the car figured out, and I’m very happy that the Verizon car is P1 again. We’ve got to get the strategy right this weekend. I know sometimes it’s really hard to read, but we need to keep executing in races.” (How important is it to get through first session with black tires, saving a set of reds for the Firestone Fast Six?): “that’s important. It gives you a good chance to get the pole. If you’re quick enough, you have to do it. You’ve got to take the risk to get through on the blacks. The blacks take longer to come on, but actually they’re pretty quick. They’re good.” (What’s the key to your success at Long Beach?): “I think the key to success is starting up front. I think getting the yellow. You’ve got to get the lucky yellow. You can be out front leading and bam, get caught by a yellow. You could see it last weekend. Strategy can screw you, but it also can go your way. So we’ve got to read that well tomorrow.”

HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 06 Formula Dream/Panasonic, 11^th): “In the first round, we used two sets of red Firestone option tires, and at one point we looked very strong. The Formula Dream/Panasonic car was good; we improved a lot from practice to qualifying. I gained almost one second. The second round seemed tough because we had already used the two reds in the first run, so we only had used reds for Round 2 so that’s why we couldn’t go any faster. We know we have speed, so maybe next time we can use black and red tires in the first round and two sets of reds in the second. The team did a fantastic job. I’m pretty happy.”

DAN WHELDON (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing, 10^th): “It was a really good team effort by everybody in the National Guard Panther Racing crew. We tried a lot of different things in all three practice sessions leading up to qualifying, and we managed to take all the good things from each one. I don’t want to be greedy, but if I would have saved a set of the Firestone red tires, we probably could have run in the Top Six because I was feeling extremely confident in the No. 4 car.”

RAPHAEL MATOS (No. 2 HP Luczo Dragon, 18^th): “There’s no question this hurts us because it’s difficult to pass here, so track position is very important. The car just didn’t have the balance or the grip to push and move forward. We thought we had a good idea of how we would be after practice this morning, and even though we did improve, it wasn’t enough to advance. We’re all disappointed, but we’ll just have to regroup and come up with a strategy to compete tomorrow.”

BERTRAND BAGUETTE (No. 36 Conquest Racing RACB, 24^th): “It was not the best qualification for us. We lost half a second from the previous practice, and we are not sure why. We are really struggling with the brakes on the car, and the front wheel is locking a lot. We need to work hard because this will not work for the race.”

MARIO ROMANCINI (No. 34 Conquest Racing, 23^rd): “I think more than ever we are seeing how important the details are. We definitely improved compared to the previous session, but because the cars are all running so closely I am only starting 23^rd. Qualifying is over, so we have to start focusing on tomorrow’s race. Now it’s up to us to look at the small details, seeing where we can improve to find these tenths that we are still missing. We will fine-tune the car overnight, using the warm-up session tomorrow to test the changes.”

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 67 Dollar General/Sarah Fisher Racing, 22^nd): “It’s again been a very frustrating day, and I think that pretty well caps it off. Never have I ever been the slowest one in qualifying in my entire career. It’s pretty frustrating; we just can’t seem to get the car to react to any changes that we make. We’ve tried everything; there’s no lack of effort. It’s quite simply the fact that overall we just can’t get the car right, which leads us to question a lot of things. It’s been a frustrating day, but I hope we can have a good strategy and try to get at least halfway up the field tomorrow. You never know what can happen. Stranger things have happened than people winning from the back, so we’ll see tomorrow.”

VITOR MEIRA (No. 14 ABC Supply Co. A.J. Foyt Racing, 14^th): “It’s bittersweet. It is our best qualifying run so far, but it’s still not where we want to be. But at least we can be on the same strategy as the leaders and the ABC Supply car is very good on the long run, so I’m very encouraged for the race.”

ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 77 FAZZT Race Team, seventh): “I’m so very proud of the FAZZT Race Team. They are just doing a fantastic job. We are right there every time we go out, and today just shows how incredibly competitive the IZOD IndyCar Series is to be only half a tenth out of the Fast Six. It’s just amazing. And I have to say, I’m just very happy with what we are doing this year. I couldn’t be happier with the guys, the team, everything has just been really amazing. For tomorrow’s race, this track is really challenging, and it changes quite a bit from practice to qualifying to the race, so you can’t really go overboard and be too worried about your car. I think you have to let the track come to you, but it also has a lot of different corners, like very slow corners on concrete and then fast corners, so you need stability. So basically, it can be very difficult to find the compromise on this track, but I think we are very close and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

E.J. VISO (No. PDVSA-Jet Aviation-KVRT, 17^th): “It has definitely been a very difficult weekend for the PDVSA – KV Racing Technology team. We have been working on some things and managed to get find some more speed for qualifying. But we are still lacking grip, which is what we are working on tonight. I am sure after talking with my engineers we will have a better car for the tomorrow.”

TAKUMA SATO (No. 5 Lotus-KV Racing Technology, 19^th): “It was a very tough and disappointing day. We tried many different things since yesterday, but unfortunately the car just isn’t working well. We changed the car quite a bit for qualifying, but we still need to find more grip. We will review and analyze everything overnight for tomorrow.”

MARIO MORAES (No. 32 KV Racing Technology, 15^th): “Qualifying for the KV Racing Technology team was definitely not what we were looking for. We were hoping to get into the top 12. I was working hard with my engineer, and we had a problem with the car, which we shall fix tonight. We proved in morning practice that we have a good setup for the race, so I am looking forward to that tomorrow.”

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, fifth): “I’m extremely happy. It’s our first Fast Six of the year. I knew coming into Long Beach that I had to step it up in qualifying, and I think we really did that today. We’re making the car better in the Fast Six, but the tires are just getting older and older, and I wasn’t able to improve my time. Will got through without using an extra set of reds and had a sticker set at the end, which gave him a big advantage. But we’re right there, and we’ve got ourselves into good position to win the race on Sunday.”

MIKE CONWAY (No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 16^th): “We improved the TranSystems car from yesterday, but we are still not quite there. We will work on it during the warm-up to see if we can get it better again.”

TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven, sixth): “I was trying … trying too hard. When the field is that close, you just have to get the max out of it. So it wasn’t really a problem. I was just trying to get my measurement for my fastest lap.”

***

FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS QUALIFYING NOTES:

•This is the second career Firestone Indy Lights pole for James Hinchcliffe. He opened this season by winning the pole for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

•James Hinchcliffe has started in the top five in each of the three races this season. He won the pole at St. Petersburg and started fifth at Barber.

•Series points leader J.K. Vernay qualified second. He has started on the front row of each of the three races this season. He started second at St. Petersburg and from the pole at Barber. He won both races.

•Charlie Kimball qualified third, his second consecutive top-three start. Kimball qualified second at Barber.

•Rookie Philip Major qualified a career-best sixth. His previous best was ninth at St. Petersburg.

•Tonis Kasemets qualified seventh for his first career Firestone Indy Lights start.

***

Firestone Indy Lights

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 2 TMR – Xtreme Coil Drilling, pole): “The lap was pretty good. We sort of had to take to make a compromise with the way our fuel strategy played out to be done a little bit earlier. We had to use that second set of tires a bit sooner than the other guys. We knew the track was going to be a bit better at the end, but our hands were tied. It was the longest 10 minutes of my life, just standing there. J.K. (Vernay) did put in a quicker lap, but it was under yellow. Congrats to him, but a bit of a tough break for him. But we’ve had some luck against us, so it’s nice for us to have something go our way a bit. Really happy to be on pole.”

J.K. VERNAY (No. 7 Lucas Oil/CJ/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, second): “It’s OK. I have to judge the limit to where I was in the test. Now I’m qualifying, I know what I can do with the car. It’s a good thing for tomorrow. It’s a good thing for the start, to be in the first row.” (About losing fast lap to caution period): “I’m really disappointed because we were really fast today. We had like five or six yellow flags. It was crazy, but a driver into the wall. And each time we came on track with new tires, and there was a yellow. I did only two laps with each set of tires, and it’s not enough to do a good lap time. The last lap time, when I did a .4, it was my third lap. It was pretty good. The lap after would have been even better.”

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 26 Levemir FlexPen, third): “It was pretty busy to start with. A lot of people were trying to be aggressive early. We kind of played our game with tire strategy. We were waiting for the end to really bang the time in. We were quick on the first set and then quick again on the second set. I think we did a quick lap there that was P1 for a minute. Hinch put a second set on a little earlier, gambled that it would be clean and then there would be yellows at the end, and it paid off. When I was going for the big one on the end, right on the last lap, I caught a yellow, and it kind of messed up the flow. This morning on race-distance tires we were P4 against guys on fresh tires. Come race day tomorrow, we’re in good shape.”

***

SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):

-Indy Racing League, Press Release

IZOD IndyCar Series No. 10 Team Target car of Target Chip Ganassi Racing

Television/Radio Broadcast: Live – Sunday, April 18, at 3:30 p.m. ET on VERSUS, IMS Radio Network, XM Radio 145 and SIRIUS Radio 211.

Firestone Firehawk Race Tires Supplied:
* Primary (black-sidewall) dry-condition slicks: 702, each entry gets six sets (24 total tires);
* Alternate (red-sidewall) dry-condition slicks: 342, each entry gets three sets (12 total tires);
* Wet-condition (rain) tires with grooved tread pattern: 436, each entry has five sets available. Firestone is utilizing its softer, street-course rain tire at all road/street events in 2010.

Per series regulations during a normal dry-condition race, all cars must use at least one primary set of tires and one new alternate set, each for a minimum of two green-flag laps. Otherwise, teams are free to use their tire allotment as they see fit. Firestone Racing is bringing proven street-course tire specifications to Long Beach, as the identical primary and alternate specs were used last month in St. Petersburg. This marks the only time in 2010 that Firestone will repeat its tire specs for a road or street event. The primary (black-sidewall) tires are the most durable in Firestone’s current street-course tire inventory. The alternate (red-sidewall) tires constitute Firestone’s highest-grip street-course spec. The Firestone primary and alternate tire specs are identical in body construction, but the alternates contain a softer tread compound that provides more grip and faster lap times, yet trades off compound durability in exchange for those shorter-term advantages.

From Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing: “Long Beach is without doubt among the premier races on the schedule, and the Firestone brand is again proud to serve as Official Tire for the grand prix. The heritage of this event is without peer among U.S. street-course race weekends. We are very proud that all of the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights cars will compete on Firestone Firehawk racing radials, not to mention that all of the pro/celebrity entries will race again on Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 tires to keep it all in our family this weekend. The Firestone Indy-car tire specs for this weekend – both primary and alternate – are identical to those that fared very well four weeks ago in St. Petersburg, and we’re confident they will deliver the same fast and reliable performance at Long Beach.”

Firestone “Tire-ific” Move of the Race: Following each IndyCar Series race in 2010, Firestone Racing nominates three drivers who best utilized their Firestone tires to make a bold, dramatic move during the event. Fans can go to www.indycar.com in the days after the race and vote for the nominee they believe made the most “Tire-ific” move of the race, with the top vote-getter earning the $10,000 prize. The “Tire-ific” winner from last week’s race at Barber Motorsports Park is Marco Andretti, for his lap-15 pass of Helio Castroneves for the race lead.

- Firestone Racing, Press Release

Helio Castroneves wins Indy Grand Prix of Alabama - Firestone Racing

FIRESTONE FIREHAWK RACE REPORT

IZOD IndyCar Series – Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park – Leeds, Ala.
Sunday, April 11, 2010 – Round 3 of 17

Top-5 Finishers: 1. Helio Castroneves; 2. Scott Dixon; 3. Dario Franchitti; 4. Will Power; 5. Marco Andretti.

Race Temperatures: Track ranged from 111°-124° F (43°-51° C) and ambient from 81°- 86°F (27°-30°C).

Firestone Tire Performance Recap: Firestone’s alternate tire specification certainly proved to be quicker, but drivers seemed to prefer the consistency offered by the primary spec over a long run.  Having said that, the alternate tires held up even better than Firestone engineers had expected, particularly considering the high track and ambient temperatures during the race. (A chart of tire use in today’s race is attached.)

From race winner Helio Castroneves, #12 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We learned a lot in Brazil and St. Pete, and we were able to execute what we learned here today.  It was interesting – the alternate Firestone tires were really good in the beginning.  Then, all of a sudden, they really went off.  But as soon as the yellow came, and we did the restart, it was awesome!  The tires got right back into the groove.  So I was really happy.  The primary tires kept very consistent.  I’m thankful to Firestone for giving me great tires to be able to win my first race of the season.”

From Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing: “Congratulations Helio for his first win of the season, and to Team Penske for going three-for-three so far.  For an inaugural event, the Firestone Firehawk tires held up very well.  The track was quite abrasive, and the temperatures were higher than anything we have experienced to date in testing at the track.  The alternate tires surprised us a bit by how well they held up.  As Official Tire of this race, I am pleased with the event, and we look forward to many more stops at beautiful Barber Motorsports Park to come.  Thanks and congratulations to the Barber staff and to ZOOM Motorsports for putting together such a fantastic event.  We also really appreciate the enthusiastic fans that turned out in droves to support the IZOD IndyCar Series.”

Firestone “Tire-ific” Move of the Race: This $10,000 prize is awarded after each IndyCar Series race to the driver best utilizing his or her Firestone tires to make a bold, dramatic move during the event. Nominees from today’s race are: Marco Andretti, for his lap 15 pass of Helio Castroneves in turn 5 for the lead; Helio Castroneves, for a great restart on lap 88 to secure his first victory of 2010; and Justin Wilson, for setting the fastest lap of the race on alternate tires. Fans can vote this week at www.indycar.com to determine the winner. In pre-race ceremonies today, Alex Tagliani was presented the Tire-ific award for his 51-lap stint on a set of Firehawk tires two weeks ago in St. Petersburg.

- Firestone Racing, Press Release

Race Distance: 207 mi./333.1 km (90 laps on the 2.3-mi./3.7-km permanent road course).

Television/Radio Broadcast: Live – Sunday, April 11, at 3 p.m. ET on VERSUS, IMS Radio Network, XM Radio 145 and SIRIUS Radio 211.

Firestone Firehawk Race Tires Supplied:
* Primary (black-sidewall) dry-condition slicks: 702, each entry gets six sets (24 total tires);
* Alternate (red-sidewall) dry-condition slicks: 342, each entry gets three sets (12 total tires);
* Wet-condition (rain) tires with grooved tread pattern: 436, each entry has five sets available.

Firestone is utilizing its softer, street-course rain tire at all road/street events in 2010.

Per series regulations, all cars must use at least one primary set of tires and one new alternate set during the race, each for a minimum of two green-flag laps, unless rain tires are used – then teams are free to use their tire allotment as they see fit.  The primary (black-sidewall) tires are the same tires used at the Barber Motorsports Park open test in February, and are the same primary spec as Mid-Ohio last season. This primary spec is in the mid-range of Firestone’s road course tire specification. The alternate (red-sidewall) tires are new for 2010.  The Firehawk alternates are identical in body construction to the primaries but contain a softer tread compound which provides more grip and faster lap times, yet trades off compound durability in exchange for those shorter-term advantages.

From Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing: “After two successful open tests at this beautiful facility, and much anticipation, it’s finally time for the first Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.  Based on the data we have been able to collect, Firestone Racing is confident our primary Firestone Firehawk race tire specification will work well with this course’s fast turns and elevation changes.  While all of the teams have experience here with the primary spec, no one has yet used the alternate specification we are bringing to this event.  Look for the red-sidewall Firestone Firehawk race tires to add a variable that will hopefully lead to more passing on the track.  As the Official Tire of the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, Firestone Racing is proud that each and every IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights driver will take to the track this inaugural race weekend on our tires.”

Firestone “Tire-ific” Move of the Race: Following each IndyCar Series race again in 2010, Firestone Racing will nominate three drivers who best utilized their Firestone tires to make a bold, dramatic move during the event. Fans can go to www.indycar.com and vote for the nominee they believe made the most “Tire-ific” move of the race. The $10,000 prize from St. Petersburg – to Alex Tagliani, for going 51 laps on a set of Firestone Firehawk tires – will be awarded in pre-race activities Sunday.

Race Distance: 180 mi./289.7 km (100 laps on the 1.8-mi./2.897-km temporary street course).

Television/Radio Broadcast: Live – Sunday, March 28, at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC, IMS Radio Network, XM Radio 145 and SIRIUS Radio 211.

Firestone Firehawk Race Tires Supplied:
* Primary (black-sidewall) dry-condition slicks: 702, each entry gets six sets (24 total tires);
* Alternate (red-sidewall) dry-condition slicks: 342, each entry gets three sets (12 total tires);
* Wet-condition (rain) tires with grooved tread pattern: 336, each entry has five sets available. Firestone is utilizing its softer, street-course rain tire at all road/street events in 2010.

Per series regulations, all cars must use at least one primary set of tires and one new alternate set during the race, each for a minimum of two green-flag laps, unless rain tires are used – then teams are free to use their tire allotment as they see fit.  Firestone Racing is bringing proven street-course tire specifications to St. Petersburg. The primary (black-sidewall) tires are the same as the primary spec used two weeks ago in Brazil. This primary spec is the most durable in Firestone’s current street-course tire inventory. The alternate (red-sidewall) tires are identical to the 2009 alternates from Long Beach and Toronto, and constitute Firestone’s softest current street-course spec. The Firehawk alternates are identical in body construction to the primaries but contain a softer tread compound which provides more grip and faster lap times, yet trades off compound durability in exchange for those shorter-term advantages.

From Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing: “The 2010 season got off to a rousing start in Brazil and we are expecting another fine event this weekend. The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is among our favorite races, in part because of the great exposure the Firestone brand receives as Official Tire of the event and the excellent relationship we have built with the Green Savoree Racing Promotions group. Reliable tires with the right amount of grip are pivotal on a challenging street circuit like we’ll see this weekend. The Firehawk specifications for St. Pete have already proven their worth in race conditions from Canada to Brazil, so we’re confident that they will once again answer that call.”

Firestone “Tire-ific” Move of the Race: Following each IndyCar Series race again in 2010, Firestone Racing will nominate three drivers who best utilized their Firestone tires to make a bold, dramatic move during the event. Fans can go to www.indycar.com and vote for the nominee they believe made the most “Tire-ific” move of the race. The $10,000 prize winner from Brazil – nominees are Ryan Hunter-Reay, Vitor Meira and Will Power – will be announced in pre-race activities Sunday.

- Firestone, Press Release

Ed Carpenter

While running in the top-ten on lap 23 for the restart, competitor Mario Moraes completed an ill-advised move approaching turn five and made significant contact with the No.20 Menards car. The incident forced Carpenter to take the road course short cut on his way back to the pits and caused damage to the car.

Carpenter was obligated to make two stops due to the incident as he took on new Firestone Firehawk tires, a refill of Ethanol, and a repair of the right-rear tow link. The Menards/Vision Racing crew made a speedy repair of the car, but Carpenter was still forced to go a lap down as a penalty for taking the short cut.

Dropping back to the 19th position, Carpenter put forth his best effort to salvage a decent finish. In doing so, he was able to move up three spots and take the checkered flag in the 16th position. Unfortunately, it was not the sort of result that Carpenter desired as he dropped one spot in the IndyCar Series championship point standings to the 14th position with 157 total points (156 points behind the leader).

Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing won the event, which marks the first race this season in the IndyCar Series that a car other than that of Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing has won. It was also Dale Coyne Racing’s first-ever victory as an organization. Rounding out the podium were Ryan Briscoe of Penske and Scott Dixon of Ganassi. Dixon also took control of the championship points lead with 313 total points.

Watch the IndyCar Series in action next weekend for the Series’ debut at Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for the Honda Indy Toronto. The race broadcast will air live from the streets of Toronto on Sunday, July 12th at 1 p.m. (ET) on ABC.

Post Race Quotes: (July 5, 2009)

Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

Finishing Position: 16th

Qualifying Position: 21st

On race:

“It ended up being a disappointing race. We looked like we were falling into a decent strategy when we pitted and caught the yellow to find ourselves mid-pack after doing our pit stop. We took the restart in 10th spot but it isn’t a real race unless Mario Moraes does something stupid. He’s very fast and very talented but until he gets a little smarter he’s never going to run up front in a race. It’s a shame because the KV Racing team is a good team that puts together fast cars but all he does is run over people every race. That’s what ended our day.”

About Vision Racing: V

Vision Racing is owned and operated by Tony and Laura George as well as actor Patrick Dempsey of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and is based in Indianapolis, Indiana in a 32,000 square foot facility. The team competes full-time in the IndyCar Series and is entering its fifth season of IndyCar Series competition. The team features returning IndyCar Series driver Ed Carpenter and welcomed veteran Ryan Hunter-Reay for the start of 2009. Also new for 2009 is a return to the Firestone Indy Lights Series with driver James Davison, as well as a technical partnership with new FIL team Bryan Herta Autosport and driver Daniel Herrington. Vision Racing continues to proudly perpetuate the legacy of the Hulman-George family through motorsports excellence, by demonstrating the traditions and heritage of the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Racing.

- Vision Racing Press Release

It didn’t rain at the track Saturday, but heavy rain from Friday and earlier in the week caused persistent weepers in several locations on the .875-mile oval. Qualifying was cancelled for the first time since last June’s race at Iowa.

The No. 3 Team Penske car driven by Castroneves leads the entrant points thanks to two wins and a second by Castroneves and a sixth at St. Petersburg by fill-in driver Will Power. Briscoe, the leader in the driver points, is second in entrant points.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti will start third and fourth, respectively, and Andretti Green’s Danica Patrick will start fifth.

Also on Saturday, Ana Beatriz earned her second career Firestone Indy Lights victory, passing Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate Wade Cunningham with nine laps to go in the Miller Lite 100.

Cunningham, who finished second at Iowa in 2007 after leading 105 of 115 laps, passed pole sitter J.R. Hildebrand for the lead on Lap 4 and led the next 103 laps. He and Beatriz caught up to Sebastian Saavedra on the backstretch on Lap 107, and Beatriz was able to get past on the high side while Cunningham was forced to slow.

The night was a success for team owner Sam Schmidt as his drivers recorded the first 1-2-3 finish by teammates in series history. James Hinchcliffe was third.

***

Each IndyCar Series car receives eight sets of Firestone Firehawks for the two-day weekend.

The tires are the same compound used at last year’s race at Iowa Speedway.

AL SPEYER (Executive Director, Firestone Racing): “The racing at Iowa was much better last year than the year before, we believe, in great part because of the updated Firestone tire specification that we developed for the 2008 event. That’s why we decided to bring back that race-proven spec again this year. Because of the uniqueness of the Iowa track – a short oval that demands a tire more like a superspeedway because of the constant high speeds and loads – this is the only venue where this Firehawk spec will be used this season. We’re confident it will help provide the exciting racing that the enthusiastic Iowa Speedway crowd saw last year and deserves again in 2009.”

***

Luczo Dragon Racing co-owner Steve Luczo missed the race at Texas Motor Speedway as he presented scholarships and received honorary citizenship in Corleone, Italy, where his grandparents once lived. Luczo visited the land of his grandparents with the mayor of Corleone and brought some dirt from the land back home with him as a keepsake. He will sprinkle some on the car this weekend as good luck. Luczo presented scholarships to 10 high school students heading into their first year of university, including four who had lost both parents growing up.

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Nelson & Son Siding of LeClaire, Iowa, won A.J. Foyt Racing’s ‘Your Name Here’ contest for the Iowa Corn Indy 250. The company name will be on the sidepods of the No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara. Ryan Nelson will receive selected merchandise, race tickets, hospitality and garage passes, plus a meet-and-greet session with Ryan Hunter-Reay. The ‘Your Name Here’ promotion selected winners by random drawing from a pool of entries sent in by ABC Supply customers earlier this year.

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Housby, an associate sponsor of the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing entry, is based in Des Moines, Iowa. Founder Jack Housby, a former NASCAR driver and team owner, started Housby in 1969 as a Mack Truck dealership, and with the help of his sons Kevin and Kelly has grown it into a business conglomerate offering multiple services to its customers.

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The Vision Racing Wellness Tour, supported by team sponsor Lilly USA, will provide racing fans at Iowa with free diabetes screenings with A1c testing and risk factor assessment, along with cholesterol and blood pressure testing. The Wellness Tour mobile unit (bus) will be located behind the main grandstands and will be open from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on Sunday.

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Kosuke Matsuura, the 2004 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year, is at Iowa Speedway. Matsuura’s primary sponsor, Autobacs, is interested in having the driver compete in the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in September.

Matsuura posted 22 top-10 finishes in 64 IndyCar Series starts between 2004 and ’07, with a best finish at the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval of seventh.

KOSUKE MATSUURA: “After ’07, I came back to Japan and joined Formula Nippon, and this year I’m doing touring cars in Japan. I want to meet some of the teams. I’m especially interested in Dale Coyne (Racing), Luczo Dragon Racing and KV (Racing Technology). I think I can put something together to race at Motegi.”

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With Sunday being Father’s Day, Firestone Indy Lights drivers took the opportunity generated by Friday’s rainout to shop for gifts.

James Hinchcliffe settled on a card for his dad, who will watch his son race at Iowa Speedway from pit lane, while Martin Plowman hopes to give his dad, Mark, a much better prize – a race win.

Charlie Kimball, whose father Gordon helped design Indianapolis 500-winning cars in the 1980s, said he wouldn’t be racing if father hadn’t been involved in racing.

MARTIN PLOWMAN (No. 15 Panther Racing): “In the UK, Father’s Day is the same day as it is here. Mother’s Day is on different days so my mom gets two gifts. But my dad is my best friend and has been my biggest supporter at every stage of my career. I can’t think of a better gift for my dad (than a win).”

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 35 Palm Beach International Raceway): “I was exposed to racing because of him. He started me in go-karts so we could have some more time together, so I wouldn’t be here because of him. He’s not here this weekend, but I should be home tomorrow so I can take him to dinner.”

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FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS POST-QUALIFYING NOTES:

· J.R. Hildebrand wins his third pole of the season. He also won the pole at St. Petersburg 1 and Long Beach. This is his first career pole on an oval.

· Wade Cunningham qualified on the front row for the third time in the last four races.

· Daniel Herrington qualified a season-best fourth. His previous best was ninth at Indianapolis.

· Brandon Wagner qualified a career-best 10th. His previous best was 17th at Indianapolis.

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INDYCAR SERIES POST-QUALIFYING NOTES:

· The starting grid will be based on entrant points for the first time since last year’s race at Iowa Speedway. The starting grids for two races last year were based on points (Twin Ring Motegi). The driver who started first did not win either of those events.

· While it does not count as a pole statistically, Helio Castroneves will start first for the second time this season. He won the Indianapolis 500 from the pole.

· The No. 3 car is first in entrant points despite the fact that Castroneves missed the race April 5 at St. Petersburg thanks to a sixth-place finish by Will Power in that event.

· Ryan Briscoe will start second, Scott Dixon will start third, Dario Franchitti will start fourth and Danica Patrick will start fifth.

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INDYCAR SERIES POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES:

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, first):I have to thank Will (Power) because he helped by having this car finish sixth at St. Petersburg. Those points definitely kept me in the front of the pits and now gave me the pole position at Iowa. Unfortunately for the fans, they didn’t get to see the excitement of qualifying. Fortunately, I end up getting a great situation here with a good starting position. Now that we have a Team Penske front row, we’ll go for the win tomorrow.” ”

WILL POWER: (On accepting the PEAK Performance Pole Award with Helio Castroneves): “This was all Helio’s idea. He’s a great guy. I always like to help out. Starting on the pole here is really important, so it’s great to see the two Team Penske cars on the front row. I love working with this team, and I have two great teammates. We all work well together. I experienced it during the month of May at Indy. I’m very glad to help out.”

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, second): “Obviously, we’d much rather be out there qualifying. It’s unfortunate. The good thing is that we’re up there in the points and get the front row start. Hopefully, that will help us tomorrow. I felt good for qualifying. I felt like Team Penske had a good shot for the pole. It’s so close at the front that it’s hard to say, but hopefully they can get the track in good shape for tonight and tomorrow as well.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, third): “It’s tough. We should have been fairly decent. The car wasn’t too bad in the run, but there was a fair bit of water on the track. The cautiousness there is the more cars you run, the more water you draw onto the track, the guys in the back were going to have a tougher time, and you could certainly crash your car. I think it was a tough decision for (Indy Racing League President of Competition and Racing Operations) Brian (Barnhart), but I think he made the right one.”

DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 TOM TOM, fourth): “It’s disappointing because the Tom Tom car was quick. In practice, we did two qualifying (simulations) and both were really quick. We felt we had a car for the pole, but at the same time I think (Indy Racing League President of Competition and Operations) Brian (Barnhart) made the right decision. Scott (Dixon) had said that on the backstretch that the tire was flipping up water. The weepers were so bad. It’s really unfortunate for our car and for the Target team and for the fans because they don’t get to see qualifying. Starting fourth tomorrow makes things a bit more difficult, but we can still pull it off.”

DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Boost Mobile/Motorola, fifth): “We had a pretty good day; every change we made had a positive impact on the car. I think in general we have a strong race car, but at the end of the day qualifying is really important. I wish we would’ve had a chance to get out and make a qualifying run, because I think we could’ve had a higher starting position than fifth. But we will take it, have a few strong pit stops and hopefully bring home a win for the Boost Mobile car.”

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Medical update from Dr. Michael Olinger, medical director for the Indy Racing League: #16 Pippa Mann and #21 James Davison were checked and released at the infield care center. They are cleared to drive.

PIPPA MANN (No. 16 Panther Racing): “I am not sure what happened. The car was tight when we started tonight, and I tried to move my adjustments around to help. I ended up with the car still very tight but then very loose as we got to the middle of the race. It made my life very interesting. I was sitting back and I think I had just touched with Brandon Wagner and that caused the first spin. I came into the pits and we made adjustments to the car, but unfortunately it went the wrong way. I moved my in-car adjustments some more, but I was still struggling quite a bit. I don’t know if it was the spin or the adjustments we had made. I was just riding it out, but it was difficult since we were so off the pace, and it was difficult to stay out of the way of the lead lap cars. I was doing my best to stay out of the way, and I don’t know what happened then. I just know I got hit, and I saw the wall coming, and I said – I won’t tell you what I said. It is not printable, but it was something like, ‘Oh crap!’ I said that repeatedly, and then I was upside down. I could smell the sparks, and by the time the car stopped I had my belts off and hands on the ground and ripped out my ear phones trying to get out since I wanted to get out as quickly as I could because of the smell of the sparks. That was my first time upside down.”

JAMES DAVISON (No. 21 People*s Liberation/Vision Racing): “There were two laps to go and (J.R.) Hildebrand, (Charlie) Kimball and myself were all battling for position, and we were running into a bunch of lapped traffic, and ultimately Pippa (Mann), who was off pace battling a loose car. Running behind J.R., my car just went up into her and we tangled and that was it. The most frustrating thing is to do damage to the car with two laps remaining in the race. We didn’t lose much. We were running seventh and ended up tenth. For sure it is not good and having to deal with that.”

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Medical update from Dr. Michael Olinger, medical director for the Indy Racing League: #44 Gustavo Yacaman is being transported to Mercy Hospital for evaluation. He began experiencing abdominal pain during the race.

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FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS POST-RACE NOTES:

Ana Beatriz earns her second career victory. She also won at Nashville in 2008. She is the only female driver to win in Firestone Indy Lights.
This is Beatriz’s fourth top-five finish of the season.
This is the 28th victory for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, most of any team in Firestone Indy Lights.
This is the first time in Firestone Indy Lights history that teammates have finished 1-2-3.
This is the fifth time in Firestone Indy Lights history that teammates have finished 1-2. Sam Schmidt Motorsports drivers have accomplished the feat the last four times, most recently at Chicagoland in 2007.
Wade Cunningham finished second for the second time at Iowa Speedway. He also finished second in 2007 after leading the first 105 laps of that race.
Cunningham has four consecutive top-six finishes.
James Hinchcliffe finished third, tying his career-best. He also finished third at St. Peterburg 2 and Long Beach. This is his best finish on an oval.
Mario Romancini finished fourth, his fourth consecutive top-four finish.
Gustavo Yacaman finished fifth, his second consecutive top-five finish.
Charlie Kimball tied his career-best finish with a seventh.
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FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS POST-RACE QUOTES:

SAM SCHMIDT (Owner, Sam Schmidt Motorsports): “I think that is our first 1-2-3. It is a great effort for the team. It was a brand new car they had to build up the last few weeks. This made up for all those hours.”

ANA BEATRIZ (No. 20 Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, first): “I was thinking and wanting to finish the race today. We qualified sixth, but it was great at the start of the race and it was very competitive. I was fortunate to find the right time to pass Wade (Cunningham). There was a lot of lapped cars out there when that happened. It was all about momentum. Wow, I can’t believe I got first and Sam Schmidt got a 1-2-3. It is unbelievable. At the finish, I was thinking it was just unbelievable. I nearly crashed there at the end right there around the flipped car. This team deserves it. I really want to celebrate with them tonight. The last couple of weeks have been tough missing out on sponsorship and then finding a way to come back.”

WADE CUNNINGHAM (No. 11 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, second): “Sebastien Saavedra is 25 laps down, running flat out because he has good tires. The team said, ‘Hey, just let him go; he’s just going to keep driving forward.’ I was just saving my tires, so I just let him go. The minute he got in front of me, he slowed down half-a-second a lap because he knows I’m fighting him for the championship and he was out of the race. It’s probably the most unsportsmanlike thing I’ve ever seen on the racetrack, apart from shunting someone into a wall. I hope the stewards do something because if they don’t, I will.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 7 Hinchtown/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, third): “What a night. First of all, with the delays it was tough. Everyone was in the wrong frame of mind heading into tonight and it was tough to stay focused. We had a pretty good car at the start, running fourth there behind Daniel (Herrington) and then just sort of started losing it when I got side-by-side in traffic. I did a lot of work in the cockpit with the weightjacker and front bars trying to get it back. Slowly the car started coming back to us.Then it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. It’s tough to stay out of trouble at a short track like Iowa. I had contact with Daniel at one point and nearly took out both of my teammates at one point. There was some great wheel-to-wheel racing. I’m glad that the weather held off, and congratulations to Sam Schmidt Motorsports on the great race.”

MARIO ROMANCINI (No. 5 Revita/Win Brazil/Allied/RLR Andersen, fourth): “I’m very happy with the finish, because we didn’t have a good qualifying and started (13th). It’s good for the championship because we scored good points, and let’s go for the next one now. It’s a very tough track and it’s difficult to pass, and that’s why I’m happy with our finish and scoring good points.”

GUSTAVO YACAMAN (No. 44 Crepes & Waffles/Tuvacol/SSM, fifth): “It was a very hard race. The car was really hard to drive because we had a lot of push. I just let the race come to me and kept four tires on the car.”

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SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):

8 a.m.
Garages open

11:30 a.m.
Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer pre-race

12:30 p.m.
Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer (250 laps/218.75 miles)

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The 2009 IndyCar Series season continues June 21 with the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 1 p.m. (EDT) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com. The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season continues with the Toronto 100 on July 11 at the Streets of Toronto. The race will be telecast at 11 p.m. on July 13. The Miller Lite 100 will be telecast at 4 p.m. on June 22 by VERSUS.

- Indy Racing League, Press Release