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

1. Hildebrand to return to Panther Racing with two-year extension

2. Kimball, Ganassi to renews with Ganassi

3. Power, Castroneves to help Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix ticket launch:

4. Clauson renews scholarship with second USAC drivers title

1. Hildebrand to return to Panther Racing with two-year extension: Panther Racing has exercised its two-year option on JR Hildebrand’s contract, ensuring he will drive the No. 4 National Guard entry for the 2012 and 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series seasons.

Hildebrand, 23, the reining Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, recorded two top-five and five top-10 finishes.

His first full season was eventful, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the Indianapolis 500. A week later, he tore the ACL in his left knee during a media event at Texas Motor Speedway, but bounced back two weeks later and recorded his best career qualification effort (fourth) at Iowa Speedway. In September, he broke a bone in his hand during an incident in the Baltimore race, but again responded the following race with a seventh-place result at Twin Ring Motegi. He also suffered a bruised sternum and a concussion in a crash at the final race of the season.

“We’re happy that we’re able to keep JR in the No. 4 car for the next two years,” managing partner and CEO John Barnes said. “We signed him last year with every intention that he would be in the No. 4 car for the foreseeable future and he proved both inside and outside the race car that he was a perfect fit for this team and what we represent.

“The true test of any athlete is how they handle adversity, and I couldn’t be more impressed with how he handled himself during the course of this season. Everybody at Panther has learned a lot from the soldiers in the National Guard, and it’s great to see how well Hildebrand represented all those soldiers. We’ve all got our work cut out for us for next season, and we’re very pleased that JR is going to be a part of that.”

Hildebrand had knee surgery after the season to repair the torn ACL and is not expected to miss any off-season testing. He is scheduled to test the 2012 Dallara chassis for Chevrolet in early December.

Hildebrand, a Sausalito, Calif., native, signed with Panther Racing in December after a two-day driver evaluation test at Phoenix International Raceway. He was the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights champion and prior to coming to Panther made two IZOD IndyCar Series starts with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing during the 2010 season.

“I’m super stoked that I’m going to be back at Panther for the next two years,” Hildebrand said. “It was a crazy year for us, but we had some really strong runs and I enjoyed being a part of this team.

“I worked really well with my engineer David Cripps this season and I know everybody is already working really hard on improving for 2012. And I’m especially excited to be able to continue to work with the National Guard; that was a special opportunity and it was a very educational experience for me. To see the sacrifices these soldiers make and to realize that they’ve entrusted us to tell their stories and represent them is an honor for all of us.

“Everybody at Panther is excited about getting started on next year and especially looking forward to getting back to the Indianapolis 500 so we can avenge our battle scar.”

2. Kimball, Ganassi to renews with Ganassi: Novo Nordisk, a world leader in diabetes care, announced (November is Diabetes Awareness Month) a multi-year extension as primary sponsor of the No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing car driven by Charlie Kimball.

Kimball, 26, from Camarillo, Calif., is the first licensed driver with type 1 diabetes to compete in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Diagnosed in 2007, he monitors his blood sugar before, during and after each race. Kimball utilizes the Novo Nordisk insulin Levemir and NovoLog to help manage his diabetes, administering it with a prefilled insulin pen device called FlexPen.

“After an exciting first year, we are extremely proud to continue our partnership with Charlie Kimball and Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing,” said Camille Lee, Corporate Vice President, Diabetes Marketing at Novo Nordisk. “This team represents a unique opportunity for us, as a pharmaceutical company, to raise disease awareness on a broader scale and show everyone that diabetes doesn’t need to slow you down.”

Following two years of sponsorship of Kimball in Firestone Indy Lights, Novo Nordisk partnered with Chip Ganassi Racing to form Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing and in December 2010 became the title sponsor of Kimball in his IZOD IndyCar Series rookie season. Kimball posted two top-10 finishes in 2011 and finished 13th in his debut at the Indianapolis 500.

“My partnership with Novo Nordisk is very unique because they make the insulins I take every day and they produce the delivery device I use to manage my diabetes,” Kimball said. “I am fortunate to have Novo Nordisk and Chip Ganassi Racing support me in my career and I am proud and honored to be associated with these two outstanding organizations.”

Novo Nordisk has been actively involved in providing information about diabetes awareness at INDYCAR events through the “Drive the Switch” program and the “Race with Insulin” campaign.

“It speaks volumes that a company like Novo Nordisk is making this type of long-term commitment to our team, to Charlie, and the IndyCar Series,” team owner Chip Ganassi said. “Charlie has done everything that we have asked of him on the track and we certainly feel his future is bright. As for Novo, they have been a tremendous partner both on and off the track.”

3. Power, Castroneves to help Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix ticket launch: Team Penske drivers Will Power and Helio Castroneves will help the launch of ticket sales for the return of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix on Nov. 22.

The drivers will visit Detroit to celebrate tickets going on sale and will be on site at the Grand Prix office in downtown Detroit to field calls from ticket buyers and help sell tickets to the event during the morning.

“In both 2007 and 2008 the Grand Prix welcomed over 100,000 fans to Detroit over the course of the three-day weekend,” said Bud Denker, Event Chairman of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. “This is a great event for the Motor City and all of southeast Michigan and we will provide even more family entertainment and great racing for our fans as we bring the Grand Prix back to Belle Isle. Our region has been through some difficult times the past few years and we are excited to keep ticket prices the same as they were four years ago and we encourage everyone to secure their seats early and take advantage of the opportunity to buy your tickets from Helio or Will on November 22nd.”

Tickets for the 2012 Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix will go on sale to the public on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011 and prices will remain the same as they were four years ago for the last Grand Prix event in Detroit.

World-class auto racing will return to the Motor City the weekend of June 1-3, 2012 as the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix will roar through the streets of Belle Isle Park for the first time since 2008. The action-packed weekend will feature four premiere racing series competing on the 2.1-mile road course at Belle Isle. The cars of the IZOD IndyCar Series, the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, the Pirelli World Challenge Championship Series and the Firestone Indy Lights Series will all race at the Grand Prix to wave the green flag on summertime in Detroit.

Tickets for the three-day event can be purchased by calling 1-866-464-PRIX (7749), by visiting the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix office located in suite 2311, above the Wintergarden in the GM Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit or online at www.DetroitGP.com beginning Nov. 22.

4. Clauson renews scholarship with second USAC drivers title: Bryan Clauson will get another season as an INDYCAR racer.

The USAC short-track standout clinched his second USAC National Drivers Championship – and the scholarship to compete in Firestone Indy Lights – with a sixth-place finish in the USAC Sprint Car race at Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif.

“It was a busy year with a lot of ups and downs, and to lock down and get the job done late in the year to put this thing away was just awesome,” the 22-year-old native of Noblesville, Ind., said. ” I couldn’t have done it without my great car owners, Tony Stewart, Mike Curb, and Corey Tucker or all the great crew guys that I get to work with.”

Clauson will try to become the first driver since Billy Boat to win three-straight Turkey Night Grand Prixs at Irwindale, Calif., later this month, as well as lock up his second consecutive USAC Midget title. He will officially receive his $40,000 prize and his INDYCAR scholarship for winning the National Drivers Championship at USAC’s “Night of Champions” Banquet on Dec. 9 in Indianapolis.

Until then, he said he’ll work with INDYCAR officials to determine how best to utilize the scholarship for 2012.

“I’m really excited about moving forward on the Indy Car side of things,” he said. “We had already been hard at work trying to put something together without the scholarship and had some great meetings, so I feel like the scholarship will only help solidify whatever program we put together.

“As far as a direction for where I’ll land for sure, I think it’s too early. Obviously I have an idea of where I’d like to land, but there are a lot of people involved in the scholarship program that we need to make sure we take care of. When I get home from this west coast swing after Turkey Night, you can be sure that I will be back hard at work to put a solid program together whether it ends up being on the Lights side or the IZOD IndyCar side.”

- INDYCAR, Press Release

Team Penske Logo

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (November 3, 2011) –

Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Will Power will all return to Team Penske next season, keeping in place the same driver lineup that the team has fielded since 2009. Next season will mark the third consecutive year that Team Penske will compete with three full-season IndyCar entries. Since 2009, Team Penske has generated an impressive 21 wins and 28 poles in IZOD IndyCar Series competition between the three drivers.

“We are excited to return with a three-car team in 2012,” said Tim Cindric, President of Penske Racing. “The combination of Helio, Ryan and Will has been a formidable one on the track and they work very well together as teammates. Our goal all along has been to continue running three cars and thanks to our terrific partners, we have been able to make everything work from the business side. Now, all of our focus will be on developing the new Chevrolet IndyCar and getting ready for a strong return to the track in 2012.”

Team Penske expects to make several sponsorship announcements in the next few months it prepares for the 2012 season.

Penske Racing is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports. Competing in a variety of disciplines, cars owned and prepared by Penske Racing have produced 348 major race wins – including a record 15 Indianapolis 500 victories, 411 pole positions and 23 National Championships. For more information about Penske Racing, please visit www.penskeracing.com.

Team Penske Logo

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Oct. 13, 2011) –

Three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves led the way with the sixth-fastest lap of the session as he clocked in at 223.519 mph in the No. 3 Guidepoint Systems Team Penske Dallara/Honda.

“It was a good start today for the Guidepoint Systems car,” said Castroneves. “It’s my first time here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and we took our time to get to know the track and I think we have a pretty good idea where we need to go for the weekend.”

Ryan Briscoe posted a fast lap of 223.482 mph in the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske Dallara/Honda, the eighth-fastest lap of the session.

“We had a good practice today,” said Briscoe, who enters the weekend ranked sixth in the series standings. “The IZOD Team Penske car had good speed and we feel good about our chances this weekend. It’s definitely going to be an interesting race.”

Will Power, who is 18 points behind Dario Franchitti in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship standings heading into Friday’s qualifying session, had the 14^th-fastest lap Thursday – 222.220 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda.

“We still have some speed to find in the Verizon car but it was a decent start for us today,” said Power. “It’s good to get some laps in here at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and we’ll be working hard to get the most out of the car in practice and qualifying tomorrow.”

Friday’s qualifying session begins at 6 p.m. ET. Coverage of Sunday’s 200-lap race will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET on ABC-TV.

- Team Penske, Press Release

Team Penske

FAST FACTS

Drivers: Helio Castroneves (No. 3 AAA Insurance Team Penske), Ryan Briscoe (No. 6 Guidepoint Systems Team Penske) and Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske)

Event: Firestone Twin 275s

Texas Motor Speedway

Ft. Worth, Texas

(1.5-mile oval)

When: Qualifying – Friday, June 10 at 4:45 p.m. ET (aired at 6 p.m. ET on Versus)

Race #1 (114 laps) – Saturday, June 11 at 8:45 p.m. ET (Live on Versus)

Race #2 (114 laps) – Saturday, June 11 at 10:45 p.m. ET (Live on Versus)

TV/Radio: Versus-TV/IMS Radio Network and Sirius XM Channel 94

Tough at Texas: Team Penske has a tremendous track record at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). The team has won six IZOD IndyCar Series races at the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval, including five out of the last seven events at the venue. Over the last six IndyCar Series races at Texas, Team Penske has led 770 of 1,512 laps of competition (51%). After a difficult Indianapolis 500 that saw all three cars finish outside the top-10, the team looks forward to returning to the TMS track this weekend.

Ryan’s Roost: Ryan Briscoe returns as the defending polewinner and champion of this race and he has fared well at TMS in his career. In his three starts for Team Penske at Texas, Briscoe has earned three podium finishes, one win and one pole and he’s led 274 laps of competition.

Lone Star Helio: Helio Castroneves has an impressive history at Texas as well. The three-time Indy 500 winner has produced three wins, a pole position and seven top-five finishes in 12 starts at TMS. Castroneves is looking to become the first four-time IZOD IndyCar Series race winner at Texas this weekend – he and former Team Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr. each hold the current record with three career victories at Texas.

Power’s Texas Ties: Current IZOD IndyCar Series points leader Will Power will try and secure his first career oval course victory Saturday at Texas. Power qualified third at TMS last year before he finished 14^th. After marrying a Texas girl – Elizabeth (formerly Cannon, now Power) – in the off-season, Power hopes a little Lone Star State luck will come his way this weekend.

TMS Rewind: Last season, Briscoe made it four wins for Team Penske in the last five races at Texas. Starting from the pole, Briscoe led four times for a race-high 102 laps in 2010 to earn his sixth career IZOD IndyCar Series victory. Briscoe captured the lead from Danica Patrick and led the final 36 laps to claim the checkered flag.

Texas Two-Step: This weekend’s Firestone Twin 275s mark the first Indy Car race doubleheader in nearly 30 years. Team Penske advisor and four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears swept the last Indy Car twin races at Atlanta in on June 28, 1981 so he’ll be in a unique position to advise the drivers on the best way to approach this weekend’s races. Qualifying for the first race will be held on Friday and the field for the Saturday night’s second race will be determined via live blind draw after completion of the first event. Each race will be 114 laps in length and the championship points/prize money will be half of a normal single race in the current IZOD IndyCar Series.

Pole Performance: Team Penske will be looking for its fifth pole in the first six races of the season during Friday’s qualifying session. Power won the first four poles of the season – all on road or street courses – before his streak was snapped at Indianapolis. Both Castroneves (2004) and Briscoe (2010) have won poles at Texas previously.

Power on Point: With wins at Barber Motorsports Park and Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the No. 12 Verizon car, Power continues to lead the IZOD IndyCar Series standings for Team Penske. Power currently holds a 194-178 point edge over Dario Franchitti in the chase for the series crown. Briscoe enters this weekend ranked seventh overall in points while Castroneves is 17^th in the standings after a tough start to the season.

Briscoe Wins Again: Following his victory at Texas last season, Briscoe got a chance to experience another win at TMS on Wednesday. He beat fellow IndyCar driver and Indy 500 runner-up JR Hildebrand in a “boot camp” style obstacle course challenge set up at the speedway. Former Olympic gold medal sprinter Michael Johnson was on hand to present the gold boots award to Briscoe following his strong performance.

Proud Partners: Team Penske is proud to welcome several new sponsors to its family in 2011. Joining Power’s No. 12 car team primary sponsor, Verizon, in the Team Penske stable this season, AAA Insurance will compete as a sponsor of the No. 3 car driven by Castroneves this weekend. Guidepoint Systems will serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 6 car driven by Briscoe at Texas. Team Penske also welcomes Shell-Pennzoil, IZOD, PPG and Penske Truck Rental as primary sponsors in 2011 along with new associate sponsors Meijer, Coca-Cola and Comfort Revolution.

Verizon Visit: Power will appear at the Verizon store located at 1400 William D Tate Avenue in Grapevine, Texas on Thursday night, June 9, from 7-8 p.m. CT. The IZOD IndyCar Series point leader will meet with fans and sign autographs at the store.

Sign of the Times: All three Team Penske drivers will meet with fans and sign autographs at the team merchandise trailer located in the midway at Texas Motor Speedway from 4-4:30 pm CT on Saturday, June 11.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT THE FIRESTONE TWIN 275s

Helio Castroneves: “Texas is a place with great energy and now with the doubleheader it’s going to be an even bigger thrill. I am really excited to start what may become a new tradition at Texas in the AAA Insurance car this weekend. The new format of the race will give it whole different feel and I am sure the fans will love it!”

Ryan Briscoe: “I have always enjoyed racing in Texas and the No. 6 car always seems to do well there. I’m very much looking forward to racing there again, this time with Guidepoint Systems on board as our sponsor. With the added excitement of the Twin 275′s, it should be a great event. There is sure to be plenty of action and excitement for drivers and fans alike.”

Will Power: “I think this will be a very interesting weekend with the two-race format. The start of the second race is going to require a lucky draw to get a good starting position, so that will likely factor in on the outcome of that race. We have been working hard on finding speed and hopefully the Verizon car will have a good pace this weekend.”

- Team Penske, Press Release

Team Penske

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (May 29, 2011) –

All three cars had trouble during the 200-lap event. Ryan Briscoe was involved in an accident on the 158^th lap and was scored in 27^th place, Helio Castroneves lost a lap and spent a good portion of the race trying to return to lead-lap racing before he finished 17th, and Power fell behind early after he lost a wheel in the pits before he eventually raced back to finish 14^th.

“It was a tough day, but we’ve got to execute better,” said team owner Roger Penske. “It’s a great place to race, but a tough place to win.”

Power, who started fifth, lost a wheel on the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda during the team’s first pit stop on the 23^rd lap. The car eventually lost its brakes as a result of the mishap and the ensuing repairs left Power running a lap down to the race leaders. He continued to work hard and managed to battle back for the team’s top finish of the day.

“Our day went bad early when we had a problem in the pits that resulted in the wheel falling off as the Verizon car was leaving the pit lane,” said Power, who now has a 194-178 lead over Dario Franchitti in the series point standings. “That caused the brake line to get loose and I lost the brakes. When we came in to fix that I lost a lap. I fought hard all day trying to get that lap back, but it didn’t work out. It just wasn’t our day, unfortunately, but we’ll learn from this and come back strong at Texas.”

After starting 16^th, Castroneves fell a lap down, but he also experienced tire problems after the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske machine struck some debris following an accident. However, he regained the lap momentarily and held on to a 17^th-place finish.

“Well, we struggled a bit today in the Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra car,” said Castroneves. “Unfortunately, the turbulence of our season continued today. First we had a vibration in the car, then an unscheduled pit stop and then a flat tire, which set us back. It was a tough result for Team Penske but I think we learned a lot today that should be valuable for us on the ovals. We’ll keep fighting and the results will come. We just have to keep working and we’ll get there.”

Briscoe actually looked to be in the best position to post a solid result for Team Penske. He went from a 26^th-place starting position to running inside the top-10 in the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske Dallara/Honda midway through the race before making contact with Townsend Bell. It appeared that Bell swerved into Briscoe and both cars made contact with the wall as Briscoe’s day ended at Indy with contact for the second consecutive season.

“I saw Townsend brush the wall in Turn 4,” said Briscoe. “Everyone was going down the inside. I was just following through on the inside into Turn 1. I just think he didn’t know I was there and he just came down and pinched me. As soon as we made contact, the wheels interlocked. And that was it. It’s a shame. We were following our game plan and we looked to be positioned for a solid finish before that.”

Dan Wheldon claimed victory Sunday after rookie J.R. Hildebrand hit the wall on the final turn while heading for the checkered flag.

For Team Penske, which has won the Indianapolis 500 a record 15 times, Sunday’s results were disappointing. However, all three of the team’s drivers have shown good speed this season after five of 17 races in the IZOD IndyCar Series. The season resumes June 11 with the Firestone Twin 275s at Texas Motor Speedway.

- Team Penske, Press Release

Team Penske

FAST FACTS

Drivers: Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske), Ryan Briscoe (No. 6 IZOD Team Penske) and Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske)
Event: Indianapolis 500
he Indianapolis Motor Speedway
(2.5-mile superspeedway)

When: Sunday, May 29 at 12:00 p.m. ET (Live on ABC-TV)
TV/Radio: ABC/IMS Radio Network and Sirius XM Radio Channel 94

Team Penske at Indy: Team Penske is the most successful team in the history of competition at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team has earned a record 15 wins and 16 poles at the Indianapolis 500 and it holds virtually every performance-based record at the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” including laps led (1,925), winning drivers (10), wins from the pole (7), front-row starts (39) and race starts (84). Drivers Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Will Power will try to add to those records on Sunday.

Sweet 16? Team Penske will be looking to extend its record of 15 team victories at Indianapolis this Memorial Day weekend. If the team wins on Sunday, it would mark five consecutive decades with an Indy 500 victory for Penske Racing.

Going Four It: Castroneves will try and tie the all-time record of four victories on Sunday. Three other legends of racing have won four Indy 500s – Al Unser, A.J. Foyt and Rick Mears. Castroneves will have the benefit of having the last driver to win four times at the Brickyard in his corner. Mears is the longtime team advisor at Team Penske and he will also serve as one of the spotters for Castroneves at Indianapolis.

Helio Castroneves - Photo Credit: Catchfence Open Wheel Editor: Paul Powell

Power-ed Up for Indy: Verizon Team Penske driver Will Power fell just short of winning his fifth consecutive pole position to start the season during Pole Day qualifying last Saturday. But Power, the current IZOD IndyCar Series points leader, did earn his second consecutive top-five starting spot as he qualified fifth to lead Team Penske. The winner of two out of the first four races this season, Power will be searching for his first Indy 500 victory and first oval track win of his career on Sunday.

Briscoe’s Battles: It was an emotional roller coaster of a weekend for Ryan Briscoe last weekend. The fourth-year Team Penske driver had hoped to battle for the pole on Saturday but he made hard contact with the wall in the No. 6 IZOD car in morning practice, suffering bruised knees. His team rallied to prepare the backup car and Briscoe returned to the track just about an hour after the crash. The speed just wasn’t the same in the “T” car, however, and he was unable to qualify among the top 24 cars. Briscoe and the team came back strong on Sunday, however, and he will start from the 26^th position in the Indianapolis 500.

Ryan Briscoe - Photo Credit: Catchfence Open Wheel Editor - Paul Powell

Follow the Leaders: Entering the Indy 500, Team Penske leads the IZOD IndyCar Series standings. After winning the last race on the streets of Sao Paulo and qualifying fifth at Indy, Power holds an 18-point edge (178-160) over Dario Franchitti in the championship rankings. After back-to-back podium finishes, Ryan Briscoe is ranked fifth in points, while Castroneves is 17^th in the standings after suffering contact in each of the first four races of the season,

Prime Partnerships: Team Penske is proud to welcome several new sponsors to its family in 2011. Joining Power’s No. 12 car team primary sponsor, Verizon, in the Team Penske stable this season, Shell V-Power and Pennzoil Ultra will compete as a sponsor of the No. 3 car driven by Castroneves beginning with the Indy 500. IZOD will once again serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 6 car driven by Briscoe at Indy. Team Penske also welcomes Guidepoint Systems, AAA, PPG and Penske Truck Rental as primary sponsors in 2011 along with new associate sponsors Meijer, Coca-Cola and Comfort Revolution.

Meijer Men: All three Team Penske drivers will sign autographs for fans at the Meijer store located at 150 S. Marlin Dr. in Greenwood, Ind. on Friday, May 27 from 6-7 p.m. ET.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT THE INDIANAPOLIS 500

Will Power - Photo Credit: Catchfence Open Wheel Editor: Paul Powell

Helio Castroneves: “I am so excited about the opportunity to race in the 100^th anniversary of the Indy 500 this Sunday. We didn’t qualify the way we would’ve liked to for this race, but we certainly know that we have a fast car and it’s a very long race and so many things can happen. The No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra team has been working hard all month and we’re ready to go for it when we see the green flag this weekend.”

Ryan Briscoe: “It’s a huge honor to be racing in the 100th anniversary of the world’s biggest race. This is the most important race I’ve ever participated in – it could be the biggest of my career. With Roger calling the shots on Sunday, I know we have a good chance to win this historic race. I would love to give him his 16th Indianapolis 500 win on such a big day for IndyCar racing. And to do it while flying the IZOD colors – it’d be amazing.”

Will Power: “I feel honored to be a part of this historic race. This race is very important to Roger and there is nothing I would like better than to bring him another victory here at the Brickyard. The Verizon crew has been working diligently preparing the car and practicing pit stops. I am ready to race, the double file restarts are going to make it very interesting. The competition is going to be tough out there and this should be a great race.”

- Team Penske, Press Release

Ryan Briscoe with Penske Racing President Tim Cindric - Photo Credit: Catchfence Open Wheel Editor: Paul Powell

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (May 22, 2011) –

One day after a practice accident set his team on the back foot, Briscoe recorded a four-lap average of 224.639 mph in the No. 6T IZOD Team Penske Dallara/Honda, as he earned the 27^th starting position for the May 29 race.

“It was interesting to experience the excitement of Bump Day from where I was sitting this morning,” said Briscoe. “I saw Tony Kanaan going through this last year, thinking how awful it must have been. Then here I am in his shoes. It felt great to put together four solid laps during our qualifying session this morning and put together an average that stood up all day.”
Briscoe struggled with his backup car on Saturday after his primary car crashed during a morning practice session. Shaking off the effects of the accident, Briscoe was unable to post a fast enough qualifying effort Saturday as the top 24 were determined, so he was forced to come back for Sunday’s Bump Day session.

“I have thank the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske crew again for getting this car ready as quickly as they did, and continuing to work on it until we put it in the race,” added Briscoe. “Now we’ll turn our attention to getting the best possible result in the Indianapolis 500 next weekend.”
The other two Team Penske drivers, Will Power and Helio Castroneves, qualified on Saturday. Power will start fifth in the race, while Castroneves will line up 16^th next weekend as he attempts to tie the record with four Indianapolis 500 wins.

Briscoe, Power and Castroneves will spend the next couple of days promoting the race in various markets before returning to Indianapolis. Team Penske will next see action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Carburetion Day, Friday, May 27, with final practice. The 100^th anniversary Indianapolis 500 will be televised live on ABC beginning at 12 pm ET on Sunday, May 29.

- Team Penske, Press Release

Will Power in car prior to qualifying - Photo Credit: Catchfence Open Wheel Editor: Paul Powell

Power led the way for Team Penske by earning a spot in the “Fast Nine” and the right to fight for the pole at the end of the long day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He posted the fifth-fastest time in the pole shootout in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda and will start in the middle of the second row when the Indianapolis 500 takes the green flag on Sunday, May 29.

Unfortunately, Team Penske’s other two drivers were frustrated by Saturday’s results. Helio Castroneves, who posted the fastest lap of practice leading up to qualifying on Friday and was trying to win a record three Indy 500 poles in a row, will start 16^th in the Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra car as the No. 3 Team Penske team just couldn’t find the speed it needed. Ryan Briscoe, who had the fourth-best lap of the week on Friday, crashed during the practice session before qualifying on Saturday morning and was unable to qualify his backup car among the top 24.

After posting an average speed that ranked seventh on the leaderboard in the opening segment of qualifying, Power recorded a four-lap average of 226.773 mph in the Verizon machine during the Fast Nine pole run. Alex Tagliani won the pole for Sam Schmidt Motorsports with an average speed of 227.472 mph.

“It was a bit of a surprising day really,” said Power, who saw his pole winning streak snapped at four races but secured his second consecutive top-five Indy 500 starting position. “We maybe got caught out a little, but the Verizon car was strong today and we have a great race car. I am really happy to be in the show. Row two is a good place to start this race. Congratulations to (Alex) Tagliani and Sam Schmidt – they have been showing good speed all week and they deserve to win this pole. Thanks to Verizon Team Penske for all they do to give me a shot at winning this historic race.”

Castroneves had a four-lap average of 225.216 mph in the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske Dallara/Honda. The three-time Indy champion was in line to qualify a second time and try to earn a spot in the Fast Nine when rain doused the 2.5-mile superspeedway, effectively ending the first segment of qualifying and locking in the top 24 starting spots.

“Well, to be honest, it was kind of a challenging day for the Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra team,” said Castroneves. “We tried some different things today on the car and we didn’t get the speed we were hoping for. The weather also made things difficult and I think we could have improved our position and tried to make the top nine if the rain didn’t come before four o’clock. We have proven that we can win this race starting from outside the top-10 before and that’s certainly our goal now. We will focus on our strategy for the race over the next week and Team Penske will be ready next Sunday. I also want to say congratulations to Alex (Tagliani) and his team. Awesome job guys!”

Ryan Briscoe with Penske Racing President Tim Cindric - Photo Credit: Catchfence Open Wheel Editor: Paul Powell

“Today was a really hard day,” said Briscoe. “After we lost the primary car, the team did everything they could to get the T car prepared in time to run a few laps before the end of practice this morning. After I got back on track, I got my confidence back very quickly. We just weren’t going to have the same speed in the T car as we did in the primary. We will work hard tonight and get after it tomorrow in the No. 6T IZOD Team Penske car.”

While the results weren’t what Team Penske was hoping for on Saturday, the team and its drivers remained optimistic about winning the historic running of the race.

“Roger (Penske) loves this track,” said Power, who put things in perspective for the team that has won the Indy 500 a record 15 times. “He loves this place. He loves to get the pole. He loves to win. It’s such a long race. You can most definitely make up a lot of positions in this race. The pole would have been great, but I would really rather have a really good race car.”

The final nine Indy 500 starting positions will be determined during Sunday’s Bump Day qualifying session, which begins at 12 pm ET.

The 100^th anniversary Indy 500 will be seen live on ABC beginning at 12 pm ET on May 29.

- Team Penske, Press Release

Team Penske

FAST FACTS

Drivers: Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske), Ryan Briscoe (No. 6 IZOD Team Penske) and Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske)

Event: Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway

(2.5-mile superspeedway)

When: Qualifying – Saturday, May 21 beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET (Live on Versus)

TV/Radio: Versus-TV/IMS Radio Network and Sirius XM Radio Channel 94

Pole Pursuit: Team Penske has earned a record 16 poles at the Indianapolis 500 and the team will be looking to extend that record on Saturday, May 21, on Pole Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). Team Penske has won the pole at Indy in four out of the last five years including the last two years in a row with Helio Castroneves.

Power-ful Streak: Verizon Team Penske driver Will Power will try to secure his fifth consecutive pole to start the season on Saturday. Power has won the pole at St. Petersburg, Barber Motorsports Park, Long Beach and Sao Paulo, Brazil – all road or street courses – this season. Power, who won his first oval pole position last year at Iowa Speedway, qualified second in the 2010 Indianapolis 500. Power, the current IZOD IndyCar Series points leader, has also won two out of the first four races this season.

Helio’s Home Away From Home: Castroneves continues to excel at Indianapolis. Not only is he a three-time winner of the Indy 500, the native of Sao Paulo, Brazil is also four-time pole winner at the Brickyard and he’ll be looking to establish a new record with a third straight pole on Saturday. Recently voted as the fifth-best driver in Indianapolis 500 history, Castroneves will fight for his fifth career Indy pole this weekend.

Sweet 16? Team Penske will be looking to extend its record of 15 team victories at Indianapolis this Memorial Day weekend. If the team wins on Sunday, May 29, it would mark five consecutive decades with an Indy 500 victory for Penske Racing.

Going Four It: Castroneves will try and tie the all-time record of four victories at the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Three other legends of racing have won four Indy 500s – Al Unser, A.J. Foyt and Rick Mears. Castroneves will have the benefit of having the last driver to win four times at the Brickyard in his corner. Mears is the longtime team advisor at Team Penske and he will also serve as one of the spotters for Castroneves at Indianapolis.

Pit Perfect: On Friday, May 27 – Carburetion Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Team Penske will try to extend its record and win its 13^th title in the IZOD Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge. Helio Castroneves and the No. 3 Team Penske crew have won the last four consecutive pit stop competitions at Indianapolis.

Follow the Leaders: Entering the Indy 500, Team Penske leads the IZOD IndyCar Series standings. After winning the last race on the streets of Sao Paulo, Power holds a 14-point edge (168-154) over Dario Franchitti in the championship rankings. After back-to-back podium finishes, Ryan Briscoe is ranked fifth in points, while Castroneves is 17^th in the standings after suffering contact in each of the first four races of the season.

Prime Partnerships: Team Penske is proud to welcome several new sponsors to its family in 2011. Joining Power’s No. 12 car team primary sponsor, Verizon, in the Team Penske stable this season, Shell V-Power and Pennzoil Ultra will compete as a sponsor of the No. 3 car driven by Castroneves beginning with the Indy 500. IZOD will once again serve as the primary sponsor of the No. 6 car driven by Briscoe at Indy. Team Penske also welcomes Guidepoint Systems, AAA, PPG and Penske Truck Rental as primary sponsors in 2011 along with new associate sponsors Meijer, Coca-Cola and Comfort Revolution.

Meijer Men: All three Team Penske drivers will make three appearances for new team partner, Meijer, during the month of May. Castroneves, Briscoe and Power will all signed autographs for fans at the Meijer store located at 10841 Rockville Rd. in Avon, Ind. on Tuesday, May 17. The Penske trio will also appear at the Meijer store located at 8375 E. 96th St. in Indianapolis on Wednesday, May 25 from 6-7 p.m. ET and at the Meijer located at 150 S. Marlin Dr. in Greenwood, Ind. on Friday, May 27 from 6-7 p.m. ET.

Visit Us at Verizon: Power, Castroneves and Briscoe will also meet with fans and sign autographs at the Verizon store located at 313 Metropolis Mile, Suite 105 in Plainfield, Ind. on Tuesday, May 24, from 7:30-8:30 pm ET.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT THE INDIANAPOLIS 500

Roger Penske: “Our team has built its history around our success at the Indianapolis 500 and this is truly a special opportunity to celebrate the 100th anniversary of this great race. There is so much tradition and history at Indianapolis but that is just part of what makes this event so unique. Our teams have been working hard to prepare for the Indy 500 and we believe we have three cars and three drivers that are very capable of winning this race. I am looking forward to an exciting few weeks.”

Helio Castroneves: “Indianapolis is such special place and it has definitely been significant for me and my career. This year promises to be really big, with the 100th anniversary adding an air of excitement surrounding not only the race, but all of the great events associated with it. Team Penske has some terrific history at Indy with Shell-Pennzoil and I am going to do my best to add to that legacy in the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil-Ultra car. Indianapolis is the perfect place for me to turn my season around and I can’t wait to get that opportunity.”

Ryan Briscoe: “I’m obviously very excited to run this historic event – it could very well be the biggest race of my life. I’m also very focused and determined to run well and put myself in a position towards the end of the race that will allow me to challenge for the win. The No. 6 IZOD Team Penske car has been fast everywhere this year and our team’s hard work has started to pay off over the last couple of events. We are going to do our best to bring home another strong finish for the team.”

Will Power: “Yeah, this is going to be a pretty big deal, with the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 – the biggest race in the world. Our No. 12 Verizon car should be better than it was last year and it was pretty good in 2010. Team Penske has been working really hard and we should be in great shape for this race. It is such a long event. We have plenty of time to practice before we qualify so we should be able to sort our car out. The race itself is also really long which means that we just have to be smart and be there at the end. It should be a pretty good few weeks. I’m really looking forward to it.”

- Team Penske, Press Release

Helio Castroneves - Photo Credit: Catchfence Open Wheel Editor: Paul Powell

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (May 20, 2011) –

The three-time Indianapolis 500 champion posted the fastest lap of the month on Friday as Team Penske continued to work on race setup and qualifying speed in preparation for the 100^th anniversary Indy 500.

Castroneves and his No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske Dallara/Honda were clocked at 228.611 mph during Friday’s practice as teams zeroed in on Saturday’s Pole Day qualifying for the race. The other two Team Penske drivers were right there with Castroneves. Ryan Briscoe had the fourth-fastest lap of the day, while Will Power owned the seventh-fastest speed in practice. All three drivers got in plenty of work with each topping the 100-lap plateau in Friday’s six-hour practice.

Castroneves said the fast lap was an important step heading into Pole Day qualifying, as he’ll strive to win the top starting position for the fifth time in his career and a record three times in a row.

“It felt great today,” said Castroneves, who’s 117 laps were more than any other driver on Friday. “The Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra car is working really well in both race trim and also the qualifying set-up. We had a little bit of tow on the fast lap, but we are happy with where the car is heading into qualifying. We ran a lot of laps today and all the Team Penske teams look to be in a pretty good position.”

Briscoe continued his solid practice performance on Friday. One day after he wound up third on the leaderboard, he recorded a top lap of 228.029 mph in the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske Dallara/Honda.

“Today was a good day for the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske crew – we completed a lot of laps,” said Briscoe. “We mostly ran race setups, which we needed after all the time we lost earlier in the week. We trimmed out the car at the end of the day and got good speed out of the car, but we haven’t found the limit yet. I’m happy where we finished the day, and we’re excited about tomorrow. It should be a really good day on Saturday for Team Penske.”

One day after clocking the fastest practice lap in the field, Power recorded a top speed of 227.958 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske machine to rank seventh on Friday.

“Today was the absolute perfect day to drive a race car at Indianapolis,” said Power. “There was no wind, good temperature and it was great to drive the Verizon car today. We had a very productive day. We logged plenty of miles, did a lot of race work and we also have a pretty good read on how the car will be in qualifying. Having said that, I’m sure the conditions during qualifying tomorrow will be much different. We are in good shape going into tomorrow and I am looking forward to it.”

Teams will have one more practice session beginning at 8 a.m. ET Saturday morning before qualifying begins at 11 a.m. ET. The top 24 starters for the May 29 Indianapolis 500 will be locked in on Saturday. The top nine qualifiers will battle it out for the prestigious pole position between 4:30-6 pm ET as the starting order for the first three rows will be determined. Live coverage of qualifying begins Saturday at 11 am ET on Versus.

“Qualifying tomorrow will be very tight,” said Castroneves. “I can see that my teammates will be the strong ones and there are other guys doing fast times out there too. It will be interesting to see what happens in the fast nine. I think we will see speeds in the 228 range tomorrow. It’s going to be fun.”

- Team Penske, Press Release

Team Penske

First off, let’s welcome team president, Tim Cindric. Next to him, of course, Roger Penske. To his right, a man who needs no introduction here at the Speedway, Rick Mears. We’re also joined by three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves. Next to him, driving the No. 6 IZOD car, Ryan Briscoe, and, of course, IZOD IndyCar Series points leader, Will Power, is here with us as well.

Tim, we’ll start with you. Obviously, it’s a great opportunity to be back here at the Speedway, it’s 100th anniversary of this race and a lot of history and celebrations going on here over the next week or so. But just talk about, the lineup, the changes that the team has had in sponsorship and some of the new partners that we have on board and what we’re looking forward to with Team Penske at Indy

TIM CINDRIC: Well, from my standpoint it’s always great to come here and represent Roger and the organization and everything that he’s accomplished at this great race. To be part of Helio’s chance to run for a fourth, this is the second time we get to try this again. I think we were so close last year, and I think we’ll have a great opportunity to maybe accomplish that feat at some point in time. And having Shell-Pennzoil on board, you can see what they’ve done not only at the Speedway but around city of Indianapolis and through national promotions. They’ve been a great partner of ours.

Ryan and Will, these guys have every opportunity to win this race, as well. I would give anything to see any one of these guys in Victory Lane. IZOD, nothing would really finish their whole process here like having the IZOD car in Victory Lane at Indy with their support of the series. I think that would be a great show as well. Obviously, Will has put the numbers on the board all year long. And Verizon’s support of this program, I’m sure that should the Verizon car be in Victory Lane, they would blow that out, as well, as far as a promotional aspect. Again, thanks for having us and it will be interesting.

MODERATOR: Roger, some thoughts from you, and maybe even talk about some of the partners. We have a different looks with the fire suits with the drivers this year.

ROGER PENSKE: First, I want to say it’s always a thrill to be here again to race at Indianapolis, as you look around the track and the things that have taken place since we were here back in the late ’60s, there’s a lot of change. You know what strikes me the most is this is the 100th anniversary, 41 or 42 cars with drivers, we haven’t had that for probably 10 years. The competition is tight as it’s ever been. And I think that the new qualifying format with the Fast Nine and then going for the pole will be very exciting tomorrow. I think the diversity of the whole field is amazing with the women drivers have shown such good expertise — sorry about the accident yesterday (with Simona de Silvestro), obviously. Sarah Fisher being a team owner, I think these are things so good about our sport. That’s what’s great about being in America, people who want to compete can do that and there’s no better place, no better platform to do that but here at Indianapolis.

Because, you know, the notoriety you get here is amazing. I would say that over the last, you know, four or five decades that I’ve been involved, it’s helped us build our company and our brand. And then to be able to sit up here with Rick Mears, a four-time winner, and Helio, a three-time winner, and certainly with Ryan and Will, we’ve got a great group of guys this year. Only one can win. But the transparency we’ve had with the drivers this month and also for the series, the first four races has been terrific. I think we’re in good shape.

There’s lots of competition, obviously. You know, Ganassi won this race a year ago, they’re strong. (Scott) Dixon and (Dario) Franchitti, you’ve got young (Graham) Rahal and you’ve got the Andretti team and many other strong cars. (Alex) Tagliani showed a lot of speed. So you could have a surprise winner here.

So to me, we’ve got to stay focused tomorrow, not make any mistakes because it’s going to be key because we want that pole position.

MODERATOR: Rick, you have a dual role this month as a four-time winner but also still heavily involved as an adviser and spotter on Race Day for Team Penske with Helio.

RICK MEARS: Yeah, it’s great. Obviously, just great to be here and still be involved with everything and the team. The team has been doing a tremendous job so far this month. Roger has pretty well covered it. I think the competition level this year is just outstanding. It should make for great qualifying tomorrow if the weather holds out for us, it should be a really exciting show. Obviously the race itself should be exceptional with the amount of cars we’ve had. There’s going to be some good cars and teams not make the show, and that’s — it’s good to see but bad to see. But we’re just looking forward to a great run this month and wish everybody a lot of good luck. Thanks.

MODERATOR: Helio, you can join Rick as a four-time winner and just general impressions of this place that has been so special to you.

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah, certainly I’m so honored again to be in this opportunity, especially with Shell V-Power, Pennzoil Ultra. Having new colors here, I’m really excited. Rick, the other day, kind of whispered in my ear, said, “If you have the same luck I had with this car, you can become a five-time winner.” I’m like, “OK, Rick, let’s get the fourth first and then the fifth.”

Right now, it’s great. We stick to the plan before we start going for qualifying. Today is the Fast Friday and we’re going to see some pretty good numbers. It’s difficult to have a clean lap because we have 41 cars, which is very impressive. (With) all my experience here, I never had this type of a scenario that has so many cars around the track, which shows the series is getting stronger every year. It’s going to be fun and I can’t wait to go out there and try the qualifying setup, and hopefully good numbers will be good enough for tomorrow.

MODERATOR: Ryan, you’ve always been quick here, but you want one of those rings that Rick and Helio have.

RYAN BRISCOE: Yeah, I want it so bad. I feel really prepared this year. Obviously, there’s a lot of focus in everything you do around this place, and it feels great to be back in Indy. Our cars are fast. The team has done an amazing job over the offseason, and with IZOD coming on board, we’ve got so many good people behind us, pushing us forward. You know, motivationally I’ve never been so motivated to go out and do a good job and make no mistakes. I think that’s going to be key this year at the 500 – to be flawless on the track, in the pits and everything we do. You know, hopefully as a team tomorrow we can all be right up there, hopefully sweep the front row. That’s certainly the goal. I think we’re capable of it, and then we just need to keep all three cars up during the race.

MODERATOR: Will has won the pole at every IZOD IndyCar race this season. He started second last year, was very strong on the racetrack, and quick yesterday. What do you have for us this weekend?

WILL POWER: Yeah, hopefully more of the same. We’ve all got very good cars and two very good teammates. I mean, the good thing about having three cars is that we can all run different setups and probably can come to a very good setup, optimum setup. So, yeah, this is definitely a pole position I would love to get. You saw last year it was on the ovals that’s where we lost all our points. I’m very determined to come back this year and, you know, obviously win my first oval but be strong every time we get out on an oval. So, just keep working hard and pushing away and see if we can get the Verizon car in Victory Lane. That would be unbelievable.

MODERATOR: OK, we’ll open it up to questions now.

Q: Tim, how do you compromise a good qualifying setup with a good race setup? On a day like today with Indiana weather being what it is, do you work on both at the same time, same day?

CINDRIC: Typically the answer would be no, but obviously with the way the weather has been this week, we’re forced to do both. I think you’ll see today the first couple hours of the day will be teams still tuning in their race cars because the weekend is unpredictable so you’re not really guaranteed that you’re going to get that chance Sunday. So we have to approach it as if this might be our last time before Carb Day to actually get a run at the race setup. I think you’ll see the first couple hours today in race setup, at least for us. You’ll see the end of the day heat up toward a qualifying setup.

Q: To the three drivers. The fact that you started the season all on road courses, is that an advantage coming here because of your overall experience at Indy compared to some of the other teams?

POWER: Yeah, I would say so, but this is such a unique place. There’s no other oval that you can really use a similar setup for. But as far as the weather, you know, I think that helps us because we had really good cars from last year, and we really haven’t changed much. So, yes.

CASTRONEVES: We certainly hope so. But, again, this place is unpredictable, this place is unique and even sometimes (when drivers are) not running for a long time, when they come over here, they still have the experience and they might not have the speed. But again, in a race, anything can happen. But certainly it’s going to be interesting, the new rules, the double-file restarts here. So there’s a lot of things happening that can change the dynamic of this race in the past. So it will certainly be interesting to see.

BRISCOE: Yeah, I think we’re in good shape. We’ve come well prepared. I think the biggest difference not having an oval and also losing some days due to weather is really for the rookies – I think it’s probably just hardest for those guys. You know, all of a sudden they’re in a big rush to go out and try to make this field, one of the hardest fields to make in such a long time. The biggest difference probably is for them, and for us we just need to stay calm and not get caught up in it too much.

Q: Guys, last year you had a pretty clear day for Pole Day. Tomorrow might not be the same thing. Does that change the strategy going into the day with the new format?

PENSKE: I think with 41 or 42 cars, it takes about six minutes per car, so that would be four hours. So if we start at 11:00 sharp, it could be 3:00 without a break. So you’re not going to have a chance to go back out. So all the cars are probably going to take some time because of the weather situation. The top 24 end up being selected from tomorrow, so you want to be sure that you’re in the field. So the opportunity to go out and run and then go back in line is probably not going to be available like we had in previous years with fewer qualifiers. But, you know, I think it’s going to be pretty exciting.

The one comment I think was asked about running road courses, you know, before the ovals, I think that’s a definite advantage for the good oval drivers who have been here, (that) have run ovals. And probably the disadvantage is as we get into the race there’s going to be a lot of people who have not run ovals and will probably get in the race because they’ve got good talent. We’ve seen that before, and that’s going to be judgment and other things that they’re not aware of how fast this place is. So I think that’s going to create other opportunities and issues come Race Day.

MODERATOR: Questions? We have time for a couple more.

Q: For the three drivers, you predicted, all three of you predicted before the season that this would be a tight championship given the depth of the field and now some things that have happened in the four road courses, and like for Will, who’s the points leader, and Ryan and Helio. Now heading into these stretch of four ovals and then through the rest of the season, others can come in, Ryan, Helio can jump back into the ovals. Do you again see it going to the last event in the championship race?

BRISCOE: Well, I mean it’s still a long championship. A lot has happened in the first four races but a long way to go. I think it’s going to be key moving forward not have too many races like Helio and I have had at the beginning of the season, throwing points away. It’s going to be important to be consistent. And work hard on putting yourself in a position to finish on the podium every weekend, I think that’s going to be the key and challenge because it is so competitive being there in the hunt all the time. It’s going to take a lot of hard work to be there every weekend, and that’s what we need to work for.

CASTRONEVES: Yeah, pretty much the same. Certainly here it’s – the championship apart, Indianapolis we kind of like stand by on that area – we just take all the chance we can (to win). But, if not, we still obviously have been consistent so we collect a lot of points, especially in qualifying since these days we are actually adding points. So hopefully with that it’s going to help us and turn around our season that’s been quite turbulent.

POWER: I’m sure it’s going to go down to the last race. There are just so many strong drivers and teams this year. You can see how mixed up it can get, especially with double-file restarts. You can be leading and then taken out, it’s that easy. So I see a very mixed-up season with a lot of different winners.

MODERATOR: And certainly qualifying here has a big impact on the championship because there are 15 points available to the pole sitter on down through, that’s something we don’t see at the other races.

One more question.

Q: Guys, comment a little more on the double-file restarts, the challenge that presents here and if that changes your mindset just a smidge going into Turn 1, particularly as the race gets later in the day.

CASTRONEVES: It’s been changing my head all the way around, I tell you that. I don’t know how we’re going to be here. I’ve got to see. It’s going to be the first of the oval double-file restarts. I don’t know how they’re going to want us to bring the three-wide, you know, on the first three-wide start. So we’ve got to wait and see what Brian (Barnhart)’s prediction, but the double-file restart I think is going to be exciting. It’s not like going from sixth gear to first gear like it’s been on the road course, so you might not see those kind of trouble we’ve seen in the road courses. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.

POWER: Yeah, it’s going to be very different. We’re starting at such a slow speed late. I’m not sure, I think when you double file, you have no opportunity to pass. You’re sort of stuck in your row. So that’s going to make it really interesting. Probably down the back straight – I think the last two restarts of the day are going to be pretty wild. I mean, the outside row is going to be — I don’t know, maybe at a disadvantage if they don’t sweep (the track) because the groove just gets smaller and smaller all day. So we’ll see. Everyone has to learn on the job.

MODERATOR: Ryan?

BRISCOE: Yeah, I mean we haven’t done it on ovals yet. We haven’t really been told exactly where the starting cones are going to be and so on. So it’s such a long straight, it could be anything. Depending on where the cones are, we could still be getting into (Turn) 1 pretty fast, but I think the officials are going to have to help us out making sure Turn 1 and 2 are clean. As Will said, I think getting through there and a lot of the passing is probably going to happen up into Turn 3 when the speeds get faster.

MODERATOR: OK, thank you again to Team Penske for joining us today.

- Team Penske, Press Release

Will Power in car - Photo Credit: Catchfence Open Wheel Editor: Paul Powell

IZOD IndyCar Series points leader Will Power had the fastest lap of the day – 227.778 mph – in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda. Ryan Briscoe posted the third-best lap – 227.217 mph – in the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske machine, while Helio Castroneves was fourth-quickest in the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske car at 226.927 mph.

After the team missed the previous two days of practice due to bad weather, all three cars got in plenty of running Thursday as each driver topped 60 laps and Castroneves ran nearly 100. Power’s pace-setting lap, recorded with just 12 minutes left in Thursday’s six-hour session, was the fastest since Indy 500 practice opened last Saturday.

“The Verizon car was good today. We were able to do a lot work on our race setup and we are finding a good balance,” said Power, who has claimed two wins and four poles in the first four races of the season. “At the end of day we trimmed out a bit and were fortunate enough to get a big tow at the right time. It was great to get on track and give all the fans something to see.”

The Team Penske trio turned a combined 242 laps during Thursday’s practice.

“It was a very good day, overall,” said Briscoe.” We worked on the race setup on the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske car, and I worked a lot with my teammates on track. We made a ton of changes throughout the day and we were very productive. We trimmed out the car at the end of the session and focused a bit more on speed. All in all, it was a very productive day.”

Helio Castroneves - Photo Credit: Catchfence Open Wheel Editor: Paul Powell

“It was certainly a good and full day for the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra team,” said Castroneves. “We ran a lot of laps and all of them were really about race setup. My teammates, Will and Ryan, did some qualifying runs so we know what we need to do there, but we really just focused on getting our car right for the race. Tomorrow will be all about speed for us. It’s going to be fun!”

Practice resumes tomorrow with Fast Friday action beginning at 12 p.m. ET. Pole qualifying, which will determine the top 24 starting positions in the Indy 500, is set to begin at 11 a.m. ET Saturday. The 100^th anniversary Indianapolis 500 will be run on Sunday, May 29.

- Team Penske, Press Release

INDYCAR LOGO

INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, May 19, 2011) -

With 12 minutes left in the six-hour session, Verizon Team Penske’s Power unseated Alex Tagliani atop the speed chart with a lap of 227.778 mph (fastest of the month) to earn the $5,000 Grady Brothers Construction Fastest Lap of the Day award. All 40 entrants took on the track, recording a total of 2,394 laps, and the top 38 cars were separated by one second.

Tagliani, driving the No. 77 Bower & Wilkins car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, had a quick lap of 227.652. Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe (227.217) and three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves (226.927) followed, and Townsend Bell in the No. 99 Herbalife Schmidt Pelfrey Racing car was fifth (226.741).

The yellow flag flew early in the session when Simona de Silvestro’s No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy car made heavy contact with the outside retaining wall in the North Short Chute and became airborne before catching fire. She was transported to Methodist Hospital to be treated for burns to her hands and released. Her driving status will be determined on Friday.

DAY 6 NOTEBOOK:

Three Indianapolis 500 teams earned the final three spots in the IZOD Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge during time trials this morning. Teams changed four tires and performed a simulated fueling hookup. The three qualifiers:

#28 Ryan Hunter-Reay was fourth, 9.134.

Twelve teams will compete in the IZOD Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge on Miller Lite Carb Day, Friday, May 27. These nine teams previously qualified based on pit performance between the 2010 Indianapolis 500 and the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle earlier this month:

KV Racing Technology-Lotus (#5 Sato), Team Penske (#6 Briscoe), Target Chip Ganassi Racing (#9 Dixon), Target Chip Ganassi Racing (#10 Franchitti), Team Penske (#12 Power), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (#22 Wilson), Andretti Autosport (#26 M. Andretti), Newman/Haas Racing (#06 Hinchcliffe), Dale Coyne Racing (TBD).

***

INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE:

At noon, the ambient temperature was 66 degrees with a relative humidity of 68 percent and winds from the west at 10 mph. Skies were cloudy. The track temperature was 92 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.

Noon – GREEN. #27 Conway first on track.

12:10 p.m. — #67 Carpenter fastest at 224.134.

12:25 p.m. – YELLOW. Sparks shower from bottom of #78 De Silvestro’s car entering Turn 3. Car hits outside retaining wall between Turns 3 and 4. Car jumps, spins and rides wall backward, making secondary contact with catch fence in entrance of Turn 4. Car stops upside down on fire in apron in Turn 4. Fire extinguished, De Silvestro climbs from car with assistance from Holmatro Safety Team.

***

Senators Dick Lugar and Dan Coats are proud to announce the passage of a U.S. Senate Resolution recognizing the 100^th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500. The resolution passed the Senate through unanimous consent May 18.

The full text of the resolution is available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2011-05-18/pdf/CREC-2011-05-18-pt1-PgS3113-5.pdf#page=1.

DICK LUGAR (U.S. Senator, R-Ind.): “The Indy 500 is a proud Hoosier tradition. Each May, the Indy 500 brings hundreds of thousands of spectators to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and we are pleased to showcase Indiana to so many wonderful visitors. The Indy 500 serves as a demonstration of Indiana’s proud automotive heritage. I am pleased to join with Senator Coats and the rest of the United States Senate in recognizing the 100^th anniversary of the race and look forward to many more years of this Hoosier institution.”

DAN COATS (U.S. Senator, R-Ind.): “The Indianapolis 500 is the world’s most famous and prestigious automobile race. The 500 holds a special place in the history of the automobile and Indiana. This May, Hoosiers celebrate the 100th anniversary of this great tradition and look forward to another exciting race and century of Indianapolis motorsports.”

***

Amos Brown, Indianapolis AM 1310 The Light radio talk show host, was the honorary starter today. Brown also rode in the Indy Racing Experience two-seater car this morning.

AMOS BROWN: (About his ride in the two-seater Indycar): “It was a great experience. First of all, having the honor to be driven around by Johnny Rutherford was a great experience. And it’s something that I will remember when my granddaughter is trying to drive. I won’t be as nervous with her as I was when I was in the car with JR. I didn’t realize all of the g-forces that the drivers deal with. I felt like I was getting pressed down. It gave me a better understanding of what these men and women go through to do their jobs.” (On waving the green flag to start practice for the Indianapolis 500): “That was fun. I think once I got used to the cars going by, it felt no different than if I was on the other side of the catch fence. It was a thrill to be that close to the action. That’s when I realized that: ‘Oh, OK. This is pretty fun.’ I also realized that these guys have a job to do, and there are lot of them that are trying to make the race. I never want to be in the way of people doing their job. I’m just in awe of what they are doing. I’m glad that I brought, hopefully, good weather and full day of practice so they can get ready for Saturday.”

***

Medical update from Dr. Michael Olinger, INDYCAR medical director: Simona de Silvestro is awake and alert and being transported via ground to Methodist Hospital for further evaluation of second-degree burns to her right hand and superficial burns to her left hand.

***

Today is the 38^th birthday of two-time and defending Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti.

***

ESPN Classic will present a week-long tribute in honor of the 100^th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500. The 2011 edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” airs Sunday, May 29 on ABC, with pre-race at 11 a.m. (ET).

All week long beginning Monday, May 23, ESPN Classic will air classic Indy 500 races and “SportsCentury” programming. On the actual 100^th anniversary, May 30, ESPN Classic will present a 27-hour marathon anchored by a re-air of the 2011 race.

***

Jenna Wolfe, the Sunday co-anchor of “Weekend TODAY” and a correspondent for “TODAY” on NBC, visited the track today to film an upcoming segment on the 100^th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 for “Weekend Today.”

Wolfe rode in the Indy Racing Experience two-seat car with Mario Andretti driving and interviewed 2010 Indianapolis 500 Chase Rookie of the Year Simona De Silvestro, IMS Historian Donald Davidson and IMS Director of Photography Ron McQueeney.

***

The Indiana Section of SAE International will announce the winner of the 45^th annual Louis Schwitzer Award sponsored by BorgWarner at 11 a.m. Friday, May 20 in the Economaki Press Conference Room.

The Louis Schwitzer Award, presented by engineers to engineers, recognizes individuals with the courage and conviction to explore and develop new concepts in motorsports technology for use in the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. The award has been presented annually since 1967 by the Indiana Section of SAE International in honor of early racing pioneer and past Indiana Section Chairman Louis Schwitzer.

Award sponsor BorgWarner provides a $10,000 cash prize to the winner. SAE International also provides a $1,000 scholarship to the engineering school of the winner’s choice and doubles the scholarship amount if the winner was a past Formula SAE participant. In addition, the winner’s name is added to the permanent trophy on display in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

***

Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Bruce P. Crandall has been named honorary starter for the 100^th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on Sunday, May 29, waving the green flag to begin racing for the field of 33 drivers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Retired Col. Crandall, who flew more than 900 missions as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, received the Congressional Medal of Honor – the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government – in 2007.

Crandall was honored for his leadership, heroism and courage during the Battle of Ia Drang on Nov. 14, 1965. He led the first major division operation of airmobile troops into Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley and is credited with evacuating some 70 wounded comrades with his wing man and fellow Medal of Honor recipient Major Ed Freeman. The two also flew in the ammunition needed for the 1/7th Cavalry to survive. The craft Crandall was flying was unarmed.

During his military career, Crandall also received a Bronze Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, a Presidential Unit Citation and a Purple Heart among numerous other citations.

The 2002 movie “We Were Soldiers” was based on the operation for which Crandall was awarded the Medal of Honor, with 1997 Academy Award nominee Greg Kinnear appearing as Crandall.

BRUCE P. CRANDALL: “I’m thrilled and honored to be selected as the honorary starter for the Indianapolis 500 in its 100^th anniversary year,” Crandall said. “The race is an American tradition, and I’m very grateful for the continued tributes to the U.S. Armed Forces during the pre-race ceremonies every year. I can’t wait to get into the starter’s stand.”

JEFF BELSKUS (President and CEO, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation): “It’s a great honor to welcome Bruce Crandall to serve as the honorary starter of the 100^th Anniversary Indianapolis 500. The Indianapolis 500 has paid tribute to the service and sacrifice of our Armed Forces since its inception on Memorial Day weekend in 1911, and it’s a privilege for a true American hero to send the field of 33 on its way toward Victory Lane at such a historic race.”

***

A comparison of the specifications of the No. 32 Marmon “Wasp” that Ray Harroun drove to victory in the inaugural Indianapolis 500 in 1911 and the cars that will compete in the 100^th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 29.

***

U.S. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe will dedicate and issue for the first time the 100^th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 United States Postal Service commemorative stamp at a ceremony Friday, May 20 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The event will take place at 10 a.m. at the IMS Pagoda Plaza on the Coca-Cola Stage.

The 100^th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 stamp, which features the Marmon “Wasp” driven by inaugural Indianapolis 500 winner Ray Harroun, is one of 25 subjects highlighted in the USPS 2011 Commemorative Stamp Program. The stamp will be a “Forever Stamp,” always equal in value to the current First Class Mail 1-ounce letter regardless of price changes in the future.

Also participating in the ceremony will be Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Belskus, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and 1985 Indianapolis 500 pole winner Pancho Carter.

***

Medical update from Dr. Michael Olinger, INDYCAR medical director: Simona de Silvestro has been released from Methodist Hospital. She will meet with INDYCAR medical officials Friday to evaluate her driving status.

De Silvestro suffered second-degree burns to her right hand and superficial burns to her left hand in a crash earlier today.

She will be available for interviews at 11:15 a.m. Friday on the fourth floor of the Media Center.

***

BMW Team Rahal Letterman Lanigan American Le Mans Series driver Joey Hand visited the track today.

JOEY HAND (About coming to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway): “I’ve never gotten out here and watched Indy cars go around. I thought it would be a good time to come around and see some people. My Rahal guys are all here. I’ve got a bit of a break from the American Le Mans Series, so I came out here to support them. I once said I wasn’t going to come out here unless I was racing, so some people had to talk me into coming here and meeting people.” (On his interest in Indy cars): “To come here and finally see an Indy car go by is really cool. I get to see what Indy is all about. I watched it all the time as a kid. I watched Indy. In fact, I watched my boss, Bobby Rahal, race here when I was growing up. To be honest, I’ve definitely got some interest in the Las Vegas race at the end of the year. I just wanted to get my face out here. A long time ago, Kim Green told me that I’m not going to get a job sitting on my couch. So I wanted to make sure I got out here and met people. I met Randy Bernard, and he’s really nice. I’m obviously going to stay in sports cars, but this Las Vegas deal for 5 million bucks is something that’s really intriguing. The Rahal guys are interested in it and, who knows, maybe we’ll get to Indy next year.”

***

HVM Racing owner Keith Wiggins reported this afternoon that the No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy HVM Racing entry driven by Simona De Silvestro was damaged beyond repair in a crash this afternoon.

De Silvestro drove the team’s backup car on Indianapolis Star Opening Day practice Saturday, reaching a top speed of 219.522 mph in 13 total laps. The backup car was the team’s primary car in the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season, Wiggins said.

KEITH WIGGINS (Owner, HVM Racing): (How confident are you that you can get back in pretty good shape?): “Yes, we can build a good car, but it probably won’t be as good as the original car because that was built specifically for here. There are a lot of specialities about building a car for here, and we only had one of those built because that is all our resources will allow. So the question is will this car be as quick as the other one? That’s the challenge.”

***

Officials from the International Motorsports Industry Show (IMIS) and C&R Racing Inc., announced today that the “Rally In The Alley,” a reception exclusively for all INDYCAR team members participating in the Indianapolis 500, will take place Sunday in Gasoline Alley at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway immediately following the conclusion of on-track Bump Day activities.

During the reception, the C&R Racing / IMIS “True Grit” Award will be bestowed upon a member of the INDYCAR community. The $5,000 award is given to a veteran INDYCAR team member who has achieved success, overcome adversity, excelled in preparation and has exemplified dedication to the highly skilled trade of building and maintaining IZOD IndyCar Series cars.

Paulsen and C&R established the “True Grit” Award in 1998 for crew members in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.

The third annual IMIS event is scheduled for Dec. 8-10 at the Indiana Convention Center.

CHRIS PAULSEN (Owner, C&R Racing; co-founder, IMIS): “Many years ago, Joe Ball and all the guys at DieHard Batteries used to conduct a big party in Gasoline Alley when the track closed on Bump Day. It was something all the mechanics and crews looked forward to after a long month of working toward the Indianapolis 500. It gave them a chance to relax a little bit after qualifying and before the race preparation began. Unfortunately, we haven’t had an event like that at the Speedway in a few years, so we wanted to do something to give back to the crews who work so hard during the month. The Hulman-George family and Randy Bernard really liked the idea of bringing an event like this back, and we really appreciate their support and involvement.”

***

FASTEST TIMES/SPEEDS OF PRACTICE:

Fastest rookie: #4 JR Hildebrand, sixth, 226.527

INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE QUOTES:

BERTRAND BAGUETTE (No. 30 The RACB/Aspria RLL Special): “Finally we got to do some laps, and again I think we had a good day. We had a full day of running, and that allowed us to try a number of different things. Most of them were good, but there were some that didn’t work. It’s all part of the process that you have to go through here, and I have been really impressed with the way this team goes through their processes. If we keep working like this, we’re going to have some good speed at qualifying.”

JAY HOWARD (No. 88 Service Central Schmidt-RLL Racing): “What we were able to do in our last outing (this afternoon) shows just how hard this team works and how good their development process is. The Service Central crew has worked very hard to find some more speed in the car, and the engineers keep coming up with more options for us. So we just take the car out with those changes they suggest and keep going faster. I am very encouraged by what we did today.”

ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 77 Bowers &Wilkins/Sam Schmidt Motorsports): “We did well today. We learned a lot. We had good track position, and we weren’t in a lot of traffic. That lap (227.652 mph), I was behind Dario Franchitti, so I had a bit of a tow. But it shows that the car is quick and capable of doing it. I think we still have more to come. We just need to make sure that when it comes time to do it, we have the right balance.” (Do you have a chance for the pole?): “The way the car is running right now, for sure it is. I think we would be foolish to think that we couldn’t do it. But the truth is that Penske and Ganassi have really good cars, and they know their way around this place. They have 10 times more experience than us. I’m sure by qualifying they’re going to do something amazing to their cars, and all of a sudden they’re going to be up to the top and we’re going to end up fighting with them. But if that happens, that’s OK. We should be proud that guys like Roger and Chip are looking at us, going, ‘Why are those guys so quick?’ That’s kind of our mindset right now.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing): “It was a good, long day. Running lots of laps and in race setup was what is was all about. It was nice to have the sun out after we lost a few days. So far so good, and tomorrow it will be about speed.”

DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing): “We focused on race setup because we weren’t sure how much more time we’d get doing that. We’re just working through the program right now, but we’ve got more work to do. I’m OK with where we’re at right now. The last run there we found something. Looking forward to tomorrow.”

VITOR MEIRA (No. 14 ABC Supply Co A.J. Foyt Racing): “Today confirmed what we were cautious about. We didn’t know how fast the car is, and I think today confirmed that the car is very fast. There isn’t anybody really playing around today. Everybody at one point or another did a qualifying run, maybe not as aggressive as they are going to go in qualifying, but they did a qualifying run. And I think we stuck up pretty good on that. I feel very confident, very good about the car. Once we qualify on the first day, hopefully we can focus on the race setup on Sunday. Right now it’s very doable, so I’m happy about that.”

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 38 Service Central): “Overall, it was a really good day for Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing. The No. 38 Service Central Honda is good with both high- and low-downforce setups. I’m excited to go out and qualify this weekend.”

BRUNO JUNQUEIRA (No. 41 A.J. Foyt Racing): “It’s very good to be back in the car. And straight out of the box, we made a good improvement on the last two days that we didn’t run. The guys were able to fit the engine cover properly. We were able to run 224, which at the time we were P4 on a tow, but then we worked on the car and at the end we could run decent laps by ourselves. I think we’re getting better every time, and we’re learning about the car. Still have a little bit to improve but getting better, so I’m happy.”

DAN WHELDON (No. 98 William Rast-Curb/Big Machine): “We had a good day. It was obviously nice to be on track. I think one thing the fans don’t see is how hard the guys work on the Bryan Herta Autosport team. They did a phenomenal job in the days off track. They weren’t sitting in the garage waiting for it to stop raining. They worked incredibly hard. The car today was good. It seemed certainly reasonable in qualifying trim. We were able to work on the race car, which is obviously important to me. There are still some improvements to be made but, for as limited running as we have had, I am pretty encouraged.”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 34 Conquest Racing): “It was a tough day for the No. 34 Conquest Racing car. We were very confident in what we had. We felt very good about where we ended up the last time we went out, but today was just one of those days when we couldn’t find anything. We struggled with the rear, and we were not able to settle down. We will just keep working on it and be positive for tomorrow.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 06 Sprott Newman/Haas Racing): “We got a lot of work done today. We had made a change to the Sprott car back on Monday night that we have been waiting three days to try. It was good that we did it, but unfortunately it wasn’t a step forward, and it took quite a lot of downtime to go back on it and we missed a big chunk of the afternoon. But we still got a good number of laps in and really started to trim the car a bit more. We were focusing on running by ourselves and not really trying to compete in the ‘tow Olympics’ out there, so I don’t think 30^th on the time charts is very representative of where we are speed-wise, but there is always time in it, and always more speed to find. We’re going to keep chipping away at it. Tomorrow we will focus on qualifying runs, and we will see where we are at the end of the day.”

ORIOL SERVIA (No. 2 Telemundo Newman/Haas Racing): “I ran a lot of laps in the Telemundo car today; I think I only got out of the car once today. It was fun to be able to go through many of the test items that we planned, and the car feels good; it keeps feeling better. Of all the things we tried, there was only one that didn’t really improve the car, so we gained a lot of valuable information today. Tomorrow is going to get fun out there when everyone is super-trimmed. I have to say that some cars are impressively fast. I’m not sure where we stand, but Friday we will have a better idea and Saturday we will have the real one. I am very happy with how the whole team has been sticking to our plan. It’s easy to get caught up out there when everybody starts to go fast. We had a good lap with a little bit of a tow, but everybody kind of got tows. I feel good about where we stand right now.”

SCOTT SPEED (No. 20 Dragon Racing Fuzzy’s Vodka): “It was an eventful day, to say the least. We had a lot of trouble with the car earlier in the day, luckily without doing any damage. However, on our last time out today, we were able to get the car where we wanted it to be. Tomorrow we are going to continue to make changes and continue to make progress.”

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen): “It was a really good day for Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing. We were able to run a lot of miles in the No. 83 Levemir and NovoLog FlexPen Honda. We made a lot of progress today, and the Novo Nordisk crew did a great job. We just have to focus on getting me, as the rookie, the experience and the miles needed to be ready for qualifications this weekend.”

PIPPA MANN (No. 36 Conquest Racing): “On Monday when we were first running, we were struggling a bit with the back of the car. Today we finally got on top of that, and picked up quite a bit of pushing off the corners, so the oversteer and changed to a bit of understeer. We’ve been battling that for most of the day, and this afternoon, right at the very end, we finally made a little bit of progress toward understanding what that is and why it might be happening. We feel we have a definite direction to go in tomorrow to see if we can fix the handling issues. However, overall, with a one-lap job, we’ve got to be fairly pleased with my first lap at over 225 mph. Tomorrow will be similar to how it was at the end of today’s session, with a lot of cars out on track. We’ve just got to keep on working away, and fingers crossed we’ll get to the root of these problems by the weekend. I never thought I’d be so happy to be 21^st in a practice session, but in this instance, I genuinely am.”

ED CARPENTER (No. 67 Dollar General/Sarah Fisher Racing): “Overall, it was a very productive day for the Dollar General team. We were able to get in a lot of laps, and we ran with some traffic and stuck to our game plan. We worked on a variety of things: some for the race, some for quals. We really learned a lot that’s going to help us not only for this weekend, but for the following weekend, as well. The speed charts weren’t our focus today, but we ended up P9. It was good to be up there in the mix.”

HO-PIN TUNG (No. 8 Schmidt Dragon Racing): “It was very nice to get back into the car again after so many days off the track due to rain. During those days, we discussed how we wanted the program we had set to progress, and today we were able to hit all of those points. I am very happy overall and look forward to continuing to progress tomorrow before we qualify this weekend.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske): “It was certainly a good and full day for the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra team. We ran a lot of laps and all of them were really about race setup. My teammates, Will and Ryan, did some qualifying runs so we know what we need to do there, but we really just focused on getting our car right for the race. Tomorrow will be all about speed for us. It’s going to be fun!

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team Venom): “The Venom car is comfortable, so it’s good in that aspect, but maybe a bit too comfortable because we just don’t have the speed. We’ll keep working at it and hopefully make some big gains tomorrow.”

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 IZOD Team Penske): “It was a very good day, overall. We worked on the race setup on the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske car, and I worked a lot with my teammates on track. We made a ton of changes throughout the day, and we were very productive. We trimmed out the car at the end of the session and focused a bit more on speed. All in all, it was a very productive day.”

JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 43 Team Window World): “At least it didn’t rain today, so everybody got a lot of track time. Some people seemed to be doing race runs, and at the end there were people getting a lot of tows. Therefore it’s hard to get a good read on just how fast everyone really is. We’ll gauge it and find more speed, but we feel pretty good about the Window World car. It is what it is when you get to Indianapolis. It’s always a fight to find that last little bit of speed.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda): “Our progress today was pretty good. The DHL/Sun Drop car right now is very, very well balanced, probably the best car I’ve ever had at Indy. But we need to find some more speed, and tomorrow is the next opportunity to do that. The car is great; the guys have done an amazing job with it. This is the stressful time of the week for the drivers. We’re doing a lot of low-downforce runs right now, and we’re only going to be doing more of that as we head toward Pole Day.”

MIKE CONWAY (No. 27 Hire Heroes USA/7-Eleven/Dr Pepper): “I think we found a direction for tomorrow. The Hire Heroes/7-Eleven/Dr Pepper car felt pretty comfortable at the end there, so it’s just a case of finding what speed we have tomorrow. I just feel more comfortable now with the whole package that we have, so that’s good. Just more track time, really, is what I needed. I feel good from that standpoint; I just need to see what we have now.”

DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Team GoDaddy): “I thought it was a productive day. We made slow but steady changes in the GoDaddy car. We are still pleased with the speed at our downforce level, but there’s still work to do.”

JR HILDEBRAND (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing): “Starting with rookie orientation, it is going quite smoothly for us. Panther Racing and the strength of the team has been a huge part of it. Buddy Rice and I are learning from each other and getting to know one another as we work as a team on a different discipline here with the oval. For me, in particular, we are just trying to chip away at it, and that has been working well for us so far. We have had really positive results with small changes, and this is what we hope to continue to do going forward. I am happy with the car in traffic and pleased with the speed we have on our own now. It is going to come down to a pretty serious shootout for the top 15 spots with all of the competitive cars here this year. It is going to be tough to put in the big numbers, but we are confident with where we are at right now.”

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske): “I don’t think the speeds are very representative of where anyone is at. You go out and happen to get a really good tow, and you get a big number. That’s what happened at the end. Verizon Team Penske worked on race setup most of the day. I was very comfortable following cars. We haven’t changed much from last year. We had good cars last year and need to rub on them a little bit, and that will do the trick.” (On dealing with the rain-shortened practice time before Pole Day): “I think tomorrow, early on, we’ll be working on race stuff, and then we’ll start trimming out for qualifying. We’ll be working on the car. I think it’s pretty important to focus on the race. You could spend a lot of time screwing around with qualifying things, and then it’ll be different conditions the next day. We have to have a good car in the race. That’s what we’ll be focusing on.”

TOWNSEND BELL (No. 99 Herbalife Schmidt Pelfrey Racing): “We did a good amount of running. It was good to get out with the Herbalife car after the rain the last two days. We learned a lot and tried several things that were on our list. We’ve very comfortable.” (Is the pole the goal?): “I hope so. Tagliani’s car is a rocket ship. Every time I walk past it in the garage, I sort of rub by it with my arm hoping some of that speed dust sort of rubs off on me. I think we’re going to be OK.” (About work on pit stops): “It’s probably the most important thing we did today, quite frankly. We’ve got a quick car it seems, but you’ve got to get in and out of the pits. My guys need practice doing ‘hot’ stops, and I probably need the most practice. These cars aren’t that easy to get in and out of the pit box. It felt pretty good. We’ve got some tweaking to do, but it was great to get practice doing that.” (About returning to Indy): “Every year it gets a little bit easier, not much, but just a little bit. It has been 11 months since I was here last, and it is good to be back with good equipment and great people in Sam Schmidt Motorsports. I also have a good sponsor in Herbalife, and consistency is nice. Even though we aren’t going out for every race, it sure feels nice to be back in Indy. Alex Tagliani’s car is very fast, and we seem to be doing well working together and learning from each other. We have a sister program with Dan Wheldon this year, so it has been neat to work with him, as well. We are just inching our way toward it and trying to keep our minds on what is important with finding a good balance and sticking to our plan.” (About the car’s balance): “I think we’re still pretty much in the balance window. I would say we’re toward the aggressive end of our downforce window. Tomorrow we’ll be thinking a lot about trimming out and going faster and getting ready for Saturday. I’m excited for the fans. I’m excited to participate. I’m just excited to watch. I think it’s going to be a great qualifying weekend. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun to duke it out just like Indy should be.”

***

A total of 58 cars are currently at the Speedway, and 53 have passed technical inspection.

Forty drivers were on track today, turning 2,394 laps. Forty drivers have been on track this month, turning 4,873 total laps.

There were three cautions for 54 minutes today.

***

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):

***

The 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season continues with the 100^th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 on May 29 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at Noon (ET) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM channel 94 and www.indycar.com. The 2011 Firestone Indy Lights season continues with the Firestone Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 27. The race will be televised live by VERSUS.

- INDYCAR, Press Release

INDYCAR LOGO

INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, May 18, 2011) -

Rain fell steadily on the Speedway throughout the day, and IZOD IndyCar Series officials canceled the day’s track activities shortly after 4 p.m. (ET).

The last time two entire days of Indianapolis 500 practice were washed out in one week was May 12-13, 2006.

Since veteran practice opened Saturday, May 14, 17 hours and 58 minutes of the scheduled 30 hours of track time have been lost due to rain.

DAY 5 NOTEBOOK:

Recent Butler University graduate and basketball standout Matt Howard visited the track today. Howard, from Connersville, Ind., helped the Bulldogs reach the NCAA men’s basketball final each of the last two seasons.

Howard was scheduled to wave the green flag to start practice today, but had to leave the track before the rain-delayed start of the session due to prior commitments.

MATT HOWARD: (On having the opportunity to wave the green flag for practice): “Just to be a small part of this place is something really special. If we’re able to go and have cars on the track, I can’t wait to wave the green flag and see everybody doing their thing. I’m definitely excited about doing that. It’s a very nice honor. Not a whole lot of people are able to do it, and to be selected is quite an honor.” (On the Indianapolis Motor Speedway): “I came to the race last year with the team, and that was a lot of fun. This place is something that holds a lot of tradition. It’s a special place, and I think anyone here will tell you that this track and this event are pretty special. I think it’s a big part of Indianapolis. I’ve tried to watch at least portions of every race for the last five years or so. I understand quite a bit about it, and I’ve gotten to know Ed Carpenter a bit because he’s from Butler and he’s someone I’ll follow to see how he does. Hopefully, I’ll get to see him a little bit today.”

***

Some fun with Indianapolis 500 numbers, provided by Sam Schmidt Motorsports:

Not only has car number 77 never won the Indianapolis 500, no car with a number between 70 and 79 has ever been to victory lane in the race. Perhaps more interesting is that cars carrying single-digit numbers and numbers in the teens, 20′s, 30′s, 40′s, 50′s, 60′s 80′s and 90′s all have been to Victory Lane with only the 70s left out. Alex Tagliani, driver of the No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins Dallara/Honda Firestone for SSM, is certainly hoping to change that in 2011.

***

1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal talked about the effect of rain delays this month. Rahal co-owns Rahal Letterman Lanigan LLC, which is fielded a car for Bertrand Baguette.

BOBBY RAHAL: “Well, it’s the same for everybody. I think we’ve had time to get these cars prepared pretty well for this month. We’ve had some good practice so far, but it’s like I said, it’s the same for everybody, and we’ll just have to find a way to deal with it. There are a lot of little things you can do. You get more time to look the car over, go through all of the data, find ways to make it better and really dig deeper.”

***

A special Team Penske/Indianapolis 500 edition of the acclaimed “The Charlie Rose Show” at 11 p.m. (ET) tonight on PBS. The show will feature in-depth interviews with Team Penske drivers Helio Castroneves, Ryan Briscoe and Will Power, and team owner Roger Penske.

The show also will be rebroadcast in the United States at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. (ET) Thursday, May 19 on the Bloomberg Network.

***

Japanese racer Takuma Sato is collaborating with local students in a project to support the With You Japan charity program, which he created to help empower local child-care professionals in Japan to provide responsive and proactive care to thousands of children as they try to move forward with their lives.

A total of 137 students from the Towne Meadow Elementary School in Carmel, Ind., are taking part in an arts project. They will assemble themselves at ground level to recreate the Japanese flag when photographed from above. The local fire department also is involved by providing a fire truck rescue bucket to serve as the elevated platform for the photograph.

The students want to send this personal and original message of togetherness and solidarity to their counterparts in Japan, many of whom have had their lives torn apart by the recent earthquake and tsunami.

Sato visited the school today to thank the school for its participation and to answer questions about the disaster. He visited the affected areas near Sendai last week and has first-hand experience of the extent of the devastation.

TAKUMA SATO: “I really appreciate the local kids getting involved in this project. There is so much work to be done over in Japan, and people there really need to know that they are not alone. The whole world is doing what it can to help them. I love the idea of the flag picture; it will make a really powerful and interesting message to Japanese kids.”

TIM PHARES (Principal, Towne Meadow Elementary School): “We are extremely excited to partner with Takuma Sato and his project With You Japan. Each year it is tradition for Towne Meadow fifth-grade students to participate in a service project before heading off to middle school. We want our students to understand the importance of giving to others, and this endeavor brought a unique opportunity to connect with students through art all the way across the world. It is our hope we can make a difference by sending a message of togetherness and support to the boys and girls in Japan. Our students thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity and learned a great deal from this project. Towne Meadow is with you, Japan.”

***

2005 Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon will team up with the Alzheimer’s Association at this year’s 100^th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 to raise awareness for the disease. Wheldon will carry the Alzheimer’s Association logo on his No. 98 William Rast-Curb/Big Machine entry fielded by Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb/Agajanian.

According to the 2011 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, and today as many as 5.4 million Americans are living with the disease. Every 69 seconds, someone in America develops Alzheimer’s disease, and by mid-century someone will develop Alzheimer’s every 33 seconds.

To learn more, visit alz.org.

DAN WHELDON: “I’m honored to announce my partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association at the Indianapolis 500. My mother was recently diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 55. You can imagine the impact this news has had on me and my family. This is a cause very dear to my heart, and I hope that by teaming up with the Alzheimer’s Association, I can help raise awareness on the toll this devastating disease has on individuals with the disease and their families as well as how important early diagnosis is for this population.”

The time trials to qualify teams for the remaining slots in the IZOD Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge were rained out today. They will take place Thursday morning.

***

INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE QUOTES:

PIPPA MANN (No. 36 Conquest Racing): “Welcome to Groundhog Day! Actually, today wasn’t quite Groundhog day because we did get as far as pit lane, and I actually got as far as being strapped into my car before it started to rain again. One minute to green – I’m sitting there, and suddenly the rain started coming down all around me, so we headed back to the garage area. We only wanted to get out there and do a couple of runs today, to see if we finally had a handle on this small niggle we’ve got going on, but unfortunately the weather is just not playing ball. It’s going to make the next few days pretty insane, not just for us but for everyone. the track is going to be extremely busy, and it’s going to be fairly intense. But, to use an American phrase, it is what it is!”

SCOTT SPEED (No. 20 Dragon Racing Fuzzy’s Vodka): “As a rookie, having less track time is definitely not the best thing in the world. It definitely makes things a little more difficult. We’ll do our best to take it in stride. I think we’ll be OK with it. We have a lot of resources here. There’s nothing extra you can really do to prepare for the race, but I feel good right now. I think we’re making good moves and going about everything intelligently. I can’t ask for anything more right now. At this point, it’s all about track time. I mean, we’re just waiting.”

TOWNSEND BELL (No. 99 Herbalife Schmidt Pelfrey Racing): (About sitting through rain delays): “I’m used to it now. As long as I’ve driven a little bit this month, I feel fine at least in terms of knowing what I’ve got and knowing that we’re strong. So, the anxiety is much less, especially having done this for a few years. You learn rain is always going to be an issue.” (What advice would you provide to a younger driver during delays?): “I don’t know if it’d be so much the younger guys as it would be the guys who in their first couple of runs felt they really needed to work on the car a lot more. If I was in that situation, I’d really be hoping to get out there and keep making adjustments.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske): “It’s kind of like the same story all over again. We came close to getting on track today, but once again, Mother Nature had something else in mind for us. We’ll just work a little harder when we do get a chance to run – hopefully tomorrow. Things are looking good on the Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske car and we’ll be ready to go as soon as we get the opportunity.”

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 IZOD Team Penske): “Unfortunately the weather hampered our chances of getting back out on track again today, which tests our patience with not being able get more laps done here in Indy. It’s frustrating, but knowing we have such good data to fall back on here at Team Penske keeps us from getting too anxious just yet. Hopefully tomorrow provides better weather and we can get back to work in the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske car.”

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske): “It was just a waiting game today. We almost had the chance to run. Two days in a row of not getting on track is kind of a bummer. The Verizon car is in great shape and I have every confidence that the team will give me a fast race car. It is definitely going to be busy when we finally do get on track. On a positive note, I’ve had plenty of time to meet with the media and our sponsors over the last couple of days. Let’s hope we can get on track Thursday for fans and drivers alike.”

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 22 Z-Line Designs/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing): “Another wet day. We tried to get out there and we took the Z-Line Designs car out to pit lane, but every time it looked like we were close to going out, it would start raining again. It’s not good conditions. You didn’t want to be caught out on track when it started to sprinkle like that. It’s disappointing because it’s another day gone, but hopefully from here the weather will get better and we will be able to get some good running in. At least this way we are not going to be restricted on miles or tires; we can do all of the running we want once the weather clears up.”

PAUL TRACY (No. 23 WIX Filters/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing): “It is what it is out there today; we can’t control Mother Nature. I’m just thankful that I’m with the team that I’m with in Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. We’ve got a solid car and a solid foundation, and we already know where we’re at. We know exactly what we want to do. In terms of not being on track, I would be more upset if we were struggling, but I think that we are in a pretty good position to put it in on the first day. I think our cars are strong, and I’m not overly upset about not being able to get out on track. We can’t control what the weather does, and like I said, I’m just glad that I’m with the team that I’m with because we have great cars under us.”

ANA BEATRIZ (No. 24 Team Ipiranga/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing): “It’s just disappointing, another day without running. We got so close to being able to go out, but as soon as we started the engine it started to rain again, and it takes forever to dry up the track and we are done for the day because of it. It’s disappointing, but we just have to breathe and wait for tomorrow, and maybe we can finally run more.”

DAVEY HAMILTON (No. 11 HP/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing): “It’s another rain day at Indy. We made some changes to the HP car, and we were anxious to go try them. On the program that we have, we are getting back on pace with everybody else with our tire allotment, so I’m not sure if this helps us or hurts us or what, but it’s the same for everybody. Tomorrow, Friday, Saturday and Sunday all look good, so we will shoot for that.”

***

A total of 59 cars are currently at the Speedway, and 59 have passed technical inspection.

No drivers were on track today. Forty drivers have been on track this month, turning 2,479 total laps.

There was one caution for four hours, four minutes today, due to rain.

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):

***

The 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season continues with the 100^th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 on May 29 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at Noon (ET) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM channel 94 and www.indycar.com. The 2011 Firestone Indy Lights season continues with the Firestone Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 27. The race will be televised live by VERSUS.

- INDYCAR, Press Release

INDYCAR LOGO

INDIANAPOLIS (Tuesday, May 17, 2011) -

That was the extent of on-track action – save for crews tuning up on pit lane for pit stop competition qualifications May 18 – on a day more reminiscent of mid-autumn than mid-spring. The green flag flew at noon for the start of the six-hour session, but light rain sent the flagman packing at 4:05 p.m. The track opens for all cars at noon (ET) May 18.

“We just wanted to feel some of those (changes) and see what we had,” Conway said. “These were certainly not ideal weather conditions and aren’t representative of what we’re going to see in a few days, so it didn’t make too much sense to log a lot of laps.”

It was the second session of preparations for Pole Day/Tom Carnegie Day on May 21 cut short because of weather conditions, which impacts team strategy relating to setup testing and tire/engine conservation. For some, a day lost to the weather is built into the plan. For others, such as Andretti, who’s chasing speed, the lap counter needs to rise.

He has a quick lap of 224.215 mph (40.1163 seconds) in his No. 26 Team Venom primary car with a tow, which is 15^th on the combined speed chart. Still, he’s concerned.

“It makes a difference (that he didn’t get in a full session). Who knows if we would have gained or they would have gained on us,” said Andretti, who has three top-five finishes in his five starts at Indy. “I’m really worried about the speed of our car. I’ve driven exactly Danica’s setup 3 miles an hour off of her (lap time). I can’t explain why. I’m worried about qualifying for this race. It is still early days, but I honestly think if you’re not going to be qualifying in the top 10 you should be worried.”

There are 40 entrants who have recorded laps, with 33 starting spots available on May 21-22. Alex Tagliani’s lap of 225.878 mph in the No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, posted a day earlier, stands as the quickest of the month.

DAY 4 NOTEBOOK:

Biff Henderson, stage manager for “The Late Show with David Letterman,” toured the Speedway today. Henderson and a crew were filming humorous segments for the show.

Henderson met with Indianapolis 500 veterans Bobby Unser, Helio Castroneves, Al Unser Jr., Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Graham Rahal. He also toured the IMS Hall of Fame Museum.

BIFF HENDERSON: (On the Indianapolis Motor Speedway): “The Speedway is classic. It’s really top-shelf all the way. Even as I’m sitting in the Museum, I’m looking at all these past winning cars and thinking of the drivers, and I know it’s a lot of history. It’s an incredible facility. It’s just great.” (On his interactions with drivers and teams): “Obviously, today isn’t the best day for track activity, but getting into those prep garages is quite an experience. It’s not my first time out here. I’ve done a few things here for David Letterman. I’ve been out here a few times. Talking with the drivers like Helio and past drivers like Little Al and Bobby Unser is just great. I’ve enjoyed talking to the younger guys, but there’s nothing like talking to a legend. Having that experience and being out here for the 100^th anniversary is something very special for me. It’s a very impressive place.”

***

Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser already has arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to celebrate the 100^th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 over the next 12 days. Unser will be one of 11 Indianapolis 500 winners driving 11 Indianapolis 500-winning cars during pre-race ceremonies Sunday, May 29.

Unser will drive the No. 8 National that Joe Dawson guided to victory in the 1912 Indianapolis 500. The car features a second seat for a riding mechanic, which will be filled by Unser’s wife, Lisa.

BOBBY UNSER (On being a part of the 100^th anniversary pre-race festivities): “It’s going to be a great honor to drive the 1912 winning car. They had riding mechanics in those days, and my wife is going to ride in the mechanic’s seat. So she’s got to know that if that thing runs out of gas, she has to get out and push. But it really is going to be nice to drive that car. I mean, this is the 100^th anniversary of the greatest race course in the entire world. It’s been around for a hundred years. That’s a lot of history. You look at the Museum, all these winning cars, it’s just awesome.”

***

Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe and his wife, Nicole, are conducting an Indianapolis 500 contest on Twitter for the second consecutive year, with the winner receiving an all-expenses paid trip to the race May 29.

The follower of Briscoe (@RyanBriscoe6) who guesses his four-lap qualifying average to the thousandth of a mph (three digits past the decimal) will win round-trip airfare for two from anywhere in the country, four nights’ hotel accommodations, tickets to the 2011 Indianapolis 500 and other “cool swag,” Briscoe said.

To enter, followers must post their guess at Briscoe’s average qualifying speed on his Twitter feed (@RyanBriscoe6) by midnight (ET) Friday, May 20. The “tweets” must contain the hash-tag “#BriscoeIndy500″ to be eligible and also must include Briscoe’s qualifying position as a tiebreaker.

The winner will be selected from all proper entries following the completion of Indy 500 qualifying.

Nine Indianapolis 500 teams will compete Wednesday morning for the final three spots in the IZOD Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge on Miller Lite Carb Day, Friday, May 27. The three quickest teams from this lineup will earn a spot in the 12-team Challenge:

KV Racing Technology-Lotus (#59 Viso), KV Racing Technology-Lotus (#82 Kanaan), Team Penske (#3 Castroneves), Newman/Haas Racing (#2 Servia), Andretti Autosport (#7 Patrick), Andretti Autosport (#27 Conway), Andretti Autosport (#28 Hunter-Reay), A.J. Foyt Enterprises (#14 Meira), KV Racing Technology-SH Racing (#07 Scheckter).

Nine teams already have qualified for the Challenge based on pit performance between the 2010 Indianapolis 500 and the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle earlier this month:

KV Racing Technology-Lotus (#5 Sato), Team Penske (#6 Briscoe), Target Chip Ganassi Racing (#9 Dixon), Target Chip Ganassi Racing (#10 Franchitti), Team Penske (#12 Power), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (#22 Wilson), Andretti Autosport (#26 M. Andretti), Newman/Haas Racing (#06 Hinchcliffe), Dale Coyne Racing (TBD).

***

Alfe Heat Treating has signed as an associate sponsor of A.J. Foyt Racing for the 100th Anniversary Indianapolis 500. The sponsorship marks the company’s first venture into motorsports.

The “alfe” logo will appear on the nose of the No. 14 ABC Supply Indy car driven by Vitor Meira and on the engine cover of the No. 41 A.J. Foyt Racing car driven by Bruno Junqueira.

Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Ind., Alfe Heat Treating, Inc. is the largest commercial aluminum heat treating operation in the United States. The company operates plants throughout the Midwest and Southeast serving aerospace, automotive, military and commercial customers with both ferrous and non-ferrous facilities. For more details, visit www.al-fe.com.

KURT WESTMAN (President, Alfe Corporate Group): “Growing up here in Indiana, the Indianapolis 500 and time trials was something I looked forward to every year. Along with the race came the drivers you always wanted to win, your heroes, and A.J. Foyt was one of mine. What an honor for me and Alfe Heat Treating to be a small part of the A.J. Foyt Racing team. Everyone here at Alfe is excited and hoping that this year we can help bring the team to victory.”

A.J. FOYT: “I’m real proud to welcome Alfe Heat Treating to our team. I think we have a good chance in this year’s 500 to post our best finish in quite a while. I appreciate the support that Alfe is providing toward that goal.”

***

A total of 59 cars are currently at the Speedway, and 59 have passed technical inspection.

Two drivers were on track today, turning 13 laps. Mike Conway turned eight laps, most of any driver. Forty drivers have been on track this month, turning 2,479 total laps.

There were three cautions for a total of 82 minutes today.

***

FASTEST TIMES/SPEEDS OF PRACTICE:

***

INDIANAPOLIS 500 PRACTICE QUOTES:

MIKE CONWAY (No. 27 Hire Heroes USA/7-Eleven/Dr Pepper): (On practicing in the cold weather): “When it’s that cold, unless the race is going to be like that, it’s not really worth running out there. We won’t learn too much in it. Not much to be gained today. It does kind of give us more tires to use for the rest of the week each day. Hopefully it warms up a bit tomorrow.” (On the shortened amount of practice time before qualifications): “It’s not far away. We always think we have loads of time at the beginning of the week, and then it’s always the same thing. You get to the last couple of days, and if you haven’t quite got the car right, then you’re going to be rushing a bit more. As long as the car is good and you keep chipping away at it, I think that’s the main thing. I think we’re really close. I think we’ve got a good balance, and I think the speed is there. We’ve just got to take our time and know that qualifying isn’t that far away.” (On his reason for practicing and having Marco Andretti in the car): “We made some changes overnight, and we wanted to get a feel for what it felt like. It’s good for me to let (Marco) have a feel and see if I’m feeling the same things as him. We had the same comments, and we got some good back-to-back running.”

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 27 Hire Heroes USA/7-Eleven/Dr Pepper): (On practicing in the cold weather): “I think I have a little bit of my grandfather in me to where I was probably the only one on the team that thinks we can learn something. At the same time, though, I think I was just trying to convince them so that I could go drive. I just wanted to feel out a different setup and thought, ‘Why not?’” (On his goals for the day): “I was able to try a setup that I haven’t run yet. I just kind of got my thoughts on it and a second opinion. You always learn. If we were going through pretty extensive test items and stuff like that, it’s different. I just wanted to feel out an overall package.” (On the shortened schedule before qualifying): “I think guys like me, we could be in trouble if we slip a little bit. I’m not sure it’s experience because I’m going to be flat those four laps, and it’s whether the car wants to do it or not. It’s going to be super-competitive out there. We’re going to try to get what we can get.”

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske): “It is always great to be at Indy, just walking through the garage area and seeing the fans that show up braving the elements. It is a shame that the weather hasn’t been cooperating with us much this week. The Verizon guys have been staying busy preparing the car and my engineer, and I have had plenty of time to discuss our strategy moving forward. I am really looking forward to getting back on track.”

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 IZOD Team Penske): “This weather has been a factor here at the Speedway, and even though I would rather be out on the track, it is really special just coming to the track every day. The fans are amazing. The fact that they show up in this damp, cold weather really shows how dedicated they are. Our No. 6 IZOD car is all polished up and ready to run. Now, we just need the weather to give us a chance so we can get out there and see what we can do.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Shell V-Power/Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske): “Man, it’s tough just sitting and not having a chance to run, especially at this place because it’s so awesome. We did a lot of media today and stayed as busy as we could, but there’s nothing like getting out there and running 220 miles an hour. Hopefully we can get things going tomorrow in the Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra car and work on preparation for qualifying as well as the race.”

TOWNSEND BELL (No. 99 Herbalife Schmidt Pelfrey Racing): (About passing time during weather delays): “You just kind of relax on a day like today. It’s a lot easier (not to run today) than Sunday, since I didn’t get to run on Saturday. It’s tough when you haven’t run yet (like on Saturday) and it rains (on Sunday). You haven’t even driven yet. At least we got some decent laps yesterday, and we know our cars are very strong. I’m quite a bit more at ease than I was on Sunday.” (Are you starting to think about qualifying?): “I think because of the field this year, you’re thinking about qualifying all the time. I think we’re going to be good, but we haven’t even gotten anywhere close to qualifying setup yet. I’m feeling very positive.” (About alliance with Brian Herta Autosport): “We had a car yesterday that was P1 in practice and they had a quick car, so we get to work with those guys and figure out what they were doing and if it was much different and see what we could do to improve ourselves. Hopefully that just rises the tide. If one side decides to go down the road of experimentation, it’s very useful to be able to look at that and analyze the data and know what that experiment generated.”

ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 77 Bowers &Wilkins/Sam Schmidt Motorsports): “We did two good runs yesterday with a change in between. It was valuable to have some data for today and to look back at last year’s data and evaluate it. With that we could see today if the changes we made over winter paid off. Having that data is important for a day like today when you have a lot of down time to burn. It’s nice to see that our car is up to pace and we’re on top of the chart so far for the week. Even if it’s early, the weather plays a really important part. If you don’t need to run very much, and your car is already right there, it’s a relief for everyone on the team. The teams that are very concerned are the teams that have a plan to run many, many miles. The weather, obviously, makes them very frustrated and disappointed because it interferes with their plan. For us, we had a plan. We knew we weren’t going to run the first day. The second day, we wanted to run, but it rained. The third day, we finally ran and were pleased with the number of laps we were able to run and the information we have.”

***

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):

***

The 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season continues with the 100^th Anniversary Indianapolis 500 on May 29 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at Noon (ET) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, SiriusXM channel 94 and www.indycar.com. The 2011 Firestone Indy Lights season continues with the Firestone Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 27. The race will be televised live by VERSUS.

- INDYCAR, Press Release