E.J. Viso Headshot

Venue: Richmond International Raceway, 3/4-mile oval, Richmond, Virginia

No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara – E.J. Viso

Lap Time: 1:05:6020 total lap time
Speed: 164.629 miles per hour
Qualifying Position: 7th

Notes:

Recent testing at Richmond International Raceway proved to be valuable for HVM Racing Friday. E.J. Viso’s No. 13 PDVSA HVM Racing Honda Dallara qualified seventh for Saturday’s SunTrust Indy Challenge with a speed of 164.629 miles per hour and a total lap time of 1:05:6020. The result is HVM’s best qualification result on an oval in the series to date and Viso’s best oval qualification in his career.

HVM tested at Richmond International Raceway on June 10 in preparation for the season’s remaining short ovals, and the information gathered put the team in a good position going into the race weekend. The No. 13 car was strong in the morning practice session, posting the sixth-quickest time.

The team is looking for back-to-back top-10 finishes at Richmond. Last year, Viso finished 10th after starting 19th.

The SunTrust Indy Challenge starts at 8 p.m. Saturday on Versus.

Comments from HVM Racing Team Principal and Owner Keith Wiggins after qualifying at Richmond:

“It’s nice to get a good result in qualifying after all the preparation we did at the test session and the weeks leading up to the race. Our previous qualifying efforts on ovals this year have not been up to expectations, so we knew we had to make some improvements.

“It will definitely be good to start closer to the front. This race can get rough, which we saw last year.”

Comments from PDVSA HVM Racing Team Driver E.J. Viso after qualifying at Richmond:

“I think we did a good job. This little achievement shows that testing is very important, and obviously the development we did here a couple weeks ago is paying off right now.

“It’s also important to qualify close to the front at this track, being one of the most difficult tracks to overtake in the championship and being such a ‘criminal’ track last year in the race. Less than 10 cars finished, and that means there were many accidents. Obviously you want to be as close to the front as possible to have fewer risks in front of you.”

HVM is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. In its eight years of competition, the team has earned six wins, two pole positions, and an additional 16 podiums since 2001. The team finished fourth and third, respectively, in the Champ Car championship standings in 2006 and 2007, and earned its drivers Mario Dominguez and Robert Doornbos Rookie of the Year honors in 2002 and 2007, respectively. In 2008 with driver E.J. Viso, the team earned seven top-10 finishes, including a fourth at St. Petersburg in its inaugural year in the IRL Championship.

- HVM Racing, Press Release

Vision Racing

Carpenter has five previous attempts at Richmond International Raceway. In his debut at the track driving for Cheever Racing in 2004, he finished in the 16th spot due to an accident. In 2005 he finished 12th and in 2006 Carpenter recorded his best finish at Richmond when he started 13th and finished eighth. In 2007 Carpenter started 15th and finished 10th and last year he finished just outside of the top-ten, in the 11th position.

Most recently, making his third IndyCar Series start at Iowa, Carpenter drove the No. 20 Menards car from the 13th spot to tenth where he held on to record his second-consecutive tenth place finish this season and fourth top-ten finish overall.

Last weekend, Carpenter was also able to move two spots in the IndyCar Series championship point standings, going from 14th up to 12th in the standings. He now has 126 points (115 points behind leader).

Overall, Vision Racing returns to Richmond International Raceway for the fifth time. The team’s best finish at Richmond came in 2006 and 2007 when Tomas Scheckter finished in the seventh spot. Carpenter also has two top-ten finishes at the track.

The Vision Racing Wellness Tour, supported by team sponsor Lilly USA, will make an important pit stop for a second consecutive year at Richmond International Raceway providing racing fans with FREE diabetes screenings; complete with A1c testing and risk factor assessment, along with cholesterol and blood pressure testing. The Wellness Tour mobile unit (bus) will be located behind the main grandstands and will be open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 27, race day at the Richmond International Raceway.

IndyCar practice resumes again Friday evening at 9 p.m. for a thirty minute session. So far Carpenter’s best lap in practice came at 158.618 mph. Carpenter will add to the 69 practice laps he’s accumulated thus far later Friday evening.

On Saturday June 27th, race day at Richmond International Raceway, Vision Racing will also be launching their new and improved team website, www.visionracing.com at 3 pm ET.

Qualifying and Practice Results and Quotes: (June 26, 2009)

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

Qualifying Position: 14th

Qualifying Speed: 163.824 mph

Top Speed in Practice: 158.618 mph

Overall Rank in Practice: 19th on speed chart

Number of Laps in Practice: 69

On qualifying:

“We made big changes to the No. 20 Menards car between practice and qualifying. We came here with something way different than we ran here last year thinking it would be better. It didn’t really work out that way so between practice and qualifying we changed everything. Definitely happy that we improved from practice and moved up quite a bit. It’s hard to go qualify when you are running a completely different set up than what you ran in practice but the guys did a good job in getting the car better for me. We have a few cars between us and the front and that will be a challenge here but we’re up for it.”

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About the SunTrust Indy Challenge: The 300 lap/ 225 mile SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway will air live on Saturday, June 27 at 8:00 p.m. ET on VERSUS, as well as IMS Radio Network, XM IndyCar Series Racing Channel 145, XM Sports Nation Channel 144 and on the web at www.IndyCar.com.

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

- Vision Racing, Press Release

Panther Racing National Guard

Panther’s driver posted a four-lap average speed of 163.843 mph, after running lap speeds of 162.452, 162.738, 164.858 and 165.356 mph.

Wheldon started in 20th place in 2004, the year he won the Richmond race while driving for Andretti Green Racing. In his six career starts at the track, he has never finished outside of the Top Ten and has collected a total of four Top Five results. The team is currently in sixth position in the IndyCar Series points standings and only five points away from fifth-place Danica Patrick.

Panther has had similar success at the shortest track on the IndyCar calendar – Hornish finished second in 2001 before a victory here in 2002 which included a last-lap pass of Team Penske driver Gil de Ferran for the win. Hornish collected another Top Five in 2003 when he finished fourth and in 2005 team driver Tomas Scheckter was able to collect a fourth-place finish as well in the No. 4 car. Most recently, former driver Vitor Meira finished second-place at RIR in 2006 and ninth the following season in the Delphi car.

Meira was running well last season before he was hit from behind by John Andretti, forcing the team into a 20th-place finish.

The SunTrust Indy Challenge will be broadcast live on Saturday, June 27th on Versus at 8 p.m. (ET) with additional coverage provided by the IMS Radio Network, IndyCar.com and XM Sirius Channel 211.

Dan Wheldon, No. 4 National Guard Dallara Honda

“In practice this morning the National Guard car was quite quick and we made some changes prior to qualifying and fixed one of our problems, but actually made another one worse. I’m not sure if it’s the different track conditions or the changes we made, but the car was just loose. It’s a bit unfortunate, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. We’re working very hard together as a team and I have no doubt the No. 4 car will be moving up pretty quickly in the race. We’re work our way towards the front.”

- Panther Racing, Press Release

Danica Patrick

· 27-year-old veteran competing in her fifth season in the IndyCar Series

· Drives the No. 7 Boost Mobile/Motorola entry for Andretti Green Racing

· Opened the 2009 season with four top-five finishes in the first six races, one of only three drivers to do so

· Ranks fifth in points, 32 behind points leader Ryan Briscoe

· Has made 70 career starts, recording 15 top-five finishes, 41 top-10s and winning three poles

· Became the first woman to win a major closed-course auto race in April 2008 at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan

· Won IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year honors in 2005

***

Select Quotes: Listed below are select quotes from today’s teleconference.

Q:We’ve got four consecutive races coming up. If you would, tell us about each of those tracks, and how you’ve done in the past, and what it will take to continue finishing up at the front?

DANICA PATRICK: We have Iowa coming up this weekend. It’s been OK there. It’s tough to race there. It used to be a tough place to pass because everyone was just running the bottom, and the long way around was the long way around, and you couldn’t make up enough ground.

In the last year, you could pass a little bit better on the outside. The car did go off a little bit, and you could pick up some understeer or something like that and it would make it a little easier to pass. But still the high line is a long way around there. It’s more of a traditional line than in recent times. So qualifying is really important.

Then we go to Richmond, and it’s sort of the same thing. It’s difficult to pass at Richmond, even more so really than Iowa I would say.

But we had a little bit of side‑by‑side racing last year because there were more cars and we took up more space on the track. Again, it’s going to really, really lend to qualifying well and then just staying up there. So I would say qualifying is going to be important the next two weekends.

Then we go to the Glen. And (Watkins Glen) is a place where I haven’t traditionally done well. We were testing up there last week. The tests went well, and we’ve made improvements and will continue to make improvements, so I think I’m looking forward to the Glen more so. I really enjoy the permanent road courses we’ve gone to in the past couple of years. They seem to be more of my strong suit on the road courses.

Then we go to Toronto. A place that is back on the schedule for us that is really exciting. Canadian fans are fantastic fans. They love their racing. They’re very educated.

It’s also a place that my boss, Mr. (Michael) Andretti has done very well at, and being (the strategist) on my car, that’s nice. I look forward to going back there, but I haven’t been there in a big car. The last time I was there, I was in Atlantic, so I’m sure it will be quite different.

Q: The big question is this is your contract year that you’re doing better than you ever have it gives you a lot of leverage in a position. Have you given any specific instruction to the folks at IMG about what you want to do in 2010?

DANICA PATRICK: Well, we’ve definitely had many conversations about what I’m looking for and my goals, and so, we’ve had a lot of those conversations, but really, it’s kind of about collecting information at this point and seeing what our options are, and then we’ll talk deeper after that. But at this point in time it’s about collecting the information.

Q: What kind of goals do you have in mind? Do you care about sharing those at all?

DANICA PATRICK: I think the most important thing for me is to put myself in a situation where I can win as many races as possible and run up front and be in that competitive situation. That’s the most important thing. Because at the end of the day, usually the best press comes when I’m doing things on track. That’s really the most important thing for me as a driver. So that’s where the ultimate focus is going to go.

Then aside from that and after that there has to be thoughts, to the brand side of the situation, and being able to make the most of myself as an athlete and as an endorser of products and things like that and gaining exposure so that in due time I’m able to explore other things outside of racing maybe even. So, all of that comes afterwards. The most important thing is kicking butt out there.

***

The 2009 IndyCar Series season continues June 21 with the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 1 p.m. (EDT) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com. The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season continues with the Miller Lite 100 on June 20 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be telecast at 4 p.m. on June 22 by VERSUS.

- Indy Racing League, Press Release

Richmond International Raceway Logo

The Indy Paddock Zone Fan Hospitality package is the best way to experience the thrills of open-wheel racing at Richmond International Raceway. For $104, fans will receive a general admission ticket for Friday, June 27, featuring NBC12 Pole Qualifying for the IndyCar Series, a seat for the USAC Sprint Car Series Rotondo Weirich Showdown race and admission to the IndyCar Series driver autograph session, as well as a reserved seat for Saturday, June 27, featuring the SunTrust Indy Challenge IndyCar Series race and the James River Grounds 100 USAC Silver Crown Series race, a weekend Pre-Race Pit/Garage Pass (must be 18 years of age or older) and admission to the climate-controlled Indy Paddock Zone hospitality area on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The hospitality area on Saturday includes the appearances by Patrick, Andretti, Franchitti, Coons Jr. and track president Doug Fritz, an all you can eat dinner buffet, unlimited sodas and water, three beer tickets for guests 21 years of age and older (with valid ID), music and interactive games, prizes and more!

Patrick became the first female driver to win an IndyCar Series race last season with her victory at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. Additionally, she has been named the IndyCar Series’ most popular driver multiple times. She is currently fifth in the driver point standings, finishing in the top-five four times in six starts.

Andretti, the son of open-wheel great Michael Andretti and grandson of racing legend Mario Andretti, burst onto the IndyCar Series scene by finishing second at the Indianapolis 500 during his rookie year (2006). That same season, he finished fourth in his first-ever visit to Richmond International Raceway.

Franchitti earned his first SunTrust Indy Challenge victory in 2007, after finishing second in 2005 and third in 2006. Following his IndyCar Series championship in 2007, he bolted for a season in NASCAR before returning this year to the open-wheel series.

The Pre-Race Pit/Garage pass allows entry to the IndyCar Series garage area and pit road area on both Friday and Saturday. The passes expire one hour before the start of the USAC races. To take advantage of the Pre-Race Pit/Garage pass, guests must be 18 years of age or older with a valid ID. Additionally, no coolers are allowed in the Indy Paddock Zone hospitality area, on pit road or in the garage.

To purchase the Indy Paddock Zone package, tickets to the SunTrust Indy Challenge or for more information, call the Richmond International Raceway ticket office at 866-455-RACE (7223) or log on to www.rir.com.

About Richmond International Raceway:

Richmond International Raceway, known as America’s Premier Short Track, offers great night racing action and a commitment to the fan experience. One of the most popular facilities among drivers and fans in all of motorsports, Richmond International Raceway annually hosts all of its major events, two NASCAR Doubleheader weekends featuring the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series and an open-wheel racing weekend featuring the IndyCar Series, under the lights on a ¾-mile D-Shaped oval. The unique layout traditionally produces exciting side-by-side racing, yet drivers reach high enough speeds for a superspeedway feel. Combined with first-class amenities and a focus on the fans, guests at Richmond International Raceway can expect to experience what “Racing Perfection” truly is. For tickets to events at Richmond International Raceway, call 866-455-RACE or visit www.rir.com online.

- Richmond International Raceway, Press Release