Gordie's CornerPOWER SCORES ANOTHER WIN AT HONDA INDY TORONTO Will Power claimed his fourth IZOD IndyCar Series win of 2010, taking the Honda Indy Toronto, after overtaking polesitter Justin Wilson on a late-race restart. Wilson looked to be on his way to victory with 20 laps left in the 85-lap event on theExhibition Place street circuit. But Will Power overtook Wilson on Lap 72 of a restart on the 1.75-mile, 11-turn circuit and went on to a 1.7-second victory over Dario Franchitti.
Ryan Hunter-Reay was third, Andretti Autorsport teammate Tony Kanaan finished fourth and Graham Rahal - making his season debut with Newman/Haas Racing -- was fifth. Danica Patrick finished sixth - the same as last year. PATRON HIGHCROFT RACING NOTCH 3RD STRAIGHT WIN Simon Pagenaud and David Brabham steered their Patron Highcroft HPD ARX-01c to victory Sunday in the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park . It was the duo's third straight victory in the 2010 American Le Mans Series Presented by Tequila Patron. Pagenaud took advantage of a fast late pit stop to outrun Drayson Racing's Emanuelle Pirro to the checkered flag by 19.116 seconds. Muscle Mile Team CytoSport's Klaus Graf/Greg Pickett were third in Utah , and now trail Pagenaud/Brabham by 11 points in the chase for the LMP title.
POWER PROVIDES FIREWORKS ON FOURTH OF JULY AT THE GLEN Will Power claimed Team Penske's first IZOD IndyCar Series victory at Watkins Glen International, winning the sixth Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen. Series points leader Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske entry, passed his teammate Ryan Briscoe with six laps to go and held off Dario Franchitti and Briscoe for his third IZOD IndyCar Series victory of 2010. Briscoe passed Franchitti on the final lap to help Team Penske record its first 1-2 finish since Edmonton in 2009. Brazilians Raphael Matos of de Ferran Dragon Racing and Mario Moraes of KV Racing Technology completed the top five.
In all, there were seven teams represented among the top 10 finishers in the race: Also on July 4, French rookie J.K. Vernay strengthened his Firestone Indy Lights championship points lead with a victory in the Corning 100 at Watkins Glen International. Vernay, driving the No. 7 Lucas Oil/CJ/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car, overtook pole sitter James Hinchcliffe entering the "Bus Stop" on Lap 19 of the 3.4-mile, 11-turn circuit and went on to his third victory of the season. Hinchcliffe, driving the No. 2 TMR-Xtreme Coil Drilling car, finished .2135 of a second behind. Sebastian Saavedra, who won at Iowa Speedway on June 20, finished third in the No. 29 William Rast/Bryan Herta Autosport car.
BRISCOE PACES OPENING PRACTICE AT THE GLEN Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe topped the time chart as IZOD IndyCar Series teams began preparations for the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen. The Australian driver, who has won the last two pole positions at the 3.4-mile road course, set a fast lap of 1 minute, 31.4142 seconds (132.714 mph) in the No. 6 Team Penske Honda-powered Dallara. His teammate Helio Castroneves was second at 1:31.4974 (132.594), while Scott Dixon, a three-time winner at The Glen, was third at 1:31.6781 (132.333). Panther Racing's Dan Wheldon (1:31.7830) was fourth with defending race winner Justin Wilson, driving for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, was fifth (1:31.8628). In all, 11 drivers were within .9974 of a second of Briscoe.
PEAK Performance Pole Qualifying for the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. (PDT) on July 3. The race will air live in high-definition on ABC at 12:30 p.m. (PDT) Sunday, July 4, and can be heard on XM Channel 145 and Sirius Channel 211. *** Team Penske has started from the pole position in all five previous IZOD IndyCar Series races at Watkins Glen International (Helio Castroneves in 2005, 2006, 2007 and Ryan Briscoe in 2008 and 2009). Though the team has fared well in qualifying at The Glen, it has not been able to produce a race victory.
Additionally, Team Penske is riding a series-record streak of seven consecutive earned poles. It includes poles won by all three drivers (Will Power - 4, Briscoe - 2, Castroneves - 1) and poles at all types of tracks (road courses, street circuits, short oval, 1.5-mile oval and superspeedway). IZOD INDYCAR SERIES RETURNS TO NEW HAMPSHIRE The "Fastest Race in the World" will return to the Granite State in 2011 when the IZOD IndyCar Series returns to New Hampshire Motor Speedway officials announced today. The race will be held on July 30, 2011. "We're pleased to restore an Indy car short oval to the schedule to further increase our diversity of venues," said Randy Bernard, chief executive officer of the Indy Racing League, sanctioning body of the IZOD IndyCar Series. "As evident last weekend in Iowa, our cars produce tremendous racing on short ovals. Additionally, New Hampshire Motor Speedway is strategically located in the Northeast, which fills a geographical gap in our schedule. I have to thank Bruton Smith and Jerry Gappens for giving us a great opportunity here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway." Bernard was joined by Speedway Motorsports Inc., founder and chief executive officer O. Bruton Smith, New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch and Jerry Gappens, executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway in making the official announcement. Two-time IZOD IndyCar Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti demonstrated the more than 200 mph speed that New Hampshire Motor Speedway will see with a three-lap run during pre-race ceremonies. "This is three year deal in the making," said Jerry Gappens executive vice president and general manager of the speedway. "As an Indiana native and a fan of open-wheeled racing, I strongly believe that the people of New Hampshire will embrace this new breed of speed much like they do NASCAR." New Hampshire Motor Speedway played host to one of the five Indy Racing League events in its inaugural year (Aug. 8, 1996) with Scott Sharp taking the checkered flag. It also was the site of Robbie Buhl's first victory (Aug. 17, 1997) and Tony Stewart's third (June 28, 1998). CART sanctioned races on the variably-banked (2 to 7 degrees) oval from 1992 to '95. One of the IZOD IndyCar Series most popular driver, Danica Patrick, was at NHMS this weekend behind the wheel of a stock car. She showed her enthusiasm at the series adding another oval to the Indy schedule. "I think it is very positive addition to our schedule, especially because it is in the northeast," she said. New Hampshire International Speedway, which opened in 1990, was purchased in 2008 by Smith from Bob and Gary Bahre and renamed New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It is about an hour north of Boston and, according to the most recent census, more than 18 million people live within two hours of the picturesque venue.
Tickets for the IZOD IndyCar Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway go on sale Monday June 28, 2010. Prices range from $35-$75.
KANAAN WINS AT IOWA SPEEDWAY Tony Kanaan finally finished a race at Iowa Speedway. The veteran Andretti Autosport driver won for the first time since June 2008, prevailing in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer. Kanaan, who started 15th, overtook Helio Castroneves with 10 laps remaining on the .875-mile track. E.J. Viso finished an IZOD IndyCar Series-high third and Ryan Briscoe was fourth. Will Power, the pole sitter, finished fifth to regain the series championship points lead. Dario Franchitti, the leader entering the race, looked to be a contender until the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car had a gearbox issue with 50 laps remaining. He had taken the lead from Castroneves a lap earlier.
BRISCOE WINS AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY Ryan Briscoe was denied of firing the six-shooters in Victory Circle at Texas Motor Speedway the past two years. Finally, the Team Penske driver got to have some fun. Briscoe, who started from the pole, held off Danica Patrick to win the Firestone 550K. Marco Andretti finished third for the second consecutive race and Scott Dixon, the 2008 race winner, finished fourth. Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dario Franchitti was fifth, ending the two-year streak of the Indianapolis 500 winner repeating at Texas the same year. Helio Castroneves, who started fifth in the No. 3 Team Penske car and was the 2009 winner at Texas, exited on Lap 129 when he attempted to overtake the No. 32 KV Racing Technology car driven by Mario Moraes on the frontstretch. Wheels touched and the cars spun, with Bertrand Baguette in the No. 36 Conquest Racing RACB car having nowhere to go but between the spinning cars. He didn't fare so well. Castroneves was without radio communication with his spotter and the pit stand. Simona De Silvestro suffered a minor burn on her right hand when the No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing car made contact with the wall on the backstretch.
FOYT HONORED IZOD IndyCar fans have spoken and they believe four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt should be recognized as the greatest Indy car oval driver. Fans selected Foyt as the honoree for the oval championship trophy with 43.6 percent of the vote through a poll on indycar.com, the official website of the IZOD IndyCar Series. Rick Mears was second with 30.1 percent of the vote. Other nominees were: Mario Andretti (18.8 percent), Bill Vukovich (6.4 percent) and Ted Horn (1.1 percent). Foyt was one of the most successful Indy car drivers with 67 victories -- 64 of which were on ovals. Of those oval wins, 24 came on dirt -- the most at the Indiana State Fairgrounds (6). Foyt scored most of his paved oval victories at Ontario Motor Speedway (5). He had nine 500-mile victories: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (4), Pocono Raceway (4) and Ontario (1). He won his first race on the 1-mile dirt track at Illinois State Fairgrounds in DuQuoin, Ill., on Sept. 5, 1960 (and went on to win four more races there). He won his last race at Pocono on June 21, 1981. The IZOD IndyCar Series will announce the honoree for the Road/Street trophy at its next road course event at Watkins Glen International in July.
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