FAST FACTS PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 Race Broadcast Saturday, Aug.28 7 p.m. (ET) VERSUS (Live) Track Chicagoland Speedway (1.5-mile D-shaped tri-oval) Distance 200 Laps/300 miles Radio IMS Radio Network / XM 145 / Sirius 212 2009 Polesitter Ryan Briscoe 2009 Winner Ryan Briscoe First IZOD IndyCar Series event: 9/2/2001 Story Ideas: Chicagoland kicks off oval race for the championship The race for the A.J Foyt Oval Championship and IZOD IndyCar Series championship enters its final stage with the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. Will Power won the Mario Andretti Road Championship and has led the overall championship since the beginning of the season, but Target Chip Ganassi Racing s Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon dominated the road portion of the calendar. Will the 2010 champion begin their run at Chicago? Close racing a hallmark at Chicago Chicagoland Speedway has produced some of the most exciting races in IZOD IndyCar Series history, with five of the 10 closest margins of victory coming at the high-banked oval in Joliet, Ill. Last year, Ryan Briscoe held off Scott Dixon by.0077 of a second to win at Chicagoland. Will another photo finish be in store this year? Wheldon, Panther on the prowl at Chicagoland Dan Wheldon and Panther Racing have spent plenty of time in Victory Lane at Chicagoland Speedway, just never together. Both have scored two wins at the track (Wheldon won in 2006 with Target Chip Ganassi Racing and in 05 with Andretti Green Racing. Panther Racing won twice with driver Sam Hornish Jr.). Wheldon has led more laps at Chicagoland than any other active IZOD IndyCar Series driver. Can this pairing find their way to the winner s circle together? Carpenter, Hamilton return to track Two American drivers return to the IZOD IndyCar Series this weekend for the first time since racing at Indianapolis. Ed Carpenter rejoins Panther Racing for the first of three races to end the season in the No. 20 Panther/Vision/Fuzzy s Vodka car that he ran at Indianapolis. Davey Hamilton also returns to de Ferran Dragon Racing for the first time since Indianapolis. Hamilton, who has recorded many laps at Chicago as driver of the Indy Racing Experience Two-Seater, will make his first-ever start at Chicagoland Speedway. Hometown teams look for Victory Lane Plainfield, Ill.-based Dale Coyne Racing and Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Newman/Haas Racing are looking for their first win of the year. Both teams are coming off strong performances at Sonoma and have shown promise on ovals. Can both teams put on a strong showing in front of the hometown crowd this weekend?
Penske looks for third straight win at Chicagoland Chicagoland is definitely Team Penske s kind of town. The team has won the last two IZOD IndyCar Series races at Chicagoland Speedway with Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves narrowly winning races. Can Team Penske s trio of Will Power, Briscoe and Castroneves provide team owner Roger Penske with more hardware this weekend? Always the bridesmaid Scott Dixon has come very close to winning at Chicagoland Speedway but has never visited Victory Lane as the winner of the race. Can Dixon, a fivetime runner-up at Chicagoland, finally find his way to Victory Lane this year? Rookie race heats up Dale Coyne Racing s Alex Lloyd took control of the Rookie of the Year standings with strong performances on the ovals but Simona de Silvestro s recent success on road courses has tightened up the race. Lloyd, the 2007 Firestone Indy Lights champion, leads Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year de Silvestro by 11 points. Five women in Chicagoland field The 29-car field for the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 will feature a record five female drivers. Sarah Fisher (Sarah Fisher Racing) and Ana Beatriz (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) join full-time competitors Simona de Silvestro (Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing), Danica Patrick (Andretti Autosport) and Milka Duno (Dale Coyne Racing). Race Notes: The PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 will be the 10 th IZOD IndyCar Series event conducted at Chicagoland Speedway. Previous race winners entered are: Ryan Briscoe (2009), Helio Castroneves (2008), Dario Franchitti (2007), Dan Wheldon (2006, 05). Previous polesitters entered are: Ryan Briscoe (2009, 2008), Dario Franchitti (2007), Danica Patrick (2005) and Helio Castroneves (2004). Twenty drivers entered in the event have competed in previous IZOD IndyCar Series races at Chicagoland Speedway. Ten of those drivers have led laps: Dan Wheldon (320), Helio Castroneves (235), Tony Kanaan (137), Jaques Lazier (116), Tomas Scheckter (114), Scott Dixon (79), Ryan Briscoe (41), Dario Franchitti (10), Milka Duno (5) and Danica Patrick (1). Seven drivers will make their first IZOD IndyCar Series start at Chicagoland: Bertrand Baguette, Ana Beatriz, Simona de Silvestro, Davey Hamilton, Jay Howard, Alex Lloyd and Takuma Sato.
Championship Notes: Will Power has lead the IZOD IndyCar Series championship since the start of the season this season. It is the first time that Power has led the point standings after 13 races and the latest he has led the championship. This is the 10 th event at Chicagoland Speedway. The winning driver at Chicagoland has won the IZOD IndyCar Series title three times (Sam Hornish Jr. (2002), Dan Wheldon (2005) and Dario Franchitti (2007). In 13 seasons, three drivers have won the 14 th race of the season and the IZOD IndyCar Series championship. Sam Hornish Jr. won at Chicagoland in 2002, Scott Dixon won at Kentucky in 2008 and Dario Franchitti won at Infineon in 2009. Season to Date: Will Power won for the fifth time in 2010 when he won the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway on Aug. 22. Will Power who won at Sao Paulo, St. Petersburg, Watkins Glen, Toronto and Infineon Dario Franchitti, winner at Indianapolis and Mid-Ohio, and Scott Dixon, winner at Kansas and Edmonton, are the only drivers to win more than one race this season. There have been seven different winners in 13 races: Power, Tony Kanaan won at Iowa, Ryan Briscoe won at Texas, Dario Franchitti won Indianapolis and Mid-Ohio, Scott Dixon won at Kansas and Edmonton, Ryan Hunter-Reay won at Long Beach, Helio Castroneves won at Barber Motorsports Park. Thirteen drivers representing seven different teams have finished on the podium in 2010. Eighteen drivers from 11 different teams have recorded at least one top-five finish and 23 drivers from 15 different teams have recorded at least one top-10 finish. Justin Wilson won his first career pole at Toronto. It was the second pole for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Helio Castroneves pole at Indianapolis was his record 28 th IZOD IndyCar Series pole position. Will Power has won three consecutive poles twice this season: Edmonton to Infineon Raceway and St. Petersburg to Long Beach. He also won back-to-back poles at Iowa and Watkins Glen. Justin Wilson (Toronto), Dario Franchitti (Sao Paulo), Ryan Briscoe (Kansas and Texas) and Helio Castroneves (Indianapolis) are the only other drivers to start from pole this season. There were 16 lead changes among seven drivers at Iowa most in any race this season. There were eight race leaders at St. Petersburg most of any road/street race this season. There were eight race leaders at Indianapolis most of any oval race this season. Four drivers (Ana Beatriz, Simona de Silvestro, Mario Romancini and Takuma Sato) started their first career IZOD IndyCar Series race
at Sao Paulo. Five other rookies have made their series debut in 2010: Bertrand Baguette made his first start at Barber Motorsports Park, while Sebastian Saavedra made his debut in the Indianapolis 500. Adam Carroll made his debut at Watkins Glen. Francesco Dracone and J.R. Hildebrand debuted at Mid-Ohio. Two rookies, Jay Howard and Alex Lloyd, made previous starts before this season. Milestones & Records: Will Power set the IZOD IndyCar Series record for most poles in one season when he won his eighth pole of 2010 at Infineon Raceway. Helio Castroneves previously held the record with seven poles in 2007. Dario Franchitti won the 25 th time in his Indy car career when he won the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Aug. 8. Helio Castroneves win at Barber Motorsports Park gave him at least one victory in 10 consecutive IZOD IndyCar Series seasons a series record. Helio Castroneves has 79 career top-five finishes, the most in IZOD IndyCar Series history. Tony Kanaan is second with 75 top-five finishes. Helio Castroneves has 109 top-10 finishes, the most in IZOD IndyCar Series history. He became the first driver to reach the 100 top-10 finishes at St. Petersburg. Helio Castroneves has led 86 races, the most in IZOD IndyCar Series history. Helio Castroneves needs two earned poles to reach 30 in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Helio Castroneves has been running at the finish of 121 races an IZOD IndyCar Series record. Helio Castroneves ranks second all-time with 3,327 laps led. Sam Hornish Jr. holds the record with 3,428. Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 128 th consecutive start, the active leader among IZOD IndyCar Series drivers. Scott Sharp holds the record with 138. Dan Wheldon with 125 and Scott Dixon with 102 are the only other active driver with a streak of more than 100 consecutive starts. Scott Dixon claimed his 23 rd IZOD IndyCar Series victory at the Honda Indy Edmonton on July 25 extending his IZOD IndyCar Series record for most wins. Scott Dixon s win at the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway on May 1 extended his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to six. Scott Dixon has a record 44 consecutive top-10 starts. His top-10 start at Sao Paulo gave him the IZOD IndyCar Series record. Scott Dixon became the third driver in IZOD IndyCar Series history to reach 3,000 laps led when he led 21 laps at St. Petersburg. Team Penske became the first team to reach the 40-win mark in IZOD IndyCar Series competition when Will Power won at Watkins Glen. Two other teams can reach that mark this season: Target Chip
Ganassi Racing needs two wins and Andretti Autosport needs four. Tony Kanaan needs two top-10 finishes to reach 100 in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Scott Dixon needs seven top-10 finishes to reach 100 in the IZOD Indy Series. Danica Patrick has been running at the finish in 29 consecutive races. She broke the series record of 28 held by Scott Dixon at Infineon Raceway At-Track Schedule (all times local): Friday, Aug. 27 7 a.m. 8 p.m. Garage open 9:15 10:15 a.m. IZOD IndyCar Series practice 1 2:30 p.m. IZOD IndyCar Series PEAK Performance Pole Qualifying (All cars/2 timed laps) 5 5:30. IZOD IndyCar Series practice Saturday, Aug. 28 6 p.m. PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 pre-race 7 p.m. PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 (200 Laps/300 miles), VERSUS (Live). Amy Konrath, 317-492-6453, Indy Racing League PR Contacts: akonrath@indycar.com Steve Shunck, 317-492-8532, sshunck@indycar.com Dave Lewandowski, 317-492-8533, dlewandowski@indycar.com Arni Sribhen, 317-492-8531, asribhen@indycar.com