Foyt, Giaffone Part Ways
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt announced that he has mutually agreed to part ways with Felipe Giaffone. No replacement driver was named for the No. 14 ABC Supply Co. Dallara/Honda/Firestone. "It wasn't working for either of us," said Foyt, who continues to recover from his June 26 knee replacement surgery on his left leg. "It's been frustrating for him and me, and I knew I needed to do something. We just didn't have the communication that we needed to be successful together." Despite finishing fifth in the road-course event at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Giaffone and Foyt have struggled on the oval tracks. Outside of an eighth-place finish in the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the team's best showing on an oval track was 15th at Twin Ring Motegi in April. "I'm glad for the opportunity to drive for A.J.," Giaffone said. "From the beginning we have had the same goal, to work together to get good results. The season started out pretty good, but then it went in the other direction, and we didn't achieve what we expected." Foyt will announce Giaffone's replacement later this week.
Briscoe Re-joins Dreyer & Reinbold
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced that it has signed Ryan Briscoe to drive the No. 5 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Honda-powered Dallara in three of the remaining six events in the 2006 IRL IndyCar® Series season. The 24-year-old native of Sydney, Australia will race in the Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on July 15, the ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Indy 225 at the Milwaukee Mile on July 23 and the Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway on Aug. 27. "At this point and time, we are working towards building for the 2007 season," said team co-owner Dennis Reinbold. "With this in mind, we want to try different things with our team during the remainder of the season to see what we can learn for the future." Added team co-owner Robbie Buhl: "We are continuing to grow as a team, and we can't stop learning. Ryan will be in the car for us at Nashville, and that will allow us to get to know him better. We are always working to build the team and Ryan will have a hand in that."
Briscoe, who finished a season-best eighth at Nashville while driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 2005, finished a career-best third driving for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing at Watkins Glen in June. A noted road-racer, Briscoe has driven in the Grand American Road Racing Series and A1GP this season and will drive endurance events with the Holden Racing Team in the Australian V8 SuperCar Series.
"I'm very excited to get back in the car for the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team-especially with the success we had together in Watkins Glen earlier this year," Briscoe said. "It will also be exciting to be competing on an oval again. I will be running select races because I have prior commitments in Australia. I am doing what I can to do both." The team has yet to confirm plans for the events that Briscoe will not compete. Reinbold said Buddy Lazier, who has started seven races for the team this season, remains an option. "Buddy (Lazier) is the ultimate professional and did a great job for us this year," Reinbold said. "We will certainly continue to consider him for the future."
Firestone To Serve As Grand Marshal
Reality TV star Andrew Firestone will serve as the Grand Marshal for the Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway. Firestone, the great-grandson of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company founder Harvey Firestone, is best known from his role on the ABC reality program "The Bachelor." He will give the command to start engines, among other duties during pre-race activities. Firestone, who is active in his family's wine business located in the Santa Ynez Valley in Southern California, is now part of the Firestone team - driving in racing events, making public appearances and acting as a goodwill ambassador for Firestone tires and the company his great-grandfather founded more than a century ago.
Three Straight For Allmendinger
At the beginning of the 2006 Champ Car Series season, A.J. Allmendinger was primarily known as the lone American in the series, being the U.S. standard bearer in an international series that boasts drivers from 11 different nations. Now the Californian-born star is better-known as the top challenger to Sebastien Bourdais’ throne after claiming his third consecutive Champ Car victory with a strong performance in Sunday’s Molson Grand Prix of Toronto. Allmendinger became the first American driver in 12 years to win three consecutive Champ Car races, leading a race-high 38 laps to score the victory.
He led his Forsythe Championship Racing teammate Paul Tracy across the line at Sunday’s event, marking the first 1-2 performance for Forsythe since 2003 and matching Tracy’s best performance of the year. The 2003 Champ Car title winner got back in the championship chase with his second-place run today, vaulting from 11th to sixth place in the championship after seven races. Bourdais put in a workman like performance in taking the final podium spot, maintaining his lead in the championship, although he did see it whittled to 23 points by the Allmendinger victory. Pole sitter Justin Wilson finished followed by Cristiano da Matta, Alex Tagliani, Will Power and Bruno Junqueira to round out the top ten.
For full results...
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Wilson On Toronto Pole
Justin Wilson used his last lap in final qualifying to capture the pole position for the 2006 Molson Grand Prix of Toronto, recording a best lap time of 58.182 seconds, which was the fastest pole lap time in Toronto since 2002. His teammate, Cristiano da Matta, posted a best lap time of 59.102 seconds to qualify in eighth place for Sunday’s race at Exhibition Place in Toronto. The result gives Wilson his third Bridgestone Pole Award in his three-year Champ Car World Series career, and his first of the 2006 season. The pole position also earns Wilson a point in the Champ Car World Series driver’s championship, where he currently sits in second place, just 25 points behind Sebastien Bourdais. A.J. Allmendinger qualified second followed by Bourdais, Paul Tracy and Oriol Servia to round out the top five.
For Starting Lineup...
(Speed News Now)
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