Hoosier Hundred Tickets On Sale
Tickets are now on sale for the 55th running of the prestigious Hoosier Hundred scheduled for Friday night May 26 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The Hoosier Hundred is the 5th of 15 races on the 2007 United States Auto Club Silver Crown Series schedule presented by K & N Filters and the second of six dirt track races in 2007.
Advanced adult reserved seats are now on sale at a cost of $25, a $5 discount from the raceday price. Adult reserved seats on raceday will be $30. Race fans who do not purchase tickets in advance can still save $5 by obtaining a coupon good for race day ticket sales at participating Indianapolis area Kroger stores. Tickets for children 12 and under will be $5 in advance or at the door, with a maximum of 2 child's tickets per paid adult admission. Pit passes are $35 and are available on race day only, infield tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for kids and will be sold race day only. Camping is also available on the grounds.
Track Enterprises has also released the schedule of events for the 55th running of the Hoosier Hundred. The pit gate is slated to open at 12 noon Eastern Daylight time, with the grandstand and ticket office open at 3 p.m. EDT. Practice for the 55th running of the Hoosier Hundred begins at 5 p.m. EDT, with qualifying at 6 and the Hoosier Hundred slated for 8 p.m. EDT.
Current USAC stars such as three-time Hoosier Hundred winner Dave Darland, Tracy Hines, Brian Tyler, Billy Wease, Paul White and defending USAC Silver Crown National Champion Bud Kaeding should be on hand Friday night May 26 in an attempt to add their names to a hall of fame roster of Hoosier Hundred champions. And, with Carburetion Day held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that afternoon, they may get a chance to do so before some of the most famous names in American open wheel racing.
For tickets and further information please call Track Enterprises at 217-764-3200 or visit them on the web at www.trackenterprises.com. You may also call the Indiana State Fair box office at 317-927-7581 or visit (www.hoosierhundred.com).
Raphael Matos Champ Car Atlantic Race
Raphael Matos, the 25-year-old Brazilian racer fought off a strong early challenge in the Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (tape-delayed broadcast on ESPN2 at 5:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 19) and he held his competition at bay to secure his second straight win to open the 2007 season. The flag-to-flag victory represented his third career Atlantic win and, more importantly, it gives him a 65-point total in the series standings. He now leads his closest pursuer by 11 points in the early race for the championship and the $2 million bonus to compete in the Champ Car World Series in 2008. Jonathan Bomarito finished second followed by Robert Wickens, John Edwards, Franck Perera, Giacoomo Ricci, James Hinchcliffe, Ronnie Bremer, Carl Skerlong and Justin Sofio to round out the top ten.
The Atlantics complete their third straight race to start the season next week as they travel to Houston, Texas to compete in the Fast Trac 100 at the Grand Prix of Houston. To learn more about North America’s top open-wheel development series and to follow all of the action from Houston, log on to www.champcaratlantioc.com.
ATLANTIC RACE NOTES
Matos has now six podium finishes in his 14 career Atlantic starts
Sofio’s Mathiasen Motorsports entry won the first Sherwin-Williams Atlantic It’s All in the Finish design award of the season. Representatives of Sherwin-Williams, the Official Automotive Finish of Atlantics, along with select Long Beach race fans, judged Sofio’s car to have the best finish design this weekend. The team was awarded $7,000 for the honor.
Despite a field that featured 21 rookies, Atlantic veterans owned the top two finishing positions in today’s race and four of the top eight spots overall.
After a strong qualifying performance that saw him claim fourth on the starting grid, Alan Sciuto (#20 The RoomStore of Phoenix) of nearby Orange, California saw his race end early as he suffered contact on the opening lap and was forced to retire early.
Today’s race was completed in 46:29.978 – a new series record for a 31-lap race at Long Beach
For full results...
(Speed News Now)
Bourdais Wins Third Straight At Long Beach
Sebastien Bourdais had just a horrible qualifying and race situation at Las Vegas last week, suffering three flat tires during the event that left him wondering if the racing Gods were going to be crushing him this year. But no worry. Bourdais won his third straight Champ Car race in the Long Beach Grand Prix on Sunday. It was his 24th victory in 61 career starts.
"That race was like a bad dream," Bourdais said about the Las Vegas race compared to this week's. "This is a whole lot nicer. I guess everything that could happen to us in Vegas happened but, this week, the McDonald's car showed what we could do," Bourdais continued. Bourdaais dominated Sunday's race, and at one point, boasted a 25 second lead.
Oriol Servia, driving for the injured Paul Tracy, finished second and last weeks winner, Will Power, brought his machine home in the third spot. Rounding pout top six were Justin Wilson, Alex Tagliani and Bruno Junqueira. The victory moved Bourdais all the way from 13th to third in the standings, 19 points behind Power and just four behind runner-up Tagliani.
For full results...
(Speed News Now)
Vitor Meira To Run China Race
IndyCar Series driver Vitor Meira will race for Team Brazil in this weekend's A1GP round at Shanghai, China. Brazil's team boss and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi chose the Panther Racing driver due to his experience, although Meira admitted to being surprised by the offer. "It was an unexpected invitation to run with Team Brazil in Shanghai, but I accepted with pleasure," Meira said. "I've been following A1GP as much as I can, and the series has quite a bit of interest in the USA. It will be an honor to represent my country."(Speed News Now)
Paul Tracy Injured
Champ Car superstar and America’s leading active open-wheel driver in terms of starts, wins and laps led, Paul Tracy, has suffered a compression fracture to his first lumbar vertebrae and will miss this weekend’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Tracy suffered a frontal impact in Turn One during Saturday morning’s Champ Car World Series practice at Long Beach. He was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital after reporting back pain, where x-rays and further MRI examinations confirmed the injury. No immediate timetable was given for Tracy’s return. Tracy will be replaced in the Forsythe Championship Racing #3 entry by 2005 Champ Car World Series runner-up Oriol Servia.
Bourdais On Long Beach Pole
Rebounding from the toughest weekend of his Champ Car career, Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald’s Cosworth/DP01/Bridgestone) resumed his march toward an unprecedented fourth consecutive Champ Car title by winning the pole for Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Bourdais earned his first pole of the year and the 26th of his career, posting a best time of 1:07.546 (104.889 mph) around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile Long Beach street course. The Frenchman becomes the leader among active drivers in terms of pole wins as his 26th pole broke a tie with Paul Tracy for seventh on the all-time list.
Saturday’s qualifying session saw a flurry of early activity where nearly everyone in the 18-car field established their quick times in the first half of the 30-minute outing. The last among the 17 combatants to hit the track today, Bourdais needed just five laps to card his best time, leaving the rest of the field to play catch up. Will Power, winner of last week's Las Vegas Grand Prix will start second. Simon Pagenaud qualified third followed by Alex Tagliani, Graham Rahal, Robert Doornbos, Justin Wilson and Bruno Junqueira to round out the top eight.
2005 Champ Car runner-up Oriol Servia made his first appearance of the season and will start 14th in tomorrow’s race as he sits in for the injured Tracy in the Forsythe Championship Racing machine. Tracy was injured in an accident in the morning’s practice, where he suffered a compression fracture to his L-1 vertebrae. Tracy has been released from the hospital but will not compete in Sunday’s Champ Car event. The timed event will begin at 1:00 p.m. local time (4:00 p.m. Eastern) and can be seen live on NBC. Fans can also follow all of the action via the official website of the Champ Car World Series -- (www.champcar.ws).
For Starting Lineup...
(Speed News Now)
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