Special Charity Auction
A local, online charity auction is being held as a part of Team Hemophilia, a fundraising program supported by the Andretti Green Racing (IndyCar) team to raise money for the Tennessee Hemophilia and Bleeding Disorders Foundation, your local chapter of the National Hemophilia Foundation. Participants can bid to win a weekend race package for the Firestone Indy 200 on July 14 at the Nashville Superspeedway. Winners will have a chance to meet the Andretti Green Racing team, tour the pit, and hang out in the VIP hospitality area. The auction, which is open to everyone, is currently live and will continue through Saturday, June 30. For information on the program and details on how to bid, www.teamhemophilia.org/.
Franchitti Wins In Iowa
IndyCar Series points leader Dario Franchitti claimed his second win of the season winning the inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway. Franchitti, who led the final 31 laps of the 7/8th-mile oval, held off his Andretti Green Racing teammate Marco Andretti by .0618 of a second. It was the 17th-closest finish in IndyCar Series history.
Franchitti, who passed Alex Zanardi as Honda's all-time winningest driver with 16 Indy car wins, was the biggest beneficiary of a day which saw eight of the top 10 drivers in the point standings involved in accidents or mechanical failures. He increased his lead in the standings to 51 over another teammate, Tony Kanaan, as the IndyCar Series season approaches its halfway point. Scott Sharp finished third, Buddy Rice a season-high fourth and Darren Manning fifth. It also was the high finish -- and first on an oval this season -- for Andretti.
This is Dario Franchitti's second win of the season and the sixth win of his IndyCar Series career. His last win came in May at the 91st Indianapolis 500.
This is Andretti Green Racing's 27th win in the IndyCar Series, the most of any IndyCar Series team.
Marco Andretti finished second, his best finish of the season and his best finish on an oval since he finished second at the 90th Indianapolis 500 in May 2006.
Scott Sharp finished third, his best finish of the season and his best finish since he won at Kentucky Speedway in August of 2005.
Buddy Rice finished a season-best fourth - his best finish since he finished fourth at Watkins Glen in June 2006.
Darren Manning finished fifth - his best finish since he finished fourth at Pikes Peak in August 2004. It is A.J. Foyt Racing's first top five since June of 2006 when Felipe Giaffone finished fifth at Watkins Glen.
For full results...
(Speed News Now)
Alex Lloyd Wins Iowa Indy Pro Race
Alex Lloyd passed polesitter Wade Cunningham with 10 laps to go to win the Iowa 100 Indy Pro Series event. It was the Englishman's sixth win in eight starts this season and the eighth of his Indy Pro Series career, setting a record for career wins. Cunningham finished second with rookie Hideki Mutoh finishing third. Medical update from Dr. Michael Olinger, Indy Racing League director of medical services, Indy Pro Series drivers Jonathan Klein, Stephen Simpson and Jon Brownson have been checked and released from the infield care center. They are all cleared to drive. Sean Guthrie sustained a displaced fracture of his left foot. He will be re-evaluated prior to the races at Watkins Glen to determine his driving status.
This is Alex Lloyd's sixth win of the season and the eighth of his Indy Pro Series career, making the series' all-time winningest driver.
Wade Cunningham finished second, matching his season-best finish. He previously finished second at St. Petersburg #2 in April.
Cunningham led 105 laps, most laps led of any driver in an Indy Pro Series race. It is also the most laps led by a non-winning driver.
Hideki Mutoh finished third, his seventh top-five finish in eight Indy Pro Series starts.
Tracy Wins Cleveland Grand Prix
Through the first six laps of the Grand Prix of Cleveland at Burke Lakefront Airport, Paul Tracy was more likely to receive a visit from an NTSB investigator than the trophy queen. The 2003 champion was involved in two separate incidents requiring him to change his front wing during the early stages of the event, but the cagy veteran and his Forsythe Championship Racing team played the fuel strategy correctly to claim the victory. Tracy’s excitement began on lap 4 when he and Graham Rahal got together in Turn 4 bringing out a full course caution. On the ensuing restart Tracy once again ran into problems, this time hitting Bruno Junqueira in Turn 1 forcing the Brazilian out of the race and Tracy back to pit lane for his third front wing assembly.
While all of this was going on behind them, Sebastien Bourdais and the Team Australia duo of Will Power and Simon Pagenaud pulled away from the rest of the field and looked to be cruising to an easy podium. Bourdais and Power ran nose to tail through the early stages and when the three-time defending champion Bourdais dove to pit lane, Power took advantage of the extra lap and a quick pitstop to gain the lead. Power then held onto the lead through the second round of pitstops as he once again was able to stay out one lap longer than the rest of the leaders. While the leaders had their race strategy, the group running in the middle of the field took advantage of the early yellows to fill up their tanks. A full course caution on lap 67 set the stage for the finish as Dan Clarke spun in between Turns 7 and 8 while Bourdais was forced to retire with mechanical problems. Both Power and Pagenaud along with RSPORTS teammates Justin Wilson and Alex Tagliani came to pit lane for a last splash of methanol giving up their spots in the top 5.
Inheriting the lead was Tracy with the 18-year-old Rahal slated in second. Rahal, who was looking to join his father Bobby, by earning his first Champ Car win at Cleveland, pushed Tracy hard but was unable to make the pass before having to also make a late race pitstop for fuel. While Tracy and Rahal were battling, rookies Robert Doornbos and Neel Jani were able to conserve enough fuel to make it to the finish. For Doornbos, the second place result marks his fourth podium finish in five races, while Jani earned his first career podium finishing third. Justin Wilson finished fourth ahead of rookie Simon Pagenaud who finished fifth. Alex Tagliani finished sixth with Oriol Servia seventh and Rahal coming home eighth.
The battle of the Vanderbilt Cup is heating up as Champ Car hits its summer stretch. Three-time defending series champion Sebastien Bourdais leads the way with 117 points, but rookie charger Robert Doornbos is closing in fast with 114 points. Will Power is third in the standings with 105 and RSPORTS teammates Alex Tagliani and Justin Wilson round out the top five.
For full results...
(Speed News Now)
Raphael Matos Wins Atlantic Cleveland Grand Prix
For the fourth time in six 2007 Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda races, Brazilian Raphael Matos extended his points lead with a victory in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by LaSalle Bank at Burke Lakefront Airport. Matos nearly earned every point available to him from the weekend by taking the bonus points for the provisional and final pole positions in his flag-to-flag victory. He led the field from a standing start into Turn 1 and was never headed en route to a 0.506-second triumph over J.R. Hildebrand. In addition to being Matos’ fourth victory of the season, it was the fifth of his Champ Car Atlantic career and he now leads his Sierra Sierra Enterprises teammate James Hinchcliffe by 30 points, 173-143, with half of the 12-race season now in the books.
For Hildebrand, the runner-up result was the best of the rookie’s Champ Car Atlantic career while Condor Motorsports rookie Franck Perera claimed his second straight third-place result in Atlantic competition at Burke Lakefront Airport. Perera was followed across the stripe by Conquest Racing rookie Giacomo Ricci, who earned an Atlantic career-best result of fourth. Ricci’s previous best run was sixth in Round 2 at Long Beach, and the Italian has now finished inside the top-eight spots in three of his last five Atlantic starts. Ricci has earned points from each of his six starts in the series. Canadian rookie Robert Wickens finished fifth to score his third straight top-five result and continue his momentum heading to a stretch of three races in his home country. The result kept Wickens in the lead of the Rookie of the Year standings with six of 12 races in the books. He leads Perera by six points in the rookie standings, 140-134, and is currently third in the overall championship standings, trailing Hinchcliffe by three points. Wickens has finished in the top five in five of six starts this year.
The Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by LaSalle Bank will be televised on ESPN2 on Wednesday, July 4 at 6:00 p.m. ET. The race was shown live for the first time on ESPN360.com.
Dixon On Iowa Pole
Scott Dixon claimed his first AAMCO Transmissions Pole Award of the season, winning the pole for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway. Dixon, the 2003 IndyCar Series champion, turned a lap of 17.6484 seconds, 182.360 mph, in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda-powered Dallara. Dixon's lap was .0085 of a second quicker than Helio Castroneves, who was the first driver to attempt to qualify. Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti qualified third (182.043 mph) followed by Rahal Letterman Racing's Scott Sharp (181.713 mph) and Vision Racing's Ed Carpenter (181.644 mph).
This is Scott Dixon's first pole of the season and the seventh pole of his career. His last pole came at Infineon Raceway in August of 2006. His last pole on an oval came at Nazareth in 2003.
This is the 13th pole for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar Series. It's last pole came with Dan Wheldon at Homestead earlier this season
Helio Castroneves qualified second, his fifth front-row start of the season.
Ed Carpenter qualified a season-best fifth, while Jeff Simmons matched his career best start of sixth.
For Starting Lineup...
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Sebastien Bourdais On Cleveland Pole
Sebastien Bourdais flirted with the track record at the 2.106-mile Burke Lakefront Airport temporary circuit, but came a hair short as he claimed his second pole position of the year. Bourdais will start the Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by LaSalle Bank from the most coveted position after posting a fastest lap of 56.363 seconds (134.514 mph). The lap was eight-hundredths of a second slower than the track record set by A.J. Allmendinger in 2006. Though Bourdais won the pole position, he chose to start on the driver’s left side of the track forgoing the traditional inside line into the first corner. Team Australia’s dynamic duo of Will Power and Simon Pagenaud flipped their qualifying positions from yesterday’s provisional qualifying. Pagenaud earned his first Champ Car front row starting spot, by posting the second fastest lap of today’s session. The 2006 Atlantic champion lapped the lakefront circuit in 56.388 seconds (134.454 mph). Power will start from third position after his lap at 56.473 seconds (134.252 mph). The young Aussie driver is currently second in the points standings 13 points behind Bourdais.
Rookies Graham Rahal and Robert Doornbos will start from the fourth and fifth positions respectively. Both rookies have earned podium finishes this season. Rahal is the youngest ever Champ Car podium finisher while Doornbos has earned a podium finish in three of his first four starts. Doornbos’ stablemate Dan Clarke was sixth fastest with 2003 series champion Paul Tracy starting seventh. RSPORTS teammates Justin Wilson and Alex Tagliani will start eighth and ninth with Forsythe Championship Racing’s Oriol Servia slated to start tenth.
For Starting Lineup...
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