2007 IRL Indycar Pro Series Schedule

Date           Venue

March 24    Homestead-Miami Speedway
March 31    Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
April 1     Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
May 25      Indianapolis Motor Speedway (oval)
June 2      Milwaukee Mile
June 16     Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course)
June 17     Indianapolis Motor Speedway (road course)
June 23     Iowa Speedway
July 7      Watkins Glen International
July 8      Watkins Glen International
July 14     Nashville Superspeedway
July 22     Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Aug. 11     Kentucky Speedway
Aug. 25     Infineon Raceway
Aug. 26     Infineon Raceway
Sept. 9     Chicagoland Speedway

The Indy Pro SeriesT will feature a series-record 16 races in 2007, including seven races on ovals, seven on road courses and two on street courses. The series will compete three times at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 2007 season begins March 24 on the 1.5-mile oval at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and concludes Sept. 9 on the 1.5-mile oval at Chicagoland Speedway. More than $3 million in prize money will be at stake.

The Indy Pro Series, which introduced doubleheader weekends to its competitors in 2006, will expand from two to four doubleheader weekends in 2007, including on the road course at Indianapolis in support of the United States Grand Prix.

"The 2007 schedule is yet another step forward for the Indy Pro Series," said team owner Sam Schmidt, whose drivers have won two of the last three series championships. "In the last two seasons, we've seen a tripling of the prize money, the addition of doubleheader race weekends as a cost-effective way to add races to the schedule, and the addition of a bonus testing program, giving IndyCar Series teams an incentive to participate as well. This is a well-balanced schedule that will afford us the opportunity to do a lot of racing on a variety of courses."

New venues for 2007 include the 7/8-mile oval at Iowa Speedway and the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

"2007 should be our best season yet," said Roger Bailey, executive director of the Indy Pro Series. "Our teams have been asking for more road and street courses. Last year, we were able to introduce a 50/50 mix with the ovals, and this year the balance tips just slightly to the road/street side. We're able to maintain our oval heritage with a diverse group of racetracks ranging from less than a mile to the 2.5-mile circuit at Indianapolis while competing at a variety of challenging road and street venues.

"We're delighted to add a third race at Indianapolis. We're still the only series that competes on both the oval and the road course, and now we get another opportunity to showcase our young drivers and teams on the world's biggest auto racing stage."

After a three-race swing through Florida to begin the season, Indy Pro Series drivers and teams will compete in the fifth annual Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Carb Day, Friday, May 25, two days before the Indianapolis 500.

The Indy Pro Series will join the IndyCar Series at The Milwaukee Mile the following weekend in the only back-to-back oval races of the season before returning to Indianapolis for the doubleheader on the road course just 22 days after the Freedom 100.

The series will then alternate events at ovals and road courses through the season finale.

The Indy Pro Series is the premier ladder series for drivers and teams striving to compete in the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. Teams compete for more than $3 million in prize money in cars that are second only in speed to the IndyCar Series at most tracks they visit. The complete Indy Pro Series schedule is telecast on ESPN 2 and available through live Webcasts. Recent graduates of this fast and cost-effective series include Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter and Jeff Simmons.