Adrian Fernandez Celebrates Victory Photo ~ Melisa Lalich

Adrian Fernandez Wins First IRL Race

IRL Kentucky Race Produces Several First

With a 0.0581 second margin of victory, perfect weather and 61,800 plus in attendance at today’s race, the IRL set several new records today including one for fan attendance. Fernandez Racing, winner of today’s Beltera Casino 300 claimed several of it’s own “firsts”as well.

Pre-race ceremonies included Beltera Casino’s most beautiful employees adorned in their Las Vegas style showgirl attire and then the traditional flyover which included 2 very large military planes. On hand to utter the most famous words in racing was none other than Ashly Judd, wife of Dario Franchitti in the number #27 car.

The very first lap began with Buddy Rice leading and Tony Kanaan following in second place. However as soon as lap 5, Tony Kanaan stole the lead with Adrian Fernandez making a strong show in second place. Kanaan held onto the lead for aproximately the next 125 laps.

Several yellow flags came out for debris on the track during the initial laps of the race but were uneventful to this point.

Adrian Fernandez Photo ~ Melisa Lalich

Sam Hornish avoided a potential incident in the pits when his car ran over into the grassy area of the pits in order to avoid contact with Townsend Bell’s car. On about lap 127, Hornish again avoided another potential incident in traffic when his car swerved in dirty air, but was able to masterfully control his car to avoid hitting the wall ultimately placing him at a season best 4th place finish.

Tomas Scheckter showed his usual aggressive driving in this race however this time it was enough to place him in the lead at lap 128 until a pit incident at lap 135 took him out of the race. Scheckter left his pit several mili-seconds too soon causing his fuel hose to stick, rip off and catch -- resulting in a fire to his car. Wisely before exiting onto the main track, Scheckter pulled over, quickly got of his car and rolled onto the grass calling it a day. Several crew and media members in his pit area were additionally doused with water to ensure that the invisible methanol fumes did not burn anyone.

About lap 139 Dan Weldon picked up the lead under yellow while coming out of the pits however by lap 141, Wheldon ran over another car’s hoseline in the pits causing him to lose a lap according to the current IRL pit rules. The average speed in this race had been about 181 mph. however speeds were as high as 216 mph. On lap 157 Townsend Bell, upon getting his car too high on the track, made contact with the wall. The incident was enough to cause a yellow flag to come out and while there was no apparent injury to the driver, this was Townsend’s first DNF of the season.

This is when Adrian Fernandez picked up the lead again, making himself the ninth lap leader of this race. Fernandez held onto the lead the remainder of the race becoming the first Mexican driver in IRL history, and only the second owner/driver to win in this series. This also became the first win for the Fernandez Team since it’s defection to the IRL earlier this year. Another milestone achieved at this race was the 2004 manufacter’s title effectively clinched by Honda with Fernandez’s win on Sunday. This makes 10 consecutive wins for Honda this year having won with teams such as Rahal-Letterman and Andretti-Green.

FOR FULL RESULTS... (Speed News Now)

SpeedNewsNow.com at Kentucky Speedway
Speed News Now is at the Kentucky Speedway to cover the Belterra Casino Indy 300 IRL race. Our reporter on the spot is Melisa Lalich and she will bring us news and commentary.

by Melisa Lalich

Morning practice notes

Good afternoon from the rolling hills of Kentucky! The weather thus far has been cooperating with sunny skies and mild breezes. Morning practice session ended rather predictably with Tony Kanaan taking the lead with a speed of 215.132 mph out of a total 28 laps. Next was the number #15 car of Buddy Rice with a speed of 214.527 mph. Dan Weldon, Scott Dixon and Vitor Meira round out the top five in this morning’s practice.

Currently underway is today’s afternoon session with Foyt, Lazier and Giafonne all above the 210 mark. This afternoon’s qualifications will commence at approximately 4:30 pm with Adrian Fernandez, Tomas Schecter and Buddy Rice leading the rest of the field in an attempt to capture today’s pole position.

Stay tuned for more news as the day progresses. A full report of today’s activities will follow shortly as will several feature stories highlighting this weekend’s activities in the IRL. Pick your favorite driver and hold on to your seat as we await the final results of today’s action.

With an ambient temperature of about 75 degrees, Adrian Fernandez, Sam Hornish, Kosuke Matsura and Mark Taylor were a few of the drivers who were able to make significant improvements to their speeds in this afternoons practice session. They were able to move up to third, fourth, sixth and seventh places respectively. The top performers including Tony Kanaan and Buddy Rice continue to remain on top in positions one and two as they continue to dominate the charts with speeds over 216 mph.

Were practice speeds indicative of what was to be expected in qualifying today? With the exception of perhaps Dan Weldon who placed third in practice and then eleventh in qualifying, most of the top performers in practice placed within the top-10 today in preparation for Sunday's Belterra Casino Indy 300.

Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice claimed his fifth pole position of the season, winning the MBNA Pole Award for the Belterra Casino Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway.

Rice turned a lap of 24.6648 seconds, 216.016 mph in the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Racing Pioneer/Argent Mortgage Dallara/Honda/Firestone. Rice's lap around the 1.5-mile tri-oval was .0326 of a second faster than points leader Tony Kanaan, whose best lap in the No. 7 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda Firestone was 24.6974 seconds, 215.731 mph.

Two-time IRL IndyCar Series® Champion Sam Hornish Jr., the defending winner of the Belterra Casino Indy 300, will start a season-best third after qualifying at 24.7134 seconds, 215.592. The race will take place on Aug. 15 at 3:45 p.m. (EDT). It will be broadcast live on ABC and the IMS Radio Network.


Belterra Casino Indy 300 Starting Grid is as follows:

POS  CAR  DRIVER          CHASSIS/ENGINE      SPEED

 1. 15 Buddy Rice        Panoz G Force-Honda  216.016 mph
 2. 11 Tony Kanaan       Dallara-Honda        215.731 mph 
 3. 6 Sam Hornish Jr.    Dallara-Toyota       215.592 mph
 4. 5 Adrian Fernandez   Panoz G Force-Honda  215.326 mph 
 5. 27 Dario Franchitti  Dallara-Honda        215.181 mph 
 6. 3 Helio Castroneves  Dallara-Toyota       215.029 mph 
 7. 17 Vitor Meira       Panoz G Force-Honda  214.724 mph 
 8. 10 Darren Manning    Panoz G Force-Toyota 214.697 mph 
 9. 1 Scott Dixon        Panoz G Force-Toyota 214.647 mph
10. 55 Kosuke Matsuura   Panoz G Force-Honda  214.327 mph
11. 26 Dan Wheldon       Dallara-Honda        214.275 mph
12. 13 Mark Taylor       Panoz G Force-Honda  213.878 mph 
13. 4 Tomas Scheckter    Dallara-Chevrolet    213.091 mph
14. 52 Ed Carpenter      Dallara-Chevrolet    212.976 mph
15. 14 A.J. Foyt IV      Dallara-Toyota       212.937 mph
16. 8 Scott Sharp        Dallara-Toyota       212.433 mph
17. 51 Alex Barron       Dallara-Chevrolet    212.051 mph 
18. 24 Felipe Giaffone   Dallara-Chevrolet    212.032 mph 
19. 20 Jaques Lazier     Dallara-Chevrolet    211.968 mph 
20. 12 Tora Takagi       Dallara-Toyota       211.068 mph
21. 7 Bryan Herta        Dallara-Honda        no speed
22. 2 Townsend Bell      Dallara-Chevrolet    no speed