Today's IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series headlines
1. Franchitti leads Mid-Ohio Open Test
2. In case you missed it: Wallace, Potekhen on teleconference
3. Can someone break Lloyd's winning streak?
1. Franchitti leads Mid-Ohio Open Test: Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti topped the speed chart at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course during an IndyCar Series Open Test in preparation for the IndyCar Series debut at the facility on July 22.
Franchitti, who won the pole at the facility twice while racing in CART, lapped the 2.258-mile, 13-turn course in 1 minute, 7.6667 seconds, 120.130 mph in the No. 27 Canadian Club car.
Previous experience at the track also paid dividends for Helio Castroneves, a two-time winner at the track. Castroneves was second quick with a lap of 1:07.7671, 119.952 mph in the No. 3 Team Penske machine.
Franchitti's Andretti Green Racing teammate, Marco Andretti, was third quick with a lap of 119.591 mph. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's Buddy Rice was fourth and Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon was fifth.
Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, Dan Wheldon and Darren Manning completed the top 10.
Overall, 18 drivers combined to complete 978 laps. A light rain forced an end to the session approximately 20 minutes early.
2. In case you missed it: Wallace, Potekhen on teleconference: Iowa Speedway designer Rusty Wallace and Indy Pro Series driver Mike Potekhen were the featured guests on the Indy Racing League teleconference today. Selected quotes are listed below. The complete transcript is available at www.indycar.com/media.
Wallace talked about the IndyCar Series' upcoming inaugural visit to Iowa Speedway.
Q. Do you think with the compound banking, that the IndyCar Series cars will be able to run side-by-side consistently through there?
RUSTY WALLACE: "Oh, absolutely. I've talked to Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, and Scott Dixon, and all three of them said, 'My gosh. I never drove on a track that had this much grip.' You can run all over the racetrack - from the bottom, the middle, the top of the track. In fact, when I was talking to Tony Kanaan, Tony told me that, you know, 'I know I'm running close to 230 miles an hour at Indianapolis, but I feel like I'm running faster here at Iowa because the G forces are so high.'"
Potekhen discussed the upcoming Liberty Challenge on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Q. Now you've not only made ten starts in the series, but essentially you're coming full circle. Your debut came at the Liberty Challenge in Indianapolis. Tell us about coming back to Indy, especially, since it's a place that you've raced on before in this car, and this time for two races on the road course.
MIKE POTEKHEN: I'm definitely excited about the weekend. We had last year, I actually ran really well. We were running in the top five when I ended up getting into it with a back marker on that final restart. So the result didn't show the performance that we had that day, unfortunately.
"But, you know, we had a really good car last year, and I'm looking forward to actually coming back to a track that I have been on. Up until this point, every race that we've done has been a new track in this car. So, definitely looking forward to getting back on the road course here and see if we can't come away with another podium finish this weekend."
3. Can someone break Lloyd's winning streak?: How does someone break Alex Lloyd's five-race winning streak? That's the question circulating through the Indy Pro Series paddock as 25 cars prepare for two 18-lap races on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway June 16-17.
Indy Pro Series television commentator Robbie Buhl knows the frustration of the drivers who have watched the rear wing of Lloyd's No. 7 Lucas Oil/Isilon Systems/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car disappear ahead of them. Buhl was in a similar situation 12 years ago when Greg Moore won the first five Indy Lights races.
"They had a dominating car, and we were the only ones who could challenge them as the year went on," said Buhl, who watched Moore win at Miami, Phoenix, Long Beach, Nazareth and Milwaukee before putting an end to the streak with a victory at Detroit. "He was the guy to beat.
"It was a classic case of as they kept winning races, their confidence kept increasing. In the same way, Alex Lloyd and (engineer) Tim Neff keep gaining confidence in each other. If one of them suggests a change, the other one believes it will work and goes out and makes it happen. They're in a zone where they keep gaining momentum and trust. No matter what the competition does, you can't break that momentum. It feeds off of itself."
Meanwhile, the competition, including second-place finishers Wade Cunningham, Chris Festa (twice), Hideki Mutoh and Mike Potekhen, must contain their frustration and continue to work on improving.
"It does frustrate you," Buhl said. "You wonder, 'What have they got going on?' Everything is working in their direction. As a competing driver, you absolutely are working hard to beat them. You're always working hard. Why are they strong? Your focus goes to them as the competition. What are their intervals, how do we keep improving and getting closer to them? However, when you're trying to make a name for yourself at that level, you're working as hard as you can around the clock."
Buhl also knows the satisfaction, albeit temporary, that comes from winning.
"When you do win, it's very satisfying," said Buhl, a co-owner of IndyCar Series team Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. "But I remember getting out of the car and saying, 'How do we get better?' That's what every driver, even Alex, is doing after every session. You're constantly critiquing to get better as a team."
Practice and qualifying for the Liberty Challenge is scheduled for June 15.
Notable winning streaks in auto racing:
10 - Richard Petty (1967), NASCAR Nextel Cup
9 - Alberto Ascari (1952-53), Formula One
8 - Patrick Carpentier (1996), Atlantics
7 - A.J. Foyt (1964), Indy car
5 - Alex Lloyd (2007), Indy Pro Series
5 - Greg Moore (1995), Indy Lights
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