CASTRONEVES, BRISCOE SHARE FRONT ROW AT IOWA
NEWTON, IOWA (Saturday, June 20, 2009) - Team Penske drivers Helio
Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe will start on the front row for Sunday's
Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer based on entrant points after
PEAK Performance Pole Qualifying was cancelled.
It didn't rain at the track Saturday, but heavy rain from Friday and
earlier in the week caused persistent weepers in several locations on
the .875-mile oval. Qualifying was cancelled for the first time since
last June's race at Iowa.
The No. 3 Team Penske car driven by Castroneves leads the entrant
points thanks to two wins and a second by Castroneves and a sixth at
St. Petersburg by fill-in driver Will Power. Briscoe, the leader in the
driver points, is second in entrant points.
Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti
will start third and fourth, respectively, and Andretti Green's Danica
Patrick will start fifth.
***
Each IndyCar Series car receives eight sets of Firestone Firehawks for
the two-day weekend.
The tires are the same compound used at last year's race at Iowa
Speedway.
AL SPEYER (Executive Director, Firestone Racing): "The racing at Iowa
was much better last year than the year before, we believe, in great
part because of the updated Firestone tire specification that we
developed for the 2008 event. That's why we decided to bring back that
race-proven spec again this year. Because of the uniqueness of the Iowa
track - a short oval that demands a tire more like a superspeedway
because of the constant high speeds and loads - this is the only venue
where this Firehawk spec will be used this season. We're confident
it will help provide the exciting racing that the enthusiastic Iowa
Speedway crowd saw last year and deserves again in 2009."
***
Luczo Dragon Racing co-owner Steve Luczo missed the race at Texas Motor
Speedway as he presented scholarships and received honorary citizenship
in Corleone, Italy, where his grandparents once lived. Luczo visited the
land of his grandparents with the mayor of Corleone and brought some
dirt from the land back home with him as a keepsake. He will sprinkle
some on the car this weekend as good luck. Luczo presented scholarships
to 10 high school students heading into their first year of university,
including four who had lost both parents growing up.
***
Nelson & Son Siding of LeClaire, Iowa, won A.J. Foyt Racing's 'Your
Name Here' contest for the Iowa Corn Indy 250. The company name will
be on the sidepods of the No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara. Ryan Nelson will
receive selected merchandise, race tickets, hospitality and garage
passes, plus a meet-and-greet session with Ryan Hunter-Reay. The 'Your
Name Here' promotion selected winners by random drawing from a pool of
entries sent in by ABC Supply customers earlier this year.
***
Housby, an associate sponsor of the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing entry, is
based in Des Moines, Iowa. Founder Jack Housby, a former NASCAR driver
and team owner, started Housby in 1969 as a Mack Truck dealership, and
with the help of his sons Kevin and Kelly has grown it into a business
conglomerate offering multiple services to its customers.
***
The Vision Racing Wellness Tour, supported by team sponsor Lilly USA,
will provide racing fans at Iowa with free diabetes screenings with A1c
testing and risk factor assessment, along with cholesterol and blood
pressure testing. The Wellness Tour mobile unit (bus) will be located
behind the main grandstands and will be open from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on
Sunday.
***
Kosuke Matsuura, the 2004 IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year, is at
Iowa Speedway. Matsuura's primary sponsor, Autobacs, is interested in
having the driver compete in the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in
September.
Matsuura posted 22 top-10 finishes in 64 IndyCar Series starts between
2004 and '07, with a best finish at the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi oval
of seventh.
KOSUKE MATSUURA: "After '07, I came back to Japan and joined Formula
Nippon, and this year I'm doing touring cars in Japan. I want to meet
some of the teams. I'm especially interested in Dale Coyne (Racing),
Luczo Dragon Racing and KV (Racing Technology). I think I can put
something together to race at Motegi."
***
INDYCAR SERIES POST-QUALIFYING NOTES:
* The starting grid will be based on entrant points for the first time
since last year's race at Iowa Speedway. The starting grids for two
races last year were based on points (Twin Ring Motegi). The driver who
started first did not win either of those events.
* While it does not count as a pole statistically, Helio Castroneves
will start first for the second time this season. He won the
Indianapolis 500 from the pole.
* The No. 3 car is first in entrant points despite the fact that
Castroneves missed the race April 5 at St. Petersburg thanks to a
sixth-place finish by Will Power in that event.
* Ryan Briscoe will start second, Scott Dixon will start third, Dario
Franchitti will start fourth and Danica Patrick will start fifth.
***
INDYCAR SERIES POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES:
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, first):I have to thank Will
(Power) because he helped by having this car finish sixth at St.
Petersburg. Those points definitely kept me in the front of the pits and
now gave me the pole position at Iowa. Unfortunately for the fans, they
didn't get to see the excitement of qualifying. Fortunately, I end up
getting a great situation here with a good starting position. Now that
we have a Team Penske front row, we'll go for the win tomorrow." "
WILL POWER: (On accepting the PEAK Performance Pole Award with Helio
Castroneves): "This was all Helio's idea. He's a great guy. I always
like to help out. Starting on the pole here is really important, so
it's great to see the two Team Penske cars on the front row. I love
working with this team, and I have two great teammates. We all work well
together. I experienced it during the month of May at Indy. I'm very
glad to help out."
RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, second): "Obviously, we'd much rather
be out there qualifying. It's unfortunate. The good thing is that we're
up there in the points and get the front row start. Hopefully, that will
help us tomorrow. I felt good for qualifying. I felt like Team Penske
had a good shot for the pole. It's so close at the front that it's hard
to say, but hopefully they can get the track in good shape for tonight
and tomorrow as well."
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, third): "It's tough. We
should have been fairly decent. The car wasn't too bad in the run, but
there was a fair bit of water on the track. The cautiousness there is
the more cars you run, the more water you draw onto the track, the guys
in the back were going to have a tougher time, and you could certainly
crash your car. I think it was a tough decision for (Indy Racing League
President of Competition and Racing Operations) Brian (Barnhart), but I
think he made the right one."
DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 TOM TOM, fourth): "It's disappointing
because the Tom Tom car was quick. In practice, we did two qualifying
(simulations) and both were really quick. We felt we had a car for the
pole, but at the same time I think (Indy Racing League President of
Competition and Operations) Brian (Barnhart) made the right decision.
Scott (Dixon) had said that on the backstretch that the tire was
flipping up water. The weepers were so bad. It's really unfortunate for
our car and for the Target team and for the fans because they don't get
to see qualifying. Starting fourth tomorrow makes things a bit more
difficult, but we can still pull it off."
DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Boost Mobile/Motorola, fifth): "We had a pretty
good day; every change we made had a positive impact on the car. I
think in general we have a strong race car, but at the end of the day
qualifying is really important. I wish we would've had a chance to get
out and make a qualifying run, because I think we could've had a higher
starting position than fifth. But we will take it, have a few strong pit
stops and hopefully bring home a win for the Boost Mobile car."
***
SUNDAY'S SCHEDULE (all times local):
8 a.m. Garages open
11:30 a.m. Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer pre-race
12:30 p.m. Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer (250 laps/218.75 miles)
-credit: indycar
