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This Week: Guthrie Racing Team Rolls with Racing Punches to Weather Iowa Storm

June 28th

What a roller coaster weekend the Guthrie Racing Team had in Iowa! We spent a lot of time on the car and the setup for that track. We came off the trailer and were up to speed with both cars right off the bat. We were all very excited and had high hopes for the entire team. Both drivers loved their cars.

Obviously, Sean Guthrie had a great car for practice and was at the top of the speed chart all day long. Then he had his best qualifying effort ever – third.

During the race, our enthusiasm continued when he ended up passing Alex Lloyd for second, although Sean got caught up in traffic soon after that and Lloyd got back by him, and (Hideki) Mutoh also got by. By then, we figured we had a fourth-place car, which still was a strong finish.

Late in the day, with Sean running a real solid race, he once again got caught up in lapped traffic, got high and into the marbles and ended up spinning through the infield and into the inside wall, destroying his car and breaking is left foot. It was the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows, all within a few laps of each other. But that’s racing.

Luckily for us, we have a spare car. The car we crashed at Homestead was sent back to Dallara and is now repaired and will be completed by Friday. It’s going back together now and we just have a few things to finish. We’ll be ready for Watkins Glen. We don’t have to worry about spares for now, but if we have another problem, then the next one is a much bigger issue as we are running out of spares.

As for Sean, he’s taking things one day at a time. He’s still in some pain, but is off of his meds in order to allow the bone in his foot to heal faster. It’s basically up to him if he’s comfortable enough to race or not next week at Watkins Glen. We’ll have a car ready for him if he decides he feels OK – if not, we have some other options.

Handling both the ups and downs of racing is all that Sean and I know. Sean and I have been racing together since he was five years old in motocross - you crash, you cry, you fix it, get back on the bike and go racing again. I encourage him and he encourages me. We are fixers, so we fix things and move on. It’s a cool relationship we have. But that doesn’t make it easier to watch him crash. The Iowa crash was huge and totally unnecessary, but It’s part of the deal and "That’s Racing."

Brad Jaeger's Passing Lane Takes Indy Pro Series Path

Vandy Grad Makes Time for Racing and Degree

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Brian Stewart Racing’s Brad Jaeger has a brand new Mechanical Engineering sheepskin from Vanderbilt University in his pocket as well as a ride with one of the Indy Pro Series' premier teams. His first season of racing on the IPS circuit has been one of learning the ropes, particularly on the ovals that are the staple of American open-wheel racing.

Brian Stewart Racing’s Brad Jaeger. Photo: ChrisJonesIRL

So far he’s recorded one top ten (on the famous oval mile at Milwaukee) in his first eight races in the number three car, but the season’s racing schedule is only now beginning to fall his way with a preponderance of road course racing from now ‘til Chicago.

“It’s been a little frustrating,” he said Wednesday (June 27th) of what he sees as a slow start to the 2007 campaign. “We did have top ten at Milwaukee, and we were on the way to a top ten at St. Pete before an accident, so it’s been a little frustrating; but we’re looking forward to getting a top five finish in some of the road course races coming up. Having five road course races (out of the next eight) will definitely play in my favor.”

Jaeger came up rapidly through the ranks in Star Mazda after beginning in karts at age fourteen. He took the Pacific Formula 2000 championship in 2004, as well as driving seven Star Mazda races last year, and has appeared twice in the prestigious Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

Despite such an impressive resume on the track Brad’s found challenges in adapting to the heavily oval-based schedule of the Indy Pro Series and its big brother IndyCar Series.

“The Pro Series cars are pretty similar (to Star Mazda), though the speeds are faster,” he said. “The biggest transition is going from the road courses to the ovals. Learning how to race on the ovals has been the hardest transition I’ve gone through this year.”

“I’m not up to a level of comfort that I want to be yet,” he continued. “In the last few races this year we can get over that hurdle and begin running at the top.”

Profs and Savvy Time Management Prove Ticket to Racing Success for Jaeger

Brad helped launch a new team sport at Vandy, providing the driving force behind the school's Formula SAE effort. He is already putting his knowledge of ME to work in his racing career.

“It helps so much,” he said. “It really helps me communicate what the car is doing, as does having a background with Vanderbilt’s Formula SAE team. We finished twenty-fourth of 129 teams who made it to that competition, which is pretty good for a fairly-new team.”

“It’s really important to know what the car is doing when you’re out there, and having the engineering background really helps out with that ‘feel’ that every driver has for his car,” he added.

Brad Jaeger Balances Racing and Study at Vanderbilt Multimedia Presentation. Click on Photo to Start. Produced by: AllanBrewer

Another important life-lesson learned during his studies at the Southeastern Conference’s toughest academic school was the ability to manage the time demands of a busy racing schedule and a full-time course load in a challenging engineering discipline.

“My professors worked with me,” he said. “I went to them from the beginning and explained about my racing and they worked with me to arrange schedules and requirements. They were really great in helping me along,” he said. (See multimedia presentation; click on photo to start)

Watkins Glen Test Opens Door to Upstate New York Track for First Look

At the top of the agenda for the next month, though, is the coming brace of road course races at upstate New York’s leafy Watkins Glen International, where the Brian Stewart team will test on Thursday.

“(The key) to doing well at Watkins Glen is qualifying,” he said. “Obviously, with a double-header, it’s so important to just get up front at the start of the first race to help guarantee a top-ten finish so you start up front in the second race. Going there to test this week is definitely going to help me out as I’ve never been there before. We’ll get the car closer to where it needs to be for the qualifying session. That’s going to be a big help.”

Beyond the Glen is a date at Kentucky Speedway where he’ll once again face (you guessed it!) an oval. He’s already savoring the challenge and the opportunity to put on a good show for friends and family.

“It’s going to be an enjoyable experience,” he said. “Ever since I began in go-karts friends have been saying ‘Hey, let me know when you’re going to be racing closeby and I’d like to come watch’ so the Mid-Ohio and Kentucky races are going to be very special. All my family and friends can come down and having that extra support may be just all that I need.”

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The sixth season of Indy Pro Series competition continues with the Corning Twin 100s on July 7th-8th at Watkins Glen International. The race will be telecast by ESPN2 at 5 p.m. (EDT) on July 12th. ESPN2’s coverage of the Iowa 100 will be telecast at 5:30 p.m. (EDT) on July 3rd.

The World Turns Upside Down in Iowa's Cornfields

Field of Dreams Glow Falls Mostly on the Pro Series

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Two years ago, in March of 2005, “when the sky was a robin’s-egg blue and the wind as soft as a day-old chick,” the creators of tiny little Iowa Speedway were listening when a voice clearly said to them, “If you build it, they will come.”

Scott Dixon points as Iowa 100 unfolds on Saturday. Photo: ChrisJonesIRL

Come they did, as fans filled the grandstands with Iowa football-game enthusiasm, and lined up three-deep along the fences at the diminutive oval on Saturday and Sunday; watching their heroes and heroines battle on the asphalt gridiron to establish four-wheeled supremacy.

The IndyCar Series world turned upside down as Dan Wheldon collected Vision’s Tomas Scheckter at the start, and Tony Kanaan ended corn-growers’ favorite Jeff Simmons’ race mid-stride. Even Penske’s Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish couldn’t untangle themselves from the dipsy-doodle twists and turns of fortune the little bullring in the cornfields sprung on them.

The Indy Pro Series world turned right-side up as Alex Lloyd won again; after he and Wade Cunningham engaged in an extended contest for the lead, for bragging rights and the handsome walnut-based, sterling bowl trophy of the Iowa 100. Along with Hideki Mutoh and Sean Guthrie the leaders turned lap after lap at maximum effort to please the crowd.

Lloyd, Cunningham Thrill Crowd of Fans and IndyCar Veterans

Lloyd’s daring pass of Cunningham for the lead sounds simple on paper; until you watch it again, and marvel at the control both wheels-interlocked racers exhibited as they sped around the track for almost two laps like that.

For the most part the nod for strategies and tactics, and the skillful execution of them, goes to the junior-leaguers of this Iowa weekend. Though they drove under more yellow (32 laps) on a percentage basis than their seniors on the IndyCar circuit (67), the Indy Pro Series drivers left the crowd feeling fulfilled—not shortchanged—with the show.

One might convincingly argue that the Iowa 100 was a superior race all-around than the Iowa Corn 250.

The trophy was certainly prettier.

Even the crashes were better.

At the end of it all, it was clear that the Sunday race had one deserving winner—while Saturday’s race was filled with them.

Perhaps the big cars have reached a maxed-out capacity of car and of driver at Iowa Speedway with their first event that the slower Indy Pro Series machines haven’t (and never will find); or maybe it was just “one of those days” for the eleven IndyCar drivers and teams who spent time in the garage or on pitlane trying to repair broken or ill-handling machines.

Regardless, the best racing of the weekend was on Saturday, not Sunday, at the little field of dreams playhouse on the prairie.

Alex Lloyd Back On Top With Iowa 100 Win

'Three-Horse Race' Decided on Dash Past Wade Cunningham in Closing Moments

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Alex Lloyd at Iowa. Photo: SteveSnoddyIRL

Sam Schmidt Motorsports' Alex Lloyd battled AFS Racing driver Wade Cunningham over the last ten laps of a thrilling Indy Pro Series 100-mile "horserace" that put the 16,000-plus fans on their feet at little Newton, Iowa's Iowa Speedway on Saturday (June 23rd) afternoon.

Lloyd passed Cunningham on a daring maneuver that took him beneath the New Zealander as the pair headed into the small oval track's first turn, then matched him wheel-to-interlocked-wheel for a hundred yards down the straightaway before the two finally separated and Lloyd stretched out to a 0.3927 second margin of victory.

"It turned out it was a three-horse race," Alex said afterwards. "I'd been planning the move for awhile, going to the high side trying to lull (Wade) into a false sense of security that I wouldn't try the bottom. I went down there knowing that was the best place and did catch him off-guard. To come out on top was just fantastic."

"The car at the end was able to stay down on the bottom (groove), and that enabled me to get a comfortable run to the finish. To win a race as close as that means a lot to me and to the team," he concluded (see audio MP3 interview below).

The winning pass came on a restart after Guthrie Racing's Sean Guthrie suffered a firey crash along the front straightaway of the racetrack on lap 79, and Jonathan Klein and Stephen Simpson collided in turn four on lap 92.

Guthrie incurred a foot injury that could possibly force him to the sidelines for the Watkins Glen rounds nine and ten of Indy Pro Series racing on July 7th and 8th.

Al Unser III Charges from Nineteenth Spot to Strong Seventh-Place Finish

Al Unser III battles for position at Iowa. Photo: SteveSnoddyIRL

Panther Racing's Hideki Mutoh finished third; while Lloyd teammates Ryan Justice and Logan Gomez rolled home in fourth and sixth, with Team KMA's Robbie Pecorari between them in fifth place.

Al Unser III, whose father Al Unser Jr. was on hand to spell granddad Al Sr. (participating in this weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed in England), finished seventh after making a determined charge from the nineteenth starting position.

Behind him came Michael Crawford Motorsports' Marc Williams in his best Indy Pro Series career result of eighth, Brian Stewart Racing's Bobby Wilson was ninth, and Ben Petter (Williams' teammate) finished tenth.

Cunningham Yields First-Place to Lloyd, but Not Without a Fight

Wade Cunningham took the lead on the opening lap and drove solidly throughout the 115 lap race, only to see his advantage taken away on lap 103's final restart of the contest.

The experience left him with the dubious honor of accumulating the most laps led (105) of any Indy Pro Series driver ever, without coming away a winner.

“We did a very good job today in traffic," he recollected later in the paddock. "I built a lot of gaps that way but the cautions caused us to lose that advantage. Still, I was very happy to have a second.”

Wade Cunningham paces field for 105 laps at Iowa 100. Photo: SteveSnoddyIRL

Caution Periods Consume Nearly a Third of the Racing Day

The race was interrupted by four caution periods, which brought out the safety car for a total of thirty-two laps.

Jon Brownson experienced an untimely contact with the concrete wall of the 0.875 mile oval on lap 6 when he touched the SAFER barrier in turn two, lost the front wing assembly and damaged his car, forcing his retirement after skidding to a halt on the backstretch near the inner retaining wall.

Jaime Camara went high into the marbles and brushed the barrier along the front straightaway, leaving a fifty-foot long black donut on the freshly-painted white structure as he exited turn four on lap 39, again bringing out yellow and eventually forcing his retirement as well.

Sean Guthrie got loose as he was dodging slower cars while running fourth and coming through the field on lap 79, finding the tire residue in the high groove and getting sideways down the front straightaway of the oval at over one hundred and fifty miles per hour.

Guthrie managed to right the yellow number four Dallara partially before striking the inside retaining wall hard, igniting fuel and oil at the car's rear before settling to a rest aside the outer pitlane wall near the pit exit. He was recovered immediately by safety crew members, suffering bruises and a left foot injury from the impact.

"I'm not sure I'll be back for the Glen," says Sean Guthrie of foot injury

"We were coming up to lapped traffic and I had to back out a bit, and then the car stepped out on me and I ended up hitting the inside wall pretty hard," he said ruefully. "I don’t know if we would have stayed in the top three, but we had a top-five car for sure."

"My left foot has a slight fracture and my knees are pretty banged up. I’m not sure if we’ll make it back for Watkins Glen."

Guthrie will undergo medical re-evaluation prior to the next race (Watkins Glen) to determine his racing status.

On the ensuing restart of lap 92, Jonathan Klein rear-ended Stephen Simpson bringing both racers' days to an end, and sending Andrew Prendeville spinning to a stop at the south end of the pitlane.

Alex Lloyd overtakes Wade Cunningham for the lead at Iowa 100. Photo: SteveSnoddyIRL

Eight Career Victories Set New Indy Pro Series Mark for Lloyd

Alex Lloyd's eighth career victory, and sixth win of the 2007 Indy Pro Series season, moved him one trophy better than former IPS drivers Thiago Medeiros, Mark Taylor and current IndyCar driver Jeff Simmons to set a new benchmark for lifetime most by a series contestant.

He also moved to within one win of the record for most wins in a season (7) set by Mark Taylor in 2003; and extended his consecutive top-five finish mark to eleven going back to last season.

The win also pushed Lloyd's points total to 390, a striking one hundred and nineteen digits higher than second-place Hideki Mutoh with 271. Bobby Wilson remains third with 229 points in the 2007 chase for the Firestone Firehawk Cup.

The Indy Pro Series will take one week off before returning for July 7th's Watkins Glen race one over the venerable grand lady of American road courses in upstate New York. The race will mark the beginning of the end of the 2007 season with rounds nine and ten of sixteen races now in sight.

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Download AlexLloydPostRaceInterview.mp3

Indy Pro Series Iowa 100 Results

Indy Pro Series Cumulative Results 2007

Mutoh Paces Final Iowa 100 Practice at Iowa Speedway

Panther Racing Driver Plays Tough Act to Follow in Newton

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Panther Racing’s Hideki Mutoh bested Sam Schmidt Motorsports’ Alex Lloyd in the final practice leading up to this afternoon’s inaugural Iowa 100 at fan-friendly Iowa Speedway in little Newton, Iowa.

Panther’s Hideki Mutoh at Iowa. Photo: SteveSnoddyIRL

The winner of last week’s Liberty Challenge race one posted a time of 161.535 mph, two-tenths quicker than yesterday’s pole-winning speed of AFS Racing’s Wade Cunningham (161.306 mph) with a race set-up that looks to be the class of this twenty-one car field.

Lloyd’s speed of 161.013 mph was good for second-fastest, while Andretti/Green-AFS driver Jaime Camara came third with a posted speed of 160.532 mph. Cunningham’s lap of 160.392 mphs was fourth-best, and Stephen Simpson of Kenn Hardley Racing lapped fifth-fastest at 160.081 mph.

The attention now turns to the race itself, a 115-lap event that marks the furthest distance the Indy Pro Series drivers will tackle during the 2007 season. The winner takes home the beautifully-turned ten-inch Indy Pro Series Iowa 100 sterling cup symbolic of victory in this first-ever Indy Racing League event at the racetrack set in the rolling plains of central Iowa.

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Indy Pro Series Iowa 100 Final Practice Results

Wade Cunningham Takes Pole for First Iowa 100

AFS Racing's Speedster Drives to Impressive Gap On Rivals

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Wade Cunningham took the pole for Saturday's (June 23rd) Iowa 100 at Iowa Speedway with a qualifying speed of 161.306 mph on Friday afternoon.

Wade Cunningham Takes Iowa 100 Pole. Photo:ShawnPayneIRL

His speed was by far the best of the brief qualifying session, nearly half a mile an hour quicker than anyone else, and put him on the inside of the front row for the first Iowa 100 race over the 0.875 mile short oval racecourse in Newton, Iowa.

“It’s been a long journey back to the front," he commented. "We’ve had some mechanical and contact issues."

"Testing (here) three weeks ago really gave us a leg up. For qualifying, we made the right call and the experience we gained from testing helped us make those decisions regarding gearing and downforce settings."

Of his chances of marching to a victory on Saturday, he said, "Tomorrow definitely won’t be easy. We’ll be lapping cars pretty early," he continued, referring to the wide disparity in qualifying performance (approximately 9 miles per hour from pole to backmarker) over the field.

Sam Schmidt's Alex Lloyd was next-fastest with a qualifying attempt at 160.827 mph, while Sean Guthrie proved his draft-unassisted times in practice were for real as he posted a quick 159.732 mph lap to claim the inside of the second row.

Aside Sean is New Yorker Joey Scarallo, whose season looks to be taking a turn for the better with a 159.395 mph clocking in the GroupAWheels.com machine.

"(The track) is like a real small Homestead or a very banked Richmond," he said afterwards. "As small as it is, you need to be flat-out all the way around, which we were."

"We were at a disadvantage to some of the other teams because we didn't test here, but the RLR/Andersen guys came up with a great set-up right out of the transporter. We tweaked it a little and the GroupAWheels.com car was even better."

Scarallo pointed out earlier this week the challenges he's faced against stiff competition in returning to an open-wheel series this year. "This will be a huge help," he said of today's effort. "I expect to finish in the top five. We have to stay out of trouble, but we will. We have a great car."

Cunninghams' Andretti/Green Racing-AFS teammate Jaime Camara picked up the fifth spot on the grid with a speed of 159.283 miles per hour; followed by Apex Racing's Mike Potekhen (159.139 mph), Kenn Hardley's Stephen Simpson (158.955 mph), Panther's Hideki Mutoh (158.9 mph) and Logan Gomez (158.818 mph). Team Moore's Jonathan Klein completed the first five rows with his lap at 158.371 mph.

Michael Crawford's Ben Petter, who is returning this weekend with two prior Indy Pro Series starts under his belt, made contact prior to taking his laps and failed to record a qualifying speed. He'll start from the next to last row of the field for the 4:10 PM (CDT) green flag, ahead of drivers Marc Williams and Ken Losch who did not make qualifying runs at all.

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Indy Pro Series Iowa 100 Qualifying Results

Gomez, Lloyd Top Timesheets with 160-plus MPH Tours

Second IPS Practice Session Concludes at Iowa Speedway

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Mid-day Indy Pro Series practice for Saturday’s (June 23rd) Iowa 100 Indy Pro Series race concluded with Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver Logan Gomez atop the scoring pylon as the racer achieved the day's best lap so far at 160.666 miles per hour over the 0.875 mile short oval of Iowa Speedway.

Sean Guthrie pursues Al Unser III (L) at Iowa Speedway. Photo: ShawnPayneIRL

The Crown Point, Indiana native surpassed teammate Alex Lloyd’s 160.612 mph mark to take provisional pole. The man immediately behind Lloyd in the hunt for the Indy Pro Series championship, Hideki Mutoh of Panther Racing, was third fastest (160.524 mph) in the session which began at 11:15 AM local time.

The next-best time belonged to AFS Racing's Wade Cunningham (160.486 mph), while Guthrie Racing's Sean Guthrie continued to impress with a lap at 160.125 mph. Cunningham teammate Jaime Camara (160.045 mph) was the last of the drivers to crack the 160 mph threshold.

Stephen Simpson of Kenn Hardley Racing continued to warm to these surroundings with a fastest lap of 159.281 mph for the seventh position in practice two, as did Michael Crawford Motorsports’ driver Ben Petter (159.162 mph). Jonathan Klein (159.151 mph) and Tom Wieringa (158.583 mph) rounded out the top ten going into this afternoon's Indy Pro Series qualifying for the Saturday (June 23rd) race.

Pro Series drivers turned in 673 laps in total during the run which saw no significant yellow or penalty activity during its course.

Race qualifying for the Indy Pro Series will begin at approximately 1:15 CDT (2:15 PM EDT) today.

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Indy Pro Series Iowa 100 Practice Results

Indy Pro Series Storms to Fast Iowa 100 Debut

Wade Cunningham Quick as Practice Begins at Iowa Speedway

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Mid-summer storms ended just in time as practice for Saturday’s (June 23rd) Iowa 100 Indy Pro Series race at Iowa Speedway got underway at 10:30 AM EDT in rural Newton, Iowa.

Indy Pro Series Storms into Iowa. Photo: ShawnPayneIRL

AFS Racing’s Wade Cunningham sped around the track where he tested earlier this spring at a field’s-best 160.088 miles per hour, topping points leader Alex Lloyd’s 159.963 mph mark. Cunningham was the only racer to break the 160-plus mark as unsettled meteorological conditions settled somewhat over the mid-central Iowa area.

Equalling Lloyd's time in the session was Andretti/Green-AFS racer Jaime Camara (Cunningham’s teammate) with an identical clocking of 159.963 mph and a very racy-looking Sean Guthrie at 159.713 mph.

Panther Racing’s Hideki Mutoh, ready to race again after his victory in the US Grand Prix weekend’s Liberty Challenge race one, was fifth fastest this morning with a speed of 159.481 mph.

Behind them came Team Moore’s Jonathan Klein (159.030 mph), Apex Racing’s Mike Potekhen (158.966 mph), Sam Schmidt Motorsports’ Logan Gomez (158.431 mph) and Stephen Simpson of Kenn Hardley Racing with a fastest lap of 158.373 mph; while newly-returned Michael Crawford Motorsports’ driver Ben Petter (157.937 mph) was tenth.

There was one caution period for a tire deflation that briefly halted the session. Three drivers (Tom Wieringa, Stephen Simpson and Joey Scarallo) spent five minutes in the “penalty box” for speeding on the pitlane prior to resuming their laps at speed.

Twenty-one cars and drivers took the green light for the first of two forty-five minute periods to test the 0.875 mile short oval that will host both Indy Racing League series this weekend before crowds that are anticipated to be record-breaking in the Hawkeye state.

Race qualifying for the Indy Pro Series will begin at approximately 2:15 PM EDT today.

At practice’s start the temperature stood at 68 degrees with 94 percent humidity; and the barometer was falling at 29.98 inches with gusting southeasterly winds at fifteen miles per hour. Weather radar indicated clear skies west of the area after morning storms with heavy winds and hail moved eastward toward Iowa City.

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Indy Pro Series Iowa 100 Practice Results

Iowa Speedway Hosts Inaugural Indy Racing League Weekend

Iowa Pops the Corn's Top on Indy Pro Series Round Eight

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

The Indy Pro Series returns to the track this week to contest the Iowa 100 over 115 laps of the Iowa Speedway's short-oval on late Saturday (June 23rd) afternoon.

Jaime Camara and Wade Cunningham at Iowa Speedway testing session. Photo: IowaSpeedway

The first-ever meet at the newly-opened facility is poised to break attendance records for the state, which has long been a hotbed of open-wheel automotive competition. Iowa boasts the fourth-greatest number of car racecourses in the nation, a remarkable feat for the corn-fed, corn-growing, corn-powered home of Big Ten football and...well, more corn.

There will be ample time to watch the V8-driven Dallara's as twenty-two cars and drivers compete for over a quarter of a million dollars in prize money when two practices kick off the festivities on Friday morning into Noon, followed by qualifying shortly after 1PM local time.

The action will play out over the 0.875 mile oval's variably-banked turns, which are marked with a white striped line to indicate where the 12 degrees of banking becomes 13, then becomes 14 degrees steep around its circumference.

As such, there promises to be two and three-wide racing around the track at the usual high (180 mph-plus) open-wheel speeds Indy Pro Series drivers courageously navigate, and plenty of room and opportunity to duck behind, draft and to pass down the quarter-mile long straightaway in front of the main grandstands.

The Indy Pro Series event in little Newton, Iowa comes in support of the IndyCar Iowa Corn 250 race on Sunday afternoon at 1 PM EDT.

The weather forecast is for possible thunderstorms Thursday and Friday, yielding to partly cloudy conditions with temperatures in the high eighties every day for the next four days.

Halfway Point in Season Brings Records and Road Courses to Fore

Among the things to watch and listen for during Indy Pro series competition this weekend are:

• Current Indy Pro Series championship points leader Alex Lloyd not only holds a new record for consecutive wins with five victories this year, but he is tied with three other drivers for the most career wins. Jeff Simmons, who drives the Ethanol IndyCar, Thiago Medeiros and Mark Taylor all hold seven life-time IPS wins as well. One more win by Alex will put him the undisputed "champion of champions" among the group.
• Jaime Camara will start his thirty-fourth IPS race this weekend when he qualifies Friday afternoon, a record the Brazilian driver extends every time he takes the wheel for a race in the six year old series.
• The Indy Pro Series season marks the halfway point with the conclusion of the Iowa 100. From this point on the racers will alternate road course and oval course configurations for the remainder of the sixteen-race schedule. The next date on the IPS calendar is Watkins Glen, New York; followed by Nashville, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Kentucky, Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California and Chicago.
• Four IndyCar teams (Rahal/Letterman, Chip Ganassi, Andretti/Green and Panther Racing) are allied with Indy Pro Series teams in competition for the 2007 Firestone Firehawk Cup that goes to the IPS season champion when racing concluces in Chicago on September 9th of this year. Andretti/Green is the veteran among this group with two prior years experience in the developmental series.




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TV Coverage of the Indy Pro Series Iowa 100:




• Indy Pro Series: Race: ESPN2 (tape-delay), 5:30 PM EDT, July 3rd



• Talent: Bob Jenkins, Robbie Buhl (announcers); Mike King (pit reporter)
• Live streaming video coverage of Indy Pro Series Pole Qualifying (1:15 PM EDT June 22nd) and the Indy Pro Series Iowa 100 (5:10 PM EDT June 23rd) is available at www.indycar.com




Track Schedule at the Iowa Speedway (all times local; subject to change):


Friday, June 22nd




• 8 AM Indy Pro Series garages opens
• 9:30-10:15 AM Indy Pro Series practice

• 11:15 AM-Noon Indy Pro Series practice
• 1:15 PM Indy Pro Series Qualifying (all cars)




Saturday, June 23rd




• 8:00 AM Indy Pro Series garages open
• 12:50 AM-1:10 PM Indy Pro Series final practice (two groups)
• 3:45 PM Indy Pro Series pre-race
• 4:10 PM Indy Pro Series Iowa 100 (115 laps/100 miles), ESPN 2 (5 PM, June 29th )






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The sixth season of Indy Pro Series competition continues with the Indy Pro Series Iowa 100 race from Iowa Speedway at 5PM EDT on Saturday, June 23rd. The race will be delayed telecast at 5:30 PM (EDT) on Tuesday, July 3rd by ESPN2.

Iowa 100 Tilt Takes Joey Scarallo Back to Grassroots Racing Passion

RLR/Andersen Driver Forecasts ‘Bullring’ Bout on Small Oval

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Moving up in the Firestone Firehawk Cup championship points race and winning races is very much on the mind of Andersen Racing’s Joey Scarallo as the Rahal/Letterman Racing-affiliated team travels to the Iowa Speedway for the inaugural Iowa 100 late Saturday (June 23rd) afternoon.

After an inauspicious start, caught up in an accident at the Homestead/Miami Speedway opener to the 2007 Indy Pro Series, Scarallo has been working toward reclaiming his winning style—the same one that he wielded in Trans Am racing where he nearly won a championship prior to the series’ untimely demise.

Joey Scarallo Talks About Transition to Indy Pro Series. Click on Photo to Start. Produced by: AllanBrewer

“It’s been a big transition,” he said speaking of his rookie tour of the Indy Pro Series circuit, “coupled with a new team, there’s a big learning curve as we’ve no data to fall back on from last year. The car is new for me, too; and the whole scene is completely different.”

The results so far haven’t been entirely satisfying to the racer, whose championship-caliber talent has never been in question. His most recent top-ten finish came at the Milwaukee Mile three weeks ago, and marked only his second (along with St. Petersburg) of the season. After a pair of results outside the top-ten during last week’s Liberty Challenge races, he’s ready to get back into the cockpit and try again.

“We’re getting better every weekend out,” he said on Wednesday (June 20th) afternoon of his team, which is in its first year of Indy Pro Series competition and facing stiff competition from the more-established regulars on the circuit.

“We have a test at Watkins Glen coming and we’re starting to make some headway. The team is beginning to understand what I need in the car, and we have a great engineer. If we can string together some solid results the season will be a success for us.”

First-Time Excitement Builds for Iowa Racing Experience

Joey will face a new experience, as will his twenty-one Indy Pro Series peers, when he puts pedal to metal on Friday morning at Iowa Speedway. The racers open track activities with a mid-morning practice session that commences at 9:30 AM local time. This will be the first time the Indy Racing League has contested an event at the brand-spanking-new .875 mile oval in Newton, Iowa.

“I expect it will be similar to the Milwaukee Mile course, but tighter and smaller,” Scarallo said of the challenge ahead. “We missed out on the full (Iowa) testing, but it’s not a new situation to our team. We’ll just take it in stride and hopefully score a top ten.”

Iowans know the meaning of “bullring” racing, which is exactly the kind of thrilling, side-by-side grapple that Joey foresees coming to Iowa Speedway on Saturday evening.

“I think we’ll put on a great show for everybody. Our cars keep up good momentum, and it’ll be much like the old ‘Hooters Cup’ series, putting on a good show for everyone to watch.”

Personal Touch Keeps Scarallo Focused on Getting to Front

After growing up in open-wheel cars, Scarallo switched from the Toyota Atlantic Series to Trans-Am before returning this year to his own personal "roots" in racing. His father owns an automotive wheel concern that provided the connection that started Joey on his way to the Indy Pro Series.

"Racing is what I grew up with from 5 years old," says Joey Scarallo

"Emmerson Fittipaldi had a line of wheels back in the day," said Scarallo, "and I got to meet him and that's where my interest came from. It's something I've grown up with since I was five years old, so it has shaped me into what I am now."

Challenges don't stop at the racetrack's checkered flag for the twenty-eight year old racer who calls Smithtown, New York (on Long Island) home: when he gets time off from his busy racing calendar his little brother is waiting for him with a sinister invitation to join him for some videogame racing on the PlayStation.

"Yeah, he's a little bit of a wise guy. He gets to play all day and get really good on the game, then he beats me; but I try to tell him, it just doesn't carry over to the way it really is in the car," he said.

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The sixth season of Indy Pro Series competition continues with the Indy Pro Series Iowa 100 race from Iowa Speedway at 5PM EDT on Saturday, June 23rd. The race will be delayed telecast at 5:30 PM (EDT) on Tuesday, July 3rd by ESPN2.