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Leilani Munter Joins Sam Schmidt Motorsports Team

Woman Racer to Line Up Alongside Lloyd, Justice, Gomez at Kentucky

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

After a summer of wondering when and where her next performance might come, Leilani Munter now has a role to fill at Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

Leilani Munter. Photo: CraigDavidson

The stunt-and-photo-double in Hollywood turned Indy Pro Series racer-in-Indiana and Sam Schmidt Motorsports announced today that Münter will make her greatly anticipated Indy Pro Series debut at the Kentucky Speedway on August 11th.

Bypassing the road course double-header at Sonoma's Infineon Raceway, she will race on the small oval at Kentucky (where she successfully tested in the Dallara two months ago) and in the season finale at the Chicagoland Speedway on September 9th.

Lead sponsorship comes from SMART Papers, a southern Ohio company that is a premium brand in the graphic communications industry and North America’s largest independent manufacturer and marketer of premium coated and uncoated printing papers.

Munter chose wisely in partnering with SSM: Sam Schmidt Motorsports drivers have won two of the past three driver championships, dominating the points in both 2004 and 2006, and now point with record-making Alex Lloyd to their third Firestone Firehawk Cup in this 2007 season. In total, the team holds 28 pole positions and 21 race wins.

"Racing in the Indy Pro Series is a big step in my career," said Münter, "I am deeply appreciative to Sam Schmidt for giving me the chance to drive for a championship team and to SMART Papers for becoming my primary sponsor in the series.”

“Leilani represents the new generation of women who are fast moving into professional open wheel racing,” said SMART Papers chairman Tim Needham. “She is a talented racer and a smart competitor. She’s also environmentally smart and a smart businesswoman. SMART Papers is delighted to sponsor Leilani’s first two races in the Indy Pro Series—we believe she has a smart, winning future.”

“We are very pleased to add Leilani to our team for the Kentucky and Chicagoland events in 2007,” said team owner Sam Schmidt. “Leilani has honed her skills and gained sufficient confidence to be competitive in the Indy Pro Series immediately. In addition, I believe Alex Lloyd, Ryan Justice and Logan Gomez will be excellent teammates due to their success and experience so far this year.”

Well-Respected Racer Looks to Make a Mark in Indy Pro Series Competition

Leilani Münter began racing stock cars in 2001 and has been working her way up the NASCAR ladder since. In 39 starts, she has nine top-five and 19 top-10 finishes. She set the record at Texas Motor Speedway in 2006 when she finished fourth, the highest finish for a female stock car driver in the history of the 1.5-mile speedway. She tested at Daytona International Speedway in December 2006 and earned her license to run in the ARCA series, a feeder division into NASCAR’s big leagues.

SMART Papers Indy Pro Series Dallara. Photo: LeilaniMunter.com

Münter joined the world of open-wheel racing this year. She earned her Indy Pro Series license at Kentucky Speedway in May. “I was very impressed with how quickly Leilani got up to speed and with the feedback she gave the team,” said Indy Pro Series technical director Butch Meyer. “She will be a very tough competitor in the Indy Pro Series.”

Recently, Sports Illustrated named her in the top 10 female race car drivers of 2007. Her racing accomplishments have landed her in the pages of ESPN Magazine, Men’s Journal, and Esquire Magazine. Konica Minolta was Münter’s primary sponsor last year in the NASCAR Elite division and she currently stars in Interstate Bakeries’ national ad campaign as a Hostess Race Diva alongside IndyCar driver Danica Patrick.

Leilani graduated from the University of California San Diego with a degree in biology, but left that and a career in Hollywood—which included working as a stunt driver in "Scorpion King" and "Traffic", and as a photo double for Catherine Zeta-Jones— to move to Charlotte, NC to pursue her racing career. Leilani is well known for being active in environmental and conservation causes and hosts an Earth Watch section and blog on her website leilanimunter.com.

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The next Indy Pro Series event is the Kentucky 100 on August 11th at Kentucky Speedway. The race will be broadcast at 5:30 PM EDT on ESPN2 the afternoon of August 16th.

Chris Festa Aims for On-Track Success Akin to Teammate Scott Dixon’s Charge

Long Indy Pro Series Season Brings Surprises and Challenges to Ganassi Driver

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Chris Festa will line up on August 11th for his thirteenth race behind the wheel of the bright red and white number nine Chip Ganassi Racing Indy Pro Series Dallara. He rallied from nineteenth starting position at last weekend’s Mid-Ohio 100 to finish six spots better than he began, the most impressive advance of anyone of the twenty-three car field at the undulating, twisty and narrow road course south of Cleveland.

Chris Festa and Ganassi team at Mid-Ohio last weekend. Photo: AllanBrewer

After a strong first half of the season (that included a pole at the season-opener in Homestead and runner-up finishes at Homestead/Miami Speedway and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Freedom 100 on May 25th) the season has slowed somewhat for Chris and the Indy Pro Series part of the TCGR team just as teammate Scott Dixon has launched a world-class assault to wrench the IndyCar Series title points lead from the hands of Dario Franchitti of Andretti Green.

When the season began Chris' Ganassi Racing teammate Pablo Perez, whose accident in the Homestead/Miami race brought the event to an early conclusion with Alex Lloyd at the front, might have been counted on to run some effective interference for the team and share important information that could smooth the long Indy Pro Series road. However, fate didn’t have that in its plans.

Absence of Perez Costly On and Off the Track for Ganassi Team

“It’s been huge not having Pablo,” Chris said during an audio interview on Wednesday July 25th. “The whole point of having two cars is to share data and solutions; so we effectively lost twice the information we could have had in practice and developing the cars. Plus, I’ve lost someone to work with and draft with during races."

According to team sources, Perez is recovering satisfactorily in his native Argentina with rehab fully underway toward walking again; though he won't return to the seat again this year to help the team. "It is what it is," said Chris of the circumstances, "and we’ll continue to try as hard as we can.”

Despite the difficulties of soldiering on alone, Chris has been tough in the cockpit once underway. He moved from a sixteenth-place start at Nashville only the week before Mid-Ohio to finish ninth--another seven position move up the scorers' sheets at a track with minimal passing opportunity. With better qualifying that might come of a partner sharing data and setups in practice, it's hard to say how much upside potential for the team was set aside when Pablo flew into the catch-fence in Florida.

Chris has over ten top-fives, and twenty top-ten finishes to his credit over two seasons, driving for first Eddie Cheever's Indy Pro Series operation in 2006, and now for Chip Ganassi. Before that, he was behind the wheel of Bobby Rahal's Atlantic Series machines, successfully competing on that open-wheel circuit in 2005 as well. At each stop Festa's shown that he has the ability to compete at the highest level, as his impressive results bear out.

On the flip side of that coin is the benefit Festa takes from experiencing the now-three top-flight organizations that have kept him driving steadily forward for the last several years. “Each team has its own ways. One of the good things about Ganassi is their involvement in a number of different series. I can learn from people like (renowned sports car racer) Scott Pruett who’s been in racing now for thirty years. It’s great as an aid to benefit from as a developing driver.”

On moving up in class to IndyCar, as at least one Indy Pro Series driver already has in sight, Chris added some insight about the difficulty of the move based on his own personal experience in the more powerful cars during the bonus testing days allowed by the Indy Racing League. “It’s been an eye-opening experience”, he said of the 700-plus horsepower Honda-powered racer. “It’s less forgiving, with so much more downforce and speed that small mistakes are magnified. You really have to be on top of your game at the IndyCar level.”

"It's been an eye-opener!" says Chris Festa of IndyCar test days

As a result, he’s forced his attention more toward perfection in the Indy Pro Series machine than ever before. “The Richmond test with Scott and Dan gave me feedback on my line and how to hold the car down tight and go faster. It’s been huge to have them around like that,” he said.

With four races remaining, Chris Festa stands eighth in the championship points standings for the Firestone Firehawk Cup. More importantly, he’s headed to two tracks (Kentucky and Chicagoland) that suit his fine oval-track skills well, and a challenging pair of outings at Sonoma’s Infineon Raceway sandwiched in between. Furthermore, he’s not distracted by what pot of gold may lie at the rainbow’s end of September ninth’s season conclusion. He’s focused on winning right now.

“My main focus is on winning the remaining four races,” he said. “I have my racing to focus on and my manager will work out the rest.”

He added, for the immediate future, “We’ll be testing at Kentucky, then at Putnam Park in the IndyCar Series car; then we’ll get ready for the Kentucky Pro Series race.”

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The next Indy Pro Series event is the Kentucky 100 on August 11th at Kentucky Speedway. The race will be broadcast at 5:30 PM EDT on August 16th. ESPN2’s coverage of the Mid-Ohio 100 will be televised by ESPN2 at 5:30 PM EDT on July 26th.

Karting Champ On Board with Michael Crawford Motorsports for 2008

Hoosier Cole Mathewson Signs on for Partial Season of Learning and Development with Team

From Indy Pro Series Media Reports:

Already looking ahead to 2008 and beyond, second-year Indy Pro Series team Michael Crawford Motorsports has signed 18-year-old karting standout Cole Mathewson to a development and testing program.

The program will begin in September and will continue through 2008 with an initial focus on road course racing. The team plans to enter Mathewson in a select number of Indy Pro Series races in 2008 with the aim of expanding to a full-time program in 2009. Mathewson, a recent graduate of Westfield (Ind.) High School, will have sponsorship from two Indianapolis companies, The Estridge Companies and Mainscape Inc.

“I have had the pleasure of watching Cole dominate races and win championships over the past three seasons in Great Lakes Superkarts! USA,” said team owner Michael Crawford, whose team boasts seven top-10 finishes this season. “He works very hard at racing yet makes it look very easy. I believe that he has the qualities necessary to become a successful professional racer. The team is looking forward to our first test with Cole to begin the process of taking him to the Indy Pro Series, the official developmental series of the Indy Racing League and the Indianapolis 500.”

Mathewson’s racing resume includes championships in each year of karting, beginning at age 13 with Junior Briggs and moving to Senior TAG and then quickly on to the 125 shifter class by the time he was 15. He won the KRA Series Junior Briggs Championship at New Castle Motorsports Park in 2004. In 2005 and 2006, he won the Great Lakes Superkarts! USA Pro Tour S-1 class.

This year, he has split his time between World Karting Association Manufacturer’s Cup events in the ICC class as well as the TAG class and the Stars of Karting Series running the ICC class, competing with the best kart drivers in the country including Indy Pro Series driver Matt Jaskol.

While the jump from 125 shifters to the 420-hp Indy Pro Series cars is a big one, Mathewson is confident that a very structured and measured program of testing prior to entering race events will result in a successful transition.

“I’m extremely excited about the opportunity to move up,” Mathewson said. “Indy has always been my drive, and this is the biggest step I could make. I’m looking forward to working with Michael Crawford and the team.”

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The next Indy Pro Series event is the Kentucky 100 on August 11th at Kentucky Speedway. The race will be broadcast at 5:30 PM EDT on August 16th. ESPN2’s coverage of the Mid-Ohio 100 will be televised by ESPN2 at 5:30 PM EDT on July 26th.

Richard Antinucci Rolls to Mid-Ohio 100 Win

Cheever Racing Road Specialist Scores First Career IPS Victory

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Richard Antinucci rolled past Sam Schmidt Motorsports' Alex Lloyd on lap fifteen, then never looked back as the Cheever Racing road-racing driver earned his first-ever triumph in the Indy Pro Series Mid-Ohio 100 on Sunday (July 22nd).

Cheever Racing’s Richard Antinucci. Photo: JimHainesIRL

Benefiting greatly from a previous test session on the 2.25 mile track, Antinucci clearly had the fastest car in the field as he set and reset fastest lap during the race at over 110 miles per hour.

"It's been an absolutely awesome weekend," he said from the winners' circle. "I was a little frustrated after qualifying (fourth), but this result just shows what we had."

"This is the only track that we tested before racing, so it shows our potential. I just have to thank uncle Eddie (Cheever) and Tony George for helping me out and making it possible."

AFS Racing's Wade Cunningham drove another first-class race to a second-place finish. Though he pursued Antinucci well over the deciding ten laps of the event, it was clear that he hadn't the handling or the speed to overtake the winner on the course.

"It was a tough weekend," Cunningham said. "We knew we were quicker than we showed in qualifying, and we had to take some risks to overtake the two or three cars in front of us. I got as close as I could to Richard but we finally came to a gap that we could do no more." Cunningham started the race from sixth position on the grid.

Kenn Hardley Racing's Stephen Simpson was third, capping a weekend of success for the rookie from South Africa. Though he gave up ground from the start, he was able to hang on to the finish to complete the podium.

"It (the race) was relatively uneventful, really," Simpson said afterwards. "Richard and Wade were simply quicker and went past easily. It was difficult to stay focused but I just tried as hard as I could, kept my head down and tried to stay strong out there."

Alex Lloyd Falls Victim to DriveTrain Woes

Indy Pro Series at Mid-Ohio. Photo: JimHainesIRL

Sam Schmidt Motorsports' Alex Lloyd led from the start on pole, but was quickly engaged by a charging Antinucci who swung past Simpson and Andrew Prendeville into second on lap five.

Cunningham successfully maneuvered past Simpson as well, on lap six, to set up Lloyd, Antinucci, and himself for the leaders' run through the midportion of the race.

On lap fifteen Antinucci executed a perfect pass on the long backstretch of Mid-Ohio and took the lead. By lap 17, Antinucci held a 1.5 second advantage over Lloyd. He also set the race's fastest lap to build that margin, posting a speed of 110.395 miles per hour.

Lap 20 saw the gap from the leader to second-place grow to 2.5 seconds, then yellow flew on lap 21 as Jonathan Klein collided with Doug Boyer. Klein suffered a left rear puncture as a result of the incident and headed toward pitlane, his day effectively over.

On the lap 24 restart, Lloyd was slow to take the green having lost the gearbox of the number 7 Dallara. He pulled into the grass at the end of the front straightaway.

With that Antinucci set sail and reset fastest lap (110.683 mph) on lap 31, en route to his first career Indy Pro Series victory and the first for the Cheever Racing team of 2007.

A late-race local yellow flew for Daniel Herrington, who spun his car while chasing a top-ten finish after starting last in the field.

Antinucci capped off his work by roaring to another, his third, fastest lap of the race of 110.898 mph on lap 39; and putting punctuation mark to his superior showing this day.

Chip Ganassi Racing's Chris Festa advanced from nineteenth on the starting grid to a thirteenth place result, the best of any driver on the race course on Sunday.

Competition Heats Up Over Season's Second Half

RLR Andersen Racing's Andrew Prendeville finished fourth, with IndyCar Series driver-in-waiting Hideki Mutoh of Panther Racing posting his ninth top-five finish of the year right behind.

Brian Stewart's Bobby Wilson came home sixth, followed by Team KMA's Robbie Pecorari, Jaime Camara, Mike Potekhen and Logan Gomez in tenth spot.

Richard Antinucci celebrates Mid-Ohio win. Photo: JimHainesIRL

The race was run officially under only two laps of yellow, with an average speed of 104.863 miles per hour; with Antinucci's final margin of victory established at 0.9588 seconds.

The victory by Antinucci brings now six different drivers to the 2007 Indy Pro Series victory lane. Alex Lloyd has collected six victories, with Cunningham, Wilson, Mutoh, Pecorari and Antinucci spraying the champagne on one apiece.

After blitzing the field in the opening half of the season, Lloyd has fallen victim to bad racing luck twice--collecting debris from an accident in Nashville that put him at the back of the field, today losing the drivetrain of his car.

Lloyd's stranglehold on the championship points standings remains little affected by the recent spate of ill-fortune.

His 508 points and over a quarter of a million dollars in winnings set the standard for the series this year, as he still commands a handsome 111 points advantage over second-place Hideki Mutoh (397 points).

The chasers remain the same with Wade Cunningham (342 points), Bobby Wilson (320 points) and Jaime Camara (290 points) in tow.

The Indy Pro Series takes a mid-summer break to regroup and catch its breath before retaking the green flag at Kentucky Speedway on August 11th. The tiny little jewel of an oval in beautiful Sparta, Kentucky will bring round thirteen of sixteen races to the fore, as the 2007 season begins its swan song into the record books.

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Indy Pro Series Mid-Ohio 100 Results

Indy Pro Series 2007 Cumulative Results

Panther's Hideki Mutoh to Move Up in Class to IndyCar

Chicagoland Debut is On Tap for Japanese Indy Pro Series Racer

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Panther Racing's Hideki Mutoh, winner of the Liberty Challenge race one at Indianapolis, will compete in the IndyCar Series when the Indy Racing League visits Chicagoland Speedway for the season-ending event on September 9th.

Panther Racing’s Hideki Mutoh. Photo: ChrisJonesIRL

John Barnes, co-owner of Panther Racing, made the announcement at a press conference in Lexington, Ohio where the team is preparing to race in Sunday's Mid-Ohio 100 Indy Pro Series event.

"The entire Panther team is extremely excited to help Hideki Mutoh make his debut in the IndyCar Series at Chicago," said Barnes. "He's proved to all of us that he deserves this opportunity by the way he's performed in the Indy Pro Series and the way he's driven the IndyCar Series car during testing. Everybody here loves the way he approaches the sport mentally and the tenacity he's shown us on the racetrack."

Mutoh, though only a rookie in the Indy Pro Series, has built an impressive resume by finishing consistently in the top five eight times and scored ten top-ten finishes in eleven starts this year.

"I'm very happy and excited about this opportunity to race for Super Aguri Panther Racing in the IndyCar Series," said Hideki. "I have learned a lot this season in the Indy Pro Series and want to do well at Chicagoland. I have to thank John Barnes, Aguri Suzuki, the Honda Formula Dream Project and everybody at Super Aguri Panther Racing for giving me this chance – it has been a goal of mine since I arrived in the United States."

Panther plans to continue with its regular drivers Vitor Meira and Kosuke Matsuura in Chicago, and will put Hideki into a third car for the Indy Car Series event.

Mutoh's car will carry a similar Honda Dream livery to his number fifty-five Indy Pro Series Dallara, but will bear the number sixty on race day.

Barnes outlined a vigorous testing schedule for Mutoh, beginning with a session at Kentucky Speedway this week, followed by outings at the Chicago track and at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

Lloyd and Simpson Front Mid-Ohio 100 Grid

Indy Pro Series Revs Up Northeastern Ohio Track

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Alex Lloyd and Stephen Simpson will lead the field into turn one at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Sunday (July 22nd) as the Indy Pro Series contests round twelve of sixteen in northeastern Ohio.

Sam Schmidt Motorsports’ Alex Lloyd. Photo: JimHainesIRL

Lloyd's best lap of 110.188 miles per hour put him afront of the South African by slightly less than half a mile per hour when the second of two qualifying sessions ended at approximately Noon EDT in Lexington, Ohio on Saturday.

“It was a really tough qualifying session," Lloyd said. "I think it was anybody's guess as to who was going to get the pole. We said from the first lap it's going to be who gets it on the last lap."

"We took maybe a bit of a gamble at the end and put a second set of new tires on. With only four minutes to go with the conditions the way they are, it was touch and go whether they were going to come in, and they came in just for the last lap. We got it just right. Timing was perfect. We had a great car when they were in, and all in all it's just a great day."

Simpson's 109.840 mph mark was better than RLR Andersen's Andrew Prendeville (109.130 mph) who will line up on the inside of the second row alongside Richard Antinucci (108.911 mph) of Cheever Racing.

“It's a great start for us," said Simpson. "It was a tight session because it wasn't fantastic this morning. It was a bit like yesterday, where every lap was getting quicker, kind of like when you're on a wet circuit and it's drying up."

Bobby Wilson (108.724 mph) and Wade Cunningham (108.230 mph) scored well enough to clinch the third row; followed by Ryan Justice, Robbbie Pecorari, Hideki Mutoh and Jaime Camara to round out the first ten competitors for the Sunday race.

Speedworks' Daniel Herrington was the hard-luck guy on Saturday, posting an excellent speed of 109.113 mph only to see his hard work go for naught as he brought out the yellow flag twice during the session. He was placed at the back of the twenty-three car grid by series officials.

For Lloyd the pole was his fourth of the season, and gives him advantage on the twisty 2.25 mile course that follows undulating hills across a mid-state meadow in rural Ohio.

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Mid-Ohio 100 Qualifying Results

Mid-Ohio Friday Practice Finds Antinucci Tops

Cheever Racing Entry Climbs to Top of Time Sheets

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

Cheever Racing's Richard Antinucci led a charge up the timesheets that saw four cars traverse the 2.25 mile road course at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course at greater than 109 miles per hour during Indy Pro Series practice on Friday (July 20th).

Cheever Racing’s Richard Antinucci. Photo: JimHainesIRL

Antinucci's best lap of 109.466 mph came on the ninth of twelve attempts, in an afternoon session that was shortened considerably by a yellow flag very early in the period.

Second-quick was AFS Racing's Wade Cunningham with a lap at 109.395 mph, followed by Speedworks' Daniel Herrington (109.118 mph) and Andrew Prendeville (109.081 mph). Bobby Wilson's lap at 108.969 mph rounded out the top five.

Stephen Simpson (108.962 mph) in the Kenn Hardley Racing machine was sixth-fastest, just ahead of Mike Potehken (108.959 mph) and Sam Schmidt Motorsport's Alex Llloyd (108.815 mph). Jaime Camara of Andretti Green placed ninth (108.143 mph) while Hideki Mutoh of Panther Racing scored the tenth-fastest time of the day (108.064 mph)

Robbie Pecorari's 107.845 mile per hour lap was good enough for eleventh place among the twenty cars that saw track-time this afternoon.

Early Yellow Shortens Afternoon Stanza of Indy Pro Series Practice

Jon Brownson brought out yellow shortly after the afternoon practice period commenced when he lost the left front wheel of his Dallara and went into the grass behind a safety barrier. Removal took approximately twelve minutes, eating substantially into the planned thirty-minute session.

Times in the morning practice session were considerably slower than those of the afternoon with Wade Cunningham's 106.590 leading the pack through the morning period. Herrington backed up Cunningham's time with a lap in the 106 range of his own, followed by Stephen Simpson.

Qualifying is on tap for bright and early Saturday morning (8:25 AM) as the Indy Pro Series continues its usual road-course routine of averaging the best times of two sessions over the course of the morning to settle the pole position.

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Indy Pro Series Mid-Ohio 100 Practice Session Two Results

Sean Guthrie to Drive Playa Del Racing Entry

Guthrie Racing and Playa Del Racing Collaborate at Mid-Ohio Venue

by Ryan Smith
ryan@playadelracing.com

Sean Guthrie, son of Jim Guthrie, will drive the Playa Del Racing No.12 this weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. This will be the first time Guthrie has driven for PDR, but he welcomes his new teammates.

Sean Guthrie. Photo: JimHainesIRL

"Playa Del Racing is one of those teams that always seem to run really well for a small team with fewer resources," said Guthrie. "We have the same thing going on at Guthrie Racing, so this is going to be a great opportunity to learn, and develop both programs."

The Playa Del Racing/Ethos Fuel Reformulator car No.12 was destroyed at the Nashville Superspeedway when the No.3 car driven by Brad Jaeger tangled with Al Unser III hurling both cars into the wall in a fiery crash. When PDR could not get another racecar prepared for this weekend's event, it called upon an old friend, Jim Guthrie to see if Guthrie Racing and PDR could benefit from combining knowledge and equipment. A deal was struck, and the two teams are now working together to strengthen both programs.

Jim Guthrie, owner of Guthrie Racing, actually has a unique link to Playa Del Racing. Jim drove for PDR co-owner Gary Sallee in the 1998 Indianapolis 500 when Sallee co-owned ISM Racing. Guthrie was quick to step up to work with Sallee, and Playa Del Racing.

"This should be a great opportunity for everyone concerned," said Guthrie. "This will give us an opportunity to share data, and work with another small team to really level the playing field out there. I worked with Gary when I was driving, and I'm glad we could find a way to work together again."

PDR is currently 9th in entrant points and this partnership gives the team a chance to keep climbing deeper into the top ten with Guthrie driving the No.12 car this weekend.

"Our car was destroyed at Nashville so it was impossible to have a car of our own ready for this weekend," says PDR co-owner, Gary Sallee. "I worked with Jim (Guthrie) during the '98 Indy 500, and it's great to have a chance to work with him again. You never know, this could lead to collaboration that could last for a while."

Indy Pro Series Settles In for Buckeye State Debut

Inaugural Mid-Ohio Date Set for Sunday July 22nd

by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com

The Indy Pro Series invades the Buckeye State with this weekend's Mid-Ohio 100 event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Manchester, Ohio. There's two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars up for grabs as the series moves to round twelve of sixteen at the leafy, park-like course in the northeasternly-most quadrant of Ohio.

As is customary on the road courses, qualifying is divided into two segments with the best average time over the two best runs in each qualifying session determining the pole-sitter.

There are thirteen turns and two and a quarter miles separating the Indy Pro Series competitors from that pole position when practice commences Friday morning at 8:45 AM EDT at the track.

Wade Cunningham looks to build on his recent success of pole challenges. He's taken the top spot on the grid two of the last four times out, and second spot on the grid in another. The Mid-Ohio road course provides him ample opportunity to do it again. Cunningham also looks to extend his string of top-10 starts to a twenty-fifth consecutive green flag, an Indy Pro Series record.

Championship points leader Alex Lloyd figures to continue his quest as well after being knocked to the back of the pack when repairs were needed to has car in Nashville. The all-time winningest Indy Pro Series driver, Lloyd can be looked at to put his car up front and press for another win (his eighth on the season, another record if he can pull it off) at Mid-Ohio.

Though this is the irst year the Indy Pro Series has officially conducted business at Mid-Ohio, several drivers in the IPS lineup have familiarity with the race course.

Andrew Prendeville of RLR Andersen Racing won a Formula Continental event at the facility in 2002. Though there's likely not much carry-over to the bigger, faster Indy Pro Series machine, Prendeville does have a leg up on preparations for the race's demands.

With only four rounds of Indy Pro Series racing remaining after this one, someone is going to have to step up very soon and offer a challenge to Lloyd for the Firestone Firehawk Cup--if they're going to do it.

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TV Coverage of the Indy Pro Series Mid-Ohio 100:

• Indy Pro Series: Race: ESPN2 (tape-delay), 5:30 PM EDT, July 26th



• Talent: Bob Jenkins, Robbie Buhl (announcers); Mike King (pit reporter)
• Live streaming video coverage of Indy Pro Series Pole Qualifying (8:25 AM EDT and 11:10 AM EDT July 21st) and the Indy Pro Series Mid-Ohio 100 (10:45 AM EDT July 22nd) is available at www.indycar.com and www.espn360.com

Track Schedule at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (all times local; subject to change):

Friday, July 20th

• 7 AM Indy Pro Series garages opens
• 8:45 AM-9:15 AM Indy Pro Series practice number one
• 2:20 PM-2:50 PM Indy Pro Series practice number two

Saturday, July 21st

• 7:00 AM Indy Pro Series garages open
• 8:25 AM-8:50 AM Indy Pro Series Qualifying session number one (all cars)
• 11:10 AM-11:35 AM Indy Pro Series Qualifying session number two (all cars)

Sunday, July 22nd

• 6:30 AM Indy Pro Series garages open
• 8:10 AM-8:25 AM Indy Pro Series practice

• 10:20 AM Indy Pro Series pre-race
• 10:45 AM Indy Pro Series Mid-Ohio 100 (40 laps/90.32 miles), ESPN 2 (5:30 PM, July 26th)

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The sixth season of Indy Pro Series competition continues with the Mid-Ohio 100 on July 22nd at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race will be telecast by ESPN2 at 5:30 PM (EDT) on July 26th.

C R Crews Back in the Saddle for Mid-Ohio Run

Michael Crawford Motorsports Driver Returns

by Rik Crews
crcracing@tx.rr.com

CR Crews is back with Michael Crawford Motorsports for round 12 of the Indy Pro Series. Crews with sponsorship from Magnus Energy Marketing will drive the Number 6 Michael Crawford Motorsports Dallara. Crews, after competing in four Indy Pro Series races in 2007 is confident that both Michael Crawford Motorsports and he are ready for the famed Mid Ohio Round. Just Nineteen years old, CR Crews has a wealth of experience in many different open wheel series. If there was ever a driver that seems to continually make a bonfire out of a book of matches it is Crews.

Crews with nine Indy Pro Series starts and four top ten finishes gave Crawford Motorsports a 6th place finish in the Liberty 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway USGP Race in 2006. 2007 saw Crews after three rounds 6th in series points. Lack of sponsorship had Crews missing the remaining rounds of competition with the exception of a last minute fill-in for Richard Heistand who was injured in Friday practice at Watkins Glen.

Complete dedication has been used to describe Crews 2007 season routine. Moving to Indianapolis and beginning a 6-day a week routine with Jim Leo of Pit Fit has given Crews newfound confidence in his physical and mental capabilities. Crews said “ Now is the time, I am ready for any opportunity that comes my way! I cannot wait for this weekend. I Love Mid Ohio and I am so thankful for an honest and hard working guy like Michael Crawford to give me a chance to achieve my lifelong goals”