Tasty Tennessee Track Serves Up Series Mid-Summer Treats
by Allan Brewer
allan@indyproracer.com
Round eleven finds the Indy Pro Series headed to the land of country music and fried chicken for breakfast when the racing resumes Saturday (July 14th) at Nashville Speedway.
The 77-lap Sunbelt Rentals 100 may be the last chance for anyone to mount a challenge to Alex Lloyd’s intentions on the 2007 season championship, as after this race is in the books there will be only a maximum of 264 points possible with Lloyd holding onto a margin that stands now at 138 points over closest-competitior Hideki Mutoh of Panther Racing.
The 4:30 PM start offers some tasty possibilities if the weather is as it tends to be in mid-summer central Tennessee. The weather forecasters say the chances are good for hot and humid or wet conditions as the field contends for more than $275,000 in prize money on the 1.33 mile, 14 degree banked-oval.
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Andretti Green’s Jaime Camara. Photo: ChrisJonesIRL |
2005 winner Jaime Camara would appear the most likely challenger to Lloyd, especially as his Andretti Green Racing mentor Tony Kanaan (winner of the 2004 IndyCar race at this track) will likely be around to tip his protégé on the delicate details of the concrete surfaced raceway (the only one of its kind on the IRL calendar).
However, the fly in the soup for Camara is he was driving at the time for Sam Schmidt Motorsports; and we don’t need to remind you who sits behind the wheel of that car now. We should indeed remind you that SSM took the IPS race checkered flag first on this track in 2004 with Thiago Medeiros driving the car, and Jay Howard driving it last year.
After an up and down start to the season AFS Racing’s Wade Cunningham seems to have found his way back onto the front burner—looking strong in the win at Corning Twin 100 race one and pulling out two second-place finishes from his three most-recent starts. He’s also claimed pole the last two times out in qualifying trim.
And then there’s Alex Lloyd. He’s only managed in less than twenty Indy Pro Series starts to:
- set a new series record by winning five consecutive races to start the season
- become the only man to win on both the oval and road courses at Indy
- earn seven wins in ten races, already tying the ‘most wins in a season’ mark with six races to go
- become the winningest IPS jockey ever at nine career wins
- reset and stretch the mark for consecutive top-fives to 13
All of which makes a very nice banquet served up by the British lad with the big smile on a raceway where his Sam Schmidt Motorsports galley crew seems right at home dishing out haute cuisine.
TV Coverage of the Indy Pro Sunbelt Rentals 100 at Nashville Speedway:
- Indy Pro Series: Race: ESPN2 (tape-delay), 5 PM EDT, July 18th
- Talent: Bob Jenkins, Robbie Buhl (announcers); Mike King (pit reporter)
- Note: Live streaming video coverage of the Sunbelt Rentals 100 (4:30 PM, (EDT) July 14th) is available at www.indycar.com and www.espn360.com.
Track Schedule at Nashville Speedway (all times local; subject to change):
Friday, July 13th
- 8 AM IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series garages opens
- 9:15 - 9:45 AM Indy Pro Series practice
- 12:15 – 1 PM Indy Pro Series practice
- 4:00 PM Sunbelt Rentals 100 SWE Race Car Parts Pole Qualifying
- 6:45 – 7:15 PM Final Indy Pro Series Practice
Saturday, July 14th
- 11:00 AM Indy Pro Series Garages Open
- 2:45 PM Indy Pro Series Sunbelt Rentals 100 Pre-Race
- 3:30 PM Sunbelt Rentals 100 (77 laps/100 miles) (ESPN2, 5 PM EDT, July 18th; taped)
The sixth season of Indy Pro Series competition continues with the Sunbelt Rentals 100 on July 14th at Nashville Superspeedway. The race will be televised by ESPN2 at 5 PM EDT on July 18th.
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