February 28, 2005
TOYOTA INDY 300 FAST FACTS
March 6, 2:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN
Homestead-Miami Speedway
200 laps on the 1.5-mile oval for 300 miles
TOYOTA EYES THIRD STRAIGHT HOMESTEAD WIN – After victories by Scott Dixon in 2003 and Sam Hornish Jr. in 2004, Toyota will set its sights on a third straight victory at the Toyota Indy 300. Not only has Toyota won each of the last two races at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, but the manufacturer also swept all three podium spots in 2003 and took home a one-two finish in 2004.
HORNISH AIMS TO MAKE IT FOUR OF FIVE AT HOMESTEAD – A lot of drivers have success at a particular race track, but few drivers can match the success that Sam Hornish Jr. has had at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he’s won three of the four IndyCar Series races run on the 1.5-mile oval. He won the 2001 and 2002 events in dominating fashion and then garnered the victory last season with a dramatic last-lap pass on teammate Helio Castroneves. Overall, in his four appearances at Homestead, the Ohio native has qualified an average of third with a low of seventh, and has led 314 laps.
CASTRONEVES LOOKS FOR FIFTH CONSECUTIVE POLE – After tying an IndyCar Series record with four consecutive pole positions to close out the 2004 campaign, Helio Castroneves will attempt to make it five in a row at the season-opening Toyota Indy 300.
Making Castroneves mark even more impressive is that he won his four consecutive pole positions on a variety of different types of tracks. He took the point position on the 1-mile oval at Nazareth, the 1.5-mile tracks at Chicagoland and Texas, and the 2.0-mile California Speedway. He also won the pole on the three-quarter D-shaped oval at Richmond earlier in the year for a series-high five poles for the season.
THREE NEW TEAMS TO CAMPAIGN TOYOTA IN 2005 – Red Bull Cheever Racing, Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing and Vision Racing all have joined the Toyota camp new for 2005. Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier will each be behind the wheel for Red Bull Cheever Racing, while Paul Dana is with Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing and Ed Carpenter will campaign Toyota power for Vision Racing. Red Bull Cheever Racing was the top-finishing Chevrolet team a year ago. Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing re-joins the IndyCar ranks after competing in the Pro Series a year ago, while Vision Racing is a new entrant for the 2005 season.
THREE NEWCOMERS SET TO MAKE INDYCAR SERIES DEBUT - Three members of the 10-driver Toyota contingent will be making their IndyCar Series debut at this weekend's Toyota Indy 300. Patrick Carpentier has moved over from Champ Cars and will be drive for Red Bull Cheever Racing. The 1997 Toyota Atlantic champion made four CART starts at Homestead with three top-10 finishes, including a fifth-place showing in 2000. He also started third at the track in 1999. Due to his past experience, Carpentier won't be classified as an IndyCar Series rookie.
On the other hand, both Ryan Briscoe and Paul Dana are expected to battle for Rookie of the Year honors in 2005. Briscoe comes to the Chip Ganassi Racing team after serving as the test driver for the Toyota F1 program. He’s a past Formula 3 and Formula Renault champion in Europe. Dana will be making the move to IndyCars after placing second in the IRL Pro Series last season. He will campaign for Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing, the 1996 Indianapolis 500 winners.
TOYOTA INDY 300 TO MAKE HISTORY WITH CONTINUOUS RACING COVERAGE ON ESPN – The Toyota Indy 300 will make history as the IndyCar Series’ first race with ESPN’s new “Side-By-Side” coverage featuring a split screen of the race and the broadcast’s commercials. The coverage will allow ESPN to stay with race action during all of the national commercials with the screen split into two pictures with the race action on the left and the advertiser’s commercials with audio in a larger box on the right. The race’s five local commercial breaks, however, will be full screen with no race coverage.
Toyota IndyCar Series Driver Line-Up and Position Entering Toyota Indy 300
Car # Driver Car Best Homestead Finish
#3 Helio Castroneves Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 2nd - 2004
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 1st – 2001, 2002, 2004
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 1st - 2003
#10 Darren Manning Target Toyota (Panoz) 6th - 2004
#14 A.J. Foyt IV A.J. Foyt Toyota (Dallara) 15th - 2004
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 12th - 2004
#33 Ryan Briscoe Chip Ganassi Racing Toyota (Panoz) First IndyCar Start
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara 8th - 2002
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) First IndyCar Start
#91 Paul Dana Ethanol Toyota (Dallara) First IndyCar Start
LEXUS SET FOR SPRINT TO THE FINISH
After a grueling test of endurance that saw all six entries complete more than 2,200 miles at the Rolex 24, the emphasis will be on speed when three Lexus-powered Daytona Prototypes hit the track at the Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Miami Grand Prix, March 5.
While the Daytona race-pace was 80-90 percent of top speed, Miami brings a much different approach, and is expected to be a flat-out sprint from start to finish.
“Truthfully, in the way you approach the race, look at the race and set up for at the race, there really are no similarities with Daytona,” said Scott Pruett, the 2004 Daytona Prototype champion. “As a team, we had some very fast race cars at Homestead last year, but we had dismal finishes at both races when we should have been on the podium. I’m really looking forward to going to Miami and turning our luck around.”
When it comes to flat-out speed, nobody was better in 2004 than the defending champion #01 CompUSA Lexus-Riley from Ganassi Racing. With Pruett’s Daytona pole position, the team has now won 12 of the 13 pole positions since entering Grand-Am competition last year. After leading much of the early going, the #01 dropped to 48th-place at Daytona after a number of early problems, but fought back to finish an impressive seventh overall. Series champion Pruett again will team with Luis Diaz at Miami.
Joining Pruett and Diaz in the Ganassi Racing stable will be Stefan Johansson and Cort Wagner in the #02 New Century Mortgage Lexus-Riley. The duo combined with Jamie McMurray to finish as the highest-placing Lexus-powered entry at Daytona with a fourth-place showing.
Fabrizio Gollin and Mateo Bobbi made a strong run in their debut Rolex Sports Car Series race at Daytona in the #77 Crown Royal Lexus-Doran. The FIA GT champions were running second heading into the final hour before slipping to fifth in the final moments.
Last year’s Miami Grand Prix was memorable in terms of excitement, but not results for the Lexus camp as the Ganassi and Doran teams battled for the lead in the final laps before making repeated contact that sent both cars off-track.
Qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix, a part of the Toyota Indy 300 weekend, is scheduled for Friday, March 5, at 4:30 p.m. (EST). The green flag for Saturday’s race is set for 3:00 p.m. (EST) with SPEED providing live coverage.
February 06, 2005
LEXUS-POWERED PROTOTYPES TAKE FOUR OF TOP SEVEN IN ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA
Stefan Johansson, Cort Wagner and Jamie McMurray led the way with a fourth-place finish in their #02 New Century Mortgage Lexus-Riley as four Lexus-powered Daytona Prototypes placed in the top seven in this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. Overall, each of the six teams using Lexus power ran more 2,200 miles during the race.
The #02 was one of three Ganassi Racing prototypes to finish in the top seven as teammates Scott Dixon, Darren Manning and Casey Mears finished sixth in the #03 Target Lexus-Riley and Scott Pruett, Luis Diaz and Ryan Briscoe placed seventh in the pole-winning #01 CompUSA car. In addition to the Ganassi entries, Fabrizio Gollin, Matteo Bobbbi and Didier Theys finished fifth in their Crown Royal Lexus-Doran for Doran Racing.
The race began with Pruett moving into the lead from the pole and maintaining the lead for most of the first hour before a flurry of troubles eventually hit the defending series champions. An early oil leak, followed by a violent spin through the grass after a punctured tire were just two of the problems that eventually dropped the car back to 48th-place overall after four hours. Despite the setbacks, the Ganassi team never wavered in a stirring drive that gained them 41 positions in the final 20 hours of the event.
Each of the other two Ganassi Racing ptototypes took turns leading the race with the #03 Target Lexus in command at the 16-hour mark. Unfortunately, an earlier off-road excursion to miss a spinning car eventually resulted in overheating and a subsequent fuel pressure problem that would drop them from contention for the victory. The car had run consistently in the top three from the six-hour mark through the 16th hour. In fact, the #03 and #02 Ganassi entries actually ran one-two for an extended period of time in the wee morning hours.
After the Target car was forced into the pits for an extended stop, it was the Crown Royal Doran that carried the Lexus banner as Gollin, Bobbi and Theys ran in the top three for almost the entire final seven hours. The trio entered the final hour in second-place before eventually slipping to fifth at the checkered flag.
While not in serious contention for the win, both the Robinson Racing #74 74 Ranch Resort Lexus-Riley and the Cegwa Sport #3 OzEXE Lexus-Fabcar registered impressive performances. The Robinson Racing entry of Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Paul Dallenbach, George Robinson and Johnny Unser placed 12th in the Daytona Prototype class logging 641 laps, while the Cegwa Sport Lexus driven by Darius Grala, Mark Patterson, Bohdan Kroczek, Shane Lewis and Quentin Wahl placed 14th in class with 630 laps (2,224.8 miles).
The Rolex Sports Car Series will resume action at the Toyota Indy 300 weekend at the Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 5.
February 03, 2005
PRUETT, LEXUS WIN ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA POLE
Defending Daytona Prototype champion Scott Pruett put his CompUSA Lexus on the pole for this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona in Grand-Am qualifying at Daytona International Speedway today. Pruett will be looking for his sixth Rolex 24 victory.
The pole is the second straight for the northern California native in the twice-around-the-clock extravaganza. It also marks the eighth consecutive pole for the CompUSA Lexus team and the 12th in 13 Rolex Sports Car Series events for Lexus.
Pruett will be joined in the #01 CompUSA by full-time Grand-Am teammate Luis Diaz, as well as IRL rookie Ryan Briscoe, who came to Ganassi Racing after serving as the Toyota F1 test driver for the past three seasons.
Pruett led a Ganassi Racing assault that saw three of the team’s Lexus-powered entries qualify in the top-five overall. Stefan Johansson placed fourth in his debut showing in the #02 New Century Mortgage Lexus-Riley, while 2003 IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon placed fifth in the Target Lexus-Riley. Johansson will team with Cort Wagner and Nextel Cup star Jamie McMurray. Dixon will be joined by IRL teammate Darren Manning and NASCAR’s Casey Mears.
Newcomer Fabrizio Gollin registered a 10th in the Crown Royal Lexus-Doran for Doran Racing. He’ll team with fellow FIA GT champion Matteo Bobbi and two-time Rolex 24 winner Didier Theys when the green flag falls on Saturday.
Robinson Racing placed 22nd and Cegwa Sport was 24th to round out the Lexus-powered entries.
SPEED will provide 14.5 hours of television coverage on this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona beginning at noon on Saturday February 5, and will carry all of the action through the first seven hours of the race. After a one-hour break, the telecast resumes at 8:00 p.m., with coverage continuing until 11:00 p.m. ET. The third and final segment of the telecast hits the airwaves at 8:00 a.m., running through the race's conclusion and including the post-race victory celebrations.
February 01, 2005
TOYOTA AND ETHANOL HEMELGARN RACING ANNOUNCE IRL ENGINE SUPPLY AGREEMENT
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. and Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing announced today that they have reached an agreement for Toyota to supply Indy Racing League (IRL) engines to the team beginning in 2005.
The addition of Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing brings the total number of Toyota-powered entries in this year’s IndyCar Series field to nine. Hemelgarn Racing is one of the original IndyCar Series teams with a motorsports history dating back to 1984. The team won the 1996 Indianapolis 500 with driver Buddy Lazier.
“We’re pleased to be working with one of the IRL’s original teams in Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing and a bright young American talent in Paul Dana,” said Jim Aust, Toyota vice president of motorsports. “This addition gives Toyota a fifth Indianapolis 500-winning team in our line-up for 2005.”
After a successful second place finish in the IRL Pro Series in 2004, team owner Ron Hemelgarn is looking forward to returning to the IndyCar ranks with a one-car effort for Dana. Ethanol will be the primary sponsor on the #91 Toyota Dallara.
“We’re very excited to be back in the IRL with Toyota power,” said Hemelgarn. “Toyota is a proven winner and we’re excited to be part of that winning tradition.”
Toyota teams have won 13 of the 32 IndyCar Series races the manufacturer has competed in, and earned poles in exactly one half (16) of the events. In addition, in 2003 Toyota powered both Indianapolis 500 champion Gil de Ferran and series champion Scott Dixon, and earned the IndyCar Series engine manufacturer’s championship.
LEXUS SETS SIGHTS ON FIRST ROLEX 24 VICTORY
Featuring a powerful driver line-up that includes defending series champion Scott Pruett, Lexus has set its sights on its first Rolex 24 at Daytona victory in this weekend’s Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series opener at the Daytona International Speedway.
Pruett returns in last year’s championship-winning CompUSA Lexus-Riley, one of six Lexus-powered entries in the race including three from the stables of Ganassi Racing.
Pruett will be joined in the #01 CompUSA car by full-time Grand Am teammate Luis Diaz, as well as IRL rookie Ryan Briscoe, who comes to Ganassi Racing after serving as the Toyota F1 test driver for the past three seasons. Ganassi Racing also will field a car for Target drivers Scott Dixon, the 2003 IndyCar Series champion, his IRL teammate Darren Manning and Nextel Cup driver Casey Mears. Veteran road racers Stefan Johansson and Cort Wagner will team with Nextel Cup star Jamie McMurray in the #02 New Century Mortgage Lexus-Riley.
Also returning with Lexus power for the 2005 season is Doran Racing and the #27 Lexus-Doran. Italian FIA GT champions Matteo Bobbi and Fabrizio Gollin are in line to run the full season with the team. They’ll be joined for the Rolex 24 by sports car star Didier Theys – a two-time Rolex 24 winner who co-drove to victory for the team at Watkins Glen last year.
New to Lexus power in 2005 will be Robinson Racing. Formers sports car and NASCAR star turned television analyst Wally Dallenbach Jr. will anchor the #74 – 74 Ranch Resort Lexus-Riley. He’ll be joined by younger brother Paul Dallenbach, team owner George Robinson and former IndyCar driver Johnny Unser for the twice-around-the-clock extravaganza.
Rounding out the Lexus line-up is the #3 OzExe Lexus-Fabcar from Cegwa Sport. Team owner Darius Grala will be joined by Mark Patterson, Bohdan Kroczek, Quentin Wahl in the cockpit.
Lexus-powered cars won 5 races and 11 of 12 pole positions in 2004. In addition, the manufacturer powered Scott Pruett and Max Papis to the Driver’s Championship, as well as Ganassi Racing to the team title.
SPEED will provide 14.5 hours of television coverage on this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona beginning at noon on February 5, and will carry all of the action through the first seven hours of the race. After a one-hour break, the telecast resumes at 8:00 p.m., with coverage continuing until 11:00 p.m. ET. The third and final segment of the telecast will hit the airwaves at 8:00 a.m., and run through the race's conclusion, including the post-race victory celebrations.