June 29, 2005
FAST FACTS - ARGENT MORTGAGE INDY 300
July 3, 1:00 p.m. EDT on ESPN
Kansas Speedway
200 laps/300 miles on 1.5-mile oval
TOYOTA AT KANSAS – The Kansas Speedway is one of just four IndyCar tracks where Toyota hasn’t previously won in open-wheel competition. The manufacturer’s best results at the track came in 2003 when Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Scott Dixon and Tomas Scheckter qualify first and second, with Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran finishing second and third in a race decided on fuel consumption.
NO BULL – The Red Bull Cheever Racing team will enter Kansas City coming off its finest showing of the season. After registering a season-best fourth in qualifying at Richmond, Patrick Carpentier (Red Bull Toyota) went on to earn his first podium finish of the 2005 campaign with a fast-closing third-place finish. The result was Carpentier’s fourth top-10 effort of the season and catapulted him back into the top-10 overall in points..
Alex Barron made it two Red Bull Toyotas in the top-six at Richmond strong sixth-place showing. After a steady start from the ninth position, Barron climbed into the top-six only to fall back to 16th after a miscommunication during a scheduled pit stop. He steadily climbed back into the top 10 and moved into sixth late in the race for his third top-10 finish of the season.
UP FRONT - Through seven races, two Toyota-powered drivers rank as the highest-averaging qualifiers in the series. Sam Hornish Jr. is the top average qualifier in IndyCar Series competition this year with an average starting position of 4.0. His Marlboro Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves is second with an average starting spot of 4.7. The Penske duo are two of three drivers in the series to qualify in the top-10 in each of the season’s first seven races.
After winning the pole at Richmond, Hornish Jr. has now qualified in the top four in each of the last four races. During that streak, he has two poles (Richmond and Motegi), a second (Indianapolis) and a fourth (Texas). Three of the four tracks have been at least 1.5 miles in length, the distance around the Kansas Speedway oval.
LEADING THE WAY – After leading 42 laps at Richmond last weekend, Sam Hornish Jr. is the only driver in the series to lead at least one lap at each of the six oval events run on the 2005 schedule. Hornish has led 163 laps this season and an IRL record 2,314 over his career.
Hornish isn’t the only Toyota-powered driver to regularly run upfront this season. Richmond winner Helio Castroneves led 112 laps on his way to victory last weekend giving him 177 for the season. The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner needs to lead just three more laps to pass Tony Stewart for second-place behind Hornish on the IndyCar Series all-time record list.
NUMBERS ON THE RISE – With a win and a pole position at Richmond, Toyota-powered open-wheel cars have now won a total of 35 races and 40 pole positions over the past six years. Included in those totals are 15 wins and 18 pole positions in 39 IRL IndyCar Series events.
BUSY WEEKEND – This weekend will mark one of the busiest of the year for TRD, U.S.A (Toyota Racing Development). In addition to this weekend’s IndyCar Series event, the Kansas Speedway also will play host to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where nine Toyota Tundras are expected to compete. In addition, the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series will be running on Thursday evening at the Daytona International Speedway featuring Lexus Daytona Prototypes. TRD-prepared engines campaign in each of the three series.
Toyota IndyCar Series Driver Line-Up and Position Entering Kansas
Car # Driver Car Current Point Standing (wins)
#3 Helio Castroneves Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 3rd (Richmond)
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 4th (Phoenix)
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 9th
#10 Darren Manning Target Toyota (Panoz) 13th
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara 14th
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 16th
#33 Ryan Briscoe Pioneer/Target Toyota (Panoz) 17th
#14 A.J. Foyt IV A.J. Foyt Toyota (Dallara) 18th
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 19th
#91 Jimmy Kite Ethanol Toyota (Dallara) 23rd
June 28, 2005
LEXUS EYES PRIME TIME WIN AT DAYTONA
With two wins, a second and a pair of thirds in the last four races, the surging Lexus Daytona Prototype program will attempt to continue its torrid pace as the Rolex Sports Car Series goes prime time at the Brumos 250 at the Daytona International Speedway, Thursday night.
With four consecutive top-three podium finishes, Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz have climbed into a tie for the series point lead in last year’s championship-winning #01 CompUSA Lexus. The pair won at Fontana and Laguna Seca before registering third-place finishes at Mont Tremblant and Watkins Glen.
Pruett and Diaz face a formidable foe from within their own Ganassi Racing ranks as Stefan Johansson and Cort Wagner also have been on the rise recently. The #02 New Century Mortgage Lexus-Riley placed a season-best second at Mont-Tremblant and followed with a fifth-place showing at Watkins Glen. Johansson and Wagner currently sit fifth in points, just three points out of third.
After a season-opening fifth at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the #77 Crown Royal Special Reserve Lexus-Doran of Fabrizio Gollin and Matteo Bobbi has consistently shown speed through the first half of the 2005 campaign. Unfortunately, they have had little to show for their efforts in terms of results and enter Daytona in a tie for 11th-place overall. A return to Daytona may help the Grand-Am rookies get back on track for the second half of the season.
Chris Bingham will once again team with Hugo Guenette as CB Motorsports makes its fifth start of their debut season in the DLGL Lexus-Riley.
Lexus-powered Daytona Prototypes have won seven races and registered 14 pole positions in 18 Rolex Series events to date.
Thursday’s rare one-day event will get underway with practice in the morning before a 1:30 p.m. qualifying session. The green flag for the Brumos 250 is scheduled to wave at 7:15 p.m. EDT with live flag-to-flag coverage provided by SPEED. The race is set for 70 laps and 250 miles with a time limit of two hours, 45 minutes.
June 27, 2005
TOYOTA TO WITHDRAW FROM U.S. OPEN-WHEEL RACING FOLLOWING 2006
After 12 years of open-wheel racing in the United States, Toyota will withdraw from the sport following the 2006 Indy Racing League season, it was announced today.
Toyota will not be participating as an engine supplier to either of the major open-wheel sanctioning bodies in the United States after 2006.
“This was simply a decision to move in a different direction after having our major U.S. motorsports emphasis on open-wheel racing since 1994,” said J. Davis Illingworth, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., senior vice president. “Just as our participation in IMSA sports car racing ran its course after 12 years of participation, so has our U.S. open-wheel racing program after 12 years in the IRL and CART.”
Toyota announced its decision to enter open-wheel racing in January 1994 with its entry into competition in 1996.
The decision to withdraw from open-wheel racing will not affect either the IndyCar Series engine development program for the remainder of 2005 or the 2006 season, or any of the current contracts that Toyota has with individual teams. Toyota is in the process of reviewing how to re-allocate its resources for future motorsports plans.
A Chronological Look At Toyota’s U.S. Open-Wheel Racing History
Aug. 1993 – Toyota begins feasibility study into entering CART competition
Jan. 1994 - Toyota announces it will enter CART competition in 1996
Feb. 1996 – Toyota makes first CART start at Homestead
Oct. 1999 – Scott Pruett wins Toyota’s first CART pole at California Speedway
June 2000 – Juan Montoya wins Toyota’s first CART race at Milwaukee
July 2000 – Juan Montoya wins Toyota’s first 500-mile race at Michigan
April 2001 – Toyota announces it will enter Indy Racing League competition in 2003
2002 – Cristiano da Matta wins CART Driver’s championship with Toyota power
2002 – Toyota wins CART Manufacturer’s championship
March 2003 – Scott Dixon wins Toyota’s debut IndyCar Series race at Homestead
May 2003 – Gil de Ferran wins the Indianapolis 500 in Toyota’s first attempt
2003 – Scott Dixon wins IndyCar Series Driver’s championship with Toyota power
2003 – Toyota wins IRL Manufacturer’s championship
June 25, 2005
CASTRONEVES, TOYOTA WIN AT RICHMOND
- After starting on the outside of the front row Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Toyota) took the lead just past the half-way point of Saturday’s SunTrust Indy Challenge at the Richmond International Raceway and was never headed in giving Toyota it’s second victory of the season.
- Today’s victory by Helio Castroneves is the second of the season for Toyota and the manufacturer’s 15th in 39 IRL events. Overall, the victory marks the 36th for Toyota in U.S. open-wheel racing over the past six seasons.
- Today’s victory is Helio Castroneves’first of the season and the seventh of his IndyCar Series career. The win marks his fourth with Toyota power. The triumph is Castroneves’ first at RIR after placing second here in 2003 and third in Richmond last season.
- After registering a season-best fourth in qualifying, Patrick Carpentier (Red Bull Toyota) went on to earn his first podium finish of the season with a fast-closing third-place finish tonight. The finish is the best for Carpentier since moving to the IndyCar Series from the Champ Car ranks this off-season. The third-place is Carpentier’s fourth top-10 finish of the season.
- Alex Barron made it two Red Bull Toyotas in the top-six for Cheever Racing with a strong sixth-place. After a strong start from the ninth position, Barron had climbed into the top-six only to fall well back in the field after a miscommunication in the pits. He steadily climbed back into the top 10 and moved into sixth late in the race for his third top-10 finish of the season.
- It looked like it might be a one-two Toyota finish before pole-sitter Sam Hornish Jr. made contact with the wall while running in second on Lap 165. Previously, Hornish had continued a streak that has seen him lead every IndyCar Series oval event this season.
- With his victory, Helio Castroneves moved into third-place in the points race, just three points out of second. Sam Hornish Jr. drops to fourth, while Patrick Carpentier climbed back into the top 10 in 10th overall.
Driver, Start/Finish
Helio Castroneves 2/1
Patrick Carpentier 4/3
Alex Barron 9/6
Ed Carpenter 16/12
Jimmy Kite 13/13
A.J. Foyt 17/14
Darren Manning 10/15
Sam Hornish 1/18
Ryan Briscoe 3/21
Scott Dixon 20/22
Next Race: Argent Mortgage Indy 300, Kansas Speedway, July 3, 1 p.m. EDT - ESPN
June 24, 2005
TOYOTA SWEEPS TOP FOUR IN RICHMOND INDYCAR QUALIFYING
Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Toyota) led a Toyota sweep of the top four spots in qualifying for Saturday’s SunTrust Indy Challenge to give Toyota its third consecutive pole position here at the Richmond International Raceway. Hornish’s Penske Racing teammate Helio Castroneves was second, while Target Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Ryan Briscoe was third and Red Bull Cheever’s Patrick Carpentier was fourth.
- Sam Hornish Jr.’s pole position is the second for Toyota this season and the manufacturer’s 18th in 39 IndyCar Series events. The pole is the third consecutive for a Toyota-powered car at Richmond with Scott Dixon winning the pole in 2003 and Helio Castroneves taking the top spot last season.
- The pole is the fifth for Sam Hornish Jr. during his IndyCar Series career (he also has started first on two other occasions due to rain wiping out qualifying) and his second of the season after logging the fastest qualifying speed at Motegi earlier this year. The two-time IndyCar Series champion will be looking for his second consecutive short oval win of the season after coming out victorious at Phoenix in March.
- With his pole tonight, Sam Hornish Jr. has now qualified on the front row in three of his last four starts with poles at Motegi and Richmond and a second at Indianapolis.
- Through seven races, Sam Hornish Jr. ranks as the top average qualifier in IndyCar Series competition this year with an average starting position of 4.0. His Marlboro Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves is second with an average starting spot of 4.7. The Penske duo are two of only three drivers in the series to qualify in the top-10 in each of the season’s first seven races.
- Ryan Briscoe (Target Pioneer Toyota) earned an IndyCar career best third-place starting position tonight. His previous high was a 10th at St. Petersburg. He was joined by Ganassi teammate Darren Manning (10th) in the top-10.
After an early adjustment period to the oval-dominated IndyCar Series, Briscoe has come on strong in recent races with a 10th at his first Indianapolis 500, followed up by a showing as the top rookie at Texas last race. He also was the fastest in the recent IRL test at Watkins Glen.
- With his fourth-place qualifying effort, Patrick Carpentier (Red Bull Toyota) earned his highest IndyCar Series qualifying effort of the season. Red Bull teammate Alex Barron also earned his best qualifying effort of the season with a ninth to put two Red Bull cars into the top 10.
Car # Driver Car Qualifying
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 1st
#3 Helio Castroneves Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 2nd
#33 Ryan Briscoe Target Pioneer Toyota (Panoz) 3rd
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 4th
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara 9th
#10 Darren Manning Target Toyota (Panoz) 10th
#91 Jimmy Kite Ethanol Toyota (Dallara) 13th
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 16th
#14 A.J. Foyt IV A.J. Foyt Toyota (Dallara) 17th
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 20th
June 20, 2005
FAST FACTS - Sun Trust Indy Challenge
June 25, 7:30 p.m. EDT, ESPN2
Richmond International Raceway
250 laps/187.5 miles on .75 mile D-shaped oval
TOYOTA AT RICHMOND – This weekend’s SunTrust Indy Challenge will mark Toyota’s third trip to the Richmond International Raceway where the manufacturer has excelled in its first two events. Included among the highlights of Toyota’s first two visits to the .75-mile D-shaped oval:
- A Toyota-powered car has won the pole in each of the last two RIR races with Scott Dixon (Target Toyota) winning the pole in 2003 and Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Toyota) in 2004.
- Toyota-powered cars have led 319 of the 456 laps run at the track over the past two seasons – all of those laps coming consecutively as Toyota-powered cars led all 206 laps in 2003 and the first 113 laps in 2004.
- In 2003, Dixon became the only driver in IRL history to win a race wire-to-wire as he took the lead from the pole position and went on to lead all 206 laps of a rain-shortened event. The 206 laps he led at Richmond were part of an IRL record 343 consecutive laps Dixon led over a three-race span.
- To date, the manufacturer has seen four of its cars earn podium finishes at Richmond after a one-two-three sweep in 2003 with Dixon, Castroneves and Gil de Ferran and Castroneves with a third-place finish in 2004.
A YEAR AGO AT RICHMOND – Helio Castroneves won his first of five 2004 pole positions at Richmond and went on to lead the first 37 laps before giving way to Penske Racing teammate Sam Hornish Jr., who led through Lap 113.
It appeared that Castroneves would give Toyota its second consecutive Richmond victory before a myriad of late race yellow-flag caution situations allowed eventual race-winner Dan Wheldon to run the final 121 laps on one tank of fuel. Wheldon took the lead in this race when the front-runners pitted for fuel on Lap 192. In total, 27 of the final 62 laps were run under caution. Castroneves appeared to pass for second on the final re-start on the final lap, but the track’s yellow caution lights were ruled to have stayed on after the green flag to re-start the race was waved.
LET’S BE UP FRONT - Toyota-powered drivers rank first and second in average qualifying after the season’s first six races. Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Toyota) is the series top qualifier to date, while Helio Castroneves is second. Coming off a fourth-place qualifying effort at Texas, Hornish Jr. has qualified in the top four in each of the last three races and has been eighth or above all season. Hornish and Castroneves have each qualified in the top 10 in every race this season, two of only three drivers in the series to have accomplished that feat.
LEADING THE WAY – Sam Hornish Jr. is one of just three drivers in the series to lead at least five of the season’s first six races. This season, the Penske driver has led at every race other than St. Petersburg.
ROOKIE BRISCOE CONTINUES UPWARD CLIMB – After an early season adjustment to a predominantly oval-based series, former Toyota F1 test driver Ryan Briscoe is beginning to make his mark in the Target Pioneer Toyota. After earning a top-10 finish at the Indianapolis 500, the Australian native was the top finishing rookie at Texas while making his first-ever appearance at each race track. In fact, Briscoe has never raced at any of the current tracks on the IRL schedule and the season opening Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead marked his first career oval start.
The 2003 European F3 champion has already shown his ability on the road courses as he led the most laps at St. Petersburg and was leading the race in the final 10 laps before another driver made contact with him, costing the 24-year-old any chance at the victory. In addition, Briscoe registered the fastest time in the IRL’s recent open-test on the road course at Watkins Glen International.
Toyota IndyCar Series Driver Line-Up and Position Entering Richmond
Car # Driver Car Current Point Standing (wins)
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 3rd (Phoenix)
#3 Helio Castroneves Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 7th
#10 Darren Manning Target Toyota (Panoz) 11th
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 13th
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara 14th
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 15th
#33 Ryan Briscoe Pioneer/Target Toyota (Panoz) 16th
#14 A.J. Foyt IV A.J. Foyt Toyota (Dallara) 18th
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 19th
#91 Jimmy Kite Ethanol Toyota (Dallara) 25th
June 12, 2005
FOURTH STRAIGHT PROTOTYPE PODIUM FINISH CARRIES PRUETT, DIAZ INTO ROLEX SERIES POINTS LEAD
Heavy rain, changing conditions and a major shunt couldn’t keep Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz (#01 CompUSA Lexus-Riley) from their fourth consecutive Rolex Sports Car Series podium finish with a third in Sunday’s Sahlen’s 6 Hours of the Glen to carry the duo into a tie for the Rolex Sports Car Series points lead.
After leading a race-high 46 laps, things started to take a turn for the worse for Pruett and Diaz when heavy rains began to fall and Diaz slid off course while running second. The situation worsened when two more cars immediately followed Diaz off course with one making heavy contact with the #01 Lexus resulting in extensive damage to the Ganassi entry’s right rear.
After pitting to rip away heavy body damage and to change tires, Pruett re-entered the race in ninth position overall with a little over an hour remaining. The defending Rolex Series champion then carved through the field, making up six spots in the final hour to give the team a well-deserved third-place finish. The result gives the CompUSA team a pair of wins and two thirds in the last four races.
The pairing of Stefan Johansson and Cort Wagner in the #02 New Century Mortgage Lexus-Riley also proved to be strong throughout the six-hour race. After starting fourth, the duo took the lead late in the event, only to give up the lead when pitting with approximately 45 minutes remaining on the way to a fifth-place showing. The effort marked the team’s second consecutive top-five finish after a season-best second place in the most recent event at Mont-Tremblant.
Things didn’t go as well for the #77 Doran Racing Crown Royal Special Reserve Lexus-Doran of Matteo Bobbi and Fabrizio Gollin as the team’s string of misfortune continued. After working their way into the top 10, hopes for a top finish were lost when Gollin hit a patch of oil left on the track. The Doran car slid off the track and into a gravel trap where they lost four laps before being towed into the pit lane on the way to 14th-place.
The DLGL Lexus-Riley effort of Chris Bingham, Hugo and Jacques Guenette rounded out the Lexus contingent with an 18th-place finish on Sunday.
Drivers Car Start/Finish
Pruett/Diaz CompUSA Lexus Riley 2/3
Johansson/Wagner New Century Mortgage Lexus Riley 4/5
Bobbi/Gollin Crown Royal Special Doran Riley 11/14
Bingham/Guenette DLGL Lexus Riley 19/18
June 11, 2005
HORNISH, TOYOTA PLACE SECOND IN TEXAS THRILLER
- Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Toyota) was edged at the finish by just .053 seconds to place second in front of an estimated 100,000 fans in the Bombardier Lear Jet 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night. Hornish Jr.?s Penske Racing teammate Helio Castroneves placed fifth to give Toyota two cars in the top five tonight.
- With the second-place finish, Hornish Jr. now has three first or second-place showings this season after placing second at Homestead and winning Phoenix.
- Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Toyota) earned his third top-five finish and fourth top-10 finish of the season with a fifth tonight. Castroneves won here at Texas last fall.
- Both Marlboro Team Penske cars took turns at the front of the pack tonight. For Sam Hornish Jr., it marks the fifth race he?s led in six events this season.
- With the second-place finish, Sam Hornish Jr. maintains his third-place standing in the points, while Helio Castroneves is now alone in seventh-place ? just six points out of the fourth position. Hornish Jr. narrowed the gap between himself and second-place Tony Kanaan to only 11 points heading into Richmond.
- Toyota has now finished either first (three times) or second (twice) five times in five trips to here to the Texas Motor Speedway.
- Ryan Briscoe (Target Pioneer Toyota) was the top finishing rookie tonight with a 12th-place finish. Briscoe, a former Toyota F1 test driver, is coming off his best finish of the season after a 10th at Indianapolis.
Driver, Start/Finish
Sam Hornish 4/2
Helio Castroneves 10/5
Scott Dixon 15/11
Ryan Briscoe 12/12
Alex Barron 20/14
Patrick Carpentier 21/16
Darren Manning 9/17
A.J. Foyt IV 22/18
Ed Carpenter 19/20
Jimmy Kite 17/22
Next Race: SunTrust Indy Challenge, June 25, 7:30 p.m., EDT, ESPN2
June 09, 2005
HORNISH LEADS TOYOTA WITH FOURTH IN TEXAS QUALIFYING
Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Toyota) qualified fourth in preparation for Saturday?s Bombardier Lear Jet 500 as the highest qualifying Toyota-powered car in the field for the third consecutive race. Hornish Jr. was joined by Darren Manning (Target Toyota) in ninth and Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Toyota) in 10th as the three Toyotas in the top-10.
- With his fourth tonight, Sam Hornish Jr. has now qualified in the top four in each of the last three races after winning the pole at Motegi and qualifying in the middle of the front row at Indianapolis in the second position.
- Through six races, Sam Hornish Jr. ranks as the top average qualifier in IndyCar Series competition this year with an average starting position of 4.75. His Marlboro Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves is second with an average starting spot of 5.1. The Penske duo are two of only three drivers in the series to qualify in the top-10 in each of the season?s first six races.
- Toyota will be looking for its fourth victory in five attempts at the Texas Speedway on Saturday. Toyota-powered cars previously won in 2003 with Al Unser Jr. and Gil de Ferran and in 2004 with Helio Castroneves.
Toyota-powered drivers qualifying for the Bombardier Lear Jet 500:
Car # Driver Car Qualifying
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 4th
#10 Darren Manning Target Toyota (Panoz) 9th
#3 Helio Castroneves Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 10th
#33 Ryan Briscoe Chip Ganassi Racing Toyota (Panoz) 12th
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 15th
#91 Jimmy Kite Ethanol Toyota (Dallara) 17th
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 19th
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara 20th
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 21st
#14 A.J. Foyt IV A.J. Foyt Toyota (Dallara) 22nd
June 07, 2005
LEXUS GRAND-AM LOOKS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WATKINS GLEN VICTORY
Lexus will look for its third consecutive Watkins Glen victory when the Rolex Sports Car Series returns to the historic road course for this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
A year ago, the Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus-Riley driven by Scott Pruett and Max Papis won the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, while Doran Racing’s Didier Theys and Jan Magnussen combined to triumph in the return engagement at the Glen in August. Both teams will return with Lexus power and will be aiming for another victory in upstate New York.
Defending series champion Scott Pruett returns in the #01 CompUSA Lexus and teams with second-year Rolex Series driver Luis Diaz. With two victories and a third-place finish in the last three races, Pruett and Diaz have moved within five points of the series leader. Over the past two years, no team has won more races than the six compiled by the #01 Ganassi team.
Stefan Johansson and Cort Wagner (New Century Mortgage Lexus-Riley) are coming off a season-best second in the most recent event at Mont-Tremblant. The strong finish helped Johansson and Wagner move up to fifth overall in points. They’ve combined for four top-10 finishes in five races this season.
The #77 Crown Royal Special Reserve Lexus-Doran of Fabrizio Gollin and Matteo Bobbi had their most impressive stint of the season at Mont-Tremblant. The duo led 15 laps and opened up a 21-second lead before spinning off track and sustaining a heavily-damaged right rear just past the midway point of the event. The early retirement dropped them to 12th-place overall in the points race.
Chris Bingham will once again team with the father/son team of Jacques and Hugo Guenette as CB Motorsports make their fourth start in their DLGL Lexus-Riley.
Lexus will attempt to win its 16th pole position in 18 races when the Daytona Prototypes take to the track for qualifying at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The green flag for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen is set to fall at 10 a.m. with SPEED providing five hours of live coverage separated in two parts. Coverage for part I will run from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. (EDT), while part II will re-join the race at 12:30 p.m. and run through the checkered flag.
June 06, 2005
Fast Facts - Bombardier Lear Jet 500
Saturday, June 11, 8:30 p.m. EDT, ESPN
Texas Motor Speedway
200 Laps on 1.5-mile oval for 300 miles
TOYOTA LOOKS TO MAKE IT FOUR OUT OF FIVE AT TEXAS – Toyota will attempt to earn its fourth victory in five races at the Texas Motor Speedway in this weekend’s Bombardier Learjet 500.
Three different drivers have earned victories with Al Unser Jr., Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves all having won at TMS with Toyota power the past two seasons. Last fall, it was Castroneves that won from the pole position in a dominating fashion – leading more than half the race (104 laps), including the final 21 laps.
MORE TEXAS – In addition to the Penske Toyota victories with de Ferran and Castroneves the past two years, current Toyota-powered teams and drivers have had past success at Texas. Marlboro Team Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr. won the fall race in both 2001 and 2002, while Target Chip Ganassi Racing won the June race in 2002 with driver Jeff Ward.
MUST BE IN THE FRONT ROW – No, it’s not baseball announcer Bob Uecker, it’s Marlboro Team Penske drivers Castroneves and Hornish Jr. The duo currently rank first and second in the IndyCar Series in average starting position and one of the two have been on the front row in each of the last three races. They make up two of three drivers that have qualified in the top-10 in each race this season.
Castroneves leads the series with an average starting spot of 4.2. The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner has qualified in the top five in his last four races. Dating back to last season, he has qualified in the top-five nine times in his last 10 races. Hornish Jr. has qualified first and second in his last two races while his average starting spot is 4.6.
UNDER THE RADAR – While former Toyota Atlantic stars Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick have captured most of the recent headlines, two-time Texas winner Hornish Jr. has been on the verge of a dominating season. The 2001 and 2002 series champion placed second at Miami and won at Phoenix. After qualifying sixth in his first road course event since 1999 at St. Petersburg, he was knocked out early by another driver. Hornish Jr. then won the pole position at Motegi and earned his first-ever front-row starting position at Indianapolis, where he led a race-high 77 laps.
Unfortunately, after dominating the early portions of the '500, he was eliminated from contention after being forced high and into the gray area of the track by one of the race's rookies. Despite being knocked out of two races early, the Defiance, Ohio-native continues to rank third overall in points and in laps led.
ROOKIE BRISCOE STARTING TO MAKE HIS MARK - After going through some early growing pains, rookie Ryan Briscoe (Target Toyota) has started to come on
strong in recent weeks. The former Toyota F1 test driver led the most laps at St. Petersburg before being involved in a collision. He earned his second consecutive top-10 finish of the season at Indianapolis with a strong 10th-place showing. Briscoe made his oval track debut earlier this season at Homestead.
TOYOTA ATLANTIC GRADS DOMINATING INDY CAR RANKS – Toyota Atlantic Championship graduates have proven to be dominant in IndyCar Series competition this season.
To date, TAC grads have swept each of the season’s first five races with Dan Wheldon and Hornish Jr. currently ranking first and third in the point standings. In addition, Wheldon became the second consecutive former Toyota Atlantic driver to win the Indianapolis 500 – following up on Buddy Rice’s victory last season. Patrick, the most recent Toyota Atlantic grad to join the series, won Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors and was on the cover of last week’s Sports Illustrated.
Toyota IndyCar Series Driver Line-Up and Position Entering Texas
Car # Driver Car Current Point Standing (wins)
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 3rd (Phoenix)
#3 Helio Castroneves Marlboro Toyota (Dallara) 7th
#10 Darren Manning Target Toyota (Panoz) 10th
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 11th
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara 12th
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 15th
#33 Ryan Briscoe Pioneer/Target Toyota (Panoz) 16th
#14 A.J. Foyt IV A.J. Foyt Toyota (Dallara) 18th
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 19th
#91 Jimmy Kite Hemelgarn Racing Toyota (Dallara) 29th