2007 IRL Rd. 8--Iowa Corn Indy 250.........

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Who will win the Iowa Corn Indy 250?

Poll ended at Mon Jun 25, 2007 6:09 am

Sam Hornish, Jr.
0
No votes
Scott Dixon
1
50%
Tony Kanaan
0
No votes
Helio Castroneves
0
No votes
Danica Patrick
1
50%
none of the above
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 2

mlittle
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2007 IRL Rd. 8--Iowa Corn Indy 250.........

Post by mlittle » Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:09 am

Now that the dust has settled from the fireworks in Texas, the teams and drivers of the IndyCar Series now head for the first of three new venues on the schedule..........the .875-mile Iowa Speedway(hopefully, I'll be able to find the facility....... :wink: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: ) and round 7 of the 2007 season, the Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Ethanol.

How to describe Iowa...........think Richmond on steroids..........lots, and lots, of steroids........ :lol: :lol: :lol: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: Built with progressive 12-14 degree banking in the turns and lots of track room(60 feet from wall to track apron) it's a cross of sorts between the old Sanair Raceway(used by CART from 1984-1986) and Richmond(i.e. fast and tricky)........like Richmond, drivers won't get much of a chance to rest; the only time you're not turning is on the back stretch.

Event schedule for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Ethanol.............
Practice Session #1................2:30-4:30 pm, 22 June 2007
Practice Session #2................1:30-3:30 pm, 23 June 2007
Qualifying Session..................5:15 pm, 23 June 2007
Iowa Corn Indy 250................Noon, 24 June 2007
Last edited by mlittle on Mon Jun 25, 2007 1:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Iowa Fast Facts, part 1.................

Post by mlittle » Wed Jun 20, 2007 12:01 pm

Event: Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Ethanol
Where: Iowa Speedway, Newton, Ia.
When: 24 June 2007, 1 pm U.S. EDT

2006 Pole/Race Winners: Inaugural event
Race Distance: 250 laps/218.75 miles
Television: 1 pm, ABC Sports
Domestic AM Radio: IMS Radio Network
Satellite Radio: XM Satellite Radio, Ch. 144 "XM Sports Nation" and Ch. 145, "IndyCar Racing"
International: check broadcast listings

Entry List..........................
Tomas Scheckter, #2 Indy Vision on Joost
Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske
Vitor Meira, #4 Delphi/Skyfi
Sarah Fisher, #5 AAMCO Transmissions
Sam Hornish, Jr., #6 Team Penske
Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola
Scott Sharp, #8 Patron Tequila
Scott Dixon, #9 Target
Dan Wheldon, #10 Target
Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11
Darren Manning, #14 ABC Supply Co./EverGuard
Buddy Rice, #15 RollCoater/A1 Team USA
Jeff Simmons, #17 Ethanol
Ed Carpenter, #20 Hitachi Power Tools
A.J. Foyt, IV, #22 Indy Vision on Joost
(R)Milka Duno, #23 CITGO
Marco Andretti, #26 NYSE Group
Dario Franchitti, #27 Canadian Club/Argent
Kosuke Matsuura, #55 Panasonic/ARTA
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Iowa Fast Facts, part 2..........

Post by mlittle » Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:50 pm

~~Iowa Speedway Track Facts
--track distance 0.875 miles(7/8th's of a mile)
--turns variably-banked at 12-14 degrees
--frontstretch 1075 feet banked at 10 degrees
--backstretch 869 feet banked at 4 degrees
--track width 60 feet from outside wall to track apron
--first track in the United States to implement the 2nd-generation SAFER barrier(known as the Alternative Barrier System)

Storylines.................
--From Knoxville to Iowa.............the IndyCar Series' first visit to iowa Speedway has a special meaning for both Sarah Fisher and P.J. Chesson; both competed in their USAC Sprint Car(Fisher) and World of Outlaws(Chesson) days at nearby Knoxville Raceway, home of sprint car racing's "500", the Knoxville Nationals. Fisher, driving for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, competed at Knoxville in 1998 and 1999; Chesson, who's the track spotter for Vision Racing's A.J. Foyt, IV, won rookie honors there in the winged sprints in 1999

--Racing in the land of ethanol..............2007 marks the first year that the IndyCar Series is using 100% fuel-grade ethanol, and what better venue is there is to tout the environmentally-friendly grain-based fuel than in the #1 corn-producing state in America(a/k/a Iowa)

--The first of five consecutive races..........Iowa marks the first of five straight race weekends on the IndyCar schedule, and the venues are a diverse lot; from two short, demanding ovals(Iowa and Richmond) to road courses at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio to a superspeedway(Nashville). Whoever emerges from Mid-Ohio with the series points lead could have the inside track to the series title in 2007........
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Post by mlittle » Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:39 am

Iowa Practice Session #1 top-5....................

1st} Tony Kanaan, Andretti-Green Racing.................................17.545 sec/183.439 mph
2nd} Helio Castroneves, Team Penske......................................17.624 sec/182.610 mph
3rd} Sam Hornish, Jr., Team Penske.........................................17.644 sec/182.406 mph
4th} Darren Manning, A.J. Foyt Racing.......................................17.664 sec/182.200 mph
5th} Jeff Simmons, Rahal-Letterman Racing...............................17.669 sec/182.146 mph

--19 drivers completed a total of 687 incident-free laps
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Post by mlittle » Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:43 am

Iowa Practice Session #2 top-5................

1st} Tony Kanaan, Andretti-Green Racing..............................17.561 sec/183.267 mph
2nd} Helio Castroneves, Team Penske...................................17.573 sec/183.148 mph
3rd} Scott Dixon, Target/Ganassi Racing................................17.584 sec/183.027 mph
4th} Jeff Simmons, Rahal-Letterman Racing............................17.596 sec/182.908 mph
5th} Dario Franchitti, Andretti-Green Racing............................17.609 sec/182.768 mph

--19 drivers completed a total of 1783 incident-free laps
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Post by mlittle » Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:26 am

Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Ethanol Starting Grid..........

1st} Scott Dixon, #9 Commit........................................17.649 sec/182.360 mph
2nd} Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske......................17.657 sec/182.272 mph

3rd} Dario Franchitti, #27 Canadian Club/Argent.............17.679 sec/182.043 mph
4th} Scott Sharp, #8 Patron Tequila...............................17.711 sec/181.713 mph

5th} Ed Carpenter, #20 Hitachi Power Tools.....................17.718 sec/181.644 mph
6th} Jeff Simmons, #17 Ethanol......................................17.730 sec/181.527 mph

7th} Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11..................................17.731 sec/181.516 mph
8th} Sam Hornish, Jr., #6 Team Penske...........................17.732 sec/181.506 mph*

9th} Dan Wheldon, #10 Target........................................17.732 sec/181.503 mph*
10th} A.J. Foyt, IV, #22 Indy Vision on Joost....................17.763 sec/181.888 mph

11th} Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola...................................17.784 sec/180.794 mph
12th} Marco Andretti, #26 NYSE Group............................17.788 sec/180.936 mph

13th} Vitor Meira, #4 Delphi............................................17.793 sec/180.878 mph
14th} Tomas Scheckter, #2 Indy Vision on Joost...............17.802 sec/180.794 mph

15th} Darren Manning, #14 ABC Supply Co./Everguard......17.819 sec/180.615 mph
16th} Kosuke Matsuura, #55 Panasonic/ARTA....................17.858 sec/180.221 mph

17th} Buddy Rice, #15 RollCoater/A1 Team USA................18.001 sec/178.787 mph
18th} Sarah Fisher, #5 AAMCO Transmissions....................18.017 sec/178.632 mph

19th}(R)Milka Duno, #23 CITGO........................................18.367 sec/175.227 mph

*--Hornish's qualifying time was 3/10,000th's faster than Wheldon's qualifying time
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The Scotsman wins crash-filled Iowa race...........

Post by mlittle » Mon Jun 25, 2007 8:04 am

In a race that saw several crashes and some major points implications, Andretti-Green Racing's Dario Franchitti took his 2nd win of the 2007 season, winning the inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Ethanol......

Thoughts on the race.................
--there was a lot of on-track carnage as several accidents slowed the racepace in the first 120 or so laps, including "the big one" which took out A.J. Foyt, IV, Danica Patrick, Sam Hornish, Jr. and Kosuke Matsuura
--within the first 30 laps, the then-2nd, 3rd and 4th-place drivers in the points(Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon, Scott Dixon) fell out of the race, either by crashes or mechanical woes
--several drivers got their best finishes of the 2007 season, especially the duo from Dreyer & Reinbold as both Buddy Rice and Sarah Fisher finished 4th and 7th
--on the brighter side, attendance was given at around 35k, with not an empty seat in sight; the weather also cooperated as well, but the very high humidity levels meant that the cars were trailing contrails behind them

Iowa Corn Indy 250 top-10...................
1st} #27 Dario Franchitti....................................250 laps
2nd} #26 Marco Andretti....................................-0.068 sec
3rd} #8 Scott Sharp..........................................-1.058 sec
4th} #15 Buddy Rice.........................................-4.246 sec
5th} #14 Darren Manning..................................-5.216 sec
6th} #20 Ed Carpenter......................................-3 laps
7th} #5 Sarah Fisher.........................................-3 laps
8th} #3 Helio Castroneves.................................-4 laps
9th} #4 Vitor Meira...........................................mechanical(-34 laps)
10th} #9 Scott Dixon.........................................-77 laps
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