The 92nd Indianapolis 500 Thread.............

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La place de magica............The Magic Place; every international motorsports series has one, whether its' the streets of Monaco in Formula 1, the highbanks of Daytona for NASCAR or Mt. Panorama in Australian V8s', tracks with histories and memories that span not just years but generations. A win at any of those places isn't just a win, but a leap into racing immortality; win and people will remember you for all time.....and so it is with 2.5 miles of central Indiana blacktop, crowned with a yard of bricks. Every Memorial day Sunday in May 33 of the world's top drivers converge on this sacred ground, hoping to get a taste of the milk at race's end and their visage forever emblazoned on the Borg-Warner Trophy. The place......the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event........."the Greatest Spectacle in Racing", the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500.



Here is the event schedule for the 92nd Indianapolis 500..........................
~~Rookie Orientation, 12-5 pm, 4 May 2008
~~Rookie Orientation, 12-5 pm, 5 May 2008
~~Practice Session #1, 12-6 pm, 6 May 2008
~~Practice Session #2, 12-6 pm, 7 May 2008
~~Practice Session #3, 12-6 pm, 8 May 2008
~~Practice Session #4, 12-6 pm, 9 May 2008
~~PEAK Pole Qualifying(positions 1-11), 12-6 pm, 10 May 2008*
~~Mother's Day Qualifying(positions 12-22), 12-6 pm, 11 May 2008*
~~Practice Session #7, 12-6 pm, 14 May 2008
~~Practice Session #8, 12-6 pm, 15 May 2008
~~Practice Session #9, 12-6 pm, 16 May 2008
~~CokeZero Qualifying(positions 23-33), 12-6 pm, 17 May 2008**
~~Armed Forces Qualifying(bump day), 12-6 pm, 18 May 2008**
~~Pit Stop Practice, 10am-Noon, 21 May 2008
~~Miller Lite Carb Day(final practice), 11am-Noon, 23 May 2008
~~Checkers' Pit Stop Competition, 1-3 pm, 23 May 2008
~~92nd Indianapolis 500 Drivers Meeting(open to the public), 10:30am, 24 May 2008
~~92nd running of "the Greatest Specacle in Racing", the Indianapolis 500, Noon, 25 May 2008

*--practice sessions #5 and #6 held in/around qualifying
**--practice sessions #10 and #11 held in/around qualifying



Looking ahead to the month of May, the storylines that could emerge are countless in number.....could we see Helio Castroneves win and add his name to the list of 3-time winners........could we see the Borg-Warner Trophy visit the land Down Under? Could some of the incoming ChampCar drivers conquer the Brickyard........or could we see a petite Illinois woman lay claim to AOW's greatest prize? You know, the more I think about it, maybe they're right.......maybe all roads DO lead to Indy.


All I know......it is going to be one exciting month of May this year and I cannot wait for it to start!!!

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Unique amongst motorsports events, the Indianapolis 500 has one single requirement for anyone wishing to compete........before you are allowed to take any laps on the track at speed, you MUST complete the 4-stage program at the beginning of the month known as Rookie Orientation. It doesn't matter if you're an emerging short-tracker or Formula 1 WDC or whether you're from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Emberton, England or Roscoe, Ill............rookie orientation is a driver's first stop at the Brickyard.

So, how does Rookie Orientation work? It's a 4-stage process whereby a driver demonatrates to race control and track officials that they can run at speed; each stage has the driver run at a set speed for a set number of laps............
~~Stage 1, 195-200 mph
~~Stage 2, 200-205 mph
~~Stage 3, 205-210 mph
~~Stage 4, 210+ mph

Once a driver passes Stage 4, they are cleared to race at speed during the month of May and are qualified to practice during the month of May. It's a simple process, really.......

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One of the more familiar driver/owner pairings during the month of May is back, as car owner Ron Hemelgarn and 1996 Indy 500/2000 IndyCar Series champion Buddy Lazier will make another run at the Brickyard w/Lazier piloting the #91 Hemelgarn/Johnson Controls Dallara/Honda.........here are some quotes from their announcement in Indy today:

~~Buddy Lazier, #91 Hemelgarn/Johnson Controls D/H(1996 Indy 500 winner, 2000 IndyCar Series champion):

I love the Indianapolis 500 and everything about the IndyCar Series. (I thank) Ron for giving me another shot at it. We've struggled at times and we've had success together as well. The two of us have experienced what's it like to finish 33rd and have a horrible day, and we've experienced winning (the 500). It's nice to be back together. It's a last-minute program, but we'll make the best of it. I think we'll have a strong race car and we'll be a factor on race day.

~~Ron Hemelgarn, Owner--Hemelgarn Racing:

Buddy and I go back to 1989. We've had great success together winning races, winning a championship and winning the Indy 500. We're all very excited about it. We have the same crew chief returning in Lee Kunzman that we had our championship year in 2000. It's an exciting time, and hopefully we'll do well.

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Broadcast Coverage Schedule for the 92nd running of "the Greatest Spectacle in Racing", the Indianapolis 500..........................

(1)for the 44th consecutive year, ABC Sports will provide live coverage of the race, beginning with a 1-hr. pre-race show hosted by Brent Musburger; at 1pm, the broadcast switches over to the race.......in the booth will be announcers Marty Reid, Scott Goodyear and, joining them this year, 1998 Indy 500 winner Eddie Cheever. As with 2007, ABC Sports' pitcrew will consist of Vince Welch, Jack Arute, Jamie Little and Brienne Pedigo
(2)Pole Day Qualifying will be broadcast 12-2 pm, 10 May 2008 on ESPN-2 and 3-6 pm over on ABC Sports; post-qual. coverage will be from 6-7 pm on ESPN-2
(3)Second Day Qualifying will follow a similar schedule; 2nd Day(11 May) goes from 12-2 and 5-6:30pm on ESPN
(4)Third Day Qualifying can be seen on the "Deuce"(ESPN2) from 4-6:30pm
(5)Bump Day Qual. can seen live from 12-3 pm on ABC Sports and 4-6:30pm on ESPN2
(6)Higlights of Carb Day action on 23 May can be seen from 4-6:30pm on ESPN2
(7)Sat. 24 May 2008 brings the IPL 500 Festival Parade which airs from 5-6:30pm(tape-delayed) on ESPN2; following that from 7-8pm will be a Saturday preview of the 500 entitled, "Ready to Race: the 92nd Indianapolis 500"


~~Meanwhile, the IMS Radio Network and its' broadcast partners will also be busy during the month of May.............on raceday, over 400 broadcast affiliates across the United States and Canada will have live radio coverage on AM and FM radio(check local radio listings within North America)......headlining the broadcast crew for the IMS Radio Network in the broadcast booth will be lead announcer Mike King and driver analyst Johnny Parsons, along with commentary from Chris Economaki and IMS historian Donald Davidson, turn reporters for the IMS Network are Jerry Baker(1), Bob Jenkins(2), Mark Jaynes(3) and Chris Denari(4); working the pitlane for the IMS Network are Dave Argabright, Kevin Lee, Jake Query and Kevin Olsen
~~Internationally there are several broadcast options; there will be live shortwave broadcasts courtesy of the LeSea Broadcasting Network; in addition, the United States Armed Forces Network will air live coverage of the pre-race festivities, the race and post-race activities to U.S. military installations around the world, including to U.S. and allied forces stationed in both Iraq and Afghanistan and to ships and personnel aboard U.S. Navy ships at sea
~~Domestic satellite radio will be covered via XM Satellite Radio on Chs. 143, 144 and 145 this year(Ch. 144 is XM Sports Nation, Ch. 145 is XM IndyCar Racing and Ch. 143 is a backup feed for both 144-145)
~~Finally, for those with internet access, there is always the IMS Radio Network link at www.indycar.com/multimedia/radio/ . Once there, simply click on the appropriate link and you're there!

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IMS officials earlier this week released the rookie orientation list for the 92nd Indy 500, along with a tentative list of drivers eligible for refresher time during ROP...................................

~~Group 1(rookie orientation)
Will Power, Alex Lloyd, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Mario Moraes, Jay Howard, Hideki Mutoh, Jaime Camara, Enrique Bernoldi, Justin Wilson, Graham Rahal, Oriol Servia, Mario Dominguez, E.J. Viso
~~Group 2(refresher time)
Davey Hamilton, Larry Foyt, Max Papis, Sarah Fisher, Bruno Junquiera

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The grass is green........the sky is blue..........I guess it's time to go racing!

With the sun setting over the Brickyard after Opening Day, here is a brief summary of the day's events..............

~~Day 1 ROP review.............going into the 2-day Rookie Orientation Program, 13 drivers were entered and, with the exception of Mario Moraes and Jay Howard, 11 made it through and are now cleared to run at speed......here are the speeds set by those who took to the track today.....................
1} Will Power, #8 Aussie Vineyards, 40.780 sec/220.694 mph(93 laps)
2} E.J. Viso, #33 PDVSA, 40.827 sec/220.445 mph(64 laps)
3} Oriol Servia, #5 Plantronics, 40.890 sec/220.102 mph(94 laps)
4} Alex Lloyd, #16 Target, 40.916 sec/219.964 mph(55 laps)
5} Hideki Mutoh, #27 Formula Dream, 40.942 sec/219.824 mph(43 laps)
6} Ryan Hunter-Reay, #17 Ethanol, 40.947 sec/219.797 mph(44 laps)
7} Jaime Camara, #34 Sangari, 41.063 sec/219.175 mph(47 laps)
8} Graham Rahal, #06 Hole in the Wall Camps, 41.168 sec/218.619 mph(51 laps)
9} Justin Wilson, #02 McDonald's, 41.258 sec/218.142 mph(43 laps)
10} Enrique Bernoldi, #36 Sangari, 41.410 sec/217.338 mph(61 laps)
11} Jay Howard, #24 Cirrus Aircraft, 41.428 sec/217.247 mph(61 laps)
12} Max Papis, #44 LifeLock, 42.047 sec/214.068 mph(19 laps)**
13} Mario Moraes, #19 Sonny's Real Pit BBQ, 48.272 sec/186.445 mph(3 laps)
**--Papis is undergoing refresher time during ROP

~~Will they or won't they? One question is will any prospective drivers find a ride tomorrow so that they can squeeze through ROP prior to five pm Monday.....drivers in the mix include former Conquest driver Franck Perera and former Indy Lights driver C.R. Crews, who are said to have enough sponsorship for a second-weekend entry but must complete ROP for those plans to work......

~~Quote of the day....................
Ryan Hunter-Reay, #17 Ethanol:

I've been waiting my entire life for this.

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With the sun setting behind the Bombardier Pagoda here at 16th and Georgetown, time to dust off the laptop....

~~Day 2 ROP Times................................
1} Alex Lloyd, #16 Target, 40.353 sec/223.033 mph(51)
2} Hideki Mutoh, #27 Formula Dream, 40.431 sec/222.600 mph(35)
3} Will Power, #8 Aussie Vineyards, 40.492 sec/222.267 mph(61)
4} Oriol Servia, #5 Plantronics, 40.524 sec/222.089 mph(52)
5} Graham Rahal, #06 Hole in the Wall Camps, 40.695 sec/221.155 mph(45)
6} Justin Wilson, #02 McDonald's, 40.719 sec/221.029 mph(34)
7} Ryan Hunter-Reay, #17 Ethanol, 40.754 sec/220.839 mph(59)
8} Enrique Bernoldi, #36 Sangari, 40.851 sec/220.314 mph[48]
9} Bruno Junquiera, #18 Z-Line Designs, 40.856 sec/220.289 mph(26)
10} Davey Hamilton, #22 HP Computers, 40.928 sec/219.901 mph[38]
11} E.J. Viso, #33 PDVSA, 40.992 sec/219.558 mph(33)
12} Max Papis, #44 LifeLock, 41.077 sec/219.101 mph(22)
13} Jaime Camara, #34 Sangari, 41.235 sec/218.264 mph(4)
14} Mario Moraes, #19 Sonny's Real Pit BBQ, 41.741 sec/215.616 mph[68]
15} Jay Howard, #24 Cirrus Aircraft, 41.939 sec/214.597 mph(31)
16} Mario Dominguez, #96 Visit Mexico City, 41.959 sec/214.358 mph[48]

~~One incident of note......Conquest Racing's Jaime Camara was the first driver so far this month to visit the SAFER barrier the hard way, as his car spun in turn 4 and smacked the rear-right portion of his racecar; Camara was taken to the infield care center complaining of back pain......the good news is that he was cleared for further practice this month but will have an additional checkup later this week prior to qualifying

~~Welcome Back, Dario!! Taking in the sights and sounds of today's action at the Brickyard was 2007 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti, who now competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Ganassi Racing; when asked how difficult he felt the track was for the rookie entrants in this year's 500, he replied,

I've been trying to figure this place out since I first came here in 2000.

Well, it's been an exciting first couple of days here at the Brickyard, but watch out........tomorrow the veterans arrive...........expect the speeds to start dropping as we begin the approach to Pole Day this Saturday.

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Drivers practicing, drivers looking for rides, even a presidential candidate visit to the Brickyard...........

~~Wednesday at the earliest...........IRL officials have cleared Conquest Racing's Jaime Camara to resume practicing for this year's 500, beginning on Wednesday; medical reports are that he suffered no injuries from his crash Monday

~~Primary Day! When one sees a coterie of Secret Service agents roaming around a race team's shop this time of year, it means that there must be a presidential candidate around......Sure enough, there was; today was Primary Day in Indiana and North Carolina and Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton(D-NY) toured the facilities at Sarah Fisher Racing during a campaign appearance; leading the entourage w/Sen. Clinton was IndyCar Series driver/owner Sarah Fisher, who showed the senator around the team's Indy shop, following with a brief stop before the media throngs........

~~Quote of the day.........when asked of the emotions he has towards' the Speedway and the Indy 500, TGR's Scott Dixon had this to say..........

It's the biggest race of the year, the biggest race I've ever been involved in. I've lived here for 7 years now, so this feels like home.

~~Quick facts.................29 drivers turned laps today over 220mph; 1383 laps were turned by drivers today from 12-6pm


Practice Session #1 top-10................................
1} Marco Andretti, #26 Indiana Jones/Blockbuster, 39.718 sec/226.599 mph
2} Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11, 39.952 sec/225.569 mph
3} Scott Dixon, #9 Target, 39.998 sec/225.011 mph
4} Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske, 40.035 sec/224.804 mph
5} Dan Wheldon, #10 Target, 40.049 sec/224.727 mph
6} Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske, 40.076 sec/224.576 mph
7} Tomas Scheckter, #12 Symantec 360, 40.101 sec/224.436 mph
8} Buddy Rice, #15 A1 Team USA, 40.148 sec/224.170 mph
9} Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola, 40.162 sec/224.095 mph
10} Will Power, #8 Aussie Vineyards, 40.260 sec/223.550 mph

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Brief update from the Brickyard.......rains on and off throughout the day forced track officials to cancel practice today; the weather forecasts for Thursday do not look promising(more rains, more wind.... ) but Friday's weather looks promising for practice and Pole Day on Saturday looks as though the weather will be good.

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Laps Turned This Month at Indy.............................
note.....figures accurate as of 7 May 2008

Andretti--25 laps
Kanaan--32 laps
Dixon--39 laps
Briscoe--54 laps
Wheldon--43 laps
Castroneves--75 laps*
Scheckter--65 laps
Rice--48 laps
Patrick--31 laps
Power--50 laps
Wilson--67 laps
Meira--45 laps**
Mutoh--47 laps
Viso--47 laps
Carpenter--51 laps
Lloyd--52 laps
Bell--35 laps
Rahal--64 laps
Servia--38 laps
Hamilton--21 laps
Hunter-Reay--39 laps
Foyt, IV--24 laps
Manning--37 laps
Bernoldi--64 laps
Junquiera--43 laps
Papis--70 laps
Roth--66 laps
Dominguez--61 laps
Moraes--14 laps
Fisher--16 laps
Duno--27 laps

*--27 laps in the #3 and 48 laps in the #3T
**--29 laps in the #4T and 16 laps in the #4

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Is Mother Nature one very fickle.......person(I thought about saying something similar to, ah......witch.... ) or what?


For the second consecutive day, rains forced cancellation of practice at the Brickyard, meaning that drivers will have just one day+ of practice time(12-6 tomorrow and 9-11am Sautrday) to prepare for Pole Day Qualifying Saturday afternoon.

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~~Let's see..........two drivers found the wall today, another hit a crewman with their car on pitlane and the rains returned late in the session........

~~Three drivers were involved in accidents at the Speedway today, two on track and one on pitlane.....first the on-track schmozzles. Pacific Coast Motorsports driver Mario Dominguez was exiting pitlane when he apparently goosed it in the warm-up lane and found the inside barriers, suffering left-front suspension damage. Englishman Alex Lloyd, driving a joint RLR-TGR entry, smacked the turn 1 wall hard, causing extensive damage to the left-rear. Lloyd was taken away on a stretcher to the infield care center complaining of back and neck pain; he was then taken to Methodist Hospital where tests showed no signs of injury; series medical officials have yet to clear Lloyd for further practice. The most serious(and, by all accounts, bizarre) incident came on pitlane involving Andretti-Green Racing's Danica Patrick. Here is what happened....as she was entering her pit space during practice, Dale Coyne Racing chief mechanic Chuck Buckman stepped in front of her racecar; she was unable to avoid hitting him and Buckman struck the right front and right rear tires of her car, sending him into the air before hitting the ground hard, suffering a concussion and facial lacerations. By all accounts, no one was at fault; later on in the day, a shaken Patrick released the following statement,

It was really, really unfortunate what happened today. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family, and hopefully he can back to the track soon and be able to do what he loves.

For his part, Buckman had this to say from Methodist Hospital,

I really don't remember what happened. All I remember is that I was talking with someone on (Marco) Andretti's crew and then everything is blank from then on. I'll be OK and hopefully back to work in a day or so.

Here's what other eyewitnesses had to say............
--Mitch Davis, Dale Coyne Racing:

He was actually walking down pit lane running an errand down by the Andretti Green pits. The AGR guys said he was walking along, looked over at Marco Andretti, stepped to the right and when he did he walked right in front of her. He was going back to the garage to get something. Danica's team is torn up.

--Dale Coyne, Owner--Dale Coyne Racing:

Wrong place, wrong time. He was just walking down pitroad to go back to the garage to get some stuff. I was talking to the AGR people afterwards and they were motioning people to stop. There was some confusion as to who was stopping and who wasn't; they got everyone stopped but Chuck and he took one more step right as she turned in and just clipped him. It knocked him out and the face cuts will heal but they're concerned about his concussion.

--Brian Barnhart, IRL President of Racing Operations:

Right before I dismissed them (following this morning's drivers meeting) I reminded everybody that this would be a very hectic day today, that tomorrow would also be a very hectic day. In this case, there wasn't anything differently that Danica could have done.

Practice Session #4 top-10.............................
1} Scott Dixon, #9 Target, 39.653 sec/226.968 mph
2} Marco Andretti, #26 Indiana Jones/Blockbuster, 39.683 sec/226.710 mph
3} Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11, 39.702 sec/226.688 mph
4} Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske, 39.798 sec/226.143 mph
5} Hideki Mutoh, #27 Formula Dream, 39.825 sec/225.990 mph
6} Dan Wheldon, #10 Target, 39.881 sec/225.674 mph
7} Vitor Meira, #4 National Guard/Delphi, 40.034 sec/224.811 mph
8} Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola, 40.046 sec/224.744 mph
9} Tomas Scheckter, #12 Symantec 360, 40.051 sec/224.712 mph
10} Ryan Hunter-Reay, #17 Ethanol, 40.156 sec/224.125 mph

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Combined Practice Top-10...........................
1} Scott Dixon, #9 Target, 39.653 sec/226.968 mph(4)
2} Marco Andretti, #26 Indiana Jones/Blockbuster, 39.698 sec/226.710 mph(4)
3} Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11, 39.702 sec/226.688 mph(4)
4} Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske, 39.798 sec/226.143 mph(4)
5} Hideki Mutoh, #27 Formula Dream, 39.825 sec/225.990 mph(4)
6} Dan Wheldon, #10 Target, 39.881 sec/225.674 mph(4)
7} Vitor Meira, #4 National Guard/Delphi, 40.034 sec/224.811 mph(4)
8} Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola, 40.046 sec/224.744 mph(4)
9} Tomas Scheckter, #12 Symantec 360, 40.051 sec/224.712 mph
10} Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske, 40.076 sec/224.576 mph(1)

note......number in () indicates practice session when time/speed was set

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Laps Turned in Practice through 9 May 2008................................
Dixon--84
Andretti--51
Kanaan--64
Briscoe--78
Mutoh--68
Wheldon--75
Meira--79*
Patrick--65
Scheckter--92
Castroneves--106**
Rice--64
Hunter-Reay--81
Power--82
Lloyd--81
Bell--49
Wilson--112
Rahal--108
Servia--75
Foyt, IV--70
Manning--62
Viso--69
Carpenter--92
Fisher--48
Hamilton--59
Bernoldi--72***
Junquiera--69
Papis--120
Roth--96****
Duno--60
Howard--34
Dominguez--77
Moraes--50
Camara--28

*--59 laps in the #3T and 47 laps in the #3
**--63 laps in the #4 and 16 laps in the #4T
***--64 laps in the #36 and 8 laps in the #36T
****--66 laps in the #25T and 30 laps in the #25

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IRL officials released the draw for tomorrow's Peak Motor Oil Pole Qualifying session............................................


Jay Howard, #24 Cirrus Aircraft
Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske
Mario Moraes, #19 Sonny's Real Pit BBQ
Ryan Hunter-Reay, #17 Ethanol
E.J. Viso, #33 PDVSA
Townsend Bell, #99 WilliamRast
Marco Andretti, #26 Indiana Jones/Blockbuster
Scott Dixon, #9 Target
Graham Rahal, #06 Hole in the Wall Camps
Davey Hamilton, #22 HP Computers
Ed Carpenter, #20 Menards/Johns Manville
A.J. Foyt, IV, #2 Joost/Indy Vision
Hideki Mutoh, #27 Formula Dream
Buddy Rice, #15 A1 Team USA
Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola
Darren Manning, #14 ABC Supply Co.
Oriol Servia, #5 Plantronics
Marty Roth, #25 Cirrus Aircraft
Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11
Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske
Max Papis, #44 LifeLock
Mario Dominguez, #96 Visit Mexico City
Vitor Meira, #4 National Guard/Delphi
Dan Wheldon, #10 Target
Alex Lloyd, #16 RLR-TGR
Enrique Bernoldi, #36 Sangari
Buddy Lazier, #91 Hemelgarn/Johnson Controls
Will Power, #8 Aussie Vineyards
Milka Duno, #23 CITGO
Jaime Camara, #34 Sangari
Justin Wilson, #02 McDonald's
Tomas Scheckter, #12 Symantec 360
Sarah Fisher, #67 Direct Supply