2010 IRL Rd.8--Iowa Corn Indy 250

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With Texas in the rear-view mirror and a week off to catch up on everything, IndyCar Series teams now head back to the Midwest and the only bullring-style oval on the schedule, the .875-mile Iowa Speedway and the Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer and the Iowa Corn Growers Association.


Event Schedule...................
--Practice Session 1, 10-11am, 19 June 2010
--Practice Session 2, 1:10-2:10pm, 19 June 2010
--PEAK Pole Qualifying, 4:30-6pm, 19 June 2010
--Final Practice, 9:30-10am, 20 June 2010
--Iowa Corn Indy 250, 1:30pm, VERSUS

~~Broadcast Information....................
--domestic TV, ABC Sports
--domestic AM radio, IMS Radio Network
--webcast available at IndyCar.com
--domestic satellite radio, Sirius XM Radio
--international shortwave/TV simulcast, United States Armed Forces Network

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-----Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced that Graham Rahal will replace the injured Mike Conway in the No. 24 Dad's Root Beer custom-designed HOT WHEELS entry for the Iowa Corn 250 at Iowa Speedway on June 20.

Rahal, 21, most recently started seventh and finished 12th in the Indianapolis 500 for Rahal Letterman Racing. In two races on the .875-mile Iowa Speedway, Rahal has finished 11th and 10th with Newman/Haas Racing. He will be reunited with Justin Wilson, who drives the No. 22 Z-Line Designs car. They were teammates in 2008 at Newman/Haas Racing.

"We are thrilled to have Graham drive for us this weekend,” team co-owner Robbie Buhl said. “We obviously wish that Mike could be with us, but we just want him to have a quick recovery. Iowa will be big weekend for DRR as we unveil the Dad's Root Beer one-off paint scheme designed by HOT WHEELS on Father's Day. Graham was a perfect fit and we couldn't be happier to have him behind the wheel.”

For the Father’s Day race weekend, Hot Wheels, Dad's Root Beer and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing wanted to create something special for fans. Conceived as a 1:64 scale model in the Hot Wheels 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series product line, the Hot Wheels designers brought Dad's Root Beer race car to the racetrack.

Rahal won in his debut on the streets of St. Petersburg in 2008, becoming the youngest winner in series history. In 2009, Rahal finished seventh in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings with five top-five and nine top-10 finishes. He also became the youngest pole winner in IZOD IndyCar Series history at St. Petersburg.

"Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has clearly done an impressive job this season and I really have to thank Robbie, Dennis (Reinbold), the team, and Dad's Root Beer for this opportunity to compete in Iowa,” Rahal said. “I also want to wish Mike Conway a quick recovery and hopefully we can bring home a good result for him. I can't wait to get behind the wheel of the Dad's Root Beer custom-designed HOT WHEELS No. 24 car and hopefully contribute more success to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.”

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Iowa Corn Indy 250 Entrant List
Raphael Matos, #2 HP-deFerran Dragon Racing
Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske
Dan Wheldon, #4 National Guard
(R)Takuma Sato, #5 Lotus-KV Racing
Ryan Briscoe, #6 Team Penske
Danica Patrick, #7 GoDaddy.com
E.J. Viso, #8 PDVSA/JetAmerica
Scott Dixon, #9 Target
Dario Franchitti, #10 Target
Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11
Will Power, #12 Verizon Wireless
Vitor Meira, #14 ABC Supply Co.
Milka Duno, #18 CITGO
Alex Lloyd, #19 Boy Scouts of America
Justin Wilson, #22 Charter Media
Graham Rahal, #24 Dad's Root Beer/HotWheels
Marco Andretti, #26 Venom Energy
Mario Moraes, #32 KV Racing
(R)Mario Romancini, #34 Conquest Racing
(R)Bertrand Baguette, #36 RAC Belgium
Ryan Hunter-Reay, #37 Ethanol
Sarah Fisher, #67 Dollar General
Alex Tagliani, #77 Bowers & Wilkins
(R)Simona de Silvestro, #78 Team Stargate Worlds
Hideki Mutoh, #06 Formula Dream

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----Officials of ICM and Green Plains Renewable Energy -- industry leaders in the development and production of biofuels in the U.S. – received a standing ovation from the participants at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in St. Louis when they announced a partnership to sponsor the No. 37 Ethanol USA-Team IZOD car of Andretti Autosport driven by Ryan Hunter-Reay in this weekend’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer. Hunter-Reay was sponsored by the U.S. ethanol industry in the 2007 and ‘08 IZOD IndyCar Series seasons.

“We're excited to be back in the IZOD IndyCar Series, and thrilled to renew our relationship with Ryan Hunter-Reay,” said Dave Vander Griend, president and CEO of ICM Inc. “Ryan has demonstrated his tremendous skill on the racetrack, and is a passionate supporter of the U.S. ethanol industry."

Added Todd Becker, president and CEO of Green Plains Renewable Energy: "This partnership is a great platform to demonstrate the environmental and performance aspects of ethanol right in the back yard of the No. 1 ethanol producing state with over 84 million barrels of production. We continue to prove year after year that ethanol has become a permanent solution to breaking our dependence on foreign oil in a clean and responsible manner."

Hunter-Reay is sixth in the championship standings with one victory and three top-five finishes overall. He advanced six positions to finish eighth at Iowa Speedway in 2008 with Rahal Letterman Racing, driving the No. 17 ethanol car.

The IZOD IndyCar Series is the only form of motorsports to use a renewable and environmentally-friendly fuel (100 percent fuel-grade ethanol) to power its Honda Indy V-8 engines. "I couldn't be more thrilled to be representing Ethanol USA in the IZOD IndyCar Series again for a race that's fueled by ethanol made in the United States,” Hunter-Reay said. “Everyone talks about cleaner, greener energy, but this is one industry that has been consistently delivering on its promises."

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Iowa Speedway Track Map


Track Length -
Turn 1 thru Turn 2 - 1,338 ft
Backstretch - 869 ft
Turn 3 thru Turn 4 - 1,338 ft
Frontstretch - 1,075 ft

Banking -
12,13,14 degrees thru turns
10 degrees thru front stretch
4 degrees thru backstretch

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Iowa Practice Session 1 Top-5
1. 11 Tony Kanaan Andretti Autosport 17.7485 181.334
2. 12 Will Power Team Penske 17.7626 0.0141 0.0141 181.190
3. 26 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 17.7673 0.0047 0.0188 181.142
4. 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 17.8554 0.0881 0.1069 180.248
5. 10 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 17.8973 0.0419 0.1488 179.826

Iowa Practice Session 2 Top-5
1. 6 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske 17.7791 181.022
2. 26 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 17.7806 0.0015 0.0015 181.006
3. 12 Will Power Team Penske 17.7919 0.0113 0.0128 180.891
4. 10 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing 17.8012 0.0093 0.0221 180.797
5. 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 17.8096 0.0084 0.0305 180.712

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----Will Power will lead the field to green in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway on Sunday. Power's fourth pole of the season is Team Penske's seventh consecutive, an IndyCar Series record. This is Power's first pole at Iowa Speedway and his first on oval. He started on the pole at Barber Motorsports Park, St. Petersburg and Long Beach. "I am very happy to get my first pole on an oval," said Power, who heads into Sunday's race three points behind series leader Dario Franchitti.

"We have been right there the past few races, but I have had some funny things go wrong and a little bit of bad luck," added Power. Power leads the road/street course point standings 172-130 over his teammate Helio Castroneves.

Scott Dixon will start second after missing Power's mark by 0.002 of a second, the closest margin since the IZOD IndyCar Series went to four lap qualifying in 2008. "We barely missed it," said Dixon. "We will try to improve even more for tomorrow and hopefully get some points for the championship." Dixon is third in the championship standings, 11 points out of the lead.

Marco Andretti turned in his best qualifying effort of the season and will start third. "We have to be happy to have the Venom car starting third," said Andretti. "We're in a good position for tomorrow and it can definitely be done form third."

Team Penske drivers will start first, fourth and eighth, with Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe starting fourth and eighth, respectively. Both drivers thought they missed their qualifying setup a bit. After congratulating his teammate for his first pole on an oval, Castroneves said, "Now we all have to work together as a team so that we can go out there tomorrow and accomplish our goal of getting the first win for Team Penske in Iowa." Points leader Dario Franchitti, who has earned two victories at Iowa, will start fifth.

Alex Tagliani will start sixth followed by Takuma Sato and Danica Patrick. Dan Wheldon rounds out the top ten. Wheldon said he was surprised by his speed because, "I thought we would be quicker than that." Wheldon was able to easily slice through traffic during practice and should be good for the race. "The car was really stable," he said. "Our racecar is much better than the position we qualified."

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-----NEWTON, Iowa – Through 15 lead changes and 239 laps at the buzz-saw named Iowa Speedway, it appeared just about anyone on the lead lap could pop to the forefront and prevail in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer.

Helio Castroneves, who had inherited the lead on Lap 200 when the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car of IZOD IndyCar Series points leader and two-time race winner Dario Franchitti slowed – the victim of a gearbox issue? Si.

E.J. Viso, who surprised quite a few by steadily moving from his 19th starting position in the No. 8 PDVSA-Jet Aviation-KV Racing Technology car to be running third? Indeed.

How about Tony Kanaan, whose No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car started a disappointing 15th after topping the combined practice speed chart, but had moved behind his countryman Castroneves? That would have been a safe bet and the one that paid.

Kanaan, who led a total of 119 laps at Iowa the past two years but didn’t finish either time, made the event-record 16th lead change among seven drivers stick. He overtook Castroneves on Lap 140 and went on to post his first victory since June 28, 2008, at Richmond International Raceway (another bullring). He was the seventh driver to win in the eight races.

“I have to thank my team and the entire 7-Eleven crew,” said Kanaan, who recorded three top 10s in this stretch of four oval races in the first half of the season. “They did a great job. I had a great car. I have to thank my teammates, too. Marco (Andretti) and Ryan (Hunter-Reay) came over after I made a mistake during qualifying and I was pretty down. They talked to me for 45 minutes and cheered me up. Marco (led 12 laps early, finished 15th) gave me a little bit of his setup and Ryan (started 12th, finished eighth) actually helped me with the setup, putting it together for today. It was a great job as a team and it feels good.”

It was the second victory of the season for Andretti Autosport (Hunter-Reay at Long Beach) and the first on an oval for a non-Team Penske or Target Chip Ganassi Racing car since that humid evening in ’08 at Richmond. “(Kanaan) has always had a problem with Turn 2 here, but he’s finally got it figured out,” said team owner Michael Andretti, referring to the spot where Kanaan exited the race the previous three years. “Great racing and a great day for the team.”

Castroneves lost the fight when he starting losing the front Firehawks.
"The guys were able to put me right in the front, and when they did that, the clean air was so much better," he said. "Certainly the car at that point was perfect and I was just going cruising, flat out, no problem. The tires were really wearing out, the left front, and unfortunately our setup. About 10 laps to go, Tony was able to get a run inside. There was nothing I could do. In fact, it wasn't him that was going faster, it was me actually slowing down. So I basically lost two-, three-tenths (of a second) every lap. I wish it had been 10 laps shorter but well deserved for Tony."

Viso finished a career-high third and Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe was fourth. Pole sitter Will Power finished fifth to regain the championship points lead from Franchitti (274 to Scott Dixon’s 263 and Franchitti’s 260). The pole sitter has won 53 of 193 Indy Racing League-sanctioned races, but none of the four at Iowa Speedway.

"There are not many words to describe my feeling right now.,” said Viso, whose best previous finish this season was 11th (Texas). "It has been a very tough year for KV Racing Technology. The team has a lot of great people and drivers and we deserve to be higher in points than where we really are. Today just showed that we can run and compete with the top teams. This is my first podium in the IZOD IndyCar Series and I want to thank my engineer Bill Pappas and my crew for giving me such a good car. I want to dedicate today to my father for Father's Day. I hope now our luck has changed and hopefully this won't be the last podium this year.”

Dixon, who started on the front row, finished sixth and Vitor Meira recorded his third top 10 in the oval package in seventh in the No. 14 ABC Supply car for A.J. Foyt Racing. Graham Rahal gave the injured Mike Conway a tip of the hat with a ninth place (advancing eight spots) in the No. 24 Dad’s Root Beer entry for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. “It was a good result,” said Meira, who rebounded from an incident late in pre-qualifying practice to start 13th. “What matters is that we're improving and being consistent everywhere we go. We've had top 10s and the next stage is top 5s. It's hard in this series but the ABC Supply team is moving forward and that's important.”

Top-10 from Iowa.....................
1} #11 Tony Kanaan, 250 laps
2} #3 Helio Castroneves, -4.203 sec
3} #8 E.J. Viso, -5.253 sec
4} #6 Ryan Briscoe, -9.053 sec
5} #12 Will Power, -9.591 sec
6} #9 Scott Dixon, -15.268 sec
7} #14 Vitor Meira, -15.480 sec
8} #37 Ryan Hunter-Reay, -1 lap
9} #24 Graham Rahal, -1 lap
10} #7 Danica Patrick, -1 lap