This weekend’s Rexall Edmonton Indy could be full of curveballs for the IndyCar Series field, as it heads to the Edmonton City Centre Airport for race 13 of the 2008 championship.

The Edmonton race will be the first where transitioning drivers have experience where returning IndyCar Series drivers do not; a veteran will return to the fray and the countdown towards the end of the championship will begin with five races remaining and four strong contenders.

Eight drivers entered this weekend have competed at Edmonton in the past three years, recording ten top-five finishes in 18 starts.

Queensland’s Will Power won the pole at Edmonton last year, while Justin Wilson was the race winner in 2006. Combine this with Power's IndyCar series-best fourth position at Mid-Ohio last weekend plus their results in practice for this weekend (fastest and fifth fastest respectively) and the pair are sure to be ones to watch.

Also set to make things interesting is the return of Paul Tracy, who after earning 31 victories in Champ Car holds the most wins of any active open wheel driver. The Canadian, who has 262 career starts, will return to the driver’s seat with Vision Racing for Edmonton - a circuit at which he has a third and two fifths from three starts, and eighth fastest from practice today.

In the championship race, three drivers remain within 100 points of the lead for the 2008 IndyCar Series championship with only five races remaining.
Brisbane-born Kiwi Scott Dixon is the leader followed by Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon; and the contenders must now weigh aggressiveness against how conservative they should be depending on their position in the standings. At the close of today's first practice session they were sixth, third, seventh and 11th fastest respectively.

With all of these elements in play this weekend, race strategy is sure to be a winning point as demonstrated by Sydney’s Ryan Briscoe and his Mid-Ohio win last weekend. With his second IndyCar Series win fresh in his mind and fourth fastest in practice, the 27 year old Australian is sure to be another player in the Edmonton game.

The Rexall Edmonton Indy wraps up a stretch of races on six consecutive weekends, including a 30-hour drive from the previous race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, three oval races and three road/street courses.

Australian fans can catch Rexall Edmonton Indy action live by tuning in to ESPN at 7.00am on Sunday 27th of July, with a replay scheduled for 4.00pm that same day.

WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY…
Will Power - #8 Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia:
“It was obviously a day to get used to the setup of (an IndyCar Series car). It’s much different than a Champ Car. The team’s done a great job and we arrived here with a reasonable setup," said Power.

"We definitely improved it after the first session. I think we’re in a much better position than we were last week at this time. It would be nice if we could repeat this in qualifying with another 1-2 (Power's team-mate Oriol Servia was second fastest today). We’re looking for a solid result to get some solid points, since we can’t perform this well on the ovals.

(About track conditions)“It was dusty this morning, but as the weekend goes on, the track does grip up. It’s dusty off-line, but for qualifying, I think it will be rubbered up.

(Is it slicker than last year): “It’s a combination of guys learning the circuit and having a harder compound tyre, which makes it a little more slippery.”

Justin Wilson - #02 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing:
"It’s going to be the first race that we’re going to that we’ve really known the track,” said Wilson, who won at Edmonton in 2006 and finished second there a year ago.

“It’s a very fast circuit. Some sections are like a permanent road circuit, and then there are places that are like street circuits. Because you have the walls so close, you can’t afford to make a mistake."

Paul Tracy - #22 Vision Racing:
“It’s good to be back. Obviously, everything came together kind of last minute. I’m excited about the opportunity with Derrick Walker, Vision Racing and Subway as the sponsor,” said Tracy.

“(Practice) went as well as you could hope for. We hoped to come in and have the car run all day, and we did that. The crew did a great job. They had a very small amount of time to get the car ready, only a couple of weeks.

"Derrick (Walker) and his group did a great job. Tony (George) giving us this car to use, but going from an oval setup to a road course setup, so it was missing a lot of the bits. We’re pleasantly satisfied with how it went.

"I haven’t driven since Long Beach, and I haven’t driven much at all – I’ve had one test day – since Surfers (Paradise) last year. Hopefully, things will come back a little easier tomorrow and we can work on the race setup. It’s going to be a tough one. It’s a tough race, and these guys have been driving all year.”

Scott Dixon - #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing:
"I wouldn't say it's huge fun trying to keep tabs on where people are, people that you're chasing for a championship," said Dixon.

"But, you know, that's the deal about it. And it's not all about going out and winning races. It's about having consistency, finishing races, making the maximum of every situation."

Helio Castroneves - #3 Team Penske Racing:
"In my situation, obviously Scott has a big lead on the championship,” said Castroneves.

“I mean, it's not over. I'm going for it. I have to try not only to win a race but to be there in front of him every race. We're definitely going to try to do a little bit more aggressiveness, but not stupid, just aggressive."

Ryan Briscoe - #6 Team Penske Racing:
“I always enjoy going to new circuits, and from what I’ve heard about the track in Edmonton, I’m definitely looking forward to this weekend,” said Briscoe.

“The other drivers have been saying that it’s a lot like Cleveland in that it’s an airport circuit that’s wide and fast with a lot of passing areas and different lines to try.

“If this is the case, I expect it to be a very competitive race with a lot of action for the fans. I hope I can carry the momentum from last weekend’s win at Mid-Ohio into Edmonton."

ENTRY LIST: Rexall Edmonton Indy at Edmonton City Centre Airport
Car - Driver - Entrant
2 - A.J. Foyt IV - Vision Racing
3 - Helio Castroneves - Team Penske
4 - Vitor Meira - Panther Racing
5 - Oriol Servia - KV Racing Technology
6 - Ryan Briscoe - Team Penske
7 - Danica Patrick - Andretti Green Racing
8 - Will Power (R) - KV Racing Technology
9 - Scott Dixon - Target Chip Ganassi Racing
10 - Dan Wheldon - Target Chip Ganassi Racing
11 - Tony Kanaan - Andretti Green Racing
14 - Darren Manning - A.J. Foyt Enterprises
15 - Buddy Rice - Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
17 - Ryan Hunter-Reay - Rahal Letterman Racing
18 - Bruno Junqueira - Dale Coyne Racing
19 - Mario Moraes (R) - Dale Coyne Racing
20 - Ed Carpenter - Vision Racing
22 - Paul Tracy - Vision Racing
23 - Townsend Bell - Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
25 - Marty Roth - Roth Racing
26 - Marco Andretti - Andretti Green Racing
27 - Hideki Mutoh (R) - Andretti Green Racing
33 - E.J. Viso (R) - HVM Racing
34 - Jaime Camara (R) - Conquest Racing
36 - Enrique Bernoldi (R) - Conquest Racing
96 - Mario Dominguez (R) - Pacific Coast Motorsports
02 - Justin Wilson (R) - Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
06 - Graham Rahal (R) - Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
All cars use Dallara chassis, Honda engines and Firestone tires. Issued: 7/22/08

REXALL EDMONTON INDY RACE-NOTES
- This is the first IndyCar Series event at Edmonton although eight drivers entered combined to make 18 Champ Car starts at the circuit in the last three years. Mario Dominguez, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Bruno Junqueira, Will Power, Graham Rahal, Oriol Servia, Paul Tracy and Justin Wilson each made at least one start at Edmonton.
- Team Penske drivers have won the last two pole positions on road/street courses. Ryan Briscoe won the pole at Watkins Glen, and Helio Castroneves won the pole at Mid-Ohio.
- Mid-Ohio was the first race this season where none of the four Andretti Green Racing cars finished in the top five.
- Andretti Green Racing driver Tony Kanaan won the pole at this season’s only other street race (St. Petersburg in April).

SEASON-TO-DATE
- Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon are the only drivers to finish in the top five in nine of the 11 races this season.
- Helio Castroneves is the only driver running at the finish of every race in 2008.
- Seven drivers have won races in 2008. The IndyCar Series record is nine drivers in 1996/97, 2002, 2003 and 2005.

MILESTONES AND RECORDS:
- Helio Castroneves will attempt to make his 110th career IndyCar Series start. It would also be his 108th consecutive start.
- Helio Castroneves can establish an IndyCar Series record for most consecutive seasons with at least one win should he win the Rexall Edmonton Indy. Castroneves is tied with Scott Sharp with victories in seven consecutive seasons.
- Helio Castroneves extended his IndyCar Series record for consecutive seasons with a pole to seven when he won the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award at Nashville. His pole at Mid-Ohio was the 25th of his career.
- Tony Kanaan finished fourth at Nashville, giving him the 63rd top-five finish of his career, an IndyCar Series record.
- Scott Dixon needs to lead 32 laps to become the fifth driver to lead 2,000 laps in his career. The others to lead at least 2,000 laps are Sam Hornish Jr. (3,428), Helio Castroneves (2,833), Dan Wheldon (2,735) and Tony Kanaan (2,478).
- Scott Dixon has led 686 laps this season. The record for most laps led in a season is 889 by Tony Kanaan in 2004.
- Helio Castroneves has led laps in 66 IndyCar Series races, second only to Sam Hornish Jr., who led laps in 67 races.
- Vitor Meira has gone 88 starts without a victory in the IndyCar Series, the longest drought of any IndyCar Series driver.

INDYCAR SERIES POINTS STANDINGS – POST RACE 12 – TOP TEN
1. Scott Dixon - 455 points
2. Helio Castroneves - 397
3. Tony Kanaan - 365
4. Dan Wheldon - 364
5. Ryan Briscoe - 296
6. Danica Patrick - 284
7. Hideki Mutoh - 276
8. Marco Andretti - 263
9. Ryan Hunter-Reay - 252
10. Oriol Servia - 250
11. Will Power - 245

BOMBARDIER ROOKIE OF THE YEAR POINTS STANDINGS – POST RACE 12
1. Hideki Mutoh - 276 points
2. Will Power - 245
3. Graham Rahal - 215
4. Justin Wilson - 202
5. E.J. Viso - 202
6. Enrique Bernoldi - 182
7. Mario Moraes - 172
8. Jaime Camara - 114
9. Mario Dominguez – 86


Back | Back to top