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©Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Vincent/Paolella
FRANCHITTI
WINS ON FATHER'S DAY AT MILWAUKEE
Charles
Woodson's signed Helmet
© Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photo by Vincent
by Dan Peters
If
it’s Milwaukee, there is always a Green Bay Packer influence. Today,
the Milwaukee Mile welcomed Charles Woodson, a Pro Bowl defensive back
of the Super Bowl Champions. Woodson was chosen grand marshal of the
Milwaukee 225. He received a replica Packers helmet (race
car version)
that was signed by all the drivers in the race.
Woodson gave the command to start
engines from "The Fastest Seat in Sports" -- the two-seater that paces
the field to the green flag. It was driven by two-time Indianapolis 500
winner Al Unser Jr.
Ana
Beatriz. Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, and Tony Kanaan
are ready
to start..........
© Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Vincent
Dario Franchitti greets the crowds
and gets $10,000.00 for winning the pole, not a bad start for a day
where you'll win it all.
©Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Vincent
©Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Vincent
"I took it easy on him," Unser laughed as Woodson climbing from the
car. "Really? It was great. What an
exhilarating feeling to go that fast and be in a car that small holding
onto the roll cage," Woodson said. "What a great day."
A Great Day For Dario Franchitti too
Dario Franchitti dominated segments
of the race, regaining the lead on Lap 200 when Helio Castroneves had
to pit the No. 3 Guidepoint Systems Team Penske car for a quick
change of a leaking tire, giving Franchitti the lead. He cruised
to a 1.4271-second victory in the Milwaukee 225 at the Milwaukee Mile.
"That was a hell of a run today.
The first part of the race I thought I had a bit of an advantage on
everybody. Very tough, as usual here. Tough on your own just balancing
the car, but then you get in traffic and it gets really difficult. It's
the same for everyone. Then Tony (Kanaan) came marching along and he
looked really, really strong, and he gave me a hard time as usual.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Vincent
Racing with Tony is a pleasure. An absolute pleasure. Just inches
apart, giving each other room and respect, and then Helio joins the
party and does his usual blocking crap. I don't know what it's going to
take to understand blocking is not a part of what we do in the IndyCar
Series. Great day. To win here at Milwaukee is always special. It's
such hard work and a such a hard race. It's a delight for the Target
Team and we got the Downy colors in Victory Lane."
Graham Rahal #38 finished second and Oriol Servia #2 recorded a
season-high third place. Will Power advanced from the 17th starting
position to finish fourth and Danica Patrick posted her first top five
of the season.
"A great job for the Service Central team today. To come from 12th and
move up like that. We passed a lot of cars. I thought passing was going
to be tough today and it was, but we were able to do it. I'm really
proud of my guys. They gave me a great car, and yet again, qualifying
is our weak link, but time and time again we're proving we can compete
and this is one of the toughest ovals we go to, so to have that finish
is great. We're knocking on the door (of Victory Lane). It's our second
second-place finish of the year and third podium. We're getting closer.
It's going to come one of these days." Said Rahal.
A beautiful
day, a great crowd, and a fantastic race welcomes the Milwaukee Mile back for another
year, a new start.
©Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Vincent
Servia was beaming with his podium finish."It's awesome. We've been
close to the podium so many times and things just don't come easy. We
just have to work at it just like we did today. I was in a podium
position and then we had a bad stop and went back to 12th and had to go
through the field again. The car was just amazing. The restarts were a
lot of fun and I'm just so happy to give a podium to the team. My first
podium was here with them in '05. And we started on the fifth row then.
It all came back around."
Even with her best finish of the year, Patrick always finds something
to complain about. "Unfortunately, there were so many yellows that came
out about halfway through a stint in the last half of the race or so.
More green flag running would have been good for me, but we still got a
top five."
Franchitti
Now Tied with Power for Points Lead.
©Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Vincent
Franchitti, by virtue of three bonus points for earning the
PEAK Performance Pole Award and leading the most laps, tied Power
for the IZOD IndyCar Series championship points lead heading into
the race under the lights at Iowa Speedway on June 25.
"A couple double file restarts were good for me, a couple were bad,"
Power said. "I'm pretty happy to get the Verizon car up there. I guess
we are equal on points now. Good job by Dario. He came back after
Texas to teach us a lesson, so I guess we will have to be quick at Iowa.
"We just have to keep fighting away, keep having good days like this
and make no mistakes and we'll be good."
IZOD IndyCar Series Milwaukee 225 WEST ALLIS, Wis. - Results Sunday of
the Milwaukee 225 IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 1.015 mile Milwaukee
Mile, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver,
chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
Tony Kanaan #82 Crashes Late in
Race, Teammate #59 E J Viso Crashed Earlier.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Vincent/Peters
Danica
Patrick with one of the best painted rides finishes in 5th Place, but
her fans always put her in first.
©Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Vincent
Woodson gave the command to start
engines from "The Fastest Seat in Sports" -- the two-seater that paces
the field to the green flag. It was driven by two-time Indianapolis 500
winner Al Unser Jr.
"I took it easy on him," Unser
laughed as Woodson climbing from the car. "Really? It was great. What an
exhilarating feeling to go that fast and be in a car that small holding
onto the roll cage," Woodson said. "What a great day."
Great Pit
action makes all the difference in a close race...
©Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Vincent/Peters
Franchitti inherited the race lead
on Lap 200 when Helio Castroneves had to guide the No. 3 Guidepoint
Systems Team Penske car into the pits for a quick change of a tire
losing pressure and went on to 1.4271-second victory in the Milwaukee
225 at the Milwaukee Mile.
"That was a hell of a run today,"
said Franchitti, who tied Rick Mears with 29 victories (ninth on
the all-time list). "The first part of the race I thought I had a bit
of an advantage on everybody. Very tough, as usual here. Tough on your
own just balancing the car, but then you get in traffic and it gets
really difficult. It's the same for everyone.
"Then Tony (Kanaan) came marching
along and he looked really, really strong, and he gave me a hard time
as usual. Great day. To win here at Milwaukee is always special. It's
such hard work and a such a hard race. It's a delight for the Target
Team and we got the Downy colors in Victory Lane."
Milwaukee
225
WEST ALLIS, Wis. - Results Sunday
of the Milwaukee 225 IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 1.015 mile
Milwaukee Mile, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses,
driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Dario Franchitti,
Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
2. (12) Graham Rahal,
Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
3. (10) Oriol Servia,
Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
4. (17) Will Power,
Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
5. (15) Danica Patrick,
Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
6. (16) James
Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
7. (3) Scott Dixon,
Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
8. (5) Takuma Sato,
Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
9. (2) Helio
Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
10. (13) Justin Wilson,
Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
11. (8) Ryan Briscoe,
Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
12. (20) Mike Conway,
Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
13. (9) Marco Andretti,
Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
14. (21) Charlie
Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 224, Running
15. (23) James Jakes,
Dallara-Honda, 223, Running
16. (25) Ed Carpenter,
Dallara-Honda, 223, Running
17. (11) Ana Beatriz,
Dallara-Honda, 222, Running
18. (19) Alex Tagliani,
Dallara-Honda, 196, Running
19. (4) Tony Kanaan,
Dallara-Honda, 194, Contact
20. (6) EJ Viso,
Dallara-Honda, 163, Contact
21. (18) JR Hildebrand,
Dallara-Honda, 120, Contact
22. (14) Alex Lloyd,
Dallara-Honda, 79, Contact
23. (24) Sebastian
Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 78, Contact
24. (22) Vitor Meira,
Dallara-Honda, 69, Mechanical
25. (26) Simona de
Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 11, Handling
26. (7) Ryan
Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 0, Contact
Race
Statistics
Winners average speed:
117.390
Time of Race: 01:56:43.5877
Margin of victory: 1.4271
seconds.
Cautions: 6 for 62 laps
Lead changes: 5 among 3
drivers
Lap Leaders: Franchitti 1 -
115, Kanaan 116 - 134, Franchitti 135 - 153, Kanaan 154 - 167,
Castroneves 168 - 198, Franchitti 199 - 225
Point Standings: Power 271,
Franchitti 271, Servia 198, Dixon 195, Rahal 176, Kanaan 171, Briscoe
165, Tagliani 147, Sato 142, Patrick 141.
Simona de
Silvestro began practice with some bad luck
on a turn.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Peters
Simona de
Silvestro's team got her car back in for the race but she had some
mechanical issues that put her next to last in the results, but no
injuries. Ryan
Hunter-Reay takes the cake for the day when he hit the wall without
even finishing one lap.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos courtesy of Roy Schmidt
Simona de Silvestro during morning practice on Saturday.
During
her second warm up lap during qualifying, she backed her car into the
turn four wall, then hit the inside retaining wall hard. She walked out
under her own power, but was taken to a local hospital for observation.
FRANCHITTI GETS WIN,
CHAMPIONSHIP TIE ON FATHER'S DAY AT MILWAUKEE
WEST ALLIS, Wis. - Dario Franchitti
inherited the race lead on Lap 200 when Helio Castroneves had to guide
the No. 3 Guidepoint Systems Team Penske car into the pits for a quick
change of a tire losing pressure and went on to 1.4271-second victory
in the Milwaukee 225 at the Milwaukee Mile.
"That was a hell of a run today,"
said Franchitti, who tied Rick Mears with 29 victories (ninth on
the all-time list). "The first part of the race I thought I had a bit
of an advantage on everybody. Very tough, as usual here. Tough on your
own just balancing the car, but then you get in traffic and it gets
really difficult. It's the same for everyone.
"Then Tony (Kanaan) came marching
along and he looked really, really strong, and he gave me a hard time
as usual. Great day. To win here at Milwaukee is always special. It's
such hard work and a such a hard race. It's a delight for the Target
Team and we got the Downy colors in Victory Lane."
Graham Rahal finished second and
Oriol Servia recorded a season-high third place. Will Power advanced
from the 17th starting position (a season low) to finish fourth and
Danica Patrick posted her first top five of the season.
Franchitti, by virtue of three
bonus points for earning the PEAK Performance Pole Award and leading
the most laps, tied Power for the IZOD IndyCar Series championship
points lead heading into the race under the lights at Iowa Speedway on
June 25.
"A couple double file restarts were good for me, a couple were bad,"
Power said. "I'm pretty happy to get the Verizon car up there. I guess
we are equal on points now. Good job by Dario. He came back after
Texas to teach us a lesson, so I guess we will have to be quick at Iowa.
"We just have to keep fighting
away, keep having good days like this and make no mistakes and we'll be
good." Also of June 19, Esteban Guerrieri
led every lap to win the David Hobbs 100 Firestone Indy Lights race.
Guerrieri led teammate Josef Newgarden across the start-finish line by
5.5012 seconds in becoming the fourth different winner in five races.
He also closed the championship points gap on the front-running
Newgarden to 14 entering the Sukup 100 at the Iowa Speedway on June 25.
Jorge Goncalvez advanced from the
seventh starting position to finish third in the No. 4 Belardi Auto
Racing Special -- his first podium and the team's first.
Bryan Clauson overtook the No. 2
TMR-Tuvacol-Xtreme Coil Drilling car of Gustavo Yacaman on Lap 87 to
finish fourth. Clauson, competing in his second Firestone Indy Lights
race, qualified third in the No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/CURB Records/Sam
Schmidt Motorsports car on a busy day at the track for the Noblesville,
Ind., resident
DAY 2 NOTEBOOK:
Simona de Silvestro, whose car made
rear end contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4 during the second
warm-up lap of her qualifying run at the Milwaukee Mile, was cleared to
drive this morning by INDYCAR medical director Dr. Michael Olinger.
She will start 26th in the
Milwaukee 225 in the No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy car. The HVM
Racing crew worked overnight to repair the car.
De Silvestro was taken to the
infield care center and was transfered by ground to Froedert Medical
Center for further observation. She was released about 10:15 p.m.
(local time).
It was the second on-track incident
in a month for de Silvestro, who suffered first- and second-degree
burns to her hands in a practice day crash at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway.
Charles Woodson, grand marshal of
the Milwaukee 225 and a Pro Bowl defensive back for the Super Bowl
champion Green Bay Packers, received a replica Packers helmet (race car
version) that was signed by all the drivers in the race. Woodson gave the command to start
engines from "The Fastest Seat in Sports" -- the two-seater that paces
the field to the green flag. It was driven by two-time Indianapolis 500
winner Al Unser Jr. "I took it easy on him," Unser
laughed as Woodson climbing from the car. "Really? It was great. What an
exhilarating feeling to go that fast and be in a car that small holding
onto the roll cage," Woodson said. "What a great day."
Esteban's
Guerrieri's first win in the series.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago
Inc. photos by Peters/Paolella
DAVID HOBBS 100 POST-RACE NOTES:
· This is Esteban's
Guerrieri's first win in Firestone Indy Lights. He finished second in
the last two races at Long Beach and Indianapolis.
· This is Sam Schmidt
Motorsports' third consecutive win and it's 40th Firestone Indy Lights
win.
· Josef Newgarden finished
second, his third podium finish in five starts. Newgarden leads the
Firestone Indy Lights point standings by 14 points over Esteban
Guerrieri.
· Guerrieri is the fourth
different winner in five races this season.
· Jorge Goncalvez finished
third. It is his first podium finish and the first for Belardi Auto
Racing, whose owner Brian Belardi hails from Grafton, Wis.
· Bryan Clauson finished
fourth, his second-consecutive top five. Clauson finished ninth in the
USAC Silver Crown Milwaukee 100 and 16th in the USAC Midget Feature.
DAVID
HOBBS 100 POST-RACE QUOTES:
ESTEBAN GUERRIERI: (No. 7
Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, winner David Hobbs 100): "It wasn't
a big challenge, only on the start with Josef (Newgarden). The car was
really awesome for the whole race. We just had to keep going at the
same pace. I'm really pleased for Sam Schmidt Motorsport and Lucas Oil.
They make a big effort to bring the car to victory lane. This my first
win so I'm really happy."
JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 11
Copart/ScoreBig/Robo Pong/SSM, finished second): "It was a great points
scoring weekend for the whole team, especially for us. We've talked
about being consistent every weekend here throughout the rest of the
year. It's great for the team to get a win with Esteban. He did a
great job so I'm really happy for the team. We just got to keep doing
this every weekend. Hopefully we can get back up to the top step
but if we're scoring points and getting podiums, we're in good shape."
JORGE GONCALVEZ (No. 4 Belardi
Auto Racing Special, finished third): "I feel pretty good. We
started seventh and made some gains, so it was good. The car is awesome
to drive and it was a good result."
BRYAN CLAUSON (No. 77 Mazda
Road to Indy/CURB Records/SSM, finished fourth): "We were really tight
from the outset. I was working hard inside the car to get it to turn.
It was a character building day. I didn't have a fourth place
start but got back to there. I just made adjustments, changed the lines
and I found something that made it better.
GUSTAVO YACAMAN (No.2
TMR-Tuvacol-Xtreme Coil Drilling, finished fifth): "The car started out
very good, and we got up to third place, but I ran out of adjustments
before the race ended. I was fighting a bad understeer at the end of
the race and just couldn't hold on to third place."
MILWAUKEE
225 POST-RACE NOTES:
This is Dario Franchitti's third
win of 2011 and the 29th win of his Indy car career. He also won at St.
Petersburg and Texas1 earlier this year.
Graham Rahal finished second,
matching his season-best finish at Sao Paulo. Rahal has finished on the
podium three times this season. Rahal's father, Bobby, finished second
three times at Milwaukee in his Indy car career.
Oriol Servia finished third, his
best finish of the season. Servia score his first Indy car podium at
Milwaukee with Newman/Haas Racing in 2005.
Will Power finished fourth, his
sixth top-five finish of the season.
Danica Patrick finished fifth, her
first top-five of the season and first top-five since she finished
second at last season's finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
James Hinchcliffe finished sixth
and was the highest-finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate.
MILWAUKEE
225 POST- RACE QUOTES:
DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10
Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Milwaukee 225 winner): "That was a hell of
a run today. The first part of the race I thought I had a bit of an
advantage on everybody. Very tough, as usual here. Tough on your own
just balancing the car, but then you get in traffic and it gets really
difficult. It's the same for everyone. Then Tony (Kanaan) came marching
along and he looked really, really strong, and he gave me a hard time
as usual. Racing with Tony is a pleasure. An absolute pleasure. Just
inches apart, giving each other room and respect, and then Helio joins
the party and does his usual blocking crap. I don't know what it's
going to take to understand blocking is not a part of what we do in the
IndyCar Series. Great day. To win here at Milwaukee is always special.
It's such hard work and a such a hard race. It's a delight for the
Target Team and we got the Downy colors in Victory Lane."
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 38 Service
Central, finished second): "A great job for the Service Central team
today. To come from 12th and move up like that. We passed a lot of
cars. I thought passing was going to be tough today and it was, but we
were able to do it. I'm really proud of my guys. They gave me a great
car, and yet again, qualifying is our weak link, but time and time
again we're proving we can compete and this is one of the toughest
ovals we go to, so to have that finish is great. We're knocking on the
door (of Victory Lane). It's our second second-place finish of the year
and third podium. We're getting closer. It's going to come one of these
days."
ORIOL SERVIA (No. 2
Telemundo/Newman Haas Racing, finished third): "It's awesome. We've
been close to the podium so many times and things just don't come easy.
We just have to work at it just like we did today. I was in a podium
position and then we had a bad stop and went back to 12th and had to go
through the field again. The car was just amazing. The restarts were a
lot of fun and I'm just so happy to give a podium to the team. My first
podium was here with them in '05. And we started on the fifth row then.
It all came back around."
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon
Team Penske, finished fourth): "I guess we're equal on points so you
just have to keep fighting away, keep having good days like this and
make no mistakes and we'll be good. I was just fighting like a dog to
get those positions."
DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Team
GoDaddy finished fifth): "Unfortunately, there were so many yellows
that came out about halfway through a stint in the last half of the
race or so. More green flag running would have been good for me, but we
still got a top five."
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 06
Sprott/Newman Haas Racing, finished sixth): "The race was a lot of fun!
Honestly, the Sprott car was so good and the team did such a good job
in the pits. Huge props to the boys and a big thanks to Oriol. I didn't
test here and in practice I was getting us going in the wrong direction
so we really leaned on him in qualifying and for the race setup and the
car was great. We were able to drive around some people, had some
great, great pit stops; the crew was unbelievable. To get a top-six at
a track like this on your first crack at it is something we can be
pretty happy with. Congratulations to Oriol. The team told me he went
to the back after a bad stop and then on the restart he blew by me. He
had a great race and a well-deserved podium."
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip
Ganassi Racing, finished seventh): "We never had the balance of the No.
9 Target car right all day. It was worse off of (Turns) 3 and 4 then we
had the incident with the No. 5 car in the pits. It was one of those
days."
TAKUMA SATO (No. 5 KV Racing
Technology - Lotus, finished eighth): "It was a tough, long race.. I
was able to run a comfortable pace at the start of the race. In the
middle of the stint I started struggled with the balance and it was
difficult to maintain the pace. Then during the pit stop it was very
crowded and I got tangled up getting into the pit box. So I got a drive
through penalty which put me at the back of the field and down a lap,
but over the next two caution yellows we managed to get our lap back
and I fought my way back into the top-10. I want to give a big thank
you to my crew. They did a great job. It was a difficult day for the
team, but I had a good experience in my first Milwaukee race."
JUSTIN WILSON (No. 22 Dad's
Root Beer/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, finished 10th): "The Dad's Root
Beer car was pretty good. We were able to get out there and pass
people. I was really happy and with the changes that we made all
through the race. I was hoping that we could finish a little bit higher
with the car that good, but that's just how it goes. You get boxed in
on those re-starts and you have a good car, but there is nothing you
can do when you have nowhere to go. It's just part of it when you have
someone ahead of you that checks up and you get held out. Other than
that, I think that it's been a pretty good day."
ANA BEATRIZ (No. 24 Team
Ipiranga/Dreyer & Reinbold): "We had a great start and we got up to
ninth or something. The Ipiranga car seemed to be good, but it was a
little bit tough to stay in traffic and to work on passing people. I
definitely couldn't work on passing people and that really destroyed
our race today. We had people slow in front of us and we never could
pass them and we lost momentum. I was trying to keep my lap because
Dario Franchitti was behind me and as soon as I went a little bit
higher I got in the dirty part of the track and brushed the wall. It
hurt the suspension a little bit and we lost two laps because of that.
It was really frustrating that we couldn't put it all together. I felt
that some people were really blocking hard today which really screwed
us up. We just need to keep working hard and move onto Iowa.."
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team
Venom Energy): "We didn't get the results we were hoping for with the
Venom car today. When it came down to the full field of traffic, we
just didn't have the speed we needed. We'll keep working at it and aim
for better results next weekend in Iowa."
MIKE CONWAY (No. 27 Team
DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda): "It was tough, but we managed to stay on the
lead lap, which was a positive. We stayed out of trouble and made a few
good calls, which also helped us pick off the field bit-by-bit. The
DHL/Sun Drop car was pretty good; we just tried to dial it in as the
day went on, although we could have used a bit more. Hopefully, we'll
build on that next weekend at Iowa."
ED CARPENTER (No. 67 Direct
Supply/Sarah Fisher Racing): "The way this weekend went, I guess we're
lucky just to put the car in the trailer in one piece. Every once in a
while we thought we were going to have something figured out, but we
just stunk all weekend. I feel terrible for Direct Supply and Sarah and
Andy. We should have been better here; we tested and we had a three-day
race weekend, but didn't really improve. It's just really frustrating,
and it's as much my fault as anyone's."
ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 77 Bowers
& Wilkins/Sam Schmidt Motorsports): "There's no point in trying to
make things worse than what they are. The car was very, very nervous.
We struggled all weekend with the set-up.. I think in qualifying, we
made an improvement, but we were not 100 percent sure we were going in
the right direction. We tried something different in the race, but it
was just a guess we took. We got it wrong. Unfortunately, it made it a
very difficult car to drive. We started the race in an aggressive mode
to try and make some positions up really quick, but the car was very,
very loose. On a short track like this, it makes for a very long race.
Because it is a short track, you don't want to be in anyone's way and
yet keep it off the wall. The team never gave up. We made a big change
in the pits (changed rear springs), and that was the right thing to do
because I don't think I never would have made it to the finish."
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 Team
GoDaddy.com): "It's extremely unfortunate. The car just broke loose on
the way in and I just couldn't save it. I feel bad for the guys. We had
a good car here this weekend. We qualified seventh, which was our
highest oval qualifying result yet, so we were really looking forward
to it. But, that's racing. It happens. We'll just keep our heads up and
move on to Iowa.. We were looking to really represent GoDaddy, DHL and
Sun Drop really well here this weekend, but it wasn't meant to be and
I'm just disappointed for them."
ALEX LLOYD (No. 19 Boy Scouts
of America): "I had some contact with J.R. (Hildebrand) at the
beginning of the race, which was my fault. I didn't know he was on the
outside of me and I came up into him. I hit my right rear. We had a
huge vibration during that first stint. I was hoping it was something
to do with the tire but I don't know, honestly. We changed tires and
all I know is that I got lose and I caught it once but I couldn't catch
it the second time. Unfortunately, we ended up in the wall and took
Sebastian (Saavedra) with us which was unfortunate. This is
disappointing for the Boy Scouts car. We didn't this hit because we
were struggling at the beginning of the race, but we were hanging in
there and I think we need to continue to hang in there and hope for
decent results.
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 34
Conquest Racing): "This is very sad. We were doing and a great job and
we had a really great race car. We are looking at everything that the
weekend brought and unfortunately we ended up involved in something
that I couldn't get out of. I saw Alex (Lyod) get lose in turn 1 and I
had nowhere to go or nothing to do to avoid it. It is very
disappointing as we were strong this weekend. Conquest racing was doing
a great job but it was just one of those days.
JR HILDEBRAND (No. 4 National
Guard Panther Racing): "I was struggling with the car a little bit, for
sure. At that point, I'm kind of trying to stay out of my own way out
there. We're just trying to survive through the race. With the leaders
going by, a lot of the guys can stay on the bottom and some of the guys
just sort of can't. It's not their fault. I just got through with TK
(Tony Kanaan), and I got shoved up in the marbles. Once I got up there,
I couldn't get it back.
VITOR MEIRA (No. 14 ABC Supply
Co./A.J. Foyt Racing): "Like AJ said, and he has lots of experience,
when a weekend starts bad it normally doesn't stop and it usually ends
bad too. It was a smart decision but a tough one too."
TONY KANAAN (No. 82 GEICO-KV
Racing Technology-Lotus): "I was trying. (If you're) trying to win
races, that's the way it is. I saw the opportunity when Helio
(Castroneves) got traffic, stepped on it and lost the rear. It's a
shame. It's my fault. But, hey, it was a fun race. We raced each other
hard the whole race. Unfortunately, I'm human. I make mistakes
sometimes as well. I'd rather make a mistake trying hard then actually
not trying at all."
E.J. VISO (No. 59 PDVSA-KV
Racing Technology-Lotus): "We had an amazing race and a great setup
that was a combination of all my teammate's preferences. I really think
I had a good car, maybe not as fast as the leaders but we had a car to
finish in the top five at the most. I was passing the lap car and I got
high and went into the marbles and it sent me into the wall. That is
what happen and it is unfortunate. I feel bad for the mechanics and my
crew because they put this car together for me. I am looking forward to
Iowa now and there is nothing else we can do."
***
The next IZOD IndyCar
Series race is the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway on June 25. It
will be telecast by VERSUS at 8 p.m. (EDT). The next Firestone Indy
Lights race is the Sukup 100 at Iowa Speedway. It will be televised
live by VERSUS at 5:30 p.m. (EDT).
MILWAUKEE 225 OFFERS A SPECIAL
“FATHER’S DAY” GIFT !!!
SELECTED SEATS NOW AVAILABLE FOR 2-FOR-1 BARGAIN
AB Promotions Wants To Introduce High Speed IZOD
IndyCar Series Racing To New Fans
WEST ALLIS, Wis.
(June 16, 2011) – AB Promotions, the new Milwaukee 225 race organizer,
is offering a sensational “Father’s Day” gift to racing fans this
weekend at the famed Milwaukee Mile in the Wisconsin State Fair Park.
Racing fans that
purchase a ticket for race day (Sunday, June 19) will receive one race
day (Sunday) ticket FREE.
Beginning at 5
p.m. CDT today, AB Promotions have released a portion of unsold tickets
on a “buy one, get one free” basis. Quantities of these tickets
are limited and the offer will only be available while supplies last.
“We feel more
people should experience the excitement of the drivers and teams of the
IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, Star Mazda Championship and
the USF2000 Championship,” said R. Christopher McGrath, CEO of AB
Promotions. “This offer is a way to introduce someone new to the
sport, or for others to become reacquainted with it. By making
this offer, AB Promotions is also signaling its commitment to providing
great racing at the Milwaukee Mile, and as an expression of gratitude
to the fans and businesses that have supported its effort to return
professional racing to the Mile.”
Recognizing the
support of the exciting ticket holders, AB Promotions is allowing the
fans who hold tickets purchased prior to today to receive a free
companion ticket with each seat they have already purchased.
Existing fans with tickets issued on or before noon today (June 16,
2011) can bring that ticket to the gate on race day along with a
companion and will receive free admission to the event. These are
courtesies that are extended only at the gate.
Seating
will be as available, with reserved ticket holders seats
protected. This offer does not apply to VIP, Pit & Paddock
Passes, Infield Parking, or Famous Dave’s Corner.
Companion ticket
may not be redeemed for cash or credit and may not be combined with any
other offer.
“We’re making
this limited offer for several reasons,” said McGrath. “We would
love to fill the house at the Mile and introduce people to this
exciting brand of racing. Being a father of three, I know it is a
special gift for the ‘dad’s’ out there to have a great day at the
races. We hope the racing fans take the opportunity for this
unique offer and continue bring racing back to the legendary Milwaukee
Mile.
Tickets for the June 17-19 Milwaukee 225 are on sale at the ticket
office located at 7722 Greenfield Ave. in West Allis or through the
www.milwaukeemile2011.com website.
.
o
Chicago
Professional Sports Teams |
