Friday, August 08, 2008
Meijer Indy 300 – Kentucky Speedway
Round 14 of 18 in the IndyCar Series

McDONALD’S® DRIVER WILSON TO START 19TH FOR THE MEIJER INDY 300; HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER RAHAL TO START 20TH

POLE: Scott Dixon 4-lap avg. speed of 218.968 mph (L1: 24.3645, L2: 24.3309, L3: 24.3146, L4: 24.3193)
19th: Justin Wilson 4-lap avg. speed of 215.459 mph (L1: 24.7717, L2: 24.7338, L3: 24.6977, L4: 24.7109)
20th: Graham Rahal 4-lap avg. speed of 215.263 mph (L1: 24.7822, L2: 24.7499, L3: 24.7331, L4: 24.7392)



Justin Wilson, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It wasn’t too bad of a run. It was better than I expected so I am quite happy. Considering the difficulties we have had with damaging our quick car last week, we knew we would be slower in this one. It just shows that the McDonald’s team keeps working hard and pushing. Sometime soon it will turn around and come our way.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his first race here, ninth on an oval this season and 14th on an oval in his career…Is ranked 16th in the point standings with 237…Finished runner up in the Champ Car championship to the driver he recently replaced, four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais, in 2006 and 2007. Was a title contender until the conclusion of the penultimate race of each season…Highest start this season is pole on the streets of Long Beach and his highest finish is seventh on the one-mile oval in Milwaukee and ¾ mile track in Richmond.



Graham Rahal, No. 06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "The car is good we are just struggling to get speed out of it. We don’t know exactly what it is but we’re going to keep working on it. It’s got to be something because we don’t think there is any more drag we can take out of it. I was completely flat out from the time I left the pits but that is the best speed we can get. We ran around this morning on full tanks and the car was really good in traffic and on my own so I think we will be much better in the race. I think we can pull up on some guys and get some positions with the tow.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his first race here and 10th on a new track this season of 14 races…In his IndyCar Series debut on a road/street course he became the youngest winner in major open-wheel racing in North America after winning in St. Pete on 4-6-08 at 19 years, 93 days old…He is ranked 17th in series points with 225 points…His highest start this season is second on the one-mile oval in Milwaukee where he narrowly lost becoming the youngest pole winner in series history to Marco Andretti. His highest oval finish is 10th place on the .894 mile oval at Iowa Speedway.



NHLR AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY: This will be Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing’s first race here.