Saturday, August 23, 2008 Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix – Infineon Raceway Round 15 of 18 in the IndyCar Series
McDONALD’S DRIVER WILSON NARROWLY MISSED THE FIRESTONE FAST SIX FOR FIRST TIME AND WILL START SEVENTH IN THE PEAK ANTIFREEZE & MOTOR OIL INDY GRAND PRIX; HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER RAHAL TO START 15TH
Justin Wilson, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I’m disappointed that we didn’t make the Firestone Fast Six for the first time this season. I thought we had the potential. The McDonald’s car was quick but just a little difficult to drive. It was right on the edge all the way around so we couldn’t quite put a lap together. I think we have the performance to gain some spots but I don’t think this track lends itself to overtaking. We’ll just have to have a smart race, stay out of trouble and keep picking them off one at a time. Maybe we can overtake but it’s only if somebody makes a mistake. We’ve seen a lot of people go off around here. It’s a tough track. The better your car is the more fuel you can save and the more chance you have of passing people in the pits. We just need to make sure the car is good tomorrow morning in the warm-up.”
FAST FACTS: Will be his first race here and 12th on a new track of 15 this season…Is ranked 16th in the point standings with 249…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 third on the street course in Edmonton.
Graham Rahal, No. 06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s a great track. I thought we would have enough to get through to the next round of qualifying but we didn’t. Obviously it’s a little frustrating because we wanted to have a good showing these last couple of road course races. We thought that our luck would be a little bit better than the other road courses other than St. Pete. Once again Lady Luck isn’t on our shoulder. It didn’t come our way. We’ll just have to try to work our way to the front in the race.”
FAST FACTS: Will be his first major open wheel race here but he has competed on the track in Star Mazda in 2005...Is his sixth event this season on a road/street course after he won in St. Pete (April 6), finishing 13th in Long Beach, eighth in Watkins Glen, 16th in Mid-Ohio and 26th in Edmonton after being hit twice…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 235 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 INFINEON RACEWAY: This is the first race for the team here. Of their 106 overall wins, 79 have come on road/street courses while 89 of their 107 poles have come on this type of track.
