ArcaEx 2004 Firestone Indy 200 Fact Sheet
If the following text-only file is not easily readable, particularly any tables of numbers, try enlarging this window since every line has a forced end and there is no word-wrap. Otherwise, this report will look and print better from the following PDF file: http://www.sportssystems.com/applib/PDFload.cfm?file=/email/filehost/NX299.pdf&id=BC299NX9EC574 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For Immediate Release July 13, 2004 Indianapolis, Ind. ArcaEx Driver Dario Franchitti 2004 Firestone Indy 200 Fact Sheet Who: #27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone driver Dario Franchitti What: Firestone Indy 200, Round 8 of the Indy Racing League® IndyCar® Series Where: Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tennessee When: Saturday, July 17, 2004 Television: ESPN (Live), 7 p.m. (EDT) Dario Franchitti on the Firestone Indy 200: "I'm looking forward to racing at Nashville. The day that the IndyCar Series raced at Nashville in 2003 I was in surgery getting my back done, so I'm hoping to have a lot more fun this year. It will certainly be another new experience for me. My lap total there is six and I did all those in my Acura MDX after the media luncheon there a couple weeks back. I haven't even been able to watch a past Nashville race yet, so that is something I'll do before we get there. Nashville has become my home here in the (United) States and I'll have a lot of friends and family coming, so hopefully it will be a good weekend for the ArcaEx team." Dario Franchitti Facts Saturday's race will mark Franchitti's 12th career IndyCar Series start and his first at Nashville Superspeedway. In his most recent outing, Franchitti earned his second top-five finish over the past three outings after starting at the back of the field at Kansas. Franchitti recorded a season-best second-place finish at Texas on June 12. Over the past three events (Texas, Richmond and Kansas) Franchitti has registered the second-highest number of laps led (107) among IndyCar Series drivers, second only to Team 7-Eleven teammate Tony Kanaan (220). Franchitti earned his first MBNA Pole Award when he qualified on pole position at Texas on June 10. Franchitti's second-place effort at Texas marked the highest finish by the ArcaEx team since winning at Kansas in July, 2003 with driver Bryan Herta at the wheel. Franchitti earned his first top-five finish of the 2004 IndyCar Series season with his second- place effort at Texas. Franchitti has 10 major open-wheel racing victories and 12 career pole positions. Dario Franchitti -- IndyCar Series Statistics Top Top Laps Starts Wins 5 10 Poles Led Pts (Rk) Earnings 2004 7 0 2 3 1 108 161 (7th) $593,090 Career 11 0 3 5 1 108 - $883,755 ArcaEx, 2004 Firestone Indy 200 Fact Sheet Continued Andretti Green Racing Team Facts All four Andretti Green Racing entries finished in the top 10 at Kansas, marking the first time since Sept. 15, 1996 (Las Vegas) that an IRL IndyCar Series team has accomplished that feat. Andretti Green entries have won four of seven IndyCar Series events this season. Over the past three events (Texas, Richmond and Kansas), Andretti Green has combined to lead 391 of a possible 650 laps (60.2 percent). AGR has led 865 of 1,430 total laps run in 2004 (60.5 percent). Andretti Green Racing has had at least one car in the top five in 13 consecutive IndyCar Series events dating back to Aug. 10, 2003, which stands as the longest active streak in the series. AGR has placed two cars in the top five of an event 13 times, including the past six events this season. Andretti Green drivers occupy the top two spots in the IndyCar Series point standings (Kanaan - 275, Wheldon - 247). Andretti Green won both the pole (Wheldon, March 20; Wheldon, April 16; Franchitti, June 10) and race (Kanaan, March 21; Wheldon, April 17; Kanaan, June 12) at Phoenix, Twin Ring Motegi and Texas. Andretti Green Racing posted results of second (Tony Kanaan), third (Dan Wheldon), fourth (Bryan Herta) and 14th (Franchitti) at the 88th Indianapolis 500. AGR entries have combined for 38 top-five finishes in 23 career IndyCar Series races. Andretti Green Racing has six wins and six poles since joining the IndyCar Series in 2003. Allen McDonald, Race Engineer, #27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone, on the Firestone Indy 200: "We had a good race at Nashville last year with Bryan Herta, so we have a good baseline setup for the car. Obviously, Dario is new to the Nashville track, but he's proven that he can get to know a track pretty quickly. I'm sure he'll settle in pretty fast and we'll have a good race." -AGR- Contact: Kent Johnson, (317) 872-2700 ext 241, kent.johnson@andrettigreenracing.com Al Larsen, (317) 872-2700 ext 239, alan.larsen@andrettigreenracing.com