WHELDON NOMINATED FOR THIRD QUARTER DRIVER OF THE YEAR AWARD
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/YK384.pdf&id=BC384YK9EC574 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For Immediate Release WHELDON NOMINATED FOR THIRD QUARTER DRIVER OF THE YEAR AWARD INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Sept. 3, 2004) - Klein Tools/Jim Beam driver Dan Wheldon has been nominated for Speed Channel's Driver of the Year award for the third quarter of 2004. Wheldon, the only Indy Racing LeagueŽ IndyCarŽ Series driver nominated in the third quarter, is currently second in the IndyCar Series points championship chase. He trails Andretti Green Racing teammate, Tony Kanaan, by 72 points with three races remaining. To vote for Wheldon for third quarter Driver of the Year, fans can log onto www.speedtv.com/features/577/. Wheldon is one of three drivers in the IndyCar Series with three wins during the 2004 season. The 2003 IRL IndyCar Series Rookie-of-the-Year drove to his first career IndyCar Series win in April at the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan. He picked up another victory at the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway, and is coming off a win at the final IndyCar Series event at Nazareth Speedway, where he led the final 79 laps to garner his third win. Wheldon, who pilots the #26 Klein Tools/Jim Beam Dallara/Honda/Firestone, leads the IndyCar Series in top-three finishes with nine, including a current streak of four in a row. Andretti Green Racing drivers have won eight of the 13 IndyCar Series races and are coming off a 1-2-3 finish at Nazareth, the first time that has happened in IRL history. Other third quarter nominees include Jeff Gordon (NASCAR), Greg Anderson (NHRA), Sebastien Bourdais (Champ Car), Carl Edwards (NASCAR), Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR), Tommy Kendall (Trans-Am), and Steve Kinser (World of Outlaws). Previous winners of the Driver of the Year award include AGR co-owner Michael Andretti, who won the award in 1991. Mario Andretti won the first award, presented in 1967, and won the award twice more, once in 1978 and again in 1984. The IndyCar Series season resumes on Sunday, Sept. 12, with the Delphi Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. The 14th race of the 2004 schedule will be televised by ABC Sports with coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m. (EDT). Dan Wheldon, #26 Klein Tools/Jim Beam Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "It's an incredible honor to be nominated alongside such an experienced group of drivers; a group that I respect a great deal. It really validates what the #26 Klein Tools/Jim Beam crew has been doing all season. An IndyCar Series driver has never won the award, so for me to be included among the third quarter nominations really means a lot to me." -AGR- Contact: Rob Cleveland, (317) 872-2700 ext 264, rob.cleveland@andrettigreenracing.com Al Larsen, (317) 872-2700 ext 239, alan.larsen@andrettigreenracing.com