Jimmy Kite Looks to Site of Debut to Keep IndyCar Momentum Strong

Jimmy Kite Looks to Site of Debut to Keep IndyCar Momentum Strong 

 

 

FOUNTAIN, Col., August 17, 2005 - Jimmy Kite (Stockbridge, Ga.) is fresh off
his highest IRL IndyCar Series finish of the season and couldn't have asked
for a better place to keep that momentum going than Pikes Peak International
Raceway (PPIR). The one-mile PPIR oval was the site of Kite's debut in
IndyCar competition in June, 1997 and has, like Kentucky Speedway of last
weekend's 10th-place run, been a favorite for the driver of the No. 91
Ethanol/ Life Fitness Toyota-powered Dallara. Sunday's Indy 225 marks the
ninth start of the season for Kite since joining Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing at
Indianapolis in May. 

 

Kite started ninth in his IndyCar premiere in '97. Though he would finish
20th, he took an immediate liking to IndyCar style short track racing. He
followed his debut by leading 11 laps at Lowe's Motor Speedway one month
later in his second Indy Racing League-sanctioned event. He has raced at
Pikes Peak four times in IndyCars with a track high finish of eighth in
1999. In his last IndyCar appearance here, in 2000, Kite was fast in one of
only two year-old chassis before a faulty fuel pump sidelined him. 

 

"As good of a run as we had at Kentucky, I'm really looking forward to
getting to Pikes Peak," commented Kite. "Pikes Peak was where I made my
first IndyCar start so, from a sentimental side, it is an important race to
me. But, I've always raced well there too. It's like Kentucky, the track
just clicked right away with me. Kentucky was the first track since Texas
that I had been to in an IndyCar before. We also got to test there. That
really helped us. We didn't get to test at Pikes Peak but I have a lot of
laps there. Our short track program has been our strong suit until we got
the mile and a half tracks figured out last weekend. So that is pretty
encouraging too. We've been really good on short tracks all year. Now that
we have a good short track and intermediate track setup, I am really feeling
good about the rest of the season. Toyota has been doing a lot of R&D all
year and I think that is starting to pay off now for the Ethanol Hemelgarn
team. It's been a long, tough year and Kentucky was the highlight so far.
But, hopefully, it won't be THE highlight at the end of the year."

 

The Indy 225 can be seen live on ABC Sports at 3:30 PM (EDT), Sunday, August
21. 

 

To learn more about Jimmy Kite, please visit www.JimmyKite.com
<http://www.jimmykite.com/> . For the Jimmy Kite Fan Club, log-on to
www.JimmyKiteFans.com <http://www.jimmykitefans.com/> . For more on Ethanol
Hemelgarn Racing, please see www.HemelgarnRacing.com
<http://www.hemelgarnracing.com/> .