IRL Grand Prix of Sonoma Fact Sheet, Aug. 25-27
Contact: John Cardinale (707) 933-3907 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma Fact Sheet, Infineon Raceway, Aug. 25-27 What: The IRL IndyCar(r) Series returns to Infineon Raceway for the second consecutive year for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. The weekend will also feature the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series, Indy Pro Series(tm) and the Historic Grand Prix. When: Aug. 25-27. The Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma is the penultimate event on the IRL's 14-race schedule for 2006. The featured event will take place on Sunday, Aug. 27, at 12:30 p.m. (Pacific) Circuit/Length: 12-turn, 2.26-mile road course. The Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma will span 80 laps. Entries: Twenty-one cars started the 2005 IRL main event. Schedule: ALL TIMES PACIFIC Friday, Aug. 25: Grand-Am Practice 9 a.m.-9:45 a.m.; IndyCar(r) Practice, 10 a.m.-12:05 p.m.; Indy Pro Series(tm) Qualifying, 12:15 p.m.-1 p.m.; IndyCar(r) Practice, 2 p.m.-3 p.m.; Indy Pro Series(tm) Qualifying, 3:40 p.m.-4:25 p.m.; Grand-Am Qualifying, 4:45 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26: IndyCar(r) Practice, 9:30 a.m.-10:35 a.m.; IndyCar(r) Qualifying, 12:05 p.m.-1:20 p.m.; Indy Pro Series(tm) race, 1:45 p.m., Grand-Am main event, 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27: Indy Pro Series(tm) race, 10:20 a.m.; Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, 12:30 p.m. Television (Pacific): Television: Sunday, Aug. 27, 12:30 p.m., ESPN. What to expect: Tony Kanaan is the defending champion at Infineon Raceway, having led 33 of 80 laps in last year's event. ... Helio Castroneves, a favorite for the road course event, was taken out of the 2005 race on lap 19 after an on-track incident with Ryan Briscoe and Danica Patrick... Rookie-standout Patrick qualified 16th at Infineon Raceway last year and finished 20th after her on-track incident.... Dario Franchitti set the mark for biggest improvement from qualifying to finish in 2005 when he went from 21st to 8th.... Marco Andretti, son of Michael Andretti, will visit Infineon Raceway for the first time behind the wheel of an IndyCar. He claimed victory in the 2005 Indy Pro Series(tm) race on the road course.... Dan Wheldon claimed the 2005 IRL championship with six wins. ... Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske) enters as the reigning champion of the Indianapolis 500. 2006 IRL Season Thus Far: Castroneves currently holds the lead in IRL over Hornish, Jr. and Wheldon in one of the tightest points battles in IRL history.... Castroneves has claimed four victories so far this season (St. Petersburg, Fla., Japan, Texas and Michigan), the most by any driver.... Dixon claimed the first of his two victories so far this season at Watkins Glen (N.Y.), the only other permanent road course on the 2006 schedule.... Patrick has earned six top-10 finishes so far this season, including two fourth-place finishes (Nashville and Milwaukee). Qualifying/Race Records: Qualifying: Ryan Briscoe, August 27, 2005, 1:16.491/108.25 mph Race: Tony Kanaan, August 28, 2005, 1:18.308/105.74 mph Grand-Am: The weekend will also feature the debut of the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series at Infineon Raceway. The series will be the main event on Saturday (3 p.m. Pacific), and is headlined by the Daytona Prototype class, which features exotic racecars that reach top speeds of 185 mph. The GT class makes up the other half of the Rolex Series lineup and features race-prepared versions of today's popular high-performance sports cars and coupes such as the BMW M3, Porsche GT3 and the Pontiac GTO. Expect more than 40 entries on the track between the GT and Daytona Prototype classes. The Grand-Am Series will compete on the traditional 12-turn, 2.52-mile road course. 2006 Grand-Am Season Thus Far: Jorg Bergmeister and Colin Braun (Krohn Racing) have led the way in the 2006 Grand-Am season with three overall victories, including back-to-back wins at Daytona (Fla.) and Barber Motorsports Park (Ala.). Road-course specialist Boris Said will drive in Braun's place at Infineon Raceway, and the team will look to add to its strong lead in driver and team points standings.... Max Angelelli (SunTrust Racing), Auburn resident Scott Pruett (CompUSA Chip Ganassi) and Luis Diaz (CompUSA Chip Ganassi) have also had strong performances this season and are currently ranked second, third and fourth (respectively) in driver points standings... Notable drivers in the series include Adrian Fernandez (Lowe's Fernandez Racing), Alex Gurney (Gainsco/Blackhawk Racing) and Christian Fittipaldi (Crown Royal Special Reserve).... Local drivers Memo Gidley (Novato, Playboy/Uniden Racing) and Greg Pickett (Alamo, Team Cytosport) will look for victory at their home track. Pickett's co-driver will be his son-in-law and IRL IndyCar(r) driver Scott Sharp. Tickets: In advance, tickets are $10 on Friday, $35 on Saturday and $55 on Sunday. Weekend passes are available for $75. Children 12-and-under are FREE on Friday and Saturday, and $20 on Sunday. Parking is FREE. Call 800-870-RACE, visit www.infineonraceway.com <http://www.searspoint.com/> or www.ticketmaster.com <http://www.ticketmaster.com/> . PR Contacts: Infineon Raceway: John Cardinale, jcardinale@infineonraceway.com (707-933-3907); Diana Rose, drose@infineonraceway.com (707-933-3918); Jennifer Enos, jenos@infineonraceway.com (707-933-3981) IRL: Tom Savage, tsavage@indyracing.com (317-492-6566). Grand-Am: Kevin Wilkerson, KWilkersn@aol.com (310-545-8701 or 310-990-4020) Web-sites: www.indycar.com <http://www.indycar.com/> . Detailed media information can be accessed at www.indycar.com/media. LOGIN: Media; PASSWORD: Indyracing. Infineon Raceway information and photos can be found at www.infineonraceway.com/media_press. Password: Sonoma. Grand-Am media information can be found at www.grandamerican.com/media. ### --------------------------- John Cardinale VP of Media/Community Relations Infineon Raceway Highways 37 &121, Sonoma, CA 95476 wk: 707-933-3907 cell: 707-334-9805