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INDY LIGHTS: Tony Renna looking for a repeat at Michigan

21 July 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

(Brooklyn, Mi)--PacWest Racings Indy Lights driver Tony Renna is a Super Speedway type of guy.

The driver of the #18 Motorola PacWest Lights entry has a smile crease his face every time he thinks of the Michigan Speedway the venue for Saturdays Detroit News 100 and the fifth round of the Dayton Indy Lights Championship.

Renna, 23, scored his first Lights win from the pole at Michigan in 1998 and then proved his ability on the super-fast 2-mile ovals by finishing third in the season finale at Fontana in California.

This season Renna has been struck by a lot of mechanical bad luck, but he still rests in the top 10 of the championship this weekend he is hoping to collect a bag of points and put himself back in championship contention.

Also underneath the tent at the PacWest truck is Rennas New Zealand teammate Scott Dixon who leads the championship in his Invensys/Powerware PacWest Lights machine.

Dixon, celebrating his 20th birthday on Saturday, won the opening two rounds of the championship at Long Beach and Milwaukee.

Both Renna and Dixon had a solid day of practice at Michigan today, finishing ninth and 11th respectively on the combined time sheets from all three sessions.

TONY RENNA # 18 MOTOROLA PACWEST LIGHTS 11th

"I guess you always like any track you have ever won on," said Renna.

"Michigan does hold some special memories for me, but hopefully there will be a lot more after this weekend.

"We just messed around with set-up today and ran in packs early to see how the car will handle in race traffic.

"The fact that we finished 11th today is no indication of what we can do at the weekend.

"The car is pretty well balanced and I think we will be in good shape come Saturday."

SCOTT DIXON #17 INVENSYS/POWERWARE PACWEST LIGHTS 9th

"We had a few engine problems today with an oil leak, but overall we are in good shape," said Dixon.

"Our set-up is good and we were really just concentrating on our lines today. We did a little bit of drafting work to ensure I am comfortable in traffic by the time Saturdays race comes around.

"We are flat out the entire way around here and I think the race is going to be pretty interesting."

Text provided by Brett Murray

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