Road Runner Turbo Indy 300

[DanicaFan]

Race 5 of 17

Race - Road Runner Turbo Indy 300

Location - Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, KS

Date - Saturday, May 1st

Time & TV Schedule - 1:30PM Eastern Time (2:00 Green Flag) ABC

Course Type - 1.5 Mile Oval

Distance - 200 Laps / 300 Miles

Practice Sessions - Friday, April 30th - 11:00am-12:00pm Eastern, 2:00pm -3:00pm Eastern

Qualifications - Friday, April 30th - 5:00-6:30pm Eastern

2009 Winner - Scott Dixon

[DanicaFan]

Here is the track layout..

[JagtechOhio]

Attendandance figures from Nascar.com, Feb. 2010:

"We all know Kansas Speedway, a place that seats 81,687 and generally sells all of them plus puts another 10,000 in the infield, is about to get a second date."

Hope there are 100,000 people there for the IICS Race. It would be easy to count them on TV.

There is a practice session at Kansas tomorrow. If you have purchased a race ticket, word is you can get in to watch it.

Again, thanks to DF for making life easy...especially the time zone info, it can get confusing.

[DanicaFan]

You are welcome again Jag.

Yes, Jay Howard tested at Kansas Speedway today.

Tomorrow, the drivers testing are..

John Andretti
EJ Viso
Mario Moraes
Dan Wheldon
Raphael Matos
Helio Castroneves
Ryan Briscoe

On the 23rd you will have..

Simona De Silvestro
Takuma Sato
Mario Romancini
Bertrand Baguette

[JagtechOhio]

Power is going so well, it looks like Penske is giving his teammates an extra session to catch up

[DanicaFan]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

Power is going so well, it looks like Penske is giving his teammates an extra session to catch up

Yeah, Im suprised they dont have Will testing. I think he will be the weakest of the 3 on the ovals. He may prove me wrong though.

[JagtechOhio]

Not so sure I'd put money against him. But Danica should have a good race, and Moraes is my pick for the surprise next weekend.

Coming from the guy who said Sato would be 5th in points , that is.....

[DanicaFan]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

Not so sure I'd put money against him. But Danica should have a good race, and Moraes is my pick for the surprise next weekend.

Coming from the guy who said Sato would be 5th in points , that is.....

Hey Moraes showed a lot of promise the 2nd half of last year on the ovals. The guy was very fast. Almost had a pole until Scott Dixon took it from him late.

[DanicaFan]

Here is the entry list for this race. Sadly, no Graham Rahal..

Car# & Driver / Car Name / Team

#2 Raphael Matos / HP Luczo Dragon / Luczo Dragon Racing-DeFerran Motorsports
#3 Helio Castroneves / Team Penske / Team Penske
#4 Dan Wheldon / National Guard Panther Racing / Panther Racing
#5 Takuma Sato / Lotus-KV Racing Technology / KV Racing Technology
#6 Ryan Briscoe / Team Penske / Team Penske
#7 Danica Patrick / Team GoDaddy.com / Andretti Autosport
#8 EJ Viso / PDVSA-Jet Aviation-KVRT / KV Racing Technology
#9 Scott Dixon / Target Chip Ganassi Racing / Target Chip Ganassi Racing
#10 Dario Franchitti / Suave / Target Chip Ganassi Racing
#11 Tony Kanaan / Team 7-Eleven / Andretti Autosport
#12 Will Power / Verizon Team Penske / Verizon Team Penske
#14 Vitor Meira / ABC Supply Co. AJ Foyt Racing / AJ Foyt Enterprises
#18 Milka Duno / CITGO / Dale Coyne Racing
#19 Alex Lloyd / Boy Scouts of America / Dale Coyne Racing
#22 Justin Wilson / Team Z-Line Designs-DRR / Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
#24 Mike Conway / Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
#26 Marco Andretti / Team Venom Energy / Andretti Autosport
#32 Mario Moraes / KV Racing Technology / KV Racing Technology
#34 Mario Romancini / Conquest Racing / Conquest Racing
#36 Bertrand Baguette / Conquest Racing-RACB / Conquest Racing
#37 Ryan Hunter-Reay / Team IZOD / Andretti Autosport
#43 John Andretti / Team Window World / Richard Petty-Andretti Autosport
#66 Jay Howard / Service Central-Sarah Fisher Racing / Sarah Fisher Racing
#67 Sarah Fisher / Dollar General-Sarah Fisher Racing / Sarah Fisher Racing
#77 Alex Tagliani / FAZZT Race Team / FAZZT Race Team
#78 Simona De Silvestro / Team Stargate Worlds-HVM / HVM Racing
#06 Hideki Mutoh / Formula Dream-Panasonic / Newman Haas Racing

[DanicaFan]

Here are the pit lane assignments..

[JagtechOhio]

DF

Great news for Graham today...he shot a 40 for nine holes. In fashionable permanent press Izod attire, I would guess.

Have you heard anything about Haas going after Indy?

If so, maybe Mutoh still has Honda money to take to another squad?

[DanicaFan]

Originally Posted by JagtechOhio

DF

Great news for Graham today...he shot a 40 for nine holes. In fashionable permanent press Izod attire, I would guess.

Have you heard anything about Haas going after Indy?

If so, maybe Mutoh still has Honda money to take to another squad?

I havent heard anything definite yet. Lots of rumors swirling around down at the brickyard. Ive heard stuff from the team shutting down to a buy-out from KV Racing and Jaques Villeneuve's name being thrown out. So at this point its unclear at this time.

[JagtechOhio]

If Villeneuve comes on board with funding, particularly as a driver, that would be the biggest deal to hit this season.

The Lotus announcement looked large, but so far has been insignificant.

Losing N/H looks bad, even if they are swallowed up by KV.

[DanicaFan]

I hope they can get practice and qualifications in today. The weather forecast is calling for rain almost all day in Kansas.

[icemachine]

Crap - just realized the race is on at the same time the Habs play the Pens

[Kirk]

The Villeneuve rumour (sadly) was squelched by his manager.... according to the chat on JV's website

[JagtechOhio]

Damm*t.
Thanks for the update, Kirk.
Haas is done, I fear.

[DanicaFan]

As feared, the first practice was rained out. The next practice is set for 2pm Eastern. Im hoping they get some practice in and the qualifications.

[Tim Northcutt]

Heavy thunderstorms have now barely cleared the area...It'll take a while to dry the place, and Kansas Speedway does not have lights.

If they don't get practice or quals in, I fear that the newbies to the ovals are going to be in for a long, tough race.

[Road America Fan]

Originally Posted by Kirk

The Villeneuve rumour (sadly) was squelched by his manager.... according to the chat on JV's website

Thats too bad. JV is THE man.

Indy 500 Champion √
Indycar World Series Champion √
Formula One World Champion √

Doesn't get much better than that for an open wheel racer.

[Rgms320]

Originally Posted by Tim Northcutt

Heavy thunderstorms have now barely cleared the area...It'll take a while to dry the place, and Kansas Speedway does not have lights.

If they don't get practice or quals in, I fear that the newbies to the ovals are going to be in for a long, tough race.

Kansas City weather radar

The wind is blowing from the south-southwest, so it looks like a bit more rain is coming. The thunderstorms have cleared the area, however.

[JagtechOhio]

Conquest Racing The sun is shining and the track is drying. Should be out there for the 1pm (local time) practie session

[JagtechOhio]

[tracksideonline] Rain had started again. Nuts.

[DanicaFan]

Here is the qualification order (if they run)

1. #67 Sarah Fisher
2. #24 Mike Conway
3. #43 John Andretti
4. #78 Simona De Silvestro
5. #66 Jay Howard
6. #06 Hideki Mutoh
7. #34 Mario Romancini
8. #2 Raphael Matos
9. #26 Marco Andretti
10. #3 Helio Castroneves
11. #37 Ryan Hunter-Reay
12. #4 Dan Wheldon
13. #22 Justin Wilson
14. #11 Tony Kanaan
15. #12 Will Power
16. #19 Alex Lloyd
17. #32 Mario Moraes
18. #7 Danica Patrick
19. #77 Alex Tagliani
20. #14 Vitor Meira
21. #9 Scott Dixon
22. #5 Takuma Sato
23. #8 EJ Viso
24. #10 Dario Franchitti
25. #18 Milka Duno
26. #6 Ryan Briscoe
27. #36 Bertrand Baguette

[Tim Northcutt]

Look at it on the bright side...They got HEAVY rain this a.m. right up until about 11 a.m. and the track was getting dry enough to go by 1 p.m., so if this round isn't very long in duration, they could still get it done today.

The sun doesn't set until about 8 p.m. out there.

At least it wasn't like it was either last year or the year before, when a tornado passed fairly close to the track but did not hit it.