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T E X A S M O T O R S P E E D WAY
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SPEEDREADS May 17, 2016
Team Penske on top again A familiar name is atop the Verizon IndyCar Series points standings PAGE 2
SAFETY FIRST
Domed skid plates are the newest addition for IndyCar safety PAGE 3
Crafton Moves Into lead Veteran NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Matt Crafton is back on top PAGE 4
TORC Returns to TMS Popular series returns to Texas Motor Speedway on May 27 and 28 PAGE 4
The field heads into Turn 1 on the first lap of the 2015 Firestone 600 Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | M a y 1 7 , 2 0 1 6
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LEAD LAP
TOP NEWS FROM TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Team Penske Once Again At The Top Of Verizon IndyCar Series Team Penske has remained the perennial powerhouse in the Verizon IndyCar Series and this year it appears to be much of the same. The organization has won four of the first five races on the season and its four drivers – Simon Pagenaud, Juan Pablo Montoya, Helio Castroneves and Will Power – are first, third, fourth and 10th, respectively, in the series standings. The confidence the organization gets from each victory can be attributed to its stable of drivers that continue to battle each other, week in and week out for a spot in Victory Lane. “We are so competitive,” Montoya said. “I think this is the only team where you can tell that all four cars are equal. Ganassi is strong but you know the Target car (Scott Dixon) is going to be the best car. You come here and you could say before Will (Power) was the best driver. Will was on the pole in the first race and since then he has been really close, but Simon has been doing a really good job. Helio has been doing a really good job. I feel like I’ve been doing a good job. It’s tough.” Pagenaud has led the way for Team Penske through the first five races of the season. He tallied his third consecutive victory at this past Saturday’s Grand Prix of
Indianapolis. Pagenaud’s early-season success has overshadowed the strong starts by Montoya and Castroneves. The competition within the organization to remain on top among the four drivers is what Montoya says makes Team Penske an annual championship contender. Team Penske IndyCar drivers include (from right to left) “I’ve got really Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power and strong teamSimon Pagenaud. mates that keep me on my toes to beat you,” he said. “On a really every day,” Montoya said. “You go good week for Penske, you do a into the race weekend feeling they decent job you’re fourth and don’t are going to kick your ass and you even make the podium. It’s unbeare just fighting to not get your ass lievable.” kicked. I think we all feel the same way.” The Verizon IndyCar Series returns to Texas Motor Speedway It takes a special type of driver to for the Firestone 600 on Saturday, be on a team that has that much June 11, and this is another place talent. Montoya believes the opwhere Penske has enjoyed plenty portunity to compete against his of success. The organization has teammates is one of the things that won a track-record eight times keeps him motivated. in the Verizon IndyCar Series at Texas Motor Speedway, the most “If you miss something by just a recent coming in 2013 with Castrolittle bit, your teammate is going neves.
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Safety First: Domed Skid Plates To Help With IndyCar Safety Debate on INDYCAR’s addition of the domed skid and rear wing flips to the cars during oval races continued to rage during the series’ private test session at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this month. During the offseason, the sanctioning body instituted the addition of the domed skid plates and rear wing flips as safety measures. The addition came as a result of the inordinate number of Chevrolet-powered Indy cars becoming airborne in preparation for last year’s Indianapolis 500. Threetime Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves along with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Josef Newgarden and Ed Carpenter experienced their cars coming off the ground during practice sessions leading up to the Indianapolis 500 last year. The new additions will not only impact the upcoming Indianapolis 500, but will be featured at all the oval events on the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule, including the Firestone 600 set for Saturday, June 11, at 7:45 p.m. CT (TV: NBC Sports Network, Radio: SiriusXM Channel 209, IMS Network and 95.9 FM The Ranch locally). And while all drivers can agree they don’t want to see cars come off the ground, not all are happy with the addition. “I hate that this has become a topic of conversation,” Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Graham Rahal said. “As I told INDYCAR, I
INDYCAR’s addition of domed skid plates are the next generation of safety in the series. They will be on the cars at the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 11.
don’t event know why we’re doing this. We didn’t need to turn the attention to something like this. We should be talking about how great the Indy 500 is, and instead we’re talking about domed skids. Nobody knows what the heck that is, other than us.”
Castroneves, a record four-time winner at Texas Motor Speedway, expressed that the addition is not a move to provide an advantage to one manufacturer over the other, but rather to keep all the drivers safe when losing control of their car.
Domed skids, fitted to the bottom of the chassis, reduce aerodynamic lift when the car is spinning sideways. For those teams backed by Honda like Rahal, the additions present different challenges than their Chevrolet counterparts.
“I’m not going to go into a Honda versus Chevrolet dispute, but my thing is that I was the one upside down last year,” Castroneves said. “No question the domed skids, at least we have one test and this is another test. For sure, for safety that’s what we’re looking for. It doesn’t matter what car it is, we’re looking to make sure when you have the domed skids and the car is sideways you add at least 500 to 1,000 pounds more downforce. That means you are going to keep the car on the ground. That’s what we’re doing.”
“Guys who tell you it doesn’t make a difference, they’re lying,” Rahal said. “There’s some politics going on. I think the Chevy guys don’t want it, but we need it. It definitely affects my car a lot. We’re going to keep working hard, put our heads down and try to make the best of it.”
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SPEEDREADS
Crafton Returns To Top Of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
TMS AND 95.9 the RANCH TO HOST INDY 500 WATCH PARTY AT BILLY BOB’S Join Texas Motor Speedway and its official broadcast partner, 95.9 The Ranch, at “The World’s Largest Honky Tonk,” Billy Bob’s Texas (2520 Rodeo Plaza, Fort Worth, TX 76164), for a FREE watching party for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.
Matt Crafton, shown here driving to victory last week at Dover, is back atop the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series point leaders.
Two-time defending Rattlesnake 400 champion Matt Crafton has garnered momentum after a slow start to surge into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points lead. Crafton earned his first victory of the season last weekend at Dover International Speedway, moving him two points ahead of second-place Timothy Peters as the series makes its next stop at Charlotte Motor Speedway before heading to Texas Motor Speedway for the Rattlesnake 400 on Friday, June 10. History shows Crafton should not venture far from the top with two of his top performing tracks in Charlotte and Texas scheduled in the next two races. He has raced 13 times at Charlotte and registered one win, five top-fives and ten top10s during his career. Crafton
is equally impressive at Texas Motor Speedway. He has nine consecutive top-10 finishes at the famed 1.5-mile facility and has led in the previous four races. With his win in last year’s summer truck series race, he became the third driver in series history to repeat as champion. He joined Brendan Gaughan (2002-03) and Todd Bodine, who accomplished the feat twice (2006-07, 2009-10). “I always love to come to Texas, and I think the trucks put on an awesome show,” Crafton said. “Last year I got to put on the cowboy hat in Victory Lane, and that was really cool. The track just keeps getting better and better with age. It’s widening out and there are multiple grooves. It’s a really fast track where handling is very important and historically, this team really excels there.”
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Doors will open at 9 a.m. with the green flag dropping at 11 a.m. for this year’s historic race. Throughout the day there will be food and drink specials and great prizes including exclusive access to see the winner of the race at Texas Motor Speedway’s Indy 500 Champion’s Luncheon on Wednesday, June 1. The day continues after the race with a FREE Texas Red Dirt Radio Show with acoustic performances by Josh Weathers, Randy Brown, Deryl Dodd. Following that show, fans can get FREE general admission tickets to see that night’s LIVE concert at the venue by Neal McCoy.
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SPLASH ’N GO
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NOTES FROM TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Firestone 600 media credential deadline
The credential deadline for the Firestone 600 INDYCAR/NASCAR weekend is FRIDAY, MAY 27. Credentials can be requested through www. smicredentials.com. Those not yet registered for the website will first need to apply for access through the site. Once a registration confirmation e-mail is received, the credential request can then be submitted. Requests following the deadline will not be accepted.
Save the date(S)
Texas Motor Speedway will have a number of media opportunities with drivers over the next few weeks. The annual Texas Motor Speedway Speeding to Read championship assembly will take place at the track Tuesday, May 24, Verizon IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Christopher Bell will help celebrate the accomplishments of more than 6,500 students from 11 different schools. Following the assembly that will be held in the frontstretch grandstands, the drivers will be available in the TMS Media Center at approximately 11:45 a.m. CT. Texas Motor Speedway’s annual event with the Indianapolis 500 winner is scheduled to take place Wednesday, June 1, at The Owner’s Box located in the Omni Hotel Dallas. This year’s event will be a lunch-time affair featuring the winner of the 100th running of the Indy 500. More details to follow as the event draws closer.
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Drivers that have won a Verizon IndyCar Series race from the pole at Texas Motor Speedway. It has been six years since a driver accomplished this feat as Ryan Briscoe was the last to do so in 2010. Sam Hornish Jr. was the first to do this in the fall race of 2001, and that was followed by Gil de Ferran (fall, 2003), Helio Castroneves (fall, 2004), Tomas Scheckter (2005) and Scott Dixon (2008). Drivers that have won the Indianapolis 500 and the Firestone 600 in the same season. Inaugural Verizon IndyCar Series winner Arie Luyendyk (1997), four-time INDYCAR champion Scott Dixon (2008) and Texas Motor Speedway’s winningest Verizon IndyCar Series driver Helio Castroneves (2009) have all pulled off the sweep of INDYCAR’s two most prestigious races on the schedule.
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DID YOU KNOW?
Since 1997, IndyCar has run more races at Texas Motor Speedway than at any other track including Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I love this track, always have. I have always done well here except for last year. I think the key is to have multiple lanes. That will create a really good race. As we saw in Fontana. The more lanes there are the more clean air you can find. That’s the key. - Team Penske’s Will Power on key to success at Texas.
Juan Pablo Montoya has driven about everything there is to offer in motorsports – INDYCAR, F1, NASCAR and even sports cars – but there is one thing he has never wheeled before in his lifetime that he will get an opportunity to for his media day on Thursday, June 9, in the DFW Metroplex. The two-time Indy 500 champion will get inside the cockpit of Robosaurus, the world’s largest transformer that is a 40-foot high, 30-ton, fire-breathing, transforming T-Rex and help work the controls of this monster. Robosaurus, with 20-foot flames shooting from its nose, tears apart and eats cars and planes for an afternoon snack with a jaw that crushes with a staggering 28,000 pounds of pressure per square inch. The event will serve as a preview of Robosaurus, who will serve as the headliner for the pre-race activities for the Firestone 600. Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | M a y 1 7 , 2 0 1 6
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SPEEDREADS
TORC Returns To TMS May 27 and 28
Texas WORLD DIRT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP Texas Motor Speedway closed out its season-opening weekend at the Dirt Track with a memorable finish in Saturday night’s Limited Modified feature. Polesitter Kevin Rowland, of Rockwall, edged defending Texas World Dirt Track Championship Limited Modified champ Nick Clinkenbeard, of Weatherford, by 0.001 of a second (photo below).
TORC: The Off-Road Championship brings the hard-hitting action of short-course truck racing to Dallas/Fort Worth for two rounds of exciting championship action May 27-28 at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. The series is set to open its 2016 season at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track with a doubleheader race weekend. The best drivers on dirt will battle under the lights, powering their 900-horsepower trucks through high-flying jumps and searing sweepers. “We’re excited to return to Texas to kick off our eighth season of championship short course off-road truck racing,” TORC Series Director Ben Nelson said. “The Texas track is a driver favorite and fans can expect intense action as everybody fights for the advantage of that first win of the year.” The Texas opener will feature thrilling racing in three classes: the powerful all-wheel drive PRO 4WD trucks, the 900-horsepower, rear-wheel drive PRO 2WD machines, and the fiercely competitive PRO Lights. All three classes will compete for points both Friday and Saturday. The pits will be open to all ages, giving race fans the opportunity to get up close to the PRO 4, PRO 2 and PRO Light machines and meet the best drivers in truck racing. A post-race track walk invites fans onto the dirt. Gates open both nights at 5 p.m. CT. Tickets for the Roundup in Texas start at just $17 for adults and $5 for kids. Entry to each race is offered at $10 for active and retired military personnel that present a valid military ID at the ticket window. Tickets are on sale now at www.torcseries.com/tickets Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | M a y 1 7 , 2 0 1 6
Rowland, who led all 40 laps of the feature event, held a comfortable lead throughout the race until the final turn. Clinkenbeard made a strong charge to the outside as the two were racing wheel to wheel coming off Turn 4. Ultimately, it didn’t prove to be enough as officials awarded the win to Rowland following the photo finish. Defending Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) champion Aaron Reutzel captured his first victory of the season and first at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Series points leader Johnny Herrera held the advantage early, but a restart on Lap 10 proved to be all Reutzel needed as he took the lead and never relinquished it. Taylor Carver, of Lockesburg, Ark., successfully defended his title as Factory Stock champion. Carver, who won in last year’s Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track debut for the Factory Stock division, held on to defeat Jason Gord by 0.636 of a second.
FINAL PIT STOP
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VIDEO SOUND BITES, SOCIAL MEDIA SNAPSHOT
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LIL’ HOSS TV
Verizon IndyCar Series driver Juan Pablo Montoya discusses what it is like to be a part of Team Penske. Click on photo to watch video
FROM THE TWITTERVERSE
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SPEEDREADS
PUBLIC SCHEDULE
FIRESTONE 600 WEEKEND EVENTS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8 8:00a 9a-5p
VIP & Outside Campgrounds open Texas Motor Speedway Credential Office Hours
ThursDAY, JUNE 9
8:00a VICS Haulers Enter Texas Motor Speedway Credentials Office Hours 9a-5p 9a-7p VICS Garage Open 9:30a NCWTS Haulers Enter 10:00a South Tunnel Opens 11:00a Reserved Infield Camping Opens 11a-7p NCWTS Registration Open 11:30a-9p NCWTS Garage Open 2:30 pm Gate 4 Opens 2:30p-3:25p NCWTS Practice 4:30p-5:25p NCWTS Practice 6:30p-7:55p NCWTS Final Practice
FRIDAY, June10
7a-7p VICS Registration Open 7a-10p VICS Garage Open 9a-7:30p Texas Motor Speedway Credentials Office Hours 10:45a Gate 4 Opens 11a-12:15p VICS Practice 12p-7:30p NCWTS Registration Open 12:00p NSCS Garage Open 3:00p Gates 3 & 5 Open 3:00p Gates 2 & 6 Open for Luxury Suites and Victory Lane Club Only 3:15p-4:15p VICS Qualifying 3:30p-4:15p NCWTS Autograph Session 5p-6p NCWTS Qualifying 5:15p-6p VICS Autograph Session 6:45p-7:15p VICS Practice 8p NCWTS Rattlesnake 400 (167 Laps, 250.5 Miles) 12 am Burnout Alley Closes
SATURDAY, June 11
12p-7:30p Texas Motor Speedway Credential Office Hours 12p VICS Garage Open 3:30p Gates 3 & 5 Open 3:30p Gates 2 & 6 Open for Luxury Suites and Victory Lane Club Only 6p Robosaurus Pre-Race Show 7:45p VICS Firestone 600 (248 Laps, 372 Miles) 30 min Portacool Post-Race Show featuring post race JB and the Moonshine Band
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY ticket info www.texasmotorspeedway.com 817.215.8500 Facebook: Texas Motor Speedway Twitter: @txmotorspeedway Instagram: txmotorspeedway
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