Backstretch Motorsports

INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, May 22, 2009) - Helio Castroneves paced the final practice before the Indianapolis 500 and Wade Cunningham became the first two-time winner of the Firestone Freedom 100 Firestone Indy Lights event Friday on the final day of on-track activity before Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.

The 33 starters in the field for the “500″ combined for 1,224 incident-free laps on the 2.5-mile oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Castroneves, a two-time winner who will start from the pole, recorded the best lap at 40.1929 seconds, 223.920 mph.

Will Power was second fastest at 223.560 mph, Mario Moraes was third at 222.951, Dan Wheldon was fourth at 222.386 and Ryan Briscoe was fifth at 222.374.

Cunningham won the 40-lap Firestone Freedom 100 by .1046 of a second over J.R. Hildebrand in the closest finish in event history. Cunningham, who started from the pole, Hildebrand and Sebastian Saavedra swapped the lead nine times.

Hildebrand led laps 17-38 before Cunningham made a pass entering Turn 3 of the white flag lap.

Cunningham also won the event in 2006.

Also on Friday, Castroneves and Team Penske won the Indianapolis 500 Pit Stop Challenge for the third consecutive time. Castroneves edged Marco Andretti 7.962 seconds to 9.456 seconds in the final.

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INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY CENTENNIAL ERA FACT OF THE DAY: On May 22, 1909, track co-founder Carl Fisher becomes the first person to leave the grounds in a balloon, one day after driving the first “official” lap in a passenger car. Postponed until later in the day because of strong winds, Fisher and Capt. George Bumbaugh make the ascent in Bumbaugh’s Kathleen, named for his young daughter. They make three landings during the late afternoon, putting down west of the track in the village of Bridgeport, then some five miles to the south of Bridgeport, and finally at Valley Mills. Fisher is still going through the process of “qualifying” for his Aero Club of America pilot’s license with Bumbaugh as his instructor. Fisher needs to successfully complete a total of 10 ascensions in order to be eligible for the rapidly-approaching June 5 championships.

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Chip Ganassi, whose Target Chip Ganassi car Scott Dixon drove to victory in the 2008 Indianapolis 500 met with the media at the legendary Yard of Bricks Friday morning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The last two Indianapolis 500 winners and series champions, Dixon in 2008 and Dario Franchitti in 2007, will drive for Ganassi in this year’s race. It’s the first time in history that the last two season champs and “500″ winners are paired on the same team.

CHIP GANASSI: “Hell, yes, I want to keep it going. I’m coming back here with two co-defending champions (Franchitti missed defending his 2007 title when he drove in NASCAR in 2008). I’m looking forward to Sunday. The great thing about it is that it is an unselfish, sort of open-book thing between the two of them. I would say they work as well together as any two we’ve ever had. They’re both as cool as cucumbers about the whole thing. That’s a lot different from me right now.” (About rivals): “There are a lot of threats out there; a lot of time passes between qualifying and the race. You never know who has stumbled onto something and who is a dark horse. All this business about ‘It’s Penske and Ganassi,’ can be a very rude awakening. If you’re not prepared, it can be a tough day.”

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The IMS Radio Network will broadcast the Indianapolis 500 to more than 350 affiliates, along with Sirius XM, American Forces Radio Network, shortwave radio worldwide and www.indycar.com and www.indy500.com.

The IMS Radio Network Race Day lineup:

Mike King, anchor; Johnny Parsons, driver analyst; Donald Davidson, historian; Paul Page, analyst; Dave Wilson, stats & garage/medical center; Jerry Baker, Turn 1; Jake Query, Turn 2; Mark Jaynes, Turn 3; Chris Denari, Turn 4; Kevin Lee, Kevin Olson and Dave Argabright, pits.

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FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS POST-RACE NOTES:

· Wade Cunningham is the first two-time winner of the Firestone Freedom 100. He also won the event from the pole in 2006.
· This is Cunningham’s sixth career victory and his first since Watkins Glen 1 in 2007.
· Cunningham made his fifth start in the Firestone Freedom 100, most of any driver.
· This is the third Firestone Freedom 100 victory for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. The team also won in 2004 with Thiago Medeiros and 2005 with Jaime Camara.
· The margin of victory of .1046 of a second is the closest in Firestone Freedom 100 history. The previous closest was .1319 of a second in 2005 when Jaime Camara defeated Wade Cunningham. It is the 21st-closest margin of victory in series history.
· There were nine lead changes, most in race history. The previous high was seven in 2005.
· Cunningham is the fourth different race winner in five Firestone Indy Lights races this season.
· J.R. Hildebrand finished second, his best finish of the season. His previous best was third at St. Petersburg 2 and Long Beach.
· Mario Romancini finished third for the second consecutive race (Kansas).
· Jay Howard finished a season-best fourth. He has finished fourth and second (2006) in two starts in the Firestone Freedom 100.
· Sebastian Saavedra finished fifth, his third top-five of the season.

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FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS POST-RACE QUOTES:
WADE CUNNINGHAM (No. 11 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, first): “The whole race was to and fro. I got to the front early and knew I couldn’t lead all 40 laps, so I fell back because I didn’t want to be leading at the end. I knew I had a fast car, and it was a matter of being at the right place at the right time.” (More Cunningham quotes in transcript)

J.R. HILDEBRAND (No. 26 ARPRO, second): “I really didn’t want to be leading the race toward the end, but there were enough fast cars there in the front that I tried to keep it up there for as long as I could. Wade (Cunningham) got a good run, and I thought if nothing else, I could just work with him, maybe get by him there at the end. I just picked up too much understeer when I was back in traffic. I set the car so I would be quick up front, but once I got behind guys, I just couldn’t adjust it fast enough. Great job by Wade. I’m really happy for the boys. We got back on track. I think we’re looking good in the points right now.” (More Hildebrand quotes in transcript)

MARIO ROMANCINI (No. 5 Revita/Win Brazil/Allied, third): “”I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say. The team did a phenomenal job. We did not do well in qualifying yesterday. I started 18th. But today I was able to pass the guys. The car felt really good. I felt really comfortable in traffic. I am very happy to be on the podium here, and now I’m just thinking about the next race. The car was really good. This is just my second oval race. My first was in Kansas, so I’m still learning every lap. With this team, there is nothing to say - they really help me.” (More Romancini quotes in transcript)

JAY HOWARD (No. 37 Palm Beach International Raceway, fourth): “It was actually a really fun race. It was crazy. Every time we went into (Turn) 1, it was side-by-side, and two people side-by-side don’t go through Turn 1 very well. There were a few white-wall incidents out there. But overall, it was really good. Considering we decided yesterday morning at the last minute that I should come and race, I think it’s a really good result for Palm Beach (International Raceway) and everyone involved.” (On the track conditions): “It’s kind of strange. It started off pretty good. Then it felt to me like it got more slick as the race went on. We have our adjustments we can make in our car, and I made some adjustments. But it didn’t really make any difference. I haven’t personally looked at the tires to see if that was a factor. For me, everything was good, and that’s about the best we could have expected this weekend.”

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 27 Automatic Fires Sprinklers, Inc., fifth): “In the beginning, we had a great car. I was very happy with it. AFS (team) did great work. I was waiting for the last moment. When they say three laps to go, I got three-wide in corner 1. I touched the wall with one lap to go. I had pretty heavy damage to my front right (wheel). After that, I just wanted to bring it home for the points. It’s a (season) championship. I was just focused on getting the points. I had the car and the equipment. Hopefully it’s our race the next time.”

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INDYCAR SERIES POST-PRACTICE QUOTES:

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, fastest): (On being the fastest car in the final practice session): “It felt really good. It felt awesome. I’m very confident and comfortable in the car. It was nice to have that right before the race. The weather on Race Day is going to be very similar to what it was today. It was important for us to run today. I feel very confident. I can’t wait for Sunday, I’ll tell you that. It’s going to be a long race and a lot of things can happen, but I can’t wait for Sunday.”

WILL POWER (No. 12 Team Verizon Wireless, second): “I came here last year with no experience, and the team did, as well. We were learning on the job. This year I was a bit more composed because I knew what to expect. If I come here again next year, we would do things differently again. It’s just a process where you learn and you experience from everything going on around you. This has been a more comfortable month for me this year, for sure.”

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):
7 a.m.
Garages open

10:30 a.m.
Public Driver’s Meeting

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The 2009 IndyCar Series season continues May 24 with the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 1 p.m. (EDT) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com. The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season continues May 31 at The Milwaukee Mile. The race will be telecast June 1 by VERSUS.