July 2012
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Latest news is at the bottom
Female F1 Driver Loses Eye
July 4 - Maria de Villota has lost her right eye after a crash at a test event at a British airfield, after she ran into a stationary truck.  A statement from  
team Marussia said that the 32-year-old had sustained "serious head and facial injuries."  Tuesday's test was the first time De Villota had been
behind the wheel of the MR01 car.  De Villota was recruited by UK-based Marussia -- formerly known as Virgin Racing -- in March, having driven in
Spanish Formula Three, the Euroseries 3000 and the Daytona 24 Hours.
Excitement in MotoGP
July 8 - Last week, Jorge Lorenzo, who was leading in
points, got taken out at the first corner of the first lap by
Alvaro Bautista, who committed a ridiculous move.  Then
Casey Stoner passed his Repsol Honda teammate, Dani
Pedrosa
, to take the win and tie Lorenzo for the points title.

This week in Germany,  the Repsol Honda team led the race
with Lorenzo on their tail.  Pedrosa was leading with Stoner
close behind.  On the penultimant lap, they set the fastest lap
time.  Then on the last lap, as the world champion Stoner
went through turn 12, he layed the bike down and his race
was over!  That ends his streak of 24 top-4 finishes.

Now Lorenzo is back on top of the ponts battle, followed by
Pedrosa then Stoner.
Brickyard Crossing Hosts $150,000 Pro Golf
Tourney
The Brickyard Crossing Golf Course will host 150
professional golfers from around the country July 3-6 in the
2012 Golfweek National Professional Golf Tournament, with
Golfweek National Pro Tour players competing for a
$150,000 event purse and a $21,000 winner’s share.

Admission is free to the tournament. The first two rounds
take place Tuesday, July 3 and Wednesday, July 4, with the
field cut to the top 60 players plus ties for the final two
rounds Thursday, July 5 and Friday, July 6.

The Golfweek National Pro Tour is a developmental system
designed to prepare male players from the entry level to the
PGA Tour.
Brickyard Crossing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
designed by renowned golf course architect Pete Dye, is a
public course available for play seven days per week. It
includes four holes inside the world-famous IMS oval and 14
holes adjacent to the backstretch of the racetrack.

The course has earned many honors, including recent
designation as one of “2010 Golfweek’s Best Courses You
Can Play.” The course also has been voted as one of
America’s top 100 public golf courses by Golf Digest and
Golfweek.

Tee times can be made by calling (317) 492-6417 or online
at www.brickyardcrossing.com. Tee times may be made 30
days in advance and must be secured with a major credit card
Hunter-Reay Wins Three In A Row
July 9 - IndyCar driver Ryan Hunter-Reay now leads the
standings by 34 points with five races to go.

The first of Hunter-Reay’s wins this season came June 16 at
the Milwaukee Mile, a historic short track as flat as
Washington Street and as busy as I-465 through the
northeast corridor.

Next up was the June 23 race at Iowa Speedway, which has
big-oval characteristics. Laps take fewer than 18 breath-
taking seconds, and Hunter-Reay navigated them perfectly.

Sunday’s victory came on the most troublesome street circuit
in IndyCar. Six cars were involved in three separate crashes
of the same lap of the Honda Indy Toronto. Hunter-Reay was
ahead of it all.

“It is very satisfying for me to know that boom, oval, oval
(wins),” he said. “Even last week people were starting to say,
‘Isn’t it weird that your past three races are wins on ovals and
you’re supposed to be a road course guy?’

“Then to get one at Toronto, it’s nice, for sure.

Hunter-Reay now has four wins in the span of about 11
months, only one fewer than
Will Power and three more
than
Dario Franchitti.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident also has six more wins
than his two Andretti teammates,
Marco Andretti and
James Hinchcliffe, combined.
Ryan Hunter-Reay in Toronto Victory Lane
IndyCar Adds Power Button
July 13 - Push to pass will return to the IZOD IndyCar Series
for the five remaining road/street course events on the 2012
schedule, beginning with the Honda Indy Toronto on July 6-8.

The overtake assist feature, introduced to the series in 2009,
allows a driver to add turbocharger boost and additional
RPMs with the press of a button on the steering wheel to
complete a pass.

The additional boost is added for a pre-determined amount
of time, which will be set by INDYCAR depending on the
circuit. The sanctioning body will also determine the total
amount of time available, recharge time and any delay in the
system prior to each activation, though the engine
manufacturers may adjust the settings below the
requirements to optimize their engine's performance.

Push to pass will not engage until a certain throttle position is
reached and will disengage if the driver lifts or presses the
button again.

As part of the introduction of push-to-pass, the base
turbocharger boost level will decrease to 150 kPa. When the
system is engaged, the boost increases to 160 kPa on the
2.2-liter V6 engines supplied by Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus.

Teams will have the opportunity to test the system during the
event weekend on the streets of Exhibition Place before the
Honda Indy Toronto.
Brickyard 400 Pace Car Driver Announced
July 20 - Film director Ron Howard will drive the pace car
this month for the NASCAR race at the Indy Speedway.  

Howard's newest film, about Formula One drivers
Niki Lauda
and
James Hunt, will come out next year.  It's called "Rush."  
Howard's directorial debut was in 1977 with the film "Grand
Theft Auto."

We're still waiting on the speedway to name the Pace Car!
Castroneves Moves Into 2nd in Points
July 22 - IndyCar raced on the bumpy road course in
Edmonton Alberta Canada today in nice weather.

Alex Tagliani captured the lead after the first lap from pole
sitter
Dario Franchitti and maintained it for the first 49 laps
of the 75-lap race.

But
Helio Castroneves soon moved into first as Tags fell
back and would finish in 5th.

Takuma Sato tried hard to pass Castroneves, but would
finish in 2nd place, followed by
Will Power who did a good
job moving up from 17th.  

While
Ryan Hunter-Reay had to settle for 7th place and 27
points, he still holds the points lead.  

Amazingly, there were no yellow flags during the entire race!
Takuma Sato, Helio Castroneves, Will Power
Burn Ban Instituted for Brickyard 400
July 23 - Indiana has experienced a bad drought this
summer, with barely a drop of rain in the last two months.  
There are both a burn ban and a lawn watering ban in
Indianapolis.  So obviously no camp fires allowed in camping
areas.

The speedway's infield grass is dry as dust and the
speedway has some new rules for the upcoming race
weekend.

No fireworks are allowed.  Also, Charcoal cooking is totally
banned.  Gas grills are allowed but must be at least 1.5 feet
off the ground, and they prefer it to be 3 feet above the
ground.

The fire department will be making sweeps through the coke
lot and other camping areas outside of the speedway.
Fans can feel power in Thunder Alley
This year the top 35 NASCAR Sprint Cup teams will be
working from the pitside MotoGP garages instead of Gasoline
Alley.

The move will let fans in the grandstands across the track
from the MotoGP garages get a much closer look at teams'
preparations for the Brickyard 400.

Fans also can get as close to the action as possible through
Thunder Alley, a free area located near the far south end of
the MotoGP garages, in front of the last building behind
Gasoline Alley.
Fan Walk Friday
Fans attending the full day of GRAND-AM Road Racing
action Friday, July 27 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will
be permitted to walk the pit lane from noon-12:35 p.m.,
getting an up-close look at the high-performance machinery
that will race later that day in the Brickyard Grand Prix and
Brickyard Sports Car Challenge.

Among the features during the Fan Walk will be a pit stop
demonstration by the reigning Daytona Prototype
championship team, TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix
Sabates, and a driver autograph session.
Stars converge in GRAND-AM
An impressive list of Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400
veterans will compete in the GRAND-AM Brickyard Grand Prix
on Friday, July 27 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It's the inaugural GRAND-AM race at IMS, as Rolex Sports
Car Series Daytona Prototype and GT cars will race for three
hours on the 13-turn, 2.534-mile Grand Prix road course.

Indianapolis 500 veterans include 2000 winner
Juan Pablo
Montoya
, 2008 winner Scott Dixon, Paul Tracy, Eliseo
Salazar
, Scott Pruett and Sebastien Bourdais.

Brickyard 400 veterans include 2010 winner
Jamie
McMurray
, Boris Said and Andy Lally.

Montoya, McMurray and Dixon are forming an all-star team of
Indianapolis winners, sharing the No. 02 Chevron BMW/Riley
fielded by Chip Ganassi.

The three-race North American Endurance Championship
presented by VISITFLORIDA.com also will be decided at this
event, with the Daytona Prototype champion team earning a
$100,000 bonus. The special series started with the Rolex 24
At Daytona in January and continued with the Sahlen's Six
Hours at the Glen on July 1 at Watkins Glen International.
Thunder Alley will put fans just 30 feet from the back door of
the garages of the top 10 drivers in the Sprint Cup point
standings, and those doors will be open all weekend for great
viewing opportunities. Fans in Thunder Alley also will see and
feel Sprint Cup cars in points positions 36 and lower and all
NASCAR Nationwide Series cars - which will use the
traditional Gasoline Alley garages - rumble past them as they
enter the track.

To access Thunder Alley, fans must walk down Hulman
Boulevard in the center of the infield and turn down 5th
Street, next to the IU Emergency Health Medical Center, and
continue to walk along the south edge of Gasoline Alley to
the building just across from the MotoGP garages.
2012 Brickyard 400 Pace Car = Chevy Corvette Z06

2012 Grand-AM Indy Grand Prix Pace Car = Chevy Camaro ZL-1
NASCAR Nationwise News At Indy Speedway
July 26 - Kyle Busch was the fastest driver today in practice
for the Indiana 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Busch led both sessions on the 2.5-mile oval, posting a top
overall speed of 175.836 mph in the No. 54 Monster Energy
Toyota during the final 90-minute practice.

The inaugural Nationwide Series race at IMS is scheduled to
start at 4:50 p.m. Saturday.

Busch was one of four full-time Sprint Cup Series competitors
among the five fastest drivers Thursday. His older brother
Kurt
Busch
, was second followed by Kasey Kahne.
2006 Indianapolis 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. was the first
Nationwide regular, fourth at 173.695 mph. Hornish also will
drive Brickyard 400 due to the indefinite suspension of full-time
Penske Racing Cup driver
A.J. Allmendinger.

Sprint Cup regular
Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.

Indianapolis 500 veteran
Danica Patrick was 13th in the final
practice at 171.916 mph. This is Patrick's first race at IMS since
the 2011 Indianapolis 500, as she is competing full time this
season in the Nationwide Series.
Ty Dillon, Joe Nemechek, Austin Dillon
Inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix Grand-Am Race
July 27 - Indianapolis 500 veteran and IZOD IndyCar Series
standout
Sebastien Bourdais teamed with Alex Popow to win
the inaugural Brickyard Grand Prix GRAND-AM Rolex Sports
Car Series race today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Bourdais took the checkered flag under caution in the No. 2
Soloson Ford Riley Daytona Prototype fielded by Starworks
Motorsport in the three-hour race on the 13-turn, 2.534-mile
IMS Grand Prix course. It was the first GRAND-AM Road Racing
event at IMS.

Indianapolis 500 veteran
Scott Pruett and teammate Memo
Rojas
finished second in the No. 01 TELMEX BMW Riley
fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing with
Felix Sabates. Max
Angelelli
and Ricky Taylor finished third in the No. 10
SunTrust Racing Corvette fielded by Wayne Taylor Racing of
nearby Brownsburg, Ind.

Bourdais and Popow helped Starworks clinch the North
American Endurance Championship presented by
VISITFLORIDA.com in the Daytona Prototype class, earning a
$100,000 bonus. The NAEC consists of the Rolex 24 At
Daytona, the Sahlen's Six Hours at the Glen and the Brickyard
Grand Prix.

Andy Lally and John Potter teamed to win the GT class in the
Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 Cup, finishing fifth overall.
Magnus Racing earned a $50,000 bonus for winning the NAEC
in the GT class.
Bourdais took the lead for good on Lap 74 of the three-hour
race, which ended after 91 laps. He dove under
Ryan Dalziel
entering Turn 1 for the decisive move.

There were three caution periods after Bourdais took the lead.
But he was able to pull away on restarts each time.

The wild race, which featured 13 lead changes, was slowed by
caution nine times for 34 laps due to aggressive,
fender-banging action throughout the field. Heavy rain also
came and went twice in the three-hour event, creating tricky,
ever-changing track conditions.
2000 Indianapolis 500 winner
Juan Pablo Montoya was
involved in two collisions - one with Dalziel and another with
Joao Barbosa. But he still managed to guide the No. 02
Chevron BMW Riley to fourth overall after 2008 Indianapolis
500 winner
Scott Dixon started the race in the car fielded by
Chip Ganassi Racing.

In the Brickyard Sports Car Challenge for the Continental Tire
Sports Car Challenge,
Lawson Aschenbach and Eric Curran
teamed up for victory in the No. 01 CKS Autosport Camaro
GS.R in a race that also ended under caution.

Daniel Rogers and Seth Thomas combined to win the ST
class in the Brickyard Sports Challenge in the No. 82
BimmerWorld Racing BMW 328i.
Inaugural Indiana 250 Nationwide Race
July 28 - Brad Keselowski delivered a long-awaited stock car
victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to legendary team
owner
Roger Penske, winning the inaugural Indiana 250
NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday, July 28.

Penske Racing has earned a record 15 Indianapolis 500
victories, but this was the first NASCAR victory for the team on
the 2.5-mile oval. Keselowski passed Penske teammate and
2006 Indianapolis 500 winner
Sam Hornish Jr. on Lap 72 of
the 100-lap race and beat him to the finish by 3.304 seconds in
the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge.

"I've been watching races here for a long time as a kid from
Michigan," Keselowski said. "Everyone knows how special Indy
is. To win the first Nationwide Series race is special here. This
is for Roger. It's special for me to deliver it to him."

Ty Dillon finished third in the No. 51 Wesco Chevrolet. Dillon,
20, is the grandson of three-time Brickyard 400-winning car
owner
Richard Childress.

Kyle Busch led a race high three times for 51 laps in the No.
54 Monster Energy Toyota. But he never recovered from a slow
pit stop under caution on Lap 64 that dropped him from first to
ninth on the ensuing restart. Busch ended up finishing 22nd,
slowed by a spin after losing control on a restart on Lap 79. He
side-swiped Hornish during the incident, who continued in the
No. 12 Alliance Truck Parts Dodge without trouble.

Elliott Sadler appeared to have a chance at victory, taking the
lead on a restart on Lap 83 in the No. 2 OneMain Financial
Chevrolet. But NASCAR judged that he jumped the restart, and
Sadler was forced to serve a drive-through penalty on Lap 89.
Keselowski was officially credited with leading the laps Sadler
was out front, and Keselowski then pulled away from Hornish
over the final 10 laps.

"I didn't have any dreams of grandeur or whatever of going out
there and passing him on the last lap," Hornish said. "It would
have been awesome if we did, but I felt like as soon as I got
within 10 car lengths, he was going to step it back up a little bit.
I knew it was going to have to be one of those deals where he
made a mistake for me to be able to get the job done and to
feel comfortable about doing it."

2005 Indianapolis 500 Chase Rookie of the Year
Danica
Patrick
finished 35th in her stock-car debut at IMS in the No. 7
GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. She was eliminated from the race on
Lap 40 after hitting the rear of
Reed Sorenson's car in Turn 1.
Sorenson spun and collected Patrick, with both cars hitting the
SAFER Barrier in Turn 1.
Brad Keselowski
2012 Indiana 250 Results
Brickyard 400 Qualifying
JUly 28 - Denny Hamlin won the pole for tomorrow’s Crown Royal
Presents The Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard.

Hamlin set the pace after putting down a lap of 182.763 mph in his
No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, aided greatly by a cloud that came
over Indianapolis Motor Speedway and cooled the track during his
qualifying lap.

“This a great qualifying effort obviously, but we feel like we have a
great car for tomorrow, said Hamlin, who won his second pole of the
year and 11th in 243 career starts. “… Usually when we qualify well,
we race well.”

Hamlin, like the rest of the drivers, has the Brickyard high on his list
of tracks to win.

“You don't want one of NASCAR's most prestigious races to be at
one of your bad race tracks, and so I feel like this is one of our
strong race tracks with our team, even though stats-wise it may not
show that,” said Hamlin. “I feel like when we come here, we can win
every single time. You ask me that about a couple other tracks, I
would say no. This is very, very high up on my list of tracks to want
to win. I consider it as high as the Daytona 500 personally, so this is
a great start to our weekend knowing we have the number one pit
stall, we have obviously a fast car, and I have a great pit crew that's
going to hopefully keep me out front all day. All those things put
together leads to success on Sunday, and I think we've got a good
start to that.”

Carl Edwards, in his first race with new crew chief Chad Norris,
had an excellent lap as well, running 181.984 mph in his No. 99
Roush Fenway Racing Ford. “This track is just so temperature
sensitive right now,” said Edwards, who qualified second.

“That was a really good lap for us,” said Edwards. “I am just proud of
everyone for coming together and working together. Everyone at the
shop,
Chad Norris, Bob Osborne, all the engineers and everyone
here at the track who said, ‘Alright, let’s put everything we can into
this for the next seven weeks.’ I know this is just the first lap of our
run toward the Chase but that is a good lap.”
Joey Logano made it two JGR Toyotas in the top three, as he
qualified 181.756 mph.

“It's really tricky around here,” said Logano. “I felt like we had a
decent lap in our Dollar General Camry. The car wasn't quite
perfect, but we've been working on the thing really hard. We didn't
unload very good. We've been working hard and making
improvements with it."

Aric Almirola was fourth in a Richard Petty Motorsports Ford,
followed by
Greg Biffle in a second Roush entry.

The second five was
Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Paul
Menard
, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth.
Denny Hamlin
Brickyard 400 Pole Sitter
Pagoda Control Tower
The Entire Official Name of the Brickyard 400:

Crown Royal Presents the Curtiss Shaver 400
at the Brickyard Powered by Big Machine
Records.com

Whew!

So who the hell is Curtiss Shaver???
This is Curtiss Shaver
2012 Brickyard 400
July 29 - Make room for Jimmie Johnson among the legends of the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Johnson won the Crown Royal Presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at
the Brickyard Powered by BigMachineRecords.com on Sunday, July
29, joining Jeff Gordon as the only four-time winners of the annual
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at IMS.

Five-time Sprint Cup Series champion Johnson also won in 2006,
2008 and 2009.

"Man, you just hope to race here," Johnson said. "To come here and
win is a huge honor. And to win four - four wins! I'm at a loss for
words. It was a total team effort. We put it on them today. It was nice."

Johnson drove his No. 48 Lowe's/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet to a
4.758-second victory over the No. 18 M&M's Toyota of
Kyle Busch.
He earned $430,461. Hendrick Motorsports earned its eighth
Brickyard victory, extending its event record.

Greg Biffle finished third in the No. 16 3M Ford.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished a Brickyard career best fourth in the
No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, taking the Sprint Cup
points lead. Gordon was fifth in the No. 24 Drive to End Hunger
Chevrolet, his 11th top-five finish in 19 starts at this event.

Johnson led 99 of 160 laps in a dominant performance. He took the
lead for good by passing Biffle on Lap 132. Johnson's crew won the
race in the pits on the final stop of the race, under caution on Lap
134. Johnson then did his part by holding off Biffle on the final
restart of the race, on Lap 141, and he pulled away over the final
laps on the 2.5-mile oval.

Pole sitter
Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski were Johnson's
toughest challengers over the first 100 laps.

Hamlin led the first 26 laps in the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota and
one lap thereafter but finished sixth. Keselowski led three times for
22 laps in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge but faded to ninth.

Indiana natives and Stewart-Haas Racing teammates
Ryan
Newman
and Tony Stewart both finished in the top 10. Newman,
from South Bend, placed seventh in the No. 39 Quicken Loans
Chevrolet. Stewart, from Columbus, finished 10th in the No. 14 Mobil
1/Office Depot Chevrolet.

2011 "400" winner
Paul Menard finished 14th in the No. 29
Menards/Nibco Chevrolet.
2012 Brickyard 400 Race Results
Justin Moore
Many music acts performed throughout the day.
Jamie McMurray leading the pack
Joey Logano lost his back end and smashed into a couple
competitors.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Trevor Bayne and Kevin Harvick going three wide
Juan Pablo Montoya pit stop
Jimmie Johnson In The Lead
Matt Kenseth's Car on Fire
The Perry Band
RaeLynn
Jimmie Johnson Won His 4th Brickyard 400
RACE NEWS & VIEWS