DE FERRAN PREPARES TO MAKE HIS MOVE.Byline: TIM TIM Timothy TIM Technical Interchange Meeting TIM Transient Intermodulation Distortion TIM Time Is Money TIM The Invisible Man (movie) TIM Telecom Italia Mobile (Italian cellular provider) HADDOCK Motor Sports This should be Indy Racing League The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the sanctioning body of a predominantly American based open-wheel racing series. The League consists of two series, the premiere IndyCar Series driver Gil de Ferran's weekend at California Speedway The California Speedway is a two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, similar to that of "sister track" Michigan International Speedway. It is located approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. in Fontana. After finishing second in the first two races of the season, he should be ready to claim the first victory of his IRL 1. (jargon, chat) IRL - In real life. Generally synonymous with f2f. 2. (language, robotics) IRL - Industrial Robot Language. career. After his Penske teammate Helio Castroneves won last weekend in Phoenix, de Ferran should be next. Just don't count on it. Over his career, de Ferran has done the unexpected - especially when it comes to winning races. But that doesn't stop him from winning championships. The Indy Racing League will be making its first visit to California Speedway for the Yamaha Indy 400 on Sunday and de Ferran couldn't be happier to be racing at a track that holds so many great memories. ``It is a track that is very dear to my heart,'' de Ferran said. ``It's a track where we hold the world speed record (on a closed course). It's a track where I was able to clinch my first championship, so there's certainly a little bit of an emotional edge to Fontana.'' Fontana has been good to de Ferran over the years. About the only thing he hasn't done there is win a race. But that seems to be de Ferran's MO when it comes to contending for championships. He hangs with the top drivers from race to race, finishing near the lead week to week, and if he happens to be out front when the checkered flag drops, all the better. After two races of the Indy Racing League season, de Ferran seems to be following suit. After four races of Indy Racing League competition, including last year's Indianapolis 500, de Ferran doesn't seem to be in any hurry to win a race. Instead, he has a quiet confidence about him, one that says my race will come. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , de Ferran will rack up podium finishes and championship points until he has the lead in the series and has the rest of the drivers wondering how he did it. ``I just see myself as another competitor out there,'' de Ferran said. ``We always start with zero points. (Sam) Hornish is the champion in the series. He's done extremely well. He's won the first race. It is up to us now to try to raise our game and hopefully beat him. If that's going to happen or not, only time will tell.'' No worries. No pressure. His philosophy has been: another race, another chance to win - or come close. At least that's how he won his last two championships on the CART Series. He never won the most races in a season, never the most poles. He just seemed to consistently finish in the top five. It was his teammate, Castroneves, who would win races, sometimes in dramatic fashion. Castroneves is the defending Indy 500 champ, the driver who led from pole to finish in the Long Beach Grand Prix
The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is the premier circuit in the Champ Car World Series. It is an open-wheel race held on a temporary road course in Long Beach, California. last year, the one who scales trackside track·side n. The area near a track, especially a racetrack. fences after winning races and has been dubbed Spiderman for his climbing celebrations. De Ferran was the guy who just needed to show up in Fontana at the end of last season to claim his second title. He had already scored enough points to win the championship a week before in Australia. This trip to Fontana will be different for him. He won't be coming in with a chance to win a championship. He won't even be coming in as the defending series champion. That distinction belongs to Panther Racing Panther Racing is an American open wheel auto racing team. It is one of the oldest continually operating teams in the Indy Racing League (IRL). The team was started in late 1997, beginning racing in the IRL's 1998 season, with sponsorship from Pennzoil and six owners -- driver Hornish. De Ferran comes in to Fontana this time as the third-best driver in the series, if championship points are any indicator of quality this early in the season. Even though, technically, de Ferran isn't called champion, it won't change his approach to racing at California Speedway. ``Every time I walk in there, I imagine myself when I was there two years ago,'' de Ferran said in reference to winning his first CART championship. ``It was a very, very emotional day. Going back is something that I always enjoy. We had one (IRL) test there with the Test in the West, and we ran OK. I guess we'll have to see what happens on the weekend, but I am certainly looking forward to that race.'' THIS WEEKEND'S RACES BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL Channellock 250 Site: Bristol, Tenn. Schedule: Today, qualifying, 10:30 a.m.; Saturday, race (FX, 9:30 a.m.). Track: Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway, originally known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway is a NASCAR short track located in Bristol, Tennessee. It was constructed in 1960, and held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. (oval, .533 miles, 36 degrees banking in turns). Race distance: 133.25 miles, 250 laps. Last race: Jeff Burton Jeffery Brian Burton (born June 29, 1967 in South Boston, Virginia) also sometimes referred to as "JB" is a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver. He drives the #31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. became the second Busch driver to lead every lap and first to accomplish the feat at Darlington Raceway Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed the "Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition". at last week's Darlingtonraceway.com 200. He has won from the pole twice this season, including the previous race at Las Vegas. Next race: O'Reilly 300, April 6, Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas, 18th-largest city in the United States[1], and voted one of "America’s Most Livable Communities. . INDY RACING LEAGUE Yamaha Indy 400 Site: Fontana. Schedule: Saturday, qualifying, 11 a.m.; Sunday, race (ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network , 12:30 p.m.). Track: California Speedway (d-shaped oval, 2 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns). Race Distance: 400 miles, 200 laps. Last race: Helio Castroneves led a one-two Team Penske sweep of the Bombardier ATV (1) (Advanced TV) An early name for the digital TV standard proposed by the Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service (ACATS). See ACATS. See also ATV Forum. (2) (Analog TV) Refers to the NTSC, PAL and SECAM analog TV standads. Copper World Indy 200, winning by 2.1421 seconds over teammate Gil de Ferran Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967) in Paris, France to Brazilian parents, is a former racing driver. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for the Penske Honda Team and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 500. . Castroneves earned his second career IRL win and first since the 2001 Indianapolis 500. Fast facts: This race will mark the IRL's West Coast debut. ... This race will be the first IRL event to take place on a two-mile track. It also marks the first 400-mile event to take place in the league's seven-year history. ... Castroneves has earned two victories in just four starts, a league record. Arie Luyendyk earned his second victory in his eighth start. ... Last week, Sam Hornish Jr. became the fourth IRL driver to surpass 1,000 laps led. He is third on the list with 1,036, trailing only Tony Stewart (1,515) and Greg Ray (1,149). ... Marlboro Team Penske will make its first appearance at California Speedway as full-time competitors in the IRL. The team competed at the track from 1997-2001 in the CART series. Next race: Nazareth Indy 225, April 21, Nazareth, Pa. On the net: www.indyracingleague.com NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. WINSTON CUP Food City 500 Site: Bristol, Tenn. Schedule: Today, qualifying (Fox Sports Net, noon). Sunday, race (FOX, 9:30 a.m.). Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (oval, .533 miles, 36 degrees banking in turns). Race distance: 266.5 miles, 500 laps. Last race: Sterling Marlin went from worst to first to win the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington. Marlin overcame a pre-race engine problem to become the first driver this season to win two races. Next race: Samsung/RadioShack 500, April 7, Fort Worth, Texas. On the net: www.nascar.com CAPTION(S): box Box: THIS WEEKEND'S RACES (see text) |
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