HERTA'S READY TO ROAD IN SONOMA.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 No one was more happy to see road courses added to the 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 schedule than Bryan Herta Bryan Herta (b. May 23 1970, Warren, Michigan) is an American race car driver. He currently drives for Andretti Green Racing, which is co-owned by former CART and IRL driver Michael Andretti, in the ALMS, although his career has primarily been spent in open-wheel cars . The Andretti Green Racing Andretti Green Racing is an auto racing team that competes in the IRL IndyCar Series and the American Le Mans Series. Early years in CART Founded in 1993 by Barry Green and Gerry Forsythe as Forsythe Green Racing driver won two races at Laguna Seca, a permanent road course in Monterey, when he was racing in the CART Series. He continued his road racing Road racing can be a term involving road running, road bicycle races, or automobile races. As contemplated in this article, the term will be treated as it relates to motorsport, specifically, automobile racing and motorcycle racing. success at St. Petersburg, Fla., in April when the IRL 1. (jargon, chat) IRL - In real life. Generally synonymous with f2f. 2. (language, robotics) IRL - Industrial Robot Language. made its first visit to a street course. Herta won the pole and finished fourth, completing a 1-2-3-4 finish for Andretti Green Racing. Sunday's race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma is next on the IRL schedule and Herta can't wait to get on the twisting road course in northern California. ``I'm definitely looking forward to it,'' said Herta, a Valencia resident and Hart High of Newhall graduate. ``I enjoy road racing. I was one of the happiest people when the IRL added them to the schedule.'' In addition to returning to road racing. Herta said he is happy with the way his car has responded to the track in tests. ``These cars are a lot of fun to drive on a road course,'' said Herta, driver of the No. 7 Honda-powered entry for Andretti Green. ``They've got good grip, good power, the brakes work very well. It's a good combination.'' Herta is coming off a disappointing race at Pikes Peak International Raceway Pikes Peak International Raceway was a one mile oval Auto Racing track located in Fountain, Colorado, south of Colorado Springs and north of Pueblo. Capacity: 42,000 Grandstand seats, 20,000 Infield capacity. in Colorado, where he finished 12th. He has one win this year, coming at Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway is a two-mile (3.22 km), moderate-banked, D shaped superspeedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than 1,400 acres [1] near Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. , and is eighth in points. Herta's teammate, Dan Wheldon, won the St. Petersburg race. Wheldon also won the Pikes Peak race, his fifth of the year, tying him with Sam Hornish Jr. for most IRL wins in a season. ``I'm excited about going to Infineon,'' said Wheldon, driver of the No. 26 Honda-powered entry. ``I think it will be the most physical track on the calendar. It will be interesting because St. Petersburg was a street course and this is a permanent road course.'' Honda Performance Development is based in Santa Clarita. Wheldon leads the IRL points race, 97 ahead of Hornish, and appears to be in control to win his first IRL championship. But with four races left on the schedule, Wheldon said he is not taking any race lightly. ``I know there are going to be a lot of people who are strong there, so not only will this be physical, but competitive also,'' Wheldon said. Tony Kanaan, another one of Herta's Andretti Green teammates, is third in points, 120 behind Wheldon. Kanaan said he hopes the St. Petersburg race will be a preview for Infineon Raceway. ``It brings back a lot of the memories and if it goes as well as St. Petersburg did for the AGR AGR advanced gas-cooled reactor team, then I can't wait to go there,'' Kanaan said. --Irwindale Speedway: Newhall's Travis Thirkettle won his third race in a row, but it was his boss, Tim Huddleston, who had reason to celebrate last Saturday night at Irwindale Speedway. Huddleston won the track's 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. Late Model championship with a third-place finish in the race. But Thirkettle is finishing the season strong. The win was the fifth of the year. Huddleston holds a 94-point lead over Mike Johnson of Covina with one race to go. Canyon Country's Cory Fancy maintained his lead in the Dodge Super Trucks division, despite a seventh-place finish last Saturday night. Ron Peterson of Riverside won the Super Trucks race and is 36 points behind Fancy with two races remaining. --NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Ron Hornaday Jr. had high hopes for Wednesday's race at 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. in Tennessee. He has won two Truck Series races at the tiny oval, both times from the pole. In one of his wins, he led every lap. ``It even amazes me that I was able to run like that at Bristol,'' said Hornaday, a former Saugus Speedway champ from Palmdale. ``Sometimes just finishing the race at Bristol can be a sense of accomplishment, but being able to go out and lead every lap is something that I am very proud of.'' But in his most recent race at Bristol, Hornaday struggled to a 12th-place finish. Mike Skinner won his first Truck Series race since 1996 and Dennis Setzer maintained his lead in the Truck Series point standings. The top four drivers held their places in the Truck Series standings after the Bristol race, with Hornaday in fourth, 261 points behind Setzer. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Dan Wheldon of Team Andretti makes a turn during a practice run at the Argent ar·gent n. 1. Heraldry The metal silver, represented by the color white. 2. Archaic Silver or something resembling it. Mortgate Indy Grand Prix in Sonoma, Calif. Associated Press Box: INDY RACING LEAGUE |
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