VALENCIA RACER EXCITED ABOUT INDY CHALLENGE HERTA SPENDS THURSDAY PRACTICING ON RICHMOND TRACK.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 Richmond International Raceway Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series. in Virginia has always been a place where Valencia's Bryan Herta has qualified well. It has produced some high finishes for him, too. After a string of poor finishes, Herta is looking forward to racing at Richmond, site of tonight's 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 SunTrust Indy Challenge The SunTrust Indy Challenge Presented by XM Satellite Radio is an Indy Racing League IndyCar Series race held at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. The event debuted as a Saturday night race in 2001. . ``I really enjoy the Richmond track,'' said Herta, a Hart High of Newhall graduate. ``It's a very important stop for us with XM Satellite Radio based nearby.'' Herta visited the headquarters of XM Satellite Radio, his primary sponsor, on Tuesday. He also was featured on a couple XM programs, the ``Ron & Fez Show'' (XM 202, High Voltage) and on ``Broadminded'' (XM 155, Take 5). Herta has not finished inside the top 10 since the IRL race at Twin Ring Motegi Twin Ring Motegi is an automobile racing track located at Motegi, Japan. Its name comes from the fact that there are two race tracks at the facility: a 1.549 mile oval (2.493 kilometers) and a 4.8 kilometer (2.983 miles) road course. in Japan in April. He was 20th in the Indianapolis 500, 13th at Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International (nicknamed "The Glen") is an auto race track located near Watkins Glen, New York at the southern tip at Seneca Lake owned by International Speedway Corporation. in New York and 11th at Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a superspeedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas -- the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track layout is very similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway (formerly Charlotte Motor two weeks ago. But Herta has never started outside the top eight at Richmond and his best finish came in 2004 when he was fourth. ``We're back on one of the handling tracks where the balance of the car becomes our primary focus and speed results from that,'' said Herta, driver of the No. 7 Honda-powered entry for 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 . ``The lap at Richmond is so short and so busy and you're always in traffic, so you need to have a car that you're confident and comfortable with in all the hairy situations we'll encounter.'' Herta was sixth fastest in practice on Thursday at Richmond. He turned 98 laps and had a top speed of 168.530 mph. ``We had a productive day and learned a lot in the car,'' Herta said. ``We still have some work to do, but we made ground (Thursday).'' Marlboro Team Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr. had the fastest lap on Thursday at 171.407 mph. Marco Andretti was the top Andretti Green driver at 169.315 mph, second fastest on the day. Andretti Green's Tony Kanaan was third fastest in practice and Dario Franchitti was fifth fastest. Irwindale Speedway: Newhall's Travis Thirkettle won his fifth straight race in the 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 division at Irwindale Speedway last Saturday night. He has a 73-point lead in the Late Model standings after six races. The NASCAR Super Late Models, Super Trucks, Mini Stocks, Legend Cars and figure 8s are schedule to race tonight at Irwindale Speedway. The Late Models will return to racing on July 1. Canyon Country's Rod Johnson is fifth in points in the Super Late Model division. Canyon High graduate Todd Southwell of San Marcos is sixth in points; Cory Fancy of Canyon Country is 13th and Kevin Wood of Saugus is 19th. Ron Peterson of Riverside has a six-race win streak in the Super Trucks. Pat Mintey of Quartz Hill is second in the Super Trucks standings. Rookie Brian Reed of Castaic is fourth in points; Dave Blakenship of Stevenson Ranch is 11th; Logan Henson of Valencia is 16th; Bill Sedgwick of Acton is 19th and rookie Brent Cusick of Canyon Country is 20th. Gates open at 4 p.m. Races start at 7. On the Net: www.indycar.com CAPTION(S): box Box: INDY RACING LEAGUE |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion