Milwaukee: Pre-event news and notes

Kanaan, Dixon lead IndyCar Series to Milwaukee

FAST FACTS

ABC Supply / A.J. Foyt 225
Date / Time - Sunday, June 1 - 4 p.m. (EDT)

Track - The Milwaukee Mile

Distance - 225 laps / 225 miles

TV - ABC (Live)

Radio - IMS Radio Network / XM Satellite Radio (Live)

2007 Winner - Tony Kanaan

2007 Polesitter - Helio Castroneves

Milwaukee Mile - 1-mile oval

First IndyCar Series race in 2004
Seats: 40,000

***

Milwaukee 100

Date / Time - Sunday, June 1 - 12:30 p.m. (EDT)

Track - The Milwaukee Mile

Distance - 100 laps/100 miles

TV - ESPN2 (Taped) - 1 p.m. June 5

Radio - IMS Radio Network

2007 Winner - Alex Lloyd

2007 Polesitter - Alex Lloyd

***

ABC Supply / A.J. Foyt 225 Race Notes:

The ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 will be the fifth IndyCar Series event conducted at The Milwaukee Mile. Tony Kanaan (2006-07) is a two-time winner of the event. Ryan Hunter-Reay won a Champ Car event at the track in 2004.

Two drivers entered have won the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award at Milwaukee: Helio Castroneves (2006, 2007) and Vitor Meira (2004). Ryan Hunter-Reay won the pole for the Champ Car event in 2004.

Twelve drivers entered in the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 have raced in previous IndyCar Series events at the track. Five of those drivers have led laps (Helio Castroneves 183, Tony Kanaan 168, Dan Wheldon 95, Marco Andretti 39 and Buddy Rice 37).

Four Indianapolis 500 champions are expected to participate in the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225: Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002), Buddy Rice (2004), Dan Wheldon (2005) and Scott Dixon (2008).

Three IndyCar Series champions are scheduled to participate in the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225: Scott Dixon (2003), Tony Kanaan (2004) and Dan Wheldon (2005).

Tony Kanaan has finished fourth or better in all four IndyCar Series races at Milwaukee.

Helio Castroneves has won the last two PEAK Motor Oil Poles at Milwaukee.

Andretti Green Racing has won three of the four IndyCar Series races at Milwaukee.

A.J. Foyt Enterprises won IndyCar races at Milwaukee in 1975 and 1979. Team owner A.J. Foyt was the driver.

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing won seven CART/Champ Car races at Milwaukee between 1985 and 2006.

Season-to-Date:

* Helio Castroneves is the only driver to finish in the top five in all five races this season. Ed Carpenter, Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan are the only other driver to finish in the top 10 in four races.

* Helio Castroneves and Dan Wheldon are the only drivers to complete all 883 laps in 2008.

Milestones & Records:

* Helio Castroneves will attempt to make his 103rd career IndyCar Series start. It would also be his 101st consecutive start.

* Helio Castroneves can establish an IndyCar Series record for most consecutive seasons with at least one win should he win the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225. Castroneves is tied with Scott Sharp with victories in seven consecutive seasons.

* Helio Castroneves can extend his IndyCar Series record for consecutive seasons with a pole to seven if he can win the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award.

* Vitor Meira has gone 81 starts without a victory in the IndyCar Series, the longest drought of any IndyCar Series driver.

***

Milwaukee 100 Race Notes:

Familiar names race in the Milwaukee 100 The Milwaukee 100 entry list features several drivers hoping to emulate their family's success in open-wheel racing

* Richard Antinucci, the nephew of 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever Jr., drives the No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car. He will be making his first start at the Milwaukee Mile in the same car that won last year's race.

* Sean Guthrie, driver of the No. 4 Carcrafters Guthrie Racing car, is the son of three-time Indianapolis 500 starter Jim Guthrie.

* Arie Luyendyk Jr., driver of the No. 26 Andretti Green Racing/AFS Racing car, also seeks his first win at Indy. The second-generation driver is the son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk.

* Al Unser III, driver of the No. 21 Ethos for Earth car for American Dream Motorsports, seeks his first series win at Milwaukee. The third-generation driver is the son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr., and the grandson of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Sr.

Sweet Home Wisconsin
Two drivers from Wisconsin will compete in front of their friends and family this weekend at The Milwaukee Mile. Bobby Wilson, a native of Oconomowoc, Wis., will make his third start at the Mile. Wilson, competing for first year team Team E, has never finished worse than fifth at his "home" track. Badger Midget Racing Association veteran Jake Slotten will make his first start at Milwaukee. The Kimberly, Wis., native drives for another Wisconsin native, Michael Crawford.

Been there, done that
Jeff Simmons is the only previous winner of the Milwaukee 100 entered in this year's race. Simmons won the race in 2005 - his only series start at Milwaukee.

Season To Date:

* Four drivers have won races this year - Dillon Battistini, Raphael Matos, Richard Antinucci and J.R. Hildebrand.Battistini is the only driver to win more than one race (Homestead and Indianapolis).

* Richard Antinucci has finished first or second in four of the five races this season. He won St. Petersburg 2 and finished second at Homestead, St. Petersburg 1 and Indianapolis. Dillon Battistini has four top-five finishes in five starts.

* Richard Antinucci, Sean Guthrie and Al Unser III have completed every lap of competition (244) this season.

Milestones:

* Arie Luyendyk Jr. will attempt to make his 52nd Firestone Indy Lights start at the Milwaukee Mile, which would extend his series record.

* Bobby Wilson can tie Wade Cunningham's series record for consecutive seasons with a win should he win the Milwaukee 100. Wilson has won in each of the last two seasons.

* Bobby Wilson will attempt to make his 34th consecutive start, which is second on the all-time list. Jaime Camara holds the series record with 42 consecutive starts from 2005-2007.

***

Schedule (local time):

May 30
4-5 p.m. - IndyCar Series practice (rookies only)

May 31
8:15-9:15 a.m. - Firestone Indy Lights practice
9:30-11:15 a.m. - IndyCar Series practice
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - Firestone Indy Lights practice (two groups)
1-2 p.m. - IndyCar Series practice (two groups)
2:30 p.m. - SWE Pole Qualifying
3:45-5 p.m. - PEAK Motor Oil Pole Qualifying

June 1
11 a.m. - Milwaukee 100 pre-race
11:30 a.m. - Milwaukee 100 (100 laps/100 miles)
2 p.m. - ABC Supply / A.J. Foyt 225 pre-race
3 p.m. - ABC Supply / A.J. Foyt 225 (225 laps/225 miles)

-credit: irl