From: Michael Powell 

INDY RACING LEAGUE NOTEBOOK

Taylor tests IndyCar Series car at Texas; Castroneves tests at Milwaukee

INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2003 – Mark Taylor, the 2003 Menards
Infiniti Pro Series champion, tested a Panther Racing
Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone IndyCarTM Series car Oct. 1 at Texas Motor
Speedway. 

The test marked Taylor’s first laps in an IndyCar Series car.

“It felt very comfortable, really,” Taylor said. “The extra power is a big
difference, and you have to be careful with it.  There are a lot more
little gadgets on it that you have to get used to. That was the biggest
thing I was struggling with, using the pit limiter and different knobs that
are there.

“It is nice to have that much horsepower under you.  It is just a great
experience. It is what I want to do.”

In his first season in the Menards Infiniti Pro Series, the official
development series of the Indy Racing League, Taylor has won a record seven
events and clinched the championship with one race remaining, the
dreamerscandles.com 100 set for Oct. 11 at TMS.

Taylor felt his experience in the Pro Series helped during the IndyCar
Series test session. 

“Absolutely,” Taylor said. “The cars are very similar handling-wise. It’s a
lot easier when you are the only one on the track. I expect when other cars
are out there, it will be a different issue.  

“I feel that (the Pro Series) has given me a very good grounding as far as
ovals are concerned.  It made it a lot easier for me to get into the
IndyCar (Series) cars. If I had come straight to the IndyCar Series, it
would have made it a lot harder.”

While Taylor moved up to test an IndyCar Series car, USAC standout Dane
Carter, son of 1985 Indianapolis 500 pole-sitter and Panther Racing spotter
Pancho Carter, tested the Panther Racing Pro Series car.

“It was a lot of fun,” Carter said. “The car was very stable and didn’t do
anything strange. The guys had the car set up very well. It was set up more
conservative than when they come back for the race. The track was really
nice. It was a fun ride.”

Carter, 24, from Brownsburg, Ind., has competed in USAC since 1997 and is
expected to make his first Pro Series start at the dreamerscandles.com 100
at TMS.

“My ultimate goal is to get something together to run the series next
year,” Carter said. “One day, I would like to progress on to the IndyCar
Series.”

***

Castroneves, Herta test at Milwaukee Mile: IndyCar Series cars took to The
Milwaukee Mile for the first time Oct. 1 with two-time Indianapolis 500
winner Helio Castroneves and Andretti Green Racing driver Bryan Herta
taking part in an IRL-sanctioned test.

The IndyCar Series will compete at “The Mile” for the first time on July 25, 2004. 

“The test went really well at Milwaukee,” Herta said. “I've always enjoyed
racing there because it is a very good track. The Archipelago/Motorola crew
gave me a good car, and it was comfortable right from the start. It is hard
to say what the racing will be like next year because we were the only ones
running today. Also, it was very cold, so our lap times really aren’t
indicative of what the cars will be running here next year.”

The high temperature on Oct. 1 in Milwaukee was 50 degrees, 17 degrees below normal. 

***

Sneva, Goodyear join Firestone Heroes of Indy Roster: The final two drivers
in the Firestone Heroes of Indy race were named last week by Texas Motor
Speedway officials. The race, set for 2 p.m. (EDT) Oct. 12, will feature 10
of the greatest drivers in the history of the Indianapolis 500 in a 25-lap
showdown driving identically-prepared Thunder Roadsters on a quarter-mile
paved oval prior to the IRL IndyCar Series season-ending Chevy 500.

Tom Sneva and Scott Goodyear were the ninth and 10th drivers named to
compete in the historic race. 

Sneva won the 1983 Indianapolis 500 with Bignotti/Cotter Racing and won the
1977 and ’78 USAC National Driving Championships driving for current IRL
IndyCar Series team Penske Racing. 

Goodyear, who serves as color analyst for ABC/ESPN’s coverage of the
IndyCar Series, finished second in the Indianapolis 500 in 1992 and 1997.
He lost to Al Unser Jr. in 1992 by .043 of a second, the closest finish in
the history of the Indainapolis 500. He scored five Indy-style wins,
including 500-mile races at Michigan in 1992 and 1994. 

Sneva and Goodyear join legends Arie Luyendyk, Johnny Rutherford, Gordon
Johncock, Parnelli Jones, Pancho Carter, Bill Vukovich II, Lloyd Ruby and
Jim McElreath as drivers of the Thunder Roadsters. 

Rick Mears will serve as the event’s flagman, working closely with pace car
driver Al Unser and grand marshal A.J. Foyt. The three men are the only
drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 four times. 

“The field for the first Firestone Heroes of Indy is phenomenal,” said
Texas Motor Speedway General Manager Eddie Gossage. “The participants
represent 21 victories in ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’ a quarter of
all Indianapolis 500 race wins. The competitive fire still burns in these
greats. It will be special for the fans to see racing's history-makers in
action.”

The Thunder Roadsters are produced by 600 Racing and resemble the roadsters
that dominated the Indianapolis 500 and Indy-style racing through the 1950s
and 1960s. The cars are powered by a 1250cc Yamaha engine and will sport
special Firestone Firehawk tires for the event.

The Firestone Heroes of Indy race will include a full weekend of activities
celebrating the accomplishments of drivers who established much of the
history of the Indianapolis 500. In addition to practice and qualifying for
the race, the participants will participate in autograph sessions open to
the public and a special “Heroes” reception featuring “Mom” Unser’s fabled
chili, an Indianapolis 500 tradition.

***

Road Trip: The Chevy 500 Road Trip presented by Academy Sports &
Outdoors hit the road Oct. 1 to promote the Oct. 10-12 Chevy 500
championship weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

The caravan stopped at Academy Sports & Outdoors in Oklahoma City,
Okla., on Oct. 1, and will be in Austin, Texas Oct. 2 and Houston Oct. 3. 

IndyCar Series drivers Alex Barron, A.J. Foyt IV and Dan Wheldon are
participating in parts of the trip, along with Menards Infiniti Pro Series
driver Arie Luyendyk Jr.

The IRL Fan Experience Simulator will be on site at an Academy Sports &
Outdoors location in each city from 3-9 p.m. (CDT), with drivers appearing
from 4:30-6:30 p.m.

The road trip promotes the Oct. 12 Chevy 500 race weekend that includes the
Oct. 11 dreamerscandles.com 100 Menards Infiniti Pro Series and the
Silverado 350k NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races as well as the Oct. 12
Firestone Heroes of Indy race at Texas Motor Speedway. 

“This is now our third year for doing this, and it has been a lot of fun,”
said Texas Motor Speedway General Manager Eddie Gossage. “It's a great way
to get out and meet the fans and spread the good word about the Chevy 500
championship IndyCar Series event.”  

***

More Texas Happenings: Four lucky fans will once again have the chance to
become the “Rent-Way Fan 4 Life” at the Chevy 500. 

Fans can enter the contest at 60 Rent-Way stores in the Fort Worth-Dallas
area. Four winning entries will be drawn Oct. 6.  

The four winners will be paired with an IRL IndyCar Series driver at a
special function at Texas Motor Speedway on Oct. 9. If one of the four
selected drivers wins the Chevy 500, his “Rent-Way Fan 4 Life” partner will
win a Texas Motor Speedway Season Ticket for life, a lifetime membership to
The Speedway Club at TMS and a $1,000 shopping spree at the TMS Speedway
World gift shop. 

The participants and up to three guests each will watch the Chevy 500 race
in style from custom “living rooms” set up adjacent to Victory Lane. The
four, four-foot-high platform “living rooms” will be provided by Rent-Way,
the second largest rental/purchase company in America, and include a
television and couches for the four fans and friends to watch their drivers
compete.

For the nearest participating Rent-Way location, call 1-800-RENTWAY.

***

Taylor enjoys short-track racing: Menards Infiniti Pro Series champion Mark
Taylor got his first look at dirt-track racing on Sept. 25 when he attended
the 52nd Clabber Girl Hut Hundred USAC National Midget Car Series race at
the Terre Haute Action Track in Terre Haute, Ind. 

Dave Darland won the event.

“It’s very special, I can say that,” Taylor said. “I’ve never been to a
dirt track or anything like this before, so it’s going to be something I
always remember. It’s great racing. I can see why people enjoy it so much.
It’s my first, but it probably won’t be the last one I come to.”

***

Nice Deal: The 2003 Speedway Children's Charities Gala will take place the
evening of Oct. 9 at The Speedway Club at Texas Motor Speedway. The annual
Gala begins the Chevy 500 race-week activities.

“Our Speedway Children's Charities Gala is one of the highlight events of
race week," said SCC director Alicia Jenkins. “One again, we have an
exciting program lineup and are almost sold out of our available tables.”

Former Indianapolis 500 winners Johnny Rutherford (three-time winner), Al
Unser (four-time winner) and ‘500’ veteran Lloyd Ruby, who are driving in
the Firestone Heroes of Indy race on Oct. 12, are expected to attend. Also
in attendance will be IndyCar Series team owner and former Indianapolis 500
winner Eddie Cheever and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver David Starr.

Longtime sportscaster and current SCC Texas chapter board member Scott
Murray and Pam Minick of “Billy Bob's Texas” in Fort Worth, Texas, will
host the evening that includes a silent and live auction and dinner on the
ninth floor of The Speedway Club.

One of the highlights of the live auction will be a Texas duck hunt with
Foyt, Rutherford and Starr.   

More than 100 other items will also be available, including a 2004
Indianapolis 500 race weekend package, Indianapolis Motor Speedway ladies
leather jacket autographed by many Indy 500 winners and a Jeff Gordon oil
painting by Rome Milan.

Speedway Children's Charities is a non-profit organization that distributes
funds to local qualified charities benefiting children. All proceeds are
used to directly affect children and their needs. In six years of raising
funds for the children of North Texas, the Texas Chapter of Speedway
Children's Charities has distributed over $1,880,000 to local children's
organizations. For more information on the Speedway Children's Charities
Gala, call (817) 215-8564.

***

Hot Laps: Infiniti Pro Series standout Aaron Fike won the first feature of
the USAC MOPAR Twin 25’s midget race Sept. 27 at Indianapolis Raceway
Park…Officials from 7-Eleven Inc. and Andretti Green Racing will make an
announcement Oct. 12 regarding the 2004 IRL IndyCar Series season. 



--- Internet Rex 2.29