From: Michael Powell 
 
INDY RACING LEAGUE NEWS AND NOTES _ April 7, 2004
 
Today_s IRL headlines
 
1.      Road to Indy: Tight Schedule Has Effect on IndyCar Series Teams
2.      Hornish Gets Fitted For Big Day
3.      Brack Back On Stage This Weekend 
 
1. Road to Indy: Tight Schedule Has Effect on IndyCar Series Teams
 
For most IRL IndyCar Series teams, the first full week of April meant packing
the equipment needed for the April 17 Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. But
at the same time, it meant preparing cars for the Indianapolis 500, when the
IRL_s new aerodynamic and 3.0-liter engine package will be used for the first
time. 
 
Between those tasks and the April 27-28 Open Test at Indianapolis, there_s
little time for anything else.
 
_The only time off for our guys is when they are on the airplane to Japan,_
said Greg Ray, owner/driver of the Access Motorsports entry. _Other than that,
it_s a 24/7 push. It_s a lot of work but our guys are passionate about racing.
That doesn_t make it seem quite so bad._
 
IndyCar Series teams such as Access Motorsports, Red Bull Cheever Racing and
Marlboro Team Penske packed up equipment at their shops, then spent April 6-8
at Indianapolis International Airport loading shipping containers onto cargo
planes bound for Japan. 
 
_We try to take a very solid approach to (packing),_ said Tim Cindric,
president of Team Penske. _Our race cars for Motegi won_t be the cars we take
to Indianapolis. We tested those cars (at Indy) on April 3. We_ll go to Motegi
after we_ve digested the information from that test, then we_ll come back here
for the Open (Test). By the time May comes, we should know what to expect and
prepare for._
 
For a smaller team, such as Ray_s Access Motorsports, the job of packing makes
preparations for Indianapolis that much tougher. With only one primary Panoz G
Force chassis, the team has had to prepare a car for the April 3 private test
at Indy, then convert that car to race at Motegi. Following the Motegi race,
they will convert the chassis back to the Indianapolis specifications. 
 
_It is pretty tough,_ Ray said. _Lots of teams have several cars, sometimes
three or four chassis for a driver. They may have to work more people to get
prepared. For us being a small team and having limited resources, it makes
things very difficult. From a logistical standpoint, the guys have no time._
 
The situation, though, is the same for all teams. Cindric said every IndyCar
Series team is dealing with the same issues heading into the month of May.
 
_I don_t think it affects us more than it does anyone else,_ he said. _It_s
almost like there_s a three-race preseason this year and then the regular
season starts. The difference is the preseason counts. 
 
_Now that the rules are going to change and the engines are going to change,
we_re coming here with an unknown quantity. I think that_s what builds the most
anxiety with us. Things are out of our control. Things are unknown. We have to
figure out what the optimum setup on the car we don_t know yet. That_s the most
difficult thing for us._
 
Max Jones, the managing director for Red Bull Cheever Racing, added his team_s
preparations for the _Greatest Spectacle in Racing_ are not affected by a race
half a world away. 
 
_It_s just on the schedule,_ he said. _That_s just what we do. We prepare our
cars and load them in the truck to go racing every week. If that_s what the
schedule says, that_s what we do. It doesn_t take away from what we want to do.
You always want to use the maximum time allotted to be prepared.  It doesn_t
matter if it_s one day, or one week. We_ll use that. It_s the same for
everybody. We_re all going to have one day, or one week to get prepared._
 
***
 
2. Hornish Gets Fitted For The Big Day 
 
As a precursor to his June 5 wedding, two-time IndyCar Series champion Sam
Hornish Jr. will visit the Chicago Hugo Boss store on April 10 to get fitted
for his tuxedo. 
 
Hornish_s entire wedding party will join him and be fitted for their own
designer tuxedos.
 
_I_m excited to go and get fitted for my tux,_ Hornish Jr. said.  _I_m amazed
that we were able to find a day that all 12 of us could make it, so I_m really
happy we can all do this together. Plus, I think it_s great of Hugo Boss to do
this for me and my friends and family in the wedding. I just can_t thank them
enough._
 
Hornish will be joined by his five groomsmen, four ushers, his father and the
father of his fianc#e Crystal Liechty. Hornish and seven members of the party
will be making the drive from Defiance, Ohio, while the other four will join
them in Chicago.
 
***
 
3. Brack Back On Stage This Weekend 
 
Kenny Brack will work on his mental rehabilitation as well as physical
conditioning this week.
 
Brack, who is recovering from injuries sustained in a crash at Texas Motor
Speedway in October, returns to the concert stage before more than 5,000 fans
on April 10 at the local hockey arena in his hometown of Karlstad, Sweden.
 
Brack will play his Gibson guitar alongside two of his musical heroes _
Swedish rock group Sven Ingvars and singer Christer Sjogren.  
 
_It_s going to be fantastic to play guitar with the Sweden guys,_ Brack said. 
_Sven Ingvars started in the 1950s and were very big in Sweden and Europe, and
Christer played with The Vikings for years, too. They were some of my heroes in
music when I was growing up. So it should be pretty exciting before the big
crowd at home.  Plus I think I have improved on the guitar since playing back
in Sweden last time. _
 
Brack is keeping up with his daily physical rehab schedule while in Europe in
hopes of returning to the Team Rahal No. 15 Pioneer/Argent Mortgage Panoz G
Force/Honda/Firestone entry.
 
_The rehab is coming along very well,_ he said.  _I feel better and better
each day, and I should know pretty soon if I can get back in a race car in the
near future. That is my goal right now._
 
***
 
The 2004 IRL IndyCar Series season continues with the Indy Japan 300 at 11:30
p.m. (EDT) on April 16 at Twin Ring Motegi. The race will be broadcast live on
ESPN2 and the IMS Radio Network. The Menards Infiniti Pro Series Futaba Freedom
100 will take place at 2 p.m. (EDT) on May 22 at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway. The race will be broadcast live by ESPN2.
 
___ Internet Rex 2.29
 


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