THE LINE

September 8, 2010

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske Honda-Powered-Dallara) pitted on Lap 147 of 200 on the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway, inherited the lead when the leaders had to take a splash of ethanol in the final stages of the Kentucky Indy 300, stretched his fuel and went on to win his second race of the season. Pole sitter Ed Carpenter (No. 20 Panther/Vision/Fuzzy's Vodka D/H/F) finished second and his teammate Dan Wheldon (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing D/H/F) was third. Castroneves' win moves him to fourth in the overall championship points standings, 30 points ahead of teammate Ryan Briscoe. It was his 24th career Indy car victory (18 IZOD IndyCar wins and 6 CART wins).

(Dana Garrett/IndyCar)
Ed Carpenter had a strong run in Kentucky. Here's what he had to say after the race: "For Dan and I to finish second and third is a little disappointing because we were so strong all weekend. Dan had a dominant car today and it's tough being in our position when you have a guy win on fuel mileage. I think we are very proud having two Panther cars on the podium. We made a pretty big wing change after we were loose and that slowed us down in the pits.  We dropped back a few positions and then worked our way through the field."

(Dana Garrett/IndyCar)
Dan Wheldon has been back in form of late, but he is losing his seat at Panther Racing to Graham Rahal in 2011.

(Ron McQueeney/IndyCar)
Tony Kanaan (shown above in practice in his No. 11 Andretti Green Racing Team 7-Eleven D/H/F) charged from 26th in the 27-car field to finish fourth at Kentucky.

(Dana Garrett/IndyCar)
Will Power ran well again in his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske machine, but a late-race "almost" brush with the wall ruined his night and he ended-up finishing eighth. Ratcheting-up the pressure, Dario Franchitti finished fifth and is now just 17 points behind Power for the IndyCar championship lead with two races left. Next up for the IZOD IndyCar Series is the Indy Japan 300 on Sept. 19 at Twin Ring Motegi. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at Midnight (ET) by VERSUS on Sept. 19. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 212. The race also will be carried on www.indycar.com.

(Dana Garrett/IndyCar)
Pippa Mann (No. 11 Sam Schmidt Motorsports) won her first Firestone Indy Lights race on Saturday in the Drive Smart Buckle Up Kentucky 100. She jumped to a large lead after a Lap 5 restart and cruised to a 6.8372-second victory over James Hinchcliffe's No. 2 TMR-Xtreme Coil Drilling entry. J.K. Vernay (No. 7 Lucas Oil/CJ/Sam Schmidt Motorsports) finished third and takes a 48-point lead over Hinchcliffe into the season finale Oct. 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Vernay only needs to take the green flag to clinch the title.

(ALMS)
The largest field for a race in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón in more than seven years is coming to Road Atlanta. The 13th annual Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA2 will feature 45 entries. The annual 1,000-mile/10-hour race serves as the final round of the 2010 Series schedule with championships in all four classes coming down to the wire. And it also marks the second round – and first in North America – for the inaugural Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. The Automobile Club de l’Ouest – sanctioning body for the Le Mans 24 Hours – announced the global championship last year. The renewal of the Audi vs. Peugeot prototype battle in North America will be a huge draw, but the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid may well represent The Future of Racing. The innovative 911 racer features two electric motors on the front axles, each developing 60 kilowatts to supplement the 480 horsepower normally-aspirated rear-mounted engine. Under braking, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid converts kinetic energy into electrical energy and stores it in a flywheel that spins up to 40,000 rpm. During acceleration, this energy is delivered to the front wheels, supporting the combustion engine. This leads to a reduction in fuel consumption, increasing the cruising range and lessens the need for refueling. The final round of the 2010 American Le Mans Series is set for 11:15 a.m. ET on Saturday, October 2. SPEED will carry it starting at 11 a.m., with live radio coverage available on American Le Mans Radio presented by Porsche – a production of Radio Show Limited – as well as Sirius Channel 127 and XM Channel 242. Americanlemans.com will stream qualifying live starting at 3:15 p.m. ET on Friday, October 1. Visit Racehub at americanlemans.com.

(Panoz Auto Development Company)
The homologation process for the Panoz Abruzzi “Spirit of Le Mans” will be complete by the end of the year, according to Panoz Auto Development. PADC also confirmed that it will begin taking orders at that point for the new American-made super sports car. Panoz also insisted that the American public can expect its first in-person look at the Abruzzi “Spirit of Le Mans” which is expected to compete as an unclassified entry during the upcoming Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA2 at Road Atlanta, September 29-October 2. The 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance classic is the final round of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón, a championship Don Panoz founded in 1999. Only 81 of the front-engine, rear-transaxle, rear-radiator, 640HP super sports cars will ever be produced, corresponding to the number of Le Mans 24 Hour contests between the inception of the race in 1923 and the race to be held in 2013. And none will be sold in the U.S. 

 Road America. "America's National Park of Speed" will host the VSCDA Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival®, September 10-12, 2010. This weekend regularly attracts nearly 300 vintage and historic race cars from around the country. Elva sports racers and formula cars will be featured. Derived from the French phrase “elle va” which means “she goes,” Elvas were very competitive in club racing events in the United States during the 50s and 60s.  Ten race groups will run over the 3-day event including a field of pre-war models. In conjunction with the race weekend, the Historic Race Circuits of Elkhart Lake Preservation Society will celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the street-racing era with a gathering of special guests, a road course reenactment and more. Details can be found at www.historicracecircuits.com. Tickets can be purchased at the main gate which opens daily at 7 a.m. Kids 12 and under are free when accompanied by a paying adult. Road America’s 2010 season will conclude with the prestigious SCCA National Championship Runoffs® Presented by Subway, Sept. 23-26, 2010. The event will feature over 600 amateur drivers racing to win their class championships. For more information, visit www.roadamerica.com or call 800/365-7223.

(BMW Group)
The new MINI Countryman World Rally Car successfully completed its shakedown phase at Prodrive’s private proving ground in Warwickshire, England. The engineering team drove the car over four days, primarily on tarmac, along with several kilometres on loose surfaces and Prodrive’s low grip facility.  The development team now takes the car to Portugal for a week of testing on gravel. “As with any totally new car, it is vital to take time to ensure all the systems are working as intended before embarking on a week long gravel test,” said David Lapworth, Prodrive technical director. This first test car is running with an interim body and aero package, while design of the final World Rally Car bodywork is underway.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: If you really must keep up on all of the latest F1 developments and the potential U.S. GP in Austin, Texas, go here. - PMD

Editor-in-Chief's Note: Check out Michelin's racing website - "Michelin Alley" - and get in on all of the behind-the-scenes buzz. Go here. - PMD

WE'RE OPENING THE VAULT!

The AE wearables are back - and only in extremely limited quantities and sizes, we might add - and once they're gone, they're gone! We're starting with our most popular items, the classic AE Sweatshirt and AE Hat. Click on a PayPal button below to order yours now! (If you prefer to pay by check, please send us an email with AE STORE in the subject line, and we'll reserve your item.)

AE Sweatshirt - Crewneck, sturdy 80/20 cotton/poly, in black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. Size XL only. 40 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.

AE Hat - Black with throwback lettering - the original AE logo in our Chiller typeface shown above. 25 bucks, including shipping. US orders only.

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and friends this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.

By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links:

Subscribe via iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=311421319

Subscribe via RSS:

http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/podcasts/feeds/afterhours-audio.xml