IndyCar Series drivers will find the 1.96-mile, 14-turn Edmonton City Centre Airport circuit is distinctively different from the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course -- last weekend's venue du jour.
Airport runways and taxiways to rolling terrain.
Left- and right-hand 90-degree corners to sweeping turns.
Concrete and tire barriers to sand runoffs.
Majority of racing surface is 75-feet wide to about 50 feet.
Both are physically and strategically challenging in their own right, which contributes to the depth and breadth of the IndyCar Series schedule. This week, it's the inaugural Rexall Edmonton Indy in provincial capital - a venue that transitions from Champ Car to Indy Racing League stewardship.
Eight IndyCar Series drivers entered in the 95-lap race July 26 (5 p.m. ET; ESPN and indycar.com) have competed on the circuit in the event's three years, (as ChampCar Series drivers) which leads to whether they'll enjoy a decided advantage.
When racing at a new track, Dan Wheldon ensures that he studies the in-car camera footage from other drivers that have driven on the track and have been competitive. He prefers to look at the most recent footage to gauge his approach at the venue. He also looks at the telemetry that the TCGR team is able to provide. Finally he'll take advantage of the track walk around the airport circuit with his engineers when he arrives in Edmonton this weekend.
Wheldon will make his first trip to Edmonton. He anticipates, "it seems to flow like Cleveland with a surface that may be like Nashville."
Dan Wheldon was caught up in a lap 41 incident to finish 17th in round 12 of the IRL IndyCar Series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race began under wet conditions and finished just under the two hour time limit for the event.
The turning point of the race for Wheldon came on lap 41 when contact between Justin Wilson and Mario Dominguez started a pileup that left Wheldon stopped and stalled in the grass. Wheldon’s team would make a total of six stops on the day, keeping him in the championship hunt by making up four positions (21st to 17th) after the incident.
"A tough day for the Target team today." Wheldon said. "We were obviously on another strategy and we were doing alright and minding our own business. On the restart, Wilson and Dominguez got together and I got hit from behind. There was really nowhere to go so it’s unfortunate. We came into the pits a few more times to top off and make sure we could run the remaining laps and get the most points available to us."
Scott Dixon maintained his IndyCar Series championship lead with a 58 point advantage (455 to 397) over Helio Castroneves, with Wheldon now a single marker back of Tony Kanaan in fourth with 364 points. Up next for the Target team is the Rexall Edmonton Indy at Edmonton City Centre Airport on Saturday, July 26th (5:00 p.m. EDT, ESPN).
2007 Mid-Ohio race winner and recent Indianapolis 500 champion Scott Dixon sits atop the Series' driver point standings, 63 points ahead of Team Penske's Helio Castroneves. Dixon, last year's IndyCar Series Championship runner-up, has secured four race wins and five poles and will look to increase his lead not only over Castroneves, but also Target Chip Ganassi teammate Dan Wheldon who sits in third, and Andretti Green Racing's foursome of Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, Hideki Mutoh and Marco Andretti.
"As always I look forward to going to road courses during the season and more so when it is a race that we won last year," said Scott Dixon. "Mid-Ohio is a very challenging track and requires a lot of emphasis on qualifying well. I hope to improve on our qualifying from last year. We tested for a few hours just recently and I believe we found a few things. So all in all I can't wait to get back this weekend and try to defend our title."
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course may be the great equalizer in the field of 27, as all of the drivers who moved to the IndyCar Series in 2008 have a strong road racing background. Both Enrique Bernoldi and Justin Wilson have experience competing in Formula One while Mario Dominguez, Bruno Junqueira, Oriol Servia, Will Power and Graham Rahal all participated in Champ Car. E.J. Viso competed in GP2 and Mario Moraes in the British Formula 3 championship. Look for the top five to be challenged up front by these experienced road racers during the 85-lap race.
The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 20. ABC HD will televise the race live beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 20, while XM Satellite Radio will air the race at 1:30 p.m. ET on XM Satellite Channel 145.
This week the IndyCar Series travels to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio for the Honda Indy 200. Dan Wheldon and the Number 10 Honda team will be running the same chassis they ran at Watkins Glen two weeks ago. Wheldon expects the car to be strong and claims to have it dialed in. He currently stands third in the IndyCar series driver's points standings.
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