Richmond race weekend thread (includes starting grid)

[luke]

Race 7 of 17 SunTrust Indy Challenge Richmond International Raceway






Weekend schedule: (ET)

Practice 1 Fri Jun 24 :: 11:45 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Practice 2 Fri Jun 24 :: 3 - 4 p.m.

Qualifications Fri Jun 24 :: 4:45 - 5:45 p.m.

Final Practice Fri Jun 24 :: 8 - 8:30 p.m.

SunTrust Indy Challenge Sat Jun 25 :: 7:45 p.m.


Weekend weather forcast:

Friday
85°F (29°C) | 65°F (18°C) Sunny

Saturday
92°F (33°C) | 71°F (22°C) Cloudy


Website: www.richmondracewaycomplex.com


TV :

U.S. Race Live on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m. (EDT)

U.K. Race Live on Sky Sports 2 at 12:30 a.m. (BST)

Australia : Race Live on ESPN (Austar and Foxtel) at 9.30am Sunday Morning
P.S 9.00am Sunday Morning Indycar Special on same channel "The Fast Life"


Radio IMS


Race distance: 250 laps/187.5 miles

First IRL race: 2001

Total IRL races: 4

Defending champion: Dan Wheldon

[marcus]

Starting Grid

1. Sam Hornish Jnr 176.244 (7th Career Pole)

75th Career Start

2. Helio Castroneves 175.797 (11th time starting 2nd)

54th Career Start

3. Ryan Briscoe 174.656 (1st time starting 3rd)
Career Best Qualifying
7th Career Start

4. Patrick Carpentier 173.776 (1st time starting 4th)
Career Best Qualifying
7th Career Start

5. Dario Franchitti 173.760 (4th time starting 5th)

27th Career Start

6. Bryan Herta 173.457 (4th time starting 6th)

34th Career Start

7. Dan Wheldon 173.068 (3rd time starting 7th)

39th Career Start

8. Tomas Enge 172.771 (1st time starting 8th)

8th Career Start

9. Alex Barron 172.761 (4th time starting 9th)

49th Career Start

10. Darren Manning 172.701 (3rd time starting 10th)

21st Career Start

11. Kosuke Matsuura 172.329 (1st time starting 11th)

23rd Career Start

12. Scott Sharp 172.222 (5th time starting 12th)

105th Career Start

13. Jimmy Kite 170.693 (2nd time starting 13th)

26th Career Start

14. Buddy Rice 170.691 (1st time starting 14th)

40th Career Start

15. Vitor Meira 169.627 (3rd time starting 15th)

36th Career Start

16. Ed Carpenter 168.933 (6th time starting 16th)

25th Career Start

17. AJ Foyt IV 168.436 (7th time starting 17th)

39th Career Start

18. Roger Yasukawa 168.382 (5th time starting 18th)

25th Career Start

19. Tomas Schekter 168.268 (1st time starting 19th)

51st Career Start

20. Scott Dixon 167.367 (1st time starting 20th)

38th Career Start

21. Danica Patrick 164.707 (1st time starting 21st)

7th Career Start

22. Tony Kanaan No time (1st time starting 22nd)

40th Career Start

[mac]

Could the Toyota teams be stronger at the short track at Richmond?

[jock25]

Originally Posted by mac

Could the Toyota teams be stronger at the short track at Richmond?

It would certainly make sense given the accepted wisdom appears to be that non-Penske Toyota units are down on power relative to Honda and Chevy. I think the season has proven that both chassis can be engineered to run well but I think the Dallara will be stronger. The Panoz has been strong this season but mostly on the very high speed circuits, which might scupper any chance of Ganassi pulling out a decent oval performance.

I am very intrigued to see how the Panther cars run - Enge has to be at a disadvantage since Richmond is a very technical track despite its simplicity, but Scheckter...boosted by Texas...

Richmond Entry List

[N I Tram]

I can see Manning and Barron being competitive here this weekend - good drivers with underpowered engines. Perhaps Dixon as well if he can sort out his motivation.

[drewdawg727]

Wow, i hope that the temperature doesn't become a factor this weekend...

I was watching the weather channel this morning and realized that there is some warm, humid air that is plaguing the mid-atlantic all weekend long...temps will be in the mid 90s all weekend.

[Kicking-back]

The race is at night, which helps.

[Tim Northcutt]

Unless no one noticed, Toyota looked quite strong today...beyond Penske....

and tomorrow should prove to be an excellent race to watch...

Judging from the speeds some of those Toyotas were setting today, there has to be some improvement in the horsepower there....

Maybe some "trickle-down" effect has begun among the Cheevers and the Ganassis from what Roger had learned???

Just a thought....

[marcus]

Lets hope so Tim , Im currently adding the grid as we speak

[drdisque]

Toyota had a strong performance across the board at Richmond last year as well. I think the Toyotas are only down on power at high RPM and may actually have a torque edge on Honda and Chevy on short tracks and road courses.

[mabs_nsx]

P3 for Ryan Briscoe

Great lap!

[mabs_nsx]

I can only watch the race using live timing

[racer69]

You need to get Foxtel Mabs, all the races live on ESPN

[luke]

Looks like we got an interesting race.

[Kicking-back]

Just shows you how competitive this series is, with who's up and who's down.


Very pleased to see Carpentier up there, and a notable effort from Jimmy Kite in a poor team, too.

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

...and a notable effort from Jimmy Kite in a poor team, too.

Porqué?

Got in Enge's way...finished second to last between Carpenter & Foyt IV. Or are just commending the fact he finished?

[Kicking-back]

If you look at the time of that post, I was talking about his qualifying effort.

His race was quite appalling.

[Tim Northcutt]

From what I read, he cost Enge a Top Five finish....and based on what I read, I'm not sure the black flag for Enge was deserved...

It's a shame...

[Hazard]

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

If you look at the time of that post, I was talking about his qualifying effort.

His race was quite appalling.

Fair enough. Lost track of where the race was reading backwards...the Carpentier bit threw me.

Good thread...how it should be. No special attention for Danica Patrick, she neither did well nor bad, so we haven't made an effort to comment on her, same way we wouldn't comment about Ed Carpenters race etc.

(Until now, )