Race Notes:
- The Pocono INDYCAR 400 Fueled by Sunoco will be the first IZOD IndyCar Series event at Pocono Raceway and the first Indy car race at the track since 1989. No driver entered has raced an Indy car at the track, but Dario Franchitti raced a NASCAR Sprint Cup car at the track in 2008.
- Past winners at the track are: Mark Donohue (1971), Joe Leonard (1972), A.J. Foyt (1973, 1975, 1979 and 1981), Johnny Rutherford (1974), Al Unser (1976 and 1978), Tom Sneva (1977), Bobby Unser (1980), Rick Mears (1982, 1985, 1987), Teo Fabi (1983), Danny Sullivan (1984 and 1989), Mario Andretti (1986) and Bobby Rahal (1988).
- The Pocono race winner won the Indy car championship in the same year he won at the track five times. Joe Leonard (1972) A.J. Foyt (1975 and 1979) and Tom Sneva (1977) won USAC titles. Rick Mears (1982) won the CART title.
- Team Penske has won seven times at Pocono (Mark Donohue-1971; Tom Sneva-1977; Bobby Unser-1980; Rick Mears-1982, 85, 87 and Danny Sullivan-1989.) It has won six poles Donohue (1971), Bobby Unser (1980), Rick Mears (1982, 1984, 1985 and 1988).
- A.J. Foyt Racing competed in every event at Pocono from 1971-1989. Team owner A.J. Foyt won at the track four times (1973, 1975, 1979 and 1981) and earned two poles (1977 and 1979).
Season to Date:
- James Hinchcliffe won the Iowa Corn Indy 250. It was his third win of 2013 and the fourth straight win at Iowa for Andretti Autosport.
- Ryan Hunter-Reay won Milwaukee IndyFest for the second consecutive year. It was Hunter-Reay’s second win of 2013 and the fourth for Andretti Autosport in 2013.
- Marco Andretti won his first pole position of 2013 at Milwaukee. It was his third career pole and second at Milwaukee.
- Helio Castroneves won his 28th Indy car race in the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.
- Will Power won his 31st career Indy car pole at Texas.
- Mike Conway and Simon Pagenaud split the winsin the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit. It was Conway’s second Indy car win and Pagenaud’s first Indy car victory.
- Tony Kanaan won the 97th Indianapolis 500 to record his 16th Indy car victory.
- Ed Carpenter won his first pole position since 2010 at Kentucky when he won the pole for the 97th Indianapolis 500.
- There were a race-record 14 leaders and race-record 68 lead changes at Indianapolis.
- James Hinchcliffe won the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 with a last-lap, last-turn pass of Takuma Sato. It was his second win of 2013 and the third win in four races for Andretti Autosport.
- Takuma Sato won his first Indy car race in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He was the 208th driver to win an Indy car race and first Japanese driver to win. It was A.J. Foyt’s first win as a car owner since 2002.
- Dario Franchitti won his 30th career Indy car pole at Long Beach.
- Ryan Hunter-Reay won his 10th Indy car race in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park from the pole position. It was the second time he had won a race from pole.
- James Hinchcliffe won the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It was the first win of his Indy car career. He was the 207th driver to win an Indy car race.
- Will Power won his 30th career Indy car pole at St. Petersburg.
- Tristan Vautier started his first career IZOD IndyCar Series race at St. Petersburg.
Milestones & Records:
· Should Dario Franchitti win the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series championship, he will join A.J. Foyt as the only drivers to win at least five Indy car titles in their career. Franchitti won the title in 2007 and again from 2009-2011. Foyt won seven championships in his career.
· With their next victory, either Dario Franchitti or Sebastien Bourdais will move into sole possession of seventh place on the all-time wins list. Franchitti and Bourdais are tied with Paul Tracy with 31 wins.
· With a victory in 2013, Scott Dixon will extend his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to nine.
· With his next victory, Scott Dixon will move into sole possession of ninth place on the all-time wins list. Dixon won his 29th race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Aug. 5, 2012, to tie Rick Mears for 10th place on the all-time wins list.
· Helio Castroneves moved into sole possession of 11th place on the all-time victory list with his win at Texas Motor Speedway on June 8. Castroneves had been tied with Johnny Rutherford for 12th with the victory.
· Helio Castroneves needs two earned poles to reach 40 career poles in his Indy car career after he won the Verizon P1 Award at Iowa Speedway.
· Will Power recorded the 30th pole of his Indy car career at St. Petersburg and his 31st pole position at Texas.
· Dario Franchitti recorded the 30th pole of his Indy car career at Long Beach and his 31st pole position at Detroit 1.
· Scott Dixon needs two earned poles to reach 20 in his Indy car career.
· With one pole in 2013, Scott Dixon will extend his IZOD IndyCar Series streak to seven consecutive seasons.
· Scott Dixon’s second-place finish at Barber was the 30th of his Indy car career. It tied Helio Castroneves, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Jr., and Bobby Unser for fifth on the all-time list.
· Tony Kanaan tied Helio Castroneves for 10th on the all-time top-five list by recording his his 110th top-five finish at Iowa.
· Scott Dixon recorded the 100th top-five finish of his Indy car career at Barber Motorsports Park. With a pair of top-five finishes at Detroit, Dixon tied Paul Tracy for 12th on the all-time list.
· Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 207th consecutive start. Jimmy Vasser holds the all-time record of 211. Scott Dixon with 148 straight starts (7th all-time) and Marco Andretti with 124 straight starts (15thall-time) are the only other active drivers with a streak of more than 100 consecutive starts.
· Ryan Hunter-Reay needs one start to mark his 100th consecutive IZOD IndyCar Series starts.
At-Track Schedule (all times local):
Saturday, July 6
10 – 11 a.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series practice
1:15 p.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying (single car/cumulative time of two lap)
5:30 – 6 p.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series final practice
Sunday, July 7
8-8:05 a.m. – IZOD IndyCar Series systems check
11:30 a.m. – Pocono INDYCAR 400 pre-race
12:15 p.m. – Pocono INDYCAR 400 200 laps/400 miles), ABC (Live)
