Today’s IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Mazda Road to Indy headlines:
1. Kanaan aiming to make more history at IMS
2. Tagliani to ride tricycle around State Fair in beaver costume
3. Vautier tunes up for Mid-Ohio by racing
1. Kanaan aiming to make more history at IMS: The last time Tony Kanaan was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he was celebrating an Indianapolis 500 victory. Kanaan hopes his next trip will be just as productive.
Kanaan will have the chance to accomplish something no driver has ever done at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he competes in the Rolex Series Brickyard Grand Prix – win two major events at IMS.
“Obviously it would mean a lot,” said Kanaan, who will drive a Daytona Prototype for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. “When I got the phone call from Chip (Ganassi) to do this, I was extremely excited. I’ve been watching obviously Scott (Pruett) and Memo (Rojas) for a long time. But, to be honest, I’ve never driven one of those cars. I’m going to have to learn a lot in the first day. I will do anything I can do to help the team. If we’re in a position to do that, for sure we’ll take it.
“It took me 12 years to win the 500. To win two races in Indianapolis, I don’t know what to think yet. I know we have a competitive car. I’m just glad to be part of it.”
Ryan Briscoe’s wrist injury opened the door for Kanaan to drive alongside Joey Hand in the three-hour endurance race. Still, Kanaan is treating the race differently than he did to the IZOD IndyCar Series race.
“I think I’m going to lean a lot on Scott and Joey to teach me,” he said. “A couple days ago I got an e-mail from Tim (Keene), our team manager at Ganassi, four pages that I had to learn, all the switches and stuff. I think we have a little bit of time on Thursday for me to learn that. Even to learn the racetrack. It’s funny to say that I don’t know the track. The track I know runs the opposite way and only turns left”
It also will allow Kanaan to introduce his son Leo to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“I haven’t been to the track since the 500,” Kanaan said. “For sure it will give me a great feeling when I drive through the tunnel for the first time, look at the pagoda, all the things. I got so lucky, my kid is on vacation with me this month from Brazil. This deal came up a week ago. Coincidentally he gets to be here. He wasn’t here at the 500. As you guys all know, I promised him the trophy, he was going to get the Borg-Warner. He’s all excited. He’s never been to Indianapolis. It’s a great fit.”
But still, Kanaan wouldn’t mind coming away with another visit to the Yard of Bricks as an Indianapolis winner.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of race you do in Indianapolis, any driver wants to win, no doubt about it,” he said.
2. Tagliani to ride tricycle around State Fair in beaver costume: Despite raising nearly $6,000 for charity, Alex Tagliani will have to don a beaver costume and ride around the Indiana State Fair on a tricycle.
The stunt is the payoff of a bet with 2008 Indianapolis 500 champion Scott Dixon, who raised $1,130 more than Tagliani during their Power of 2 Challenge. The pair raised nearly $13,000 for their charities through the Power of 2, a fundraising initiative that uses celebrity power for social causes.
Dixon raised $7,036 for two groups that focus on cancer stricken young people, CanTeen and Teens Living with Cancer, during a two-week campaign that ended July 18. Tagliani raised slightly less, $5,906, for his chosen charity, Anaphyaxis Canada, an organization that helps people with life threatening allergies.
The end result means Tagliani will ride around the fair on a tricycle in a beaver costume, representative of his native Canada, while stopping to have some State Fair fun along the way.
He will begin his journey at 11 a.m. on Aug. 5 on Main Street in front of the Communications Building and proceed around the fairgrounds to perform the following tasks:
* Pose for photo with the World’s Largest Male Hog at the Swine Barn
* Chug a delicious milkshake at the Dairy Bar
* Try to ring the bell at the “Strong Man” game at the midway
* Pose for photo with the World’s Largest Popcorn Ball at the Agriculture/Horticulture Building
* Feed the goats at Goat Mountain next to the DNR Building
* Dance with The Fun Bunch line dancers near Gate 12
* Milk a dairy cow in the Livestock Nursery in the Family Fun Park
Once he successfully completes the circuit, Tagliani and Dixon will duel it out in go-karts at the fair’s Mini-Indy Speedway, a quarter-mile banked oval track in the fairgrounds’ northeast corner.
3. Vautier tunes up for Mid-Ohio by racing: Seat time is Tristan Vautier’s goal as the IZOD IndyCar Series rookie competes in the F1600 Formula F Championship Series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 27-28.
The 23-year-old Frenchman, who will drive the No. 55 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 4, will gain additional experience on the road course in a Quantum Racing Services Van Diemen Honda. He’ll also participate July 31 in an IZOD IndyCar Series Open Test at the venue.
“Not knowing the track, it’s a great chance for me to get to learn it before our IndyCar weekend and I can’t thank Quantum Racing Services enough for this opportunity,” said Vautier, the 2012 Firestone Indy Lights champion and 2011 Pro Mazda champion. “It’s going to be exciting to drive a car with no wings again, I’m sure I will have a lot of fun, and knowing the car will be prepared by a team who knows success in the series is amazing.”
***
The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 4 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race will be televised live at 3 p.m. (ET) by NBC Sports Network and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network, including on Sirius and XM Channels 211, www.indycar.com and the INDYCAR 13 App for most smartphones and tablets. The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Mid-Ohio 100 on Aug. 4 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 2 p.m.
