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A worried Jean Alesi. ©RIS/Larry Clarino

Indianapolis - RIS- May 20,2012 - Bump Day at Indianapolis turned out as expected. With the last nine cars vying for the last nine positions there was about as much intrigue at the Speedway today as a game of Tic-Tac-Toe.

At noon qualifications started at 1:10 eight of the cars were done. Only Ed Carpenter waited until 2:04 to make his run. The Carpenter crew had to burn the midnight oil to make the 20T backup car ready after Ed’s hard crash yesterday.

Row 9 will be, Sebastien Bourdais, Wade Cunningham, Oriol Servia
Row 10, will be, Ed Carpenter, Mike Conway, Katherine Legge
Row 11 will be, Bryan Clauson, Simona de Silvestro, Jean Alesi

The big question is will INDYCAR give the simply awful Lotus powered cars of Simona de Silvestro, and Jean Alesi some extra boost? De Silvestro was 12 MPH slower than the pole while Alesi was 16.39 MPH slower. Alesi said, “I am scared out there. Not for me, but I am a moving chicane out there at the Indianapolis 500. That is dangerous. I am not at all comfortable.”

The Unofficial Grid for the 96th Running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, following Bump Day qualifications.

1   2  Ryan Briscoe         Chevrolet   226.484
2  27  James Hinchcliffe    Chevrolet   226.481
3  28  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Chevrolet   226.240

Photo courtesy NASCAR and Getty Images

NEWTON, IA - RIS - Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. loves Iowa.  Three straight times he's run there and three times he has won.  The latest win came today in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 at Iowa Speedway.

Jimmie Johnson celebrates in Victory Lane
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(CONCORD, NC – MAY 19, 2012 – RIS) With a perfect execution of strategy, Jimmie Johnson scored a win in the first 20-lap segment tonight, then hung back for the next three segments before driving into the lead starting the final 10-lap sprint to win Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr won tonight's Showdown to advance to the All-Star
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Dale Earnhardt Jr Grabs Sprint Showdown for All-Star Spot

Indy Pole winner Ryan Briscoe. ©RIS/Larry Clarino
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 Indianapolis - RIS - May 19,2012 - After having 32 qualification attempts to establish the first 24 on the grid of the 96th running of the 2012 Indy 500. The Top Nine Shootout brought the live crowd at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to it’s feet.

Perhaps the biggest surprised of part one of qualifications is that none of the four Chip Ganassi teammates made it into the Fast Nine. While they are all solidly in the field they will not be competing for the first three rows.

FOR FULL RESULTS OF TODAY QUALIFICATIONS

The first part of the day did see Bryan Clausen, Oriol Servia and Ed Carpenter make contact with the outside walls. All the drivers have been checked and have been cleared to drive. Clausen and Servia’s cars were moderately damaged while Carpenter’s mount suffered significant damage. The three are expected to be back on the track tomorrow.

The fastest nine each get up to three attempts to improve their positions and make a run for the Pole. All of the earlier times are wiped out and the nine start from scratch.
Each car gets an extra set of Firestone Firehawks. All but one of the fast nine are Chevy powered only Sarah Fisher Racing’s Josef Newgarden represented Honda.

RIS PHOTO GALLERIES OF THE 2012 INDY 500

Clint Bowyer won the Pennzoil Victory Burnout Challenge
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Bowyer Wins Pennzoil Victory Burnout Challenge

Here are the IZOD IndyCar Series qualification results from Pole Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ryan Briscoe is Team Penske's 11th different driver to win the Indy 500 pole. Briscoe's pole run secures Team Penske its 25th pole in the last 39 races (64%). Team Penske has won every pole (5) so far this IZOD IndyCar Series season.

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Busch Grabs Pole For NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race; Allmendinger Starts No. 1 in Sprint Showdown

AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: May 18, 2012 - Bloomington, Indiana - Bloomington Speedway - "Larry Rice Classic"

Not really sleeping, we posed the shot!)
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(CONCORD, NC - MAY 18, 2012 - RIS) Photos from Friday's activities - on track and off, at the Sprint All-Star weekend. Keep checking back, we'll be posting additional photos as the day goes on.

2013 Chevy SS NASCAR race car in testing

Will compete in 2013 NASCAR and arrive in showrooms as 2014 model
 

Photo: Courtesy of WilliamsF1

SPANISH GRAND PRIX REVIEW
15 MAY 2012

Pastor Maldonado won the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, giving Williams F1 its 114th victory in Formula One. He came home 3.1s ahead of Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso. Our Chief Operations Engineer, Mark Gillan, sums up the weekend.

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer:
Q: Mark, how much satisfaction do you derive from Pastor Maldonado’s victory in the Spanish Grand Prix?
MG: This is a massive result for Williams and of course it is incredibly satisfying, especially given the tribulations of the 2011 season.  However, this business is all about continuous improvement and it is important that we continue to deliver.

All-New 2013 Ford Escape Set to Pace NASCAR Stable of Races at Kentucky Speedway

LOUISVILLE, KY (May 15, 2012) – Ford Motor Company rolled out its latest NASCAR pace vehicle today – the all-new 2013 Ford Escape – which will make its pace vehicle debut during the NASCAR Sprint Cup race weekend at nearby Kentucky Speedway June 28-30.

The Escape pace car was unveiled at the Louisville Assembly Plant by two-time Daytona 500 champ and Ford NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth, who was on hand to drive the vehicle for the first time as part of a media program outside the plant where the new vehicle is built.

Photo: Courtesy of IMS

Restaurateur, best-selling author and host of the Food Network's hit show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" Guy Fieri will drive the 2013 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Pace Car to lead the field of 33 drivers to start the 2012 Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 27 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Fieri is an avid classic car collector. He owns a red 1968 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible that is featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives." Among others, Fieri also has a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertible, 2007 Chevrolet Corvette, 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454, 1967 Chevrolet C10 pickup, 2006 Chevrolet Kodiak C4500 4x4, 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 and 2011 Cadillac Escalade ESV.

DEARBORN, Mich., May 11, 2012– Carroll Shelby was a member of the Ford family for the better part of 60 years, producing stunning performance vehicles from concepts to production models.

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Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown will deliver tire-smoking Memorial Day salutes on behalf of Don Schumacher Racing and its sponsors on May 27 before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Dale Jr speaks to the media

NASCAR Sprint All-Star Open Pit Note #1

Justin Lofton drove to Victory Lane at Charlotte
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Justin Lofton Takes Charlotte Trucks