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Firestone Indy Lights

500 Festival ‘REV Your Engines Concert’ this Saturday

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Jon3_1The 500 Festival will kick-off the month of May with the FREE “REV Your Engines Concert” on Saturday, April 27, 2013 at 7 p.m. on Monument Circle.

The 500 Festival REV Your Engines Concert will feature multi-platinum recording artist Gavin DeGraw and Indiana native Jon McLaughlin. The musicians will be introduced by IZOD IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe and Firestone Indy Lights driver Zach Veach, respectively.

Food trucks and a beer garden will also be available to guests during the event. For more information on the concert or other 500 Festival events and programs visit 500festival.com.

DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS STREET CLOSURES

The northwest and entire south side of Monument Circle including the south spoke to Washington Street will be closed starting at 3 p.m. Saturday and will reopen at 1 a.m. Additional street closures, including Meridian Street from Washington to Maryland streets, may be closed at IMPD discretion.

Source: 500 Festival

Firestone Indy Lights Delays New Car Until 2015

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Firestone Indy Lights announced Thursday that the introduction of its next-generation car will be delayed until after the 2014 season.

“While we have generated quite a bit of interest from a variety of manufacturers, we feel it’s best to delay the introduction of the next-generation chassis and engine,” said Tony George Jr., director, Firestone Indy Lights. “We want our teams, drivers and manufacturers to be competitive and successful, and if that means taking a step back to create a stronger series to support the economics of this long-term capital investment as well as a formula that we believe will allow our drivers to transition between Pro Mazda and the IZOD IndyCar Series, then we’re willing to make sure the introduction is timed properly.”

Series officials, citing the desired attributes of a contemporary chassis with enhanced aerodynamics and technology, announced last May that a request for proposal had been distributed to potential manufacturers and development firms for both engine and chassis. All Firestone Indy Lights competitors currently run a Dallara chassis and 3.5-liter, normally aspirated V8 engine.

“We continue to spend a considerable amount of time conducting due diligence, taking into account the needs of our teams, drivers, manufacturers and other key constituents to make our series stronger,” George said. “This ongoing process has proven just how much people believe in Firestone Indy Lights and the entire Mazda Road to Indy driver development system.”

INDYCAR continues to make investments to grow Firestone Indy Lights while providing further value to all participants throughout the Mazda Road to Indy system that also includes the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires.

This season Firestone Indy Lights has an improved TV package, with all races televised on NBC Sports Network. The television schedule features enhanced time windows, serving as lead-in programming to IZOD IndyCar Series broadcasts where the schedules allow, showcasing the series to a larger audience. The Freedom 100 on May 24 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be televised live.

Additionally, INDYCAR recently re-launched the Firestone Indy Lights and Mazda Road to Indy website as part of indycar.com, serving as the go-to resource for news and features on the next generation of the sport’s stars.

The Firestone Indy Lights champion, claiming a Mazda Road to Indy scholarship to apply to an IZOD IndyCar Series program, has graduated to the premier series three of the past four years. Tristan Vautier will drive for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the 2013 season. Scholarships also were awarded to 2012 Pro Mazda champion Jack Hawksworth and USF2000 champion Matthew Brabham, both of whom will graduate to the next step on the ladder this season.

“INDYCAR would like to thank the suppliers, manufacturers and other parties for their continued interest and involvement in the development of the new car,” George said. “Everyone involved believes there is a bright future ahead for the series.”

Source: INDYCAR

KeyBank recognizes Fan Force United as Community Leader

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fanforceunitedlogoFan Force United may have completed its first year in Firestone Indy Lights, but its impact has already been felt in and around the racing community.

The team has been awarded the $3,000 KeyBank Community Leader Award given to the Firestone Indy Lights driver or team that best displays community outreach.

The team was associated with several charitable causes throughout the season. Emerson Newton-John ran the No. 42 Pink and Blue For Two car for two races in support of the cancer awareness campaign centered around promoting awareness of breast and prostate cancer. Also featured on its cars throughout the season was Noah’s Rainbow, a non-profit organization supporting children and families faced with life threatening illnesses in memory of Noah Paul Yamilkoski.

“It really is an honor for us,” said team co-owner Chris Williams. “We try hard to engage the community and reach out to them as our fans. We didn’t do it for any awards but more for giving back to community. We thank KeyBank for their support of the series and this award.”

Other charitable associations included the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, Megan’s Mega Weekend fundraiser, the Rich Lentz Family Cancer Benefit, Team Jeremiah and a tribute to the life of Michael Roman, an aspiring race car driver.

Source: INDYCAR

Edmonton is off of the 2013 INDYCAR Schedule

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INDYCAR, the sanctioning body for the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights, announced today it will not return to Edmonton in 2013.

“When we finalized our schedule for the upcoming 2013 season, it unfortunately did not include Edmonton,” said Randy Bernard, CEO, INDYCAR. “We thank the city of Edmonton and all the fans for their support of the event over the last eight years.”

Bernard added:  “More importantly this has not affected our plans for a minimum of 19 races next season, and we remain optimistic that we will return to having two races in Canada as early as 2014.  We anticipate announcing our full 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule the first week of October.”