IndyCar News

Adrian Fernandez made the best of a first lap incident to finish ninth at the Molson Indy Toronto on Sunday.

Barber Dodge Pro Series Championship points leader Leo Maia extended his lead by one with his pole-winning time of 1min 11.720secs during final qualifying on the 1.755 mile temporary street circuit in Toronto.

A.J. Allmendinger strengthened his grip on the 2003 CART Toyota Atlantic Championship again in provisional qualifying at Toronto's Exhibition Place by establishing a new track record of 1:05.447secs.

Cleanevent USA, an event and venue cleaning management services provider, has signed a three-year naming rights sponsorship of the IRL Infiniti Pro Series event at Nashville Superspeedway. The Cleanevent 100 is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. (EDT) Friday, July 18th at Nashville Superspeedway.

Starting the year with a grid half full on unsponsored cars, Chris Pook and the rest of the CART Series have been working hard to try and entice some of America's major brand names back into the sport to try and replace companies like Marlboro, Target, KOOL, Texaco/Havoline and now Player's.

It was a decision that was made some time ago but in the midst of Paul Tracy and Patrick Carpentier both making a run at the 2003 Champ Car World Series the fact that loyal team sponsors Player's would be leaving the sport at the end of the season was almost forgotten about.

A heavy rain shower shortly after the first practice session of the Molson Indy Toronto weekend finished meant that the 1.755-mile Exhibition Place circuit was completely awash by the time second practice began.

For most Southern California teenage boys, the summer means sun, sand, ocean and girls in bikinis but, for Alan Sciuto and Billy Johnson, it means pavement, tyre rubber and driving hard.

With the CART season passing halfway, several drivers stand out as the most likely to make an impact on the first Canadian trip of the summer.

CART Champ Car rookie Tiago Monteiro has revealed that sitting out last Saturday's Cleveland night race was almost as painful as the knock he took in practice that ruled him out of the action.

The Formula Dodge National Championship presented by Racer magazine convened at the weekend at Road America for rounds eight and nine with the top five drivers in the championship separated by just twenty points, or one race win.

Clarence Cagle, who helped save the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from oblivion after World War II and served as track superintendent for 30 years, died at his home in Daytona Beach on Saturday aged 88.

Mo Nunn Racing's Felipe Giaffone fractured his right femur and pelvis in Sunday's Kansas Indy 300 after colliding with Dan Wheldon but the Brazilian driver is said to be on the mend after a successful three-hour operation on Monday in Indianapolis.

Ed Carpenter was awarded the pole for the Aventis Racing For Kids 100 after Panther Racing, which fields driver Mark Taylor, was penalized after failing a post-qualifying technical inspection.

Scott Dixon traded places with Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Tomas Scheckter at just the right time on Saturday by winning the MBNA Pole for the Kansas Indy 300.

Newman-Haas Racing's Sebastien Bourdais will carry McDonald's sponsorship for three races this year thanks to a tie in with co-owner Paul Newman that sees the world famous golden arches return to the Champ Car World Series for the first time since 1999.

Lynx Racing's Michael Valiante is trying hard to maintain focus on his current Toyota Atlantic program even though his recent development deal with Walker Racing should see him in a fully blown Champ Car next season.

Midget racing veteran Sarah McCune completed 155 laps in an IRL Infiniti Pro Series car last weekend during testing for Sam Schmidt Motorsports at Kentucky Speedway, posting an unofficial fastest lap above 185mph.

Scott Dixon won the MBNA Pole for the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway, enduring a one-hour rain delay before making his qualifying run.

"It was a great run for us. The folks at GMAC and AOL have been looking for a good run since Indy. This is our chance to shine. Chevy shines on the short tracks. I come from a short-track background, and engineer Mark Weida and I have a good rapport together.

"I see this series growing. We've had so much interest. I think that next year you're going to see a lot more cars. You know, at Indianapolis this year I think they had 20 or 21 cars compete. I'm sure that the economy right now has a lot of affect on what's going on.

Greystone Multi-Family Builders Inc., one of the premier apartment builders in the United States, will serve as an associate sponsor of AFS Racing, Inc. through the 2004 IRL Infiniti Pro Series season, team officials announced earlier this week.

As the owner of the largest Indy Racing League IndyCar Series points lead since October 2001, Team 7-Eleven driver Tony Kanaan doesn't appear to need too much help with his 2003 effort.

In keeping with the difficulties already experienced at last weekend's GI Joe's 200 in Portland, the Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing entry developed a gearbox problem at the start of the race, bringing about an early retirement for driver Tiago Monteiro.