2009 IRL Team Reports: Vision Racing

IRL Team reports for the 2009 IRL season

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2009 IRL Team Reports: Vision Racing

Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 04, 2009 12:13 pm

~~~VISION RACING COMPLETES FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE AT ST. PETE

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.(April 3, 2009) - Vision Racing drivers Ed Carpenter and Ryan Hunter-Reay completed their first official day of practice for the 2009 IndyCar Series season on the tightly configured twists and turns of the Streets of St. Petersburg temporary race circuit. The all-American duo worked together to complete a total of 71 laps, 34 and 37 respectively, in preparation for Sunday's Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Piloting a Vision Racing machine for the first time after being officially announced as a team driver on Tuesday, Hunter-Reay was able to put together a solid day of practice. For much of the practice sessions, Hunter-Reay ran in the top-ten, but was unable to put together a solid lap on new tires at the end of the day which dropped him on the time charts.

Hunter-Reay drove on the streets of St. Petersburg in the city's Honda Grand Prix for the first time last year where he started sixth and finished in the 17th spot

Like his teammate, Carpenter was unable to put together clean laps at the end of the day's practice session and record a good lap time. Carpenter was able to get the sticker tires he needed, but traffic kept him from completing practice as planned.

Carpenter's first drive on the streets of St. Petersburg was in 2005 when he finished 19th when he and the team made their street/road course debut. The following year, Carpenter missed the event due to injury sustained in the morning warm-up in the previous race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Roberto Moreno served as Carpenter's substitute along side Tomas Scheckter. In 2007, Carpenter retired early in 18th after a 16th place start due to contact initiated by teammate A.J. Foyt IV while running in 13th place. Just last season Carpenter started from the 21st spot, drove as high as seventh and finished the race running in the 18th spot.

In four prior trips to the Streets of St. Petersburg, the team's best team's best finish on the Streets of St. Pete came in 2007 when Scheckter finished sixth. Scheckter also has the team's best start there when he started eighth in both 2006 and 2007.
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Post by mlittle » Sun Apr 05, 2009 1:22 pm

Vision Racing
St. Pete Qualifying Report


~~~VISION RACING QUALIFIES ON STREETS OF ST. PETE FOR INDYCAR SERIES SEASON-OPENER

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 4, 2009) - Vision Racing drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ed Carpenter will start from the 14th and 22nd positions, respectively, tomorrow afternoon on the Streets of St. Petersburg for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Hunter-Reay's best lap in the No. 21 Vision Racing Honda/Dallara/Firestone machine for qualifying came in at a time of 1:03.0223 and an average speed of 102.821 mph.

While this will be Hunter-Reay's first race with Vision Racing, he drove on the streets of St. Petersburg in the city's Honda Grand Prix for the first time last year where he started sixth and finished in the 17th spot.

Driving the No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Honda powered Dallara Carpenter's top lap time in qualifying came in at 1:04.2416and an average speed of 100.869 mph.

Carpenter's first drive on the streets of St. Petersburg was in 2005 when he finished 19th when he and the team made their street/road course debut. The following year, Carpenter missed the event due to injury sustained in the morning warm-up in the previous race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Roberto Moreno served as Carpenter's substitute along side Tomas Scheckter. In 2007, Carpenter retired early in 18th after a 16th place start due to contact initiated by teammate A.J. Foyt IV while running in 13th place. Just last season Carpenter started from the 21st spot, drove as high as seventh and finished the race running in the 18th spot.

In four prior trips to the Streets of St. Petersburg, the team's best team's best finish on the Streets of St. Pete came in 2007 when Scheckter finished sixth. Scheckter also has the team's best start there when he started eighth in both 2006 and 2007.

Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "Some things were better and some things were worse for us out there. Overall we improved a little, but I need to be running in the 63s [seconds] and that's just not happening right now. We're just lacking a lot of grip all around the track. We will just have to focus on running a clean race and improving the car as we go tomorrow. If we can do that, then we will be able to give ourselves the opportunity to have a decent finish."

Ryan Hunter-Reay - No.21 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "I'll have to keep reminding myself of the time frame we are dealing with here. That car was sitting in a corner of the Vision Racing shop since the last race of 2008 until just seven days ago. Now it's running competitive lap times with guys that are qualifying in the top six so I am happy with how things are going. The Vision team has done an amazing job trying to get us ready in such a short amount of time. Where we are right now is where we should have been when we rolled off the truck on Friday if we had had any testing. We could have made that last qualifying session but we bottomed out a little bit and a lock up cost us the two tenths of a second that would have made the difference. It's those little things we have to work out. If we had another session of practice we'd jump another half second. We're just going to go out and get some valuable points tomorrow. This crew has never done a pit stop together and everything is new so we have to have the appropriate expectations. "
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Post by mlittle » Mon Apr 06, 2009 12:37 pm

~~~Second Place Finish For Vision Racing In Season-Opener


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (April 5, 2009) - In his debut for Vision Racing, driver Ryan Hunter-Reay handed the team their best career IndyCar Series result with a second place finish after 100 laps on the streets of St. Petersburg for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

From a 14th place starting position on the grid, Hunter-Reay worked his way up methodically and was able to take advantage of an opportunity that a well timed pit stop provided him on lap 33 just a caution was thrown for two separate accidents. That would put the No. 21 Vision Racing entry into fourth spot half way through the race.

After taking second place away from Justin Wilson on lap 86, Hunter-Reay did his best to challenge race leader Ryan Briscoe in the final laps with attempts on two late restarts. But with the promise of a good finish he remained aggressively smart and earned a podium spot in just his first start with his new team.

Vision Racing teammate Ed Carpenter drove his No.20 Menards Honda/ Dallara/ Firestone as high as third place on lap 70 as the leaders cycled through pit stops and was running in 15th spot when he came in for his final pit stop on lap 71. Leaving the pits on cold tires, an uncharacteristic mistake put him off line and into the marbles in Turn 3, ending his day in the tire barrier. Carpenter is credited with an 18th place finish.

After being unemployed just a little over a week ago, the stars aligned for Hunter-Reay in the last several days and culminated into Sunday's podium finish at St. Petersburg. Hunter-Reay met his Vision Racing crew just seven days ago, was officially announced to the team on Tuesday, first drove the No. 21 machine on Friday and nearly scored a victory in what can be considered a home race for the Florida native.

Additionally, in his debut with Vision Racing, the 28-year-old scored the team's highest finish in their fifth season and gives them their highest ever championship point standing of second place (10 points behind leader) going into the second round of the season two weeks from now.

The almost storybook ending in today's race most certainly provides solid footing for Hunter-Reay and Vision Racing from which to build on during the 2009 season. IndyCar Series racing resumes on the Streets of Long Beach, Calif. in two weeks for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 19 at 5 p.m. ET on VERSUS.

###

Post Race Quotes: (April 5, 2009)
Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Finishing Position: 18th
Qualifying Position: 22nd
On race:
"We had just made a pit stop and put on our last set of tires. I was pushing real hard out of the pits and the car pushed in Turn 3 and got up into the marbles and it was over. It was a rookie type mistake but I am not a rookie so I am pretty disappointed in myself. Just a stupid mistake. I could have scored some decent points but this is not the way I wanted to start the season. It's all on me. We're going to have to rebound and make it up to the guys, the team, Menards and everyone else."

On Ryan Hunter-Reay's second place finish:
"Ryan (Hunter-Reay) showed right away that he had a contribution to make to the team. He had a great run and made it exciting. I'm really happy for him and it's great for the Vision team."

Ryan Hunter-Reay - No.21 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Finishing Position: 2nd
Qualifying Position: 14th
On race:
"It's amazing how things work out. I can't thank this team enough. What they've done in seven days, not even seven days, and we're sitting here in second place at St.Pete. I felt like I wanted to try to take Ryan Briscoe at the end but I was also thinking long term with points and everything else. Briscoe was certainly charging hard in the breaking zone. You couldn't take a foot off the line without really jeopardizing your car. I kept it in there the whole time and finished well for the Vision team. We ran a good clean race."
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Post by mlittle » Sun Apr 12, 2009 8:00 am

~~~ENHANCED 'VISION'

Fort Lauderdale, FL (April 10, 2009) -- In the past three years, popular American racer Ryan Hunter-Reay has won in Indy Car, Champ Car, CART and Sports Cars. He's won on road courses, street courses and ovals. The last three years have also been the most challenging of his career, having faced more than his fair share of 'challenges' to stay at the top level of motorsports in the United States. However, "RHR," as his fans affectionately call him, is a professional, who never gives less than 100% in anything he does.

2008 saw Hunter-Reay return to the winners circle at the historic Watkins Glen Grand Prix, earn Indy 500 Rookie of the year honors, and finish the year on the podium at Surfers Paradise Australia, with Rahal Letterman Racing. He finished his first IndyCar season optimistic for 2009. Unfortunately, RLR's primary sponsor withdrew their support and consequently RLR withdrew from IndyCar competition.

It wasn't until the week before the first race of the season, The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg that Hunter-Reay reached an agreement to drive for Tony George's Vision Racing Team. The following week he helped write a new chapter in the Vision history books when the team raced from 14th to second, recording the best result in Vision Racing's five year history.

"It was a long winter, we worked really hard to put a program together, and I learned a lot," said Hunter-Reay. "I am grateful for the opportunity to race for Vision, they are a top-notch IndyCar team and extremely professional. We have a huge opportunity here to compete for wins all season, and last weekend was an example of that. We've just brushed the surface and it's going to be exciting to watch our progression through the rest of the season."?

RHR Vision.JPG 2008 also saw Ryan sign a multi-year personal sponsorship with IZOD to not only represent the brand on the track but to be an integral part of IZOD's multi-million dollar IndyCar marketing campaign. The IZOD brand embodies a youthful, energetic spirit with an active sport-inspired lifestyle, which Ryan lives, therefore creating a partnership was a natural for both Ryan and IZOD.

Executives from IZOD were present at The Indy 500, Watkins Glen, and St. Petersburg races managing their massive investment in IndyCar. Meanwhile, 'RHR' took care of business on the track, delivering results and enhanced media attention while underscoring the fact that IZOD came to IndyCar to win, and win with Hunter-Reay, which they have been outspoken about from the very beginning. "Ryan's result last weekend in St. Pete was exactly what I expected," said Executive Vice President of Marketing, Mike Kelly. "Ryan is an amazing driver and given the opportunity, he always performs. We knew others might count him out of that race because of the challenges of his program coming together at the last minute, but I know Ryan, it drives him. When he is presented with a challenge, he performs. It was a tough race and he drove it to the podium. He is a great spokesperson for IZOD and we're excited for the season ahead."

"It was great to both end last season and start this season with a podium for IZOD. ? Everyone wears IZOD and to be able to represent the brand is a tremendous honor."? Hunter-Reay continued, "They've activated a mega marketing program with IndyCar -- the merchandise program, the television commercials, bill boards, double page magazine ads, the movie theater trailers, extensive promotions at every race, a massive promotion with Macy's, it's just terrific."

Hunter-Reay continued, "Another fantastic thing about driving for Vision is that their business executives intuitively knew to embrace IZOD and the bridges they are building together have already resulted in dividends and continued collaboration well only result in additional benefits for everyone involved".

Hunter-Reay spent this week working with his new team at the Vision Racing headquarters in Indianapolis. He'll be back on track next week in Long Beach, on what he refers to as "The Best American Street Circuit -- Ever."


www.ryanracing.com
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Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 18, 2009 12:34 pm

----WILLIAM RAST joins Vision Racing at Long Beach

Vision Racing is pleased to announce that it has partnered with People's Liberation, Inc. to race the team's No. 21 Dallara/Honda/Firestone machine with William Rast branding in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach this weekend.

In an impressive debut run with Vision Racing for the 2009 IndyCar Series season-opening event on the streets of St. Petersburg, Ryan Hunter-Reay drove the No. 21 machine from the 14th spot all the way to the podium with a second place finish. With a new look, courtesy of William Rast, Hunter-Reay is looking for a repeat performance at Long Beach, Calif. and back-to-back podium finishes to begin the 2009 IndyCar season in style.

"William Rast CEO, Colin Dyne is a good friend and has been very involved behind the scenes and supportive of the efforts to get Ryan (Hunter-Reay) a full season run with Vision," said team owner Tony George. "This week the William Rast branded #21 will debut will with the team for its inaugural run at the "Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach". Throughout the season we expect to see a variety of creative expression coming from this activation."

The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will be a home race for the pair as Hunter-Reay is a resident of Dana Point, Calif. and William Rast is based out of Los Angeles, Calif. Not to mention, the backdrop of Southern California makes for the perfect setting for William Rast to prominently feature its logo and moniker.

"We are excited to be the sponsor for the #21 Vision racing entry, and to have the opportunity to work with both the George family, and Ryan Hunter-Reay. As a premium lifestyle brand entrenched in the iconography of American denim heritage, William Rast is proud to take part in one of our country's most tradition-rich racing series, and the heritage of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach," says Colin Dyne, Chief Executive Officer of People's Liberation, Inc.

William Rast also joins a strong sponsorship portfolio at Vision Racing which includes the likes of Menards, Lilly, SONAX, IZOD, Johns Manville, Energizer, Moen, Peak Antifreeze, Pittsburgh Paints, Sylvania, SuperClean and Quaker State.

Hunter-Reay will be making his fourth attempt at Long Beach, only this time will be his first in an Indycar as he will pilot the No. 21 William Rast special this weekend.

"I've worn William Rast jeans since before I met Colin [Dyne] and now that we've been working very close over the past couple of months to put a deal together, I'm just glad to see a William Rast car with me driving it; especially after all of the hard work that's gone into it," said Ryan Hunter-Reay of his relationship with Colin Dyne and William Rast. "It's great to represent a brand like William Rast and IZOD, so I'm just pleased with the fact that we have them both involved with the Vision Racing program."

Previously, Hunter-Reay has driven the streets of Long Beach three times for three different teams in the Champ Car World Series. His best finish there is seventh, scored two times in 2003 and 2004. His debut at Long Beach came in 2003 with American Spirit Team Johansson where he started 12th and finished seventh. The following year he drove for Herdez Competition, started sixth, his best start at Long Beach, and finished seventh.
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Post by mlittle » Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:47 am

HUNTER-REAY SEVENTH AS VISION RACING COMPLETES FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE AT LONG BEACH

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 17, 2009)- Vision Racing drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ed Carpenter completed the first day of practice on the streets of Long Beach in preparation for Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, finishing seventh and 21st respectively.

Running seventh quick today in the No. 21 William Rast/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone machine, Hunter-Reay is coming off a second place finish in the IndyCar Series season-opener at St. Petersburg and his debut with the team.

He will be making his fourth attempt at Long Beach, only this time will be his first in an Indy car Previously, Hunter-Reay has driven the streets of Long Beach three times for three different teams in the Champ Car World Series. His best finish here is seventh, scored two times in 2003 and 2004. His best start came in 2004 when he qualified sixth. His debut at Long Beach came in 2003 with American Spirit Team Johansson where he started 12th and finished seventh. The next year he drove for Herdez Competition, started sixth, and finished seventh.

Hunter-Reay's No. 21 machine is featuring a new look this weekend as sponsor William Rast has stepped up to be the car's primary sponsor for Sunday's race. The Los Angeles, Calif. based clothing company known for their premium jeans will ride along with Hunter-Reay as he looks to score back-to-back podium finishes to start the 2009 season in style.

Carpenter, who is making his debut on the streets of Long Beach this weekend was 21st on the speed charts. His previous best road/street course finish in the IndyCar Series is a sixth place finish at Watkins Glen International in 2006.

In the first race of the season at St. Petersburg, Carpenter started 22nd and drove as high as third place on lap 70 as the leaders cycled through pit stops and was running in 15th spot when he came in for his final pit stop on lap 71. Leaving the pits on cold tires, an uncharacteristic mistake put him off line and into the marbles in Turn three, ending his day in the tire barrier. Carpenter was credited with an 18th place finish.

Like Carpenter, Vision Racing will also be making the team's first attempt on the streets of Long Beach.

IndyCar Series practice resumes tomorrow morning at 10:25 a.m. with qualifying set to commence at 2:10 p.m. local time.

Sunday's 85 lap/167.28 mile Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will air live on Sunday, April 19 at 3:30 p.m. ET on VERSUS, as well as IMS Radio Network, XM IndyCar Series Racing Channel 145, XM Sports Nation Channel 144 and on the web at www.IndyCar.com. VERSUS will also air a live qualifying show on Saturday at 6:00 pm EST.
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Post by mlittle » Sun Apr 19, 2009 2:10 pm

VISION RACING QUALIFIES ON STREETS OF LONG BEACH

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 18, 2009)- Vision Racing drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ed Carpenter will start from the 12th and 23rd positions, respectively, tomorrow afternoon on the streets of Long Beach, Calif. for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Hunter-Reay advanced out of the first round of qualifying by running in the top-12 and was able to put together a best lap of 100.588 mph and at time of 1:10.4339 in the No. 21 William Rast/Vision Racing Honda/Dallara/Firestone machine.

He will be making his fourth attempt at Long Beach, only this time will be his first in an Indy car Previously, Hunter-Reay has driven the streets of Long Beach three times for three different teams in the Champ Car World Series. His best finish here is seventh, scored two times in 2003 and 2004. His best start came in 2004 when he qualified sixth. His debut at Long Beach came in 2003 with American Spirit Team Johansson where he started 12th and finished seventh. The next year he drove for Herdez Competition, started sixth, and finished seventh.

Hunter-Reay is coming off a second place finish in the IndyCar Series season-opener at St. Petersburg and his debut with Vision Racing. He started 14th in that affair and drove all the way to a podium finish. He's hoping that starting a couple of spots better at Long Beach will translate into an even higher finish this weekend; a victory.

Adding incentive for another strong finish this weekend, Hunter-Reay's No. 21 machine is featuring a new look as sponsor William Rast has stepped up to be the car's primary sponsor for Sunday's race. The Los Angeles, Calif. based clothing company known for their premium jeans will ride along with Hunter-Reay as he looks to score back-to-back podium finishes to start the 2009 season in style.

Driving the No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Honda powered Dallara Carpenter's top lap time in qualifying came in at 1:11.9069 an average speed of 98.527 mph.

Carpenter will be making his debut on the streets of Long Beach this weekend. His previous best road/street course finish in the IndyCar Series is a sixth place finish at Watkins Glen International in 2006.

In the first race of the year in St. Petersburg, Carpenter started 22nd and drove as high as third place on lap 70 as the leaders cycled through pit stops and was running in 15th spot when he came in for his final pit stop on lap 71. Leaving the pits on cold tires, an uncharacteristic mistake put him off line and into the marbles in Turn-3, ending his day in the tire barrier. Carpenter was credited with an 18th place finish.

Like Carpenter, the team will also making their first attempt on the streets of Long Beach.

Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

"It was okay. Like I say every time, on paper it doesn't look very good, but that last lap I had a time put together that would have put us ahead of Danica [Patrick]. I was just pushing really hard and locked up the tires in the last corner and threw the lap away, but there's definitely no reason to get all upset because we're progressively getting better. It's just frustrating to start at the back of the pack. We know now that we just have to run a good race tomorrow, put together a good strategy, have me not make mistakes like I did in St. Pete and see what we can do. I'm really looking forward to next week and having some success at Kansas."

Ryan Hunter-Reay - No. 21 William Rast/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

"Well, it was a tough day for us. In the first practice session we didn't get as much out of it as we would have liked and then in qualifying we advanced out of our group into the top-12, but unfortunately we were just unable to do anything with it. We had too much push in the car and we're really struggling with speed on the straight-aways for some reason, so we have to look at our aero and everything and see what is going on there. We're struggling in a few key areas and that's definitely not like us. So we'll go back and look at it tonight. We're starting two spots better than we did in St. Pete, so do the math on that and hopefully we'll come out better in the end."
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Post by mlittle » Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:10 am

~~~TOUGH DAY AT LONG BEACH FOR VISION RACING

LONG BEACH, Calif. (April 19, 2009) - The tight twists and turns that the Long Beach, Calif. streets provide were not too kind to Vision Racing drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ed Carpenter in today's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. In spite of any mishaps, bumps and miscues, both Hunter-Reay and Carpenter advanced from their starting positions and brought their cars to the finish line in one piece with 11th and 18th place finishes, respectively.

From a 12th place starting position on the grid, Hunter-Reay battled a strong push and wild rear-end of the car for the majority of the race. Thanks to solid pit strategy, he ran as high as third in the No. 21 William Rast/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone machine and remained in the top-ten for a great deal of the race.

While running in ninth with just three laps to go, the ill-handling car became too much for Hunter-Reay as he fought to keep it pointed forward and at full speed. He slipped to 10th and was passed on the last lap by Alex Tagliani to finish in the 11th spot.

Hunter-Reay remains within the top-five in the IndyCar Series championship point standings as he is fifth with 59 points (25 behind the leader).

Vision Racing teammate Ed Carpenter drove his No. 20 Menards Honda/Dallara/Firestone as high as third place as well, but an incident on lap 39 saw Carpenter into the tire barrier. He managed to get restarted and rejoined the field, albeit three laps down.

After a quick pit stop that included a front wing change, Carpenter was back on track and running at speed. Unfortunately Carpenter had a few more brushes with trouble, including getting a little off course after an encounter with a competitor on lap 60, resulting in slight contact with his own teammate Hunter-Reay. Carpenter finished under power and in the 18th spot after starting in the 23rd position.

Carpenter is now 21st in the championship point standings with 24 points (60 behind the leaders).

Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

"It was a pretty painful day to be honest. I made a huge mistake in St.Pete and I really wanted to make up for that by running a really smart clean race here in Long Beach. I didn't do that at all and made some terrible mistakes. I'm really disappointed with myself. I'm going to really have to reset my mindset and get ready for Kansas. We ran really well in Kansas last year and we'll head there with some confidence. I have some making up to do to the team."

Ryan Hunter-Reay - No.21 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

"It was just a long day. We did some cheap fixes to the car to make it good over new tires, which might have good for qualifying, but it wore the rear tires off of it way too quick so that left us a sitting duck at the end of the stint. It was a long day and one that you've just got to get through and get on with it. We didn't have a good car here. The guys did a great job with the stops and we brought the car home. I should have hit the wall about 35 times and the car is coming back in one piece. We got blocked on a couple of occasions, but it just wasn't our day. We were slow again on the straights and I wasn't getting any kind of run on anybody and we couldn't draft. I don't know why that was the case, but we'll have to look at that before Kansas. It's a big concern."
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Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:53 pm

TAKING THE VISION TO KANSAS: Vision Racing returns to Kansas Speedway for the fifth time and is following up a strong run last season when A.J. Foyt IV qualified fifth and he and teammate Ed Carpenter finished eighth and tenth. The team's best finish came by Tomas Scheckter in 2008 when the South African finished fifth.

SETTING PRECEDECE: In the opening weekend of the 2009 IndyCar Series season, Vision Racing completed the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with two team bests thanks to debuting driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay. Driving the team's new No. 21 machine, Hunter-Reay drove from 14th to finish second in the race which is a new team high. That podium finish also put Hunter-Reay second in the championship point standings which is also the highest-ever ranking for a Vision Racing driver.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: After forming and joining the Indy Racing League in 2005, Vision Racing will celebrate its fifth season of competition in 2009. Since the team embarked upon IndyCar Series competition, eight drivers have piloted five (Nos. 2, 20, 21, 22, 90) different team entries. Those drivers have combined for an additional 41 top-10 finishes, plus 10 top-five finishes, three more podium finishes and 41 laps led. Over the previous four years the quest for the team's first victory has been top priority and Vision Racing is confident that year five will be the season where that it happens. The Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 will be the team's 69th IndyCar Series event since their first season in 2005.

ON OVALS AND SUPERSPEEDWAYS: The team's best finish on an oval is third scored by Tomas Scheckter at The Milwaukee Mile in 2006 and again in 2007 by A.J. Foyt IV at Kentucky Speedway. However, the team's overall best finish came on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. in the 2009 season-opener when Ryan Hunter-Reay finished in the second position. In the team's most recent oval affair, the 2008 season-finale at Chicagoland Speedway, Carpenter was running in the fourth spot on lap 36, when he suffered a right front suspension failure and made heavy contact with the wall which ended his race early. Teammate A.J. Foyt IV was in the sixth spot, challenging for fifth on the last lap before spinning and finishing 13th.

NEW AND OLD FOR 2009: Vision Racing is fielding two cars, full-time for the second straight season. Ed Carpenter pilots the No. 20 car for the fifth straight year, while Ryan Hunter-Reay recently joined the team and drives the No. 21 machine. Team sponsors Menards, Johns Manville, and Lilly return while SONAX, IZOD and William Rast come aboard. Personnel-wise, Keven Kukulewicz returns as team manager while the engineering staff is again headed by Jeff Britton. Joining the team this year along with Hunter-Reay is engineer Neil Fife, while engineers Nathan O'Rourke and Robert Gue return to the team as well. IndyCar Series veteran and winner Bryan Herta is again serving as a road-course consultant for the team this season. Herta and his new Firestone Indy Lights (FIL) team, Bryan Herta Autosport (BHA) and driver Daniel Herrington has formed a technical partnership with Vision Racing and their new FIL team with driver James Davison. It marks Vision Racing's first FIL effort since 2005.

2009 TEAM HIGHLIGHTS: This season's highlight came in the season-opener in St. Petersburg, Fla. when Hunter-Reay started 14th and drove all the way to finish in second place.

Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone:

AT LONG KANSAS: Carpenter scored his best finish at Kansas last year when he finished 10th in his fifth attempt at the track. Carpenter started last year's race from sixth and drove as high as third in the race. He was running in fourth when he went to pit on lap 152. At that time, competitor E.J. Viso mistakenly pitted in Carpenter's pit box while Carpenter was approaching. Subsequently, Carpenter overshot his pits and had to be pushed back for fuel only. At the same time, the caution flag came out for a crash on track. Carpenter first raced the 1.5-mile oval at Kansas in 2004 where he started in the 16th spot and finished in 14th with Cheever Racing; in 2005 with Vision Racing he started from the 18th position and finished 17th, while in 2006 he started and finished from the 16th spot. Last year was the first time Carpenter did not finish the race at Kansas. After starting 13th, he was running in fifth and attempting to pass lapped traffic when he got high on the race track and spun into a crash. He finished 17th.

MOST RECENTLY: Carpenter drove his No. 20 Menards Special as high as third place in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach last weekend, but an incident on lap 39 saw Carpenter into the tire barrier. He managed to get restarted and rejoined the field, albeit three laps down. After a quick pit stop that included a front wing change, Carpenter was back on track and running at speed. Unfortunately Carpenter had a few more brushes with trouble, including getting a little off course after an encounter with a competitor on lap 60, resulting in slight contact with his own teammate Hunter-Reay. Carpenter finished under power and in the 18th spot after starting in the 23rd position.

Ryan Hunter-Reay - No. 21 William Rast/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone:

AT KANSAS: Hunter-Reay will be making just his second start at Kansas Speedway. His first came last season with Rahal Letterman Racing when he started 12th and finished 18th.

STONG DEBUT: After searching for a ride for nearly all but the final few days of the IndyCar Series off-season, Hunter-Reay found himself as the driver of the No. 21 machine just days prior to the season-opener at St. Pete. Qualifying 14th, Hunter-Reay went into the race looking for a safe and solid start and came away with a second place finish in his first drive with the team.

TOP-FIVE IN POINTS: Hunter-Reay is currently fifth in the IndyCar Series championship point standings. Unfortunately an 11th place finish at Long Beach caused him to slip from second to fifth.

MOST RECENTLY: From a 12th place starting position on the grid, Hunter-Reay battled a strong push and wild rear-end of the car for the majority of Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Thanks to solid pit strategy, he ran as high as third and remained in the top-ten for a great deal of the race. While running in ninth with just three laps to go, the ill-handling car became too much for Hunter-Reay as he fought to keep it pointed forward and at full speed. He slipped to 10th and was passed on the last lap by Alex Tagliani to finish in the 11th spot.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:55 pm

In the Points: Hunter-Reay is ranked fifth in the 2009 IndyCar championship.

Last Week at Long Beach: It was a big week for Hunter-Reay at Long Beach. He kicked off the event by celebrating his five-year anniversary with his girlfriend, Beccy Gordon in a very special way...by asking for her hand in marriage. The couple became engaged Thursday evening. A notoriously busy event for sponsor and series appearances, Hunter-Reay signed autographs for his partner IZOD at Macys, spent the night on the U.S.S. Reagan and filmed a piece for the Carson Daly Show, which aired this week. Unfortunately, his on-track experience was less memorable. Hunter-Reay started 12th and held on to finish 11th after a wild day on the track caused handling gremlins on his #21 William Rast machine.

Ryan Hunter-Reay on Kansas Speedway: "This weekend will be my first time back on an oval in nearly seven months, and I am really looking forward to it. Kansas is a great race going into the month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway because it gives us a good baseline to work off of. I am really excited to get in the Vision car this weekend as the team has a record of strong cars on the ovals. They've done a ton of work in that area and it paid off last season, the team had nine top-10 finishes on the ovals, so hopefully we can pick up right where they left off and take it a few steps further to victory lane in 2009!"

www.ryanracing.com
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Post by mlittle » Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:22 pm

VISION RACING QUALIFIES IN TOP 10 ON FIRST OVAL OF THE SEASON

KANSAS CITY, Kansas (April 25, 2009)- Vision Racing drivers Ed Carpenter and Ryan Hunter-Reay and will start from the 10th and 19th positions, respectively, Sunday afternoon on the 1.5-mile of Kansas Speedway for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300, the first oval race of the 2009 IndyCar Series season.

After qualifying first in line, Carpenter drove the No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Honda powered Dallara to a four lap average speed of 208.956 mph to put himself on the outside of the fifth row on the grid.

Carpenter scored his best finish at Kansas last year when he finished 10th in his fifth attempt at the track. Carpenter had started sixth and drove as high as third in the race. He was running in fourth when he went to pit on lap 152, when competitor E.J. Viso mistakenly pitted in Carpenter's pit box while Carpenter was approaching. Subsequently, Carpenter overshot his pits and had to be pushed back for fuel only. At the same time, the caution flag came out for a crash on track.

Carpenter first raced the 1.5-mile oval at Kansas in 2004 where he started in the 16th spot and finished in 14th with Cheever Racing; in 2005 with Vision Racing he started from the 18th position and finished 17th, while in 2006 he started and finished from the 16th spot. At the 2007 Kansas event, Carpenter did not finish the race for the first time after starting 13th and was running in fifth when while attempting to pass lapped traffic, got high on the race track and had contact with the wall. He was credited with a 17th place finish.

Hunter-Reay was only able to put together a four lap average speed of 205.673 mph in the No. 21 Vision Racing Honda/Dallara/Firestone machine which put him on the inside of the 10th row on the Kansas grid.

Hunter-Reay will be making just his second start at Kansas Speedway. His first came last season with Rahal Letterman Racing when he started 12th and finished 18th. He is currently fifth in the 2009 IndyCar Series Championship point standings.

Pole winner Graham Rahal will have his Newman-Haas-Lanigan teammate Robert Dournboos starting next to him on the grid with Danica Patrick rounds out the top three in qualifying. Dario Franchitti and Helio Castroneves have been sent to the rear of the for dropping below the white line during qualifying while E.J. Viso's car will start behind them for failing technical inspection.

The IndyCar Series will hold a morning warm-up practice session Sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. CT.

Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

"With just one practice before qualifying we went pretty aggressive and overdid it a little bit for qualifying with the wind anyways. The car was really good through Turn 1 and 2 but there was too much understeer going through Turn 3 and 4. It's too bad because I think we could easily have run in the 210 mph range with some changes. Today definitely wasn't the day to be going out first but that's the luck of the draw. We missed a little on set up so I'm not terribly happy with how qualifying went but I'm looking forward to race day. I know we'll make our way up to the front with the No.20 Menards car. We always have a good race car. I'm more worried about the weather (possibility of rain on race day)"

Ryan Hunter-Reay - No. 21 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

"That was a pretty frustrating qualifying effort but we know what the issue is now and what we will have is a pretty good race car for Sunday. This is just my second time here at Kansas but I'm fairly confident that it doesn't matter where anyone starts the race, it won't finish in the same order."
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Post by mlittle » Thu May 07, 2009 11:51 am

RAIN RUINS VISION RACING'S FIRST OPPORTUNITY FOR PRACTICE AT INDY

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Vision Racing drivers Ed Carpenter and Ryan Hunter-Reay will have to wait another day to turn laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for the 2009 Indianapolis 500 as the fickle spring weather in Indiana has washed out the track for the day.

Both drivers and crew are anxiously awaiting precious practice time on the track in attempt to qualify both cars on "Pole Day," this Saturday, May 9th.

Driving the No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, Carpenter is preparing for his sixth Indianapolis 500-mile race and fifth with Vision Racing. Not to mention, Carpenter is also coming off his best ever month of May just last season when he started a career-best 10th at Indy, drove his first career IndyCar Series leader laps (3) and finished in a team and career-best fifth at the Brickyard.

Teammate Hunter-Reay and driver of the team's No. 21 Honda powered Dallara is aiming for his second attempt at Indianapolis this year and his following up his performance last year that earned him Rookie of the Year honors. In the 2008 race, driving for Rahal-Letterman Racing, Hunter-Reay started 20th and drove all the way up to finish just behind his now teammate Carpenter, in the sixth spot.

Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

On rain-out: "After a day like today it kind of feels like we've already been out here a week waiting to get on track! Everyone is so antsy to get on track so of course it's disappointing but there's not much we can do about it. It makes it an advantage for the guys that got to run yesterday for ROP /Refresher but hopefully everyone will get enough time on track before Pole day. They made a good decision to schedule the start of practice on Thursday a bit earlier (10:30am) but with the forecast the way it is the should forget ROP at 9:30 am and just open the track to everyone. Stanton Barrett still needs to clear his rookie orientation but from what I saw he looked to be pretty good out there. I'd like to see the track open up as soon as possible because the forecast doesn't look that great tomorrow either."

Ryan Hunter-Reay - No. 21 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

On rain-out: "It's disappointing when you wake up in the morning at the track to the sound of IndyCars on track for rookie orientation and you don't get a chance to get out there yourself. It's disappointing because I've been looking forward to this day for a while now but that's Indy. Last year was a rainy year but hopefully we'll get more track time this year. We'll be ready to go when it goes green and we'll get right to our program. This is a minor set back."
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Post by mlittle » Fri May 08, 2009 10:44 am

FIRST PRACTICE LAPS AT INDY PROVE PRODUCTIVE AND TRYING FOR VISION RACING

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - After withstanding much anticipation and precipitation, Vision Racing drivers Ed Carpenter and Ryan Hunter-Reay finally got the opportunity to turn laps today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for the 2009 Indianapolis 500. Rain washed out the official first day of practice Wednesday.

Driving the No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, Carpenter was 14th fastest and put in the third most laps of the 32 drivers taking to the 2.5-mile oval with a total of 122 laps. The plethora of revolutions allowed Carpenter and crew the chance to experiment with optimal baseline setups for Saturday's "Pole Day" qualifying. His fastest speed came in the final hour of practice when he put up a fast lap of 220.797 mph.

Carpenter is preparing for his sixth Indianapolis 500-mile race and fifth with Vision Racing. Not to mention, Carpenter is also coming off his best ever month of May just last season when he started a career-best 10th at Indy, drove his first career IndyCar Series leader laps (3) and finished in a team and career-best fifth at the Brickyard.

Teammate Hunter-Reay and driver of the team's No. 21 Honda powered Dallara did not fare as well as a mid-afternoon mishap in turn two put him into the wall. Hunter-Reay was cleared by the medical staff, but his car was not and neither appeared on track for the remainder of the day.

However, before the incident Hunter-Reay turned 41 laps with a top speed of 214.929 mph while searching for a balanced set-up. Weather permitting, Hunter-Reay and the No. 21 machine will be back on track on Fast Friday for practice.

Hunter-Reay is aiming for his second attempt at Indianapolis this year and hoping to build on his performance last year that earned him Rookie of the Year honors. In the 2008 race, driving for Rahal-Letterman Racing, Hunter-Reay started 20th and drove all the way up to finish just behind his now teammate Carpenter, in the sixth spot.

IndyCar Series and "Fast Friday" action will resume tomorrow from noon to 6 p.m. for open practice before the first 11 qualifiers are set on Saturday. In addition, the team will also be kicking off its second season of the Vision Racing Wellness Tour.

The Vision Racing Wellness Tour will be located in the infield at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, under the grandstands next to the famous Pagoda in GP garage No. 35.

Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

On practice:

"It was a good productive day for us. I didn't think we were going to be able to run all day so it was nice to get a full day of running in after we got a full day of sitting around yesterday. We ran a lot of laps today, got a lot of work done and tested a lot of things. You never really know where you stand speed-wise at this point in the month but all you want to do is go faster. That's what we'll work on tomorrow."

Ryan Hunter-Reay - No. 21 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

On practice and contact with wall in turn 2: "Contact with the wall was a set back in respect to we didn't get a lot of track time as a result. We (20 & 21 Vision cars) started out going two different ways at the beginning of the day and now we're going to come back towards a mutual set-up that I think with suit both of us. The contact with the wall was light, by Indianapolis standards anyways, and didn't do as much damage as you might expect here. Looking back on the day, it's not the way you want it to end, especially the first day at Indy. We're working on it and tomorrow will be a completely different day."
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Post by mlittle » Sat May 09, 2009 11:23 am

'FAST FRIDAY' AT INDY NOT AS QUITE AS FAST AS VISION DESIRED

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Final practice before "Pole Day" qualifying, aptly called "Fast Friday," was not quite as fast as Vision Racing drivers Ed Carpenter and Ryan Hunter-Reay would have liked it to have been. Despite a little rain halting track activity periodically during the afternoon, progress and positive gains were made by the team throughout the day and especially during the last hour of practice, however the team remained lower on the speed chart than ultimately desired.

Carpenter again led the charge for Vision Racing while driving the No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone machine. He was 21st fastest at 222.021 mph and completed 68 laps on the 2.5-mile oval.

Carpenter is looking to qualify for his sixth Indianapolis 500-mile race and fifth with Vision Racing this weekend. Not to mention, Carpenter is also coming off his best ever month of May just last season when he started a career-best 10th at Indy, drove his first career IndyCar Series leader laps (3) and finished in a team and career-best fifth at the Brickyard.

Teammate Hunter-Reay and driver of the team's No. 21 Honda powered Dallara turned 58 laps with a top speed of 220.616 mph which was 28th fastest among 33 total cars the took to the track.

Hunter-Reay is aiming for his second attempt at Indianapolis this year and is looking to follow up the performance that earned him Rookie of the Year honors last year. In the 2008 race, driving for Rahal-Letterman Racing, Hunter-Reay started 20th and drove all the way up to finish just behind his now teammate Carpenter, in the sixth spot.

Top speeds and times listed in Thursday's post-practice release were inadvertently misreported by the team. In correction, Carpenter's top speed on Thursday was 222.572 mph and Hunter-Reay's best lap was 218.329 mph.

Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

On practice: "A little nervous about what its going to take to make the Top 11. It was kind of a strange day today with people running early because they thought it would rain and a lot of drafting going on. I don't really have a good sense of what speed it's going to take to make the field tomorrow. I'm questioning if we have enough speed right now to make it in the top-11 right now but still optimistic that we'll find a way in. We got a little more speed out of the car today than what we had yesterday and we ran most of the day which was good. Expectations for qualifying are to try to get the car qualified, I'm sure speeds will be up for everyone but I am anxious to see what it will take."

Ryan Hunter-Reay - No. 21 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone

On practice: "We went about our planned test list and made the car a little bit better and we are now at a team matched set-up and everything seems to be headed in the right direction and the car is handling well. We're just struggling to with overall speed and not sure why. It's easier to look forward to qualifying when you have a really fast car so I'm not certain what my expectations are. My realistic goal is to qualify in the teens. While I know that the race is a different story, speed is always something you want and a good qualifying position doesn't hurt but we are 70% concentrated on the race right now."
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Post by mlittle » Tue May 12, 2009 12:54 pm

VISION RACING WILL WAIT UNTIL SUNDAY TO MAKE INDY 500 FIELD

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The first round of qualifying for the 2009 Indianapolis 500, also known as "Pole Day" and includes the battle for the top 11 starting positions for the race, has come and gone at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and despite making one attempt to make the field, Vision Racing will wait until Sunday to make the field of 33.

Team driver Ed Carpenter completed one attempt in the No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone machine and made the provisional field with a four lap average of 221.272 mph before eventually being bumped from the top-11 qualifiers, which wasn't finalized until after the gun fired at 6 p.m.

Carpenter also completed 14 laps in practice today with a best lap of 221.612 mph. He is looking to qualify for his sixth Indianapolis 500-mile race and fifth with Vision Racing tomorrow. Just last season he started a career-best 10th at Indy, drove his first career IndyCar Series leader laps (3) and finished a team and career-best fifth place at the Brickyard.

Teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay did not make a qualifying attempt today after discovering an issue in the No. 21 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone machine at the end of the morning practice session. He did return to the track in the afternoon for some additional practice where he turned 17 laps on the day with a best lap of 219.274 mph.

Hunter-Reay is aiming for his second attempt at Indianapolis this year, and hoping to build on his performance last year that earned him Rookie of the Year honors. In the 2008 race, driving for Rahal-Letterman Racing, Hunter-Reay started 20th and drove all the way up to finish just behind his now teammate Carpenter, in the sixth spot.

IndyCar Series qualifying for the 2009 Indianapolis 500 will resume Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. as positions 12 through 22 are up for grabs. Practice begins at 10:15 a.m. ET with qualifying getting underway at noon. Television coverage also begins at noon ET on VERSUS.

The Indianapolis 500 will air live on Sunday, May 24 at noon ET on ABC, as well as IMS Radio Network, XM IndyCar Series Racing Channel 145, XM Sports Nation Channel 144 and on the web at www.IndyCar.com .

Practice & Qualifying Results and Quotes: (May 9, 2009)

Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Four Lap Qualifying Average: 221.272 mph
No. of Qualifying Attempts: 1
Top Speed in Practice Today: 221.612 mph
Top Time in Practice Today: 40.6116
Number of Laps in Practice Today: 14
Overall Rank in Practice Today: 20th
Top Speed for Month: 222.572 mph (May 7)
Top Time for Month: 40.4364 (May 7)
Number of Laps in Practice for Month: 204

On qualifying/practice:

"We knew going into the day that it was going to be tough to crack that top-11 but there were a few surprises. I wouldn't have expected Alex Lloyd to be there at the beginning of the day. I wasn't too happy with our first run and we started to go back out at the end of the day to try again but the qualifying line stacked up again. I think we could have gone 222 mph but not 222 enough to get into that top-11. We decided to not waste another good set of tires and come back tomorrow, get it qualified and start focusing on the race. Definitely disappointed with where we have been on the charts the whole month. It's not where I envisioned before we got out there running. We just have to get over the shell shock of that and get re-focused and make sure we have a really good race car that we can run up front with in the race."

Ryan Hunter-Reay - No. 21 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone
Top Speed in Practice Today: 219.274 mph
Top Time in Practice Today: 41.0446
Number of Laps in Practice Today: 17
Overall Rank in Practice Today: 26th
Top Speed for Month: 220.616 mph [May 8]
Top Time for Month: 40.7949 [May 8]
Number of Laps in Practice for Month: 116

On practice: "Today's line-up was pretty much expected; Ganassi, Penske, AGR, but I was surprised by the Coyne and KV Racing speeds. We'll qualify Sunday. That's the realist group to shoot for right now and we have a lot of work to do to make it happen tomorrow. We had some good runs but didn't find the speed we were really hoping for but we'll stick to our list and keep trying things and see what tomorrow brings and try to put it in the show."
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