Team Penske Excited To Return To The Streets of Toronto

July 5, 2012


FAST FACTS

Drivers:

Ryan Briscoe               

No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet

             

Helio Castroneves        

No. 3 Penske Truck Rental Dallara/Chevrolet


Will Power                    

No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet


Event:   

Honda Indy Toronto      

Streets of Toronto (11 turn, 1.75-mile temporary street course)

Toronto, Ontario

When:   

Qualifying – Saturday, July 7 at 1:05 p.m. ET

Race (85 laps) – Sunday, July 8 at 12:00 p.m. ET (ABC)

TV/Radio:

ABC/IMS Radio Network and Sirius XM Channel 94


Take It Outside: The Honda Indy Toronto will be the first time in 2012 that the push to pass system will be available to the IZOD IndyCar Series drivers as it will be utilized at the remainder of the road/street courses this season. INDYCAR will reduce the baseline boost level to 150 kPa, with an increase up to 160 kPa while the boost is engaged. The length of the boost, recharge time, number of boosts and possible set delays are still to be determined.

Journey Through the Past: Team Penske drivers have seen plenty of success in the previous races on the Streets of Toronto. Will Power has followed up his front row qualifying efforts in each of his last three starts (including winning the pole in 2011) in Toronto with a race victory in 2010 and a podium finish in 2009. Power also scored a win in the 2007 Toronto Champ Car World Series race before joining Team Penske. Teammate Ryan Briscoe recorded a second-place finish in 2009 and a top-10 result in last year’s race while Castroneves added a pole in 2000 and another top-10 finish to Team Penske’s totals.

Takin’ Care of Business: Team Penske hopes to return to its season-starting success on road/street courses going into the second half of IZOD IndyCar Series schedule. Team Penske drivers combined to win the race and pole at four of the five road/street course races in 2012 and have an average qualifying position of 7.1 and average finishing spot of 7.9 in those 15 combined starts. In addition, at least one Team Penske driver has finished in the top five of each road/street course race this season.

Perfect: Team Penske continues its season-long hold on the top spot of the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship as Power leads the field with 286 points. He is joined in the top 10 by teammates Castroneves (fourth) and Briscoe (ninth). Castroneves led the series standings after the first two rounds of racing this season while Power took command after Round 3 in Long Beach and has led ever since.

Working Man: Power, who leads the Mario Andretti Road Course Championship with 212 points, has been nothing short of dominant in the five road/street course races of 2012. The Australian driver has an average qualifying position of third with two poles and two additional second-place qualifications. Race day has been just as rewarding as Power has three victories (Barber, Long Beach, Sao Paulo) and an average finishing position of 2.8. Power is also two laps shy of surpassing 1,500 laps led in his career.

Broken Wing: Castroneves hopes to reverse his previous misfortunes on the Streets of Toronto this weekend. In his seven career starts at the venue he has failed to finish five times, with the 2009 and 2010 race efforts ending due to contact. His pole-winning effort in 2000, his 27 career laps led at Toronto and an Indy Lights win at the circuit in 1997 show that he is capable of being successful at the venue.

Never Surrender: With his previous successes on the next four upcoming tracks on the schedule, Briscoe will look to begin his surge up the championship standings. In 17 combined starts at Toronto, Edmonton, Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, Briscoe has one race victory, three pole positions, six podium finishes, eight top-five results and an average finishing position of 6.3.  

Chevy Showcase: Castroneves’ sixth-place performance last race at Iowa helped solidify Chevrolet’s dominating performance as six of the top eight finishers at Iowa were powered by Chevys. Paced by the performance of Team Penske’s drivers, Chevrolet has earned six wins in 2012 and at least one podium finish in eight of nine races this season.

Premier Partners: Team Penske is proud to continue its relationship with existing partners and welcome several new sponsors to its family in 2012. In Toronto, Briscoe will feature the No. 2 Hitachi car, Penske Truck Rental will return as the primary sponsor of the No. 3 car driven by Castroneves and Power will drive the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car throughout the 2012 season.  Team Penske also features IZOD, Shell and Pennzoil, PPG and AAA Insurance as primary sponsors in 2012 along with associate sponsors Coca-Cola, Meijer, PTC and SKF.

Meet Team Penske: All three Team Penske drivers will participate in the IndyCar autograph session at the Fan Village on Saturday at 4:15 p.m.

Legacy of Success: Team Penske continues to set the standard of success in open-wheel racing. Throughout its storied history, the team has posted 163 race wins, 12 National Championships and 208 pole positions. In addition, Penske Racing has won the Indianapolis 500-mile race a record 15 times. Across all of its disciplines, Penske Racing teams have produced 357 major race wins, 418 pole positions and 23 National Championships.   

Follow Team Penske On Twitter: @penskeracing, @ryan_briscoe, @h3lio, @12WillPower

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT THE HONDA INDY TORONTO

Ryan Briscoe: “I love going to Toronto. It is a great city and a really fun event for everyone. It should be exciting to get the No.2 Hitachi car back on the street courses after this past stretch of ovals. We’ve got something new this week with it being the first time for the push to pass in the Chevy engine so that will be interesting and hopefully we can come out of there with a win.”

Helio Castroneves: “Toronto is a beautiful city and is it going to be fun to race the No. 3 Penske Truck Rental machine there. This is always a great race because the fans are so welcoming and the history of racing there. It is time for us to really start making the push for the championship and I hope I can continue Team Chevy’s success from the last couple weeks with a win this weekend.”

Will Power: “Toronto is certainly a place where I have had some success in the past and I hope we can keep that going for Verizon and the entire Team Penske crew. We have some unfinished business and I know everyone here is working hard to get back to victory lane. The car and Chevy engine have been right where we need them to be successful, now it is our job to finish.”

More information and statistics on all Penske Racing teams is available to registered members of the press at http://media.penskeracing.com. For updated stats and quotes during race weekend, please visit http://media.penskeracing.com/teampenskemedia/Toronto