Indy Racing League (IRL) Tickets ? Vitor Meira Faces Indy 500 After ’09 Crash

 

Just like Ricky Bobby proved in Talladega Nights, it’s better to get back in the saddle after a fiery crash than to let fear take over in the driver’s seat. For Brazilian IndyCar driver Vitor Meira, May 30 will be the day to test that theory. Meira will travel back to Indianapolis during Memorial Day weekend to face the foe that sent him to the hospital with two broken vertebrae during the 2009 Indianapolis 500, and he’s staring the beast (the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) in the eye for this year’s installment of the famed Indy 500.

33-year-old Meira, sometimes referred to as the best IRL driver who has never won an IndyCar race, will return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 2010 Indy 500, and the IndyCar veteran has been preparing to revisit the track for months now. Speaking to ESPN earlier this month about his ’09 misfortunes at Indy and on putting the past behind him, Meira joked, “I actually watched the crash while I was still in the hospital. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is 100 years old and I am easily the record-holder for longest distance traveled on top of the wall.”

Riding on the wall surely wasn’t as exhilarating as it sounds, as Meira’s vehicle went up in flames during last year’s Indy 500 after his car hit Turn 1 of the track at IMS and rode on the wall backwards all the way into Turn 2 going more than 200 mph. The accident sidelined Meira with two broken vertebrae for the rest of the season as he underwent extensive rehabilitation. He’s made up for his losses so far in 2010, however, as the A.J. Foyt Enterprises driver has maneuvered his No. 14 open-wheel car into ninth place in point standings (prior to the Indy 500), signaling him as the comeback king.

Racing fans go after <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/outgoing/article_exit_link']);” href=”http://www.stubhub.com/irl-tickets-indy-car-series/”>Indy Racing League (IRL) tickets</a> every year to catch a glimpse of the admirable Vitor Meira in action on the racetrack, and IndyCar enthusiasts are anxious to see how Meira will fare at this year’s Indianapolis 500. The native Brazilian has finished in second place twice at past Indy 500 races – in 2005 behind Dan Wheldon and in 2008 behind Scott Dixon – and now he’ll shoot for No. 1 in his comeback effort from a disappointing and altogether terrifying 2009 race.

So far this year, Meira has notched several Top 15 finishes, with a third place finish at Sao Paulo his best for the season. Meira has proven his resilience time and again on the IRL circuit, and racing fans would like nothing more than to see No. 14 speed into Victory Lane at Indy and beyond.

Recently talking about Meira’s amiability and character in the league to ESPN, fellow Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan said, “There is a reason that so many people were so excited when Vitor finished on the podium in Sao Paulo. They love him because he races hard and he works hard. People love an underdog and a comeback story.”

Meira will add more chapters to his comeback story this month as racing season gets into full swing, and tickets to several upcoming races are still available from <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/outgoing/article_exit_link']);” href=”http://www.stubhub.com/”>StubHub</a> to catch Meira and all other IndyCar drivers in action this season.


 

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Indy Racing League (IRL) Tickets ? Best Storylines from 2010 Indy 500

300,000 open-wheel racing fans stampeded the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 30 even despite a record-breaking heat wave at the track, and Jack Nicholson waved the green flag to signal another Indy 500 was well underway. Action was aplenty in Indy as the 94th annual Indianapolis 500 commenced, and here are some of the top storylines to come out of the sweltering 500-mile race this year.

Dario Franchitti takes two. Franchitti became the 17th driver in IndyCar history to win the prestigious Indianapolis 500 for the second time with his victory on May 30, 2010. The Ganassi Racing speedster led most of the race and coasted into Victory Lane at 208 mph despite running out of fuel at the very end. Franchitti’s win was a huge one in Indy and was well-deserved, as he clearly had the fastest car of the weekend.

Tony Kanaan is the comeback king. Kanaan’s stellar maneuverability on the track and elite racing is the stuff that sells <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/outgoing/article_exit_link']);” href=”http://www.stubhub.com/irl-tickets-indy-car-series/”>Indy Racing League (IRL) tickets</a> each and every year, and it was no different at the 2010 Indy 500. After a horrendous week of qualifications in which he crashed on Pole Day and again on Bump Day, Kanaan barely qualified for the race at all and started dead last in the field of 33 drivers. Initially aiming to break his 14-car passing record for a single race, Kanaan dazzled the crowd in Indianapolis as he bypassed a whopping 22 cars en route to an 11th place finish.

Marco Andretti gets justice. The Marco Andretti sob story is hardly new, but this time the 23-year-old driver staked a fair claim when he petitioned for race reviewers to look into his original sixth-place finish at the Indy 500. Andretti proclaimed that three drivers illegally passed him under caution in the last few minutes of the race, and he was ultimately awarded a third-place finish when it was determined that Alex Lloyd, Scott Dixon and Danica Patrick passed him in the final stretch under caution on Lap 199.

Danica Patrick has company. Danica Patrick is no longer the only dominant female on the racetrack. 21-year-old Swiss rookie Simona de Silvestro is quickly gaining ground, as well, finishing a respectable 13th at her first career Indy 500. De Silvestro started in 22nd position at the Indy 500 and earned the Chase Rookie of the Year Award after the race for becoming the second-highest rookie finisher (after Mario Romancini), and it was a spectacular finish considering it was only her second oval race in the IRL. Will she soon eclipse Danica Patrick?

Tomas Scheckter might be faster off the track. Tomas Scheckter’s need for speed led him to a 15th place finish at the Indy 500, but it looks like he got a little extra practice in before the big Memorial Day weekend race. Scheckter was clocked going more than 100 mph on Interstate 65 in Indianapolis the night before the Indy 500, leading to a speeding ticket when he was caught by Indy police. Declaring the event on his Twitter account, the 29-year-old tweeted: “Stopped by cops 3 of them. they said told [sic] me I was weaving through traffic at over 100 and it took them ages to catch up with me. carb day :) .”


 

 

 

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Indy Racing League (IRL) Tickets ? Dario Franchitti Wins 2010 Indy 500

Aside from a fiery crash at the end of the 500-mile race dubbed “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the 2010 Indianapolis 500 was relatively uneventful – that is to say, Dario Franchitti had it in the bag the whole time.

Franchitti snagged his second career Indy 500 title on May 30, 2010, becoming one of 17 legendary IndyCar drivers to have ever won the prestigious race more than once (his last win was in 2007). The Target Chip Ganassi Racing superstar started in the first row of the grid after qualifying for the race in third place behind Helio Castroneves and Will Power, easily snaking an early lead and keeping it consistent throughout the 500-mile race.

IRL drivers Dan Wheldon, Danica Patrick and Tony Kanaan all made boisterous routes to the top of the pack during the 2010 Indy 500, but ultimately none could overcome the gaping lead Franchitti increasingly created throughout the day on May 30. The No. 10 Target car zoomed into Victory Lane under the yellow flag but almost didn’t make it to the end at all as Franchitti began to run out of gas at the backstretch of the race. He took a big gamble by forgoing a late pit stop and ultimately coasted across the finish line at a measly 208 mph, barely fending off second-place finisher Dan Wheldon for the big win.

Franchitti’s second Indianapolis 500 victory propels him into elite territory as one of very few drivers to win the prestigious Indianapolis race, but the modest driver expressed gratitude for the newfound comparisons after the May 30 race. He told ESPN, “They showed me a list of two-time winners [after the race], and those guys are legends. I’m so lucky to be driving for Chip [Ganassi] and Team Target, getting in good cars, especially having gone away [to NASCAR] after we won in ’07. To be invited back was pretty cool.”

Another Indy 500 title was perhaps not in his initial plans, but the 37-year-old driver is taking it all in stride. “To have won a championship and an Indy 500, I didn’t expect any of this,” Franchitti told ESPN. “I said before, I expected to be retired by the time I was 35. This is all bonus, and it’s pretty cool.”

Dario Franchitti now has two Indy 500 wins to match his two career IndyCar Series championships, and he’s currently (after the Indy 500) in second place in overall point standings behind Will Power. Franchitti has also taken the early lead in the competition for the oval title, and his .75 million purse for winning in Indy is the icing on the cake for the 2010 season thus far.

Franchitti’s clean racing and dignified demeanor have helped make him a fan favorite at IndyCar races, and the name Dario Franchitti has been selling <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/outgoing/article_exit_link']);” href=”http://www.stubhub.com/irl-tickets-indy-car-series/”>Indy Racing League (IRL) tickets</a> like crazy ever since his infiltration into open-wheel racing.

Franchitti’s only year off from the IRL came in 2008, when he made a lukewarm foray into the wide world of NASCAR, and his reemergence last year as an IndyCar hero for Target Chip Ganassi Racing has proven wildly successful ever since. Franchitti is the defending IndyCar Series champion after winning the series in 2009, and his 2010 Indy 500 victory is one more big win to help propel him to the top of his game.


 

 

 

Efusjon Energy Drink Will Debut On Indy Car Fully Wrapped To Show Opportunity To The World

Alliance Motorsports announced a partnership with the eFusjon energy club for a primary sponsorship of the team’s Firestone Indy Lights car for the upcoming Firestone Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 22.


“We at Alliance Motorsports are extremely proud to have the eFusjon energy club, as well as their network of distributors, on board with us for the biggest race of the season,” said Jeff Matthews, co-owner of Alliance Motorsports. “To form a relationship with a company that shares many of the core values that our organization is based on, is a tremendous accomplishment, and we couldn’t be happier.”


The partnership with Alliance Motorsports is the first sponsorship of its kind for the Oregon-based company, which serves as a network for business professionals who understand the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle to market and sell health-conscious energy drinks.


“The eFusjon energy club is all about great, healthy energy and nothing says energy like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” said Rob Towles, president of eFusjon energy club. “We couldn’t think of a better venue to debut our company to the world.”


In addition to the primary sponsorship of the Firestone Indy Lights entry of Alliance Motorsports, the eFusjon energy club official energy drink designation for the Rhythm FANtasy 500 Race Party held at the Hilbert Circle Theatre on May 23, and multiple product sampling stations near the famed 2.5-mile oval.


“We couldn’t be happier in partnering with Alliance Motorsports in these world class events,” said Tom Martinson, Director of Marketing and Design for the eFusjon energy club. “Their drive for excellence and quality exemplifies the eFusjon energy club…it’s been a privilege to work with them.”

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