Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing Mid-Ohio Advance Notes Race: Honda Indy 200 on Sunday, August 5 (1:00 PM ET, ABC) Track: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (2.258-mile Road Course) Location: Lexington, Ohio NOTES/NEWS Follow CGR on Twitter: Follow @CGRTeams for official updates from Chip Ganassi Racing’s IZOD IndyCar Series drivers Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball. Team Manager John Cummiskey on Mid-Ohio: “The Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing team is looking forward to the race at Mid-Ohio. Being that it is Graham’s home race, we know how important it is to him. The fans are some of the best and the track is great. We hope to build on the good result last race and gain some points in the championship.” Push-to-Pass: INDYCAR will introduce a five-second delay to the overtake assist for road/street course events for the remainder of the season. A total of 100 seconds will be afforded drivers, with a maximum of 20 seconds per activation. There's no recharge time between activations. The overtake assist feature, introduced to the series in 2009, allows a driver to add turbocharger boost and additional RPMs with the press of a button on the steering wheel. When the system is engaged, the turbocharger boost increases to 161 kPa with an additional 200 RPMs on the 2.2-liter V6 engines supplied by Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus. Honda Power: Honda remains second in the manufacturer point standings with 75 points, -15 back to Chevrolet with 90. Lotus remains third with 44 points. Now that’s Teamwork: Since their introduction into the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2011, the Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing and Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing teams have a combined total of 56 starts. In that time, they have scored five podiums, seven top-fives, 18 top-10s and led 60 laps. There’s an App for that: Chip Ganassi Racing Teams (CGRT) and SapientNitro SM recently re-launched an updated mobile application, which is one of the first for the high-velocity world of racing. The application brings fans updated driver and event information, and exclusive content in one centralized and expansive mobile experience, bringing to life the rich heritage and legendary success of CGRT. The unique mobile application conveys the high-octane rush of the racing experience for a team that competes at the highest levels in three series – NSCS, IZOD IndyCar Series and GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. Click here to visit the iTunes Application store and download the CGRT mobile app. Graham Rahal and the No. 38 Service Central Team Follow Graham on Twitter: Follow @grahamrahal for updates as the driver of the No. 38 Service Central Honda completes his second season with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing in the IZOD IndyCar Series. High Five: Rahal’s finish of fourth in the Edmonton Indy marked his fifth top-10 in 11 rounds this season (Birmingham, Fort Worth, Milwaukee and Iowa). The result tied his road/street course best finish of the season of fourth (Birmingham). Mid-Ohio Rewind: Rahal maintained his sixth-place starting position throughout the first stint, but encountered trouble during his first pit stop when the No. 38 Service Central car was held up exiting the pit box in an effort to dodge a pit road melee and lost 15 positions, joining the field in 21st-place. Rahal was closing in on the top-15 when he made contact with another car while passing for position, causing the No. 38 Service Central car to spin and go two laps down. The incident resulted in a 24th-place finish for the Service Central team. History at Mid-Ohio: Rahal has four career starts at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with an average starting position of 12.2 and average finishing position of 17.0. His best result of eighth came in 2009. Road Stats: The driver of the No. 38 Service Central Honda has made 18 starts on street courses in his IZOD IndyCar career. He has led one lap and has an average start of 11.2 and an average finish of 13.8. Hometown Hero: The Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a hometown race for Rahal. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Graham resided in his home state until his inaugural season with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing in January 2011 when he moved in Indiana. He will have several friends and family members watching as he competes on the 2.258-mile course. Fundraising, Faster than a Cheetah: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course recently partnered with the Graham Rahal Foundation and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium for a fundraising effort in conjunction with the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge & Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Mid-Ohio has daily and weekend admission tickets on sale at www.midohio.com/zoo, with $5 of each sold going to Rahal’s foundation. The first 1,000 tickets sold will come with a voucher for free admission to the Columbus Zoo in 2012 and a Graham Rahal autographed hero card. All fans that purchase these special tickets will be entered to win a VIP experience at the Columbus Zoo and a meet and greet with Rahal during the Mid-Ohio race weekend. Fans that have already purchased tickets to the event are invited to call 800-MID-OHIO (643-6446) to donate $5 to the Foundation, as well. During the event weekend, fans also have the opportunity to donate to the Graham Rahal Foundation at most concession and souvenir stands. Throughout the Mid-Ohio race weekend Rahal will be wearing a zoo-themed helmet and cheetah-print gloves. Following the race, Rahal’s helmet will be auctioned off with all proceeds benefitting The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Rahal Helmet Tradition: From 2009-2011, Graham’s helmet reflected his father, Bobby Rahal’s, helmet design for the IZOD IndyCar Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Bobby won the event in 1985 and 1986. This is the first year that Graham will sport a different design in supporting Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Calling All Artists: Graham’s foundation, the Graham Rahal Foundation, will be holding a helmet design contest. Fans will have access to a pre-made helmet template where a unique design can be created. The rules and template are available online at GrahamRahalFoundation.org. Designs must be submitted from July 18, 2012 to August 8, 2012 in accordance with the official contest rules. At the conclusion of the submission period, Rahal will select the top five designs and post them on the foundations website. Fans will then be able to vote for the winning helmet design from August 8, 2012 to August 15, 2012. When voting concludes, the design receiving the most votes will be painted by Art Rotondo, who provides the art work for all of Rahal’s helmets. Graham will then wear the helmet during the pivotal IZOD IndyCar Series finale at the Autoclub Speedway in Fontana, California on September 15, 2012. Following the race, the Graham Rahal Foundation will auction the helmet at Celebrity.eBay.com to raise money for both of its charities, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer and SeriousFun Children’s Network. Raise Our Flag: Rahal and Chip Ganassi Racing Teams will help support the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and their “Raise Our Flag” campaign by donating a stitch in America’s flag for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. “Raise Our Flag” is an official United States Olympic fundraising program with donations providing housing, training and equipment for the most elite athletes in America. Find more information here: https://raiseourflag.teamusa.org/Content/index.aspx#!home Edmonton Recap: Rahal finished fourth in the Edmonton Indy at Edmonton City Centre Airport. The result marked the 19th top-five finish of his IZOD IndyCar Series career and his third top-five through 11 rounds of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season. Rahal started the 75-lap race from the fourth row in eighth position. The event went green without a single caution period which caused the Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing team to make its impact through pit stops. Pitting from fifth in his second of two pit stops, Rahal spent two laps out of the top-five before regaining the position. In the final 17 laps he would battle Will Power for a podium spot where he would eventually take fourth and just miss his second podium of the season. The No. 38 would spend more than half of the 2.25-mile, 13-turn race in the top-five. In the Points: Following Edmonton, Rahal moved from 11th to 10th in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings with 237 markers, -125 points behind points leader Ryan Hunter-Reay. Rahal on Mid-Ohio: “I’m really looking forward to my home race at Mid-Ohio. It's a race that has gotten away from me several times in the past, and I'm determined to conquer it. I think we will have a great chance this weekend. The Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing team is fully focused on building on our top-five in Edmonton and finishing the year strong.”
