Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing Sonoma Advance Notes Race: GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday, August 26 (4:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports) Track: Infineon Raceway (2.31-mile road course) Location: Sonoma, California 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 Sonoma: “The No. 38 Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing team had a good test in Sonoma. We will be looking to continue this into the race weekend and will need to have a solid-effort in these last races of the season to improve our points standing.” Push-to-Pass Update: INDYCAR has modified the activation delay to the overtake assist for GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at the raceway in Sonoma, trimming the interval from 5 to 3.5 seconds. A total of 90 seconds will be afforded drivers, with a maximum of 15 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. The system has been utilized at Toronto and Edmonton with the activation delay introduced at Mid-Ohio. Teams had the opportunity to test the system with the delay during the private test day at Sonoma on Aug. 17. Modified Track Layout: The raceway unveiled a newly modified track layout, which features changes to Turns 7, 9 and 11 which are designed to enhance passing. With the modifications, the track will be 12 turns and 2.31 miles and race distance will increase from 75 to 85 laps. Battle for the Championship: With three races to go entering this weekend's race at Sonoma, there are 15 drivers, including Rahal, still mathematically eligible for the IZOD IndyCar Series championship. It's the most drivers mathematically eligible since 2000 when 24 drivers were still eligible to win the title with three races remaining in a nine-race season. Any driver within 107 points of the lead will remain eligible for the championship as the series heads to Baltimore on Sept. 2. The closeness of the competition among drives almost assures that the title race will go down to the final race of the season for the seventh consecutive season. 150 Wins for CGR: TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas won the Montreal 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last weekend, marking the 150th victory for Chip Ganassi Racing across all series in which they compete. Scott Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, brought home the 149th win in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course earlier in the month. Chip Ganassi Racing’s first win came from Indy car driver Michael Andretti at Surfers Paradise Australia in 1994. 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 58 starts. In that time, they have scored five podiums, seven top-fives, 18 top-10s and led 60 laps. Honda Power: Honda remains second in the manufacturer point standings with 84 points, -12 back to Chevrolet. Lotus remains third with 48 points. 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<http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chip-ganassi-racing-teams/id457079900?mt=8> 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). Sonoma Rewind: The green flag flew at Infineon Raceway and Rahal, who started 13th, moved into fuel conservation mode while maintaining a competitive pace. The Service Central team hoped the No. 38 car would benefit from a two-pit stop strategy to gain positions as passing was a tough feat on the 12-turn, Sonoma road course. The plan proved to work as Rahal turned some of the fastest laps on the track and advanced to 10th by lap 50. Ultimately, the Service Central team would leave Wine Country with an eighth-place finish and their fifth top-10 of the season. History at Sonoma: Rahal has four career starts at Infineon Raceway with an average starting position of 12.5 and average finishing position of 11.5. His best result of eighth came in 2008 and 2011 on the 2.31-mile road course. Road Stats: The driver of the No. 38 Service Central Honda has made 19 starts on road courses in his IZOD IndyCar career. He has led one lap and has an average start of 11.7 and an average finish of 13.6. Rahal Live and Global: Graham and fellow drivers Josef Newgarden and Takuma Sato are set to be guests on “Ortsbo Live & Global: IZOD IndyCar Series” from the IndyCar FanVillage at Sonoma on August 25 at 9:00 am PT. Through Ortsbo's instant live subtitling technology on the Live & Global platform, viewers around the world can watch the Q&A in real-time through an online video stream with closed captioning in any one of Ortsbo's 53 languages. The Q&A will be hosted by driver James Hinchcliffe. Fans can submit written questions directly to the drivers and register to join the chat live at liveandglobal.com<http://www.liveandglobal.com/indycar/>. Going Once, Twice, Sold: Rahal recently announced that the Graham Rahal Foundation will be auctioning his race worn helmet and gloves from the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Rahal and his foundation partnered with the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to promote awareness of the new exhibit, Safari Africa, which is scheduled to open in 2014. Rahal’s designer, Art Rotondo, painted a special helmet with the African safari theme, and Alpinestars created gloves in a cheetah pattern for the race. The habitat will include cheetahs, giraffes, lions, zebras, and an assortment of other African species. Mid-Ohio promoted special ticket packages contributing five dollars from every ticket sold to the zoo and also had donation areas at the race track throughout the weekend. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and the Graham Rahal Foundation will be auctioning both items via Rahal’s celebrity eBay page. Anyone looking to secure the helmet and gloves must visit Celebrity.eBay.com<http://celebrity.ebay.com/> to place their bids. Each item will be available from August 22, 2012 through August 31, 2012. The Full Package: Auto Club Speedway is offering a special Graham Rahal Foundation ticket package at the season closing race in Fontana, California. The package includes a MAVTV 500 INDYCAR World Championships ticket, pit and paddock pass and features a special Q&A with Rahal prior to the race. Five dollars of each package purchased will be donated directly to the Graham Rahal Foundation in aid of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer and SeriousFun Children’s Network. Pro-Celebrity Shootout: Rahal will participate in a golf tournament amongst the “who’s who” of Indiana in a Pro-Celebrity Shootout at Crooked Stick Golf Club. Taking place on Monday, September 3rd, the celebrity shootout will serve as the kick off for the 2012 BMW Championship tournament week and consist of a nine hole two-person team scramble of 6-8 teams. Graham is set to play alongside Brad Stevens, Frank Vogel, Merril Hodge, Fuzzy Zoeller, and fellow IZOD IndyCar Series driver, Ed Carpenter. The BMW Championship, running from September 3-9, is the third of four events in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and determines the final field of 30 for the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The Crooked Stick Golf Club has earned honors as one of the top golf clubs in Indiana and perennially ranks in the Top 100 courses in the nation. Mid-Ohio Recap: Rahal finished 11th in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The result came in his 89th IZOD IndyCar Series career start and fifth at Mid-Ohio. After running near the top of the speed charts during the practice sessions, the No. 38 Service Central car would experience a caution-free race which caused the Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing team to make its impact through pit stops and fuel strategy on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course. The team would start the 85-lap race on alternate strategy which helped the end result of an 11th place finish. The Service Central team would quickly complete their first pit stop on lap seven, allowing the No. 38 car to switch to fresh alternate tires. A drive-through penalty for a pit speed violation for the No. 5 would allow Rahal to move from 22nd to 21st position on lap 11. Midway through the race Rahal would battle the No. 15 car for 18th position where he would eventually nab the position and continue to move up the charts. In the final 20 laps the Service Central team debated fuel strategy and Rahal moved into fuel conservation mode while maintaining a competitive pace. Several cars were forced to pit within the final 10 laps, which would allow the Service Central car to cross the finish line at 11th in the second-consecutive caution free race of the season. In the Points: Following Edmonton, Rahal remained 10th position in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings with 256 markers, -123 points behind points leader Will Power. Rahal on Sonoma: “The Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing team is excited to get back on track and racing in Sonoma. I’ve always had good races there, and I always look forward to going back and racing in such a beautiful setting. It’s an incredibly important time of year where points matter and we need to make up some up before season’s end. Now is the time to do it and I think we can.”
