Round nine of the seventeen race IndyCar Series season is on tap for Saturday night, June 30th at the Richmond International Raceway. The three quarter mile long bullring is the shortest oval on the IndyCar Series calendar, and while amongst the most challenging, it is also commonly referred to as the most fun.

“I think it's an awesome track,” said Buddy Rice.

“I really enjoy racing at Richmond,” said Dario Franchitti.

"I can't wait to get back to Richmond… (It) is a driver's track and I love every bit of it,” said Marco Andretti.

“I think it is one of the most enjoyable tracks that we run on,” said Darren Manning.

“I enjoy the track. The racing is exciting,” said Tony Kanaan.

"I'm looking forward to going back to Richmond,” said Sarah Fisher.

“Richmond is certainly one of my favorite short tracks,” said Kim Green, co-owner of Andretti Green Racing and Danica Patrick's race strategist.

Franchitti comes in to Richmond with a 51 point lead over team-mate Tony Kanaan, and a huge amount of momentum on his side. Not only did he win last week at Iowa Speedway, the 2007 Indy 500 winner has also performed well at Richmond the last two years. He finished third in 2006 and second in 2005.

“It can be a difficult track because getting through traffic can be really tough,” said Franchitti. “We've had a couple of really good runs there the past two years, so hopefully we can keep the Canadian Club car up front with the leaders and challenge for another win."

Expected to be among those leaders is 2006 Richmond winner, Sam Hornish, Jr, and his team-mate, Helio Castroneves, the 2005 winner. Both drivers come in to Richmond in desperate need of a solid finish after being knocked from contention at Iowa. Hornish is now 64 points behind Franchitti, with Castroneves another 16 back of Hornish.

Besides the traffic from 19 IndyCar Series machines, drivers will also spend the weekend contending with an ever changing track surface. The undercard at Richmond is made up of USAC Silver Crown and Sprint cars that utilize different tire compounds on their front engined machines.

Each time the IndyCar Series follows the USAC cars on to the race track, they find a ‘greasy' surface lacking in grip. As the IRL cars run, the situation corrects itself because the IndyCar Series' Firestone rubber is itself laid on to the track. This will be an advantage all weekend to the drivers running in the second practice group. Simply put, the Firestone rubber stick well to itself, but repels the Hoosier tire rubber from the USAC cars.

Additionally, Richmond is one of the most physically demanding tracks on the circuit. 16 second laps produce high g-forces, while the stifling Virginia humidity works against the driver to sap strength.

"There's a lot more steering effort at a track like Richmond-it's like driving on a road course with the steering effort and the g-forces that work on you constantly,” said Manning.

Joining the 18 full-time IndyCar Series teams at Richmond will be rookie Milka Duno. She will need to quickly adapt to the tough Richmond facility to prevent a repeat of last weekend at Iowa. She was parked early in the race by IRL officials for not being able to maintain a consistent speed, particularly when being passed by other cars.

Richmond International Raceway Schedule

Friday, June 29, 2007
11:45 – 12:45 IndyCar Series Practice Group 1
12:45 – 1:45 IndyCar Series Practice Group 2
3:15 – 4:15 IndyCar Series Practice Group 1
4:15 – 5:15 IndyCar Series Practice Group 2
7:30pm – 8:30pm IndyCar Series Qualifying

Saturday, June 30, 2007
7:30pm SunTrust Indy Challenge (250 Laps)

All Times Eastern US

ORS / CAPSIS International