McDONALD’S DRIVER WILSON AND HOLE IN THE WALL CAMPS DRIVER RAHAL RETURN TO KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY FOR THE MEIJER INDY 300 AFTER TESTING HERE LAST WEEK SPARTA, Kentucky (August 6, 2008) --- The 2008 IndyCar Series season is entering the final stretch with four points-paying races remaining. McDonald’s driver Justin Wilson and Hole in the Wall Camps driver Graham Rahal will rely on their talent and experience to tackle the road and street events at Infineon Raceway (August 24) and the Raceway at Belle Isle (August 31) but the other two events – the Meijer Indy 300 this weekend at Kentucky Speedway and the season-finale at Chicagoland Speedway on September 7, will come down to who has maximized the potential of the Dallara-Honda-Firestone combination through thousands of hours of R&D since the car’s introduction in 2003. Prior to Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing’s (NHLR) debut in the IndyCar Series this season, the only test the team had was at the Homestead-Miami Speedway oval on March 24-25 before the season-opener at the same track on March 29. Due to the demanding race schedule the team was unable to test again until last week when they came to Kentucky Speedway to run on Thursday, July 31. That test posed challenges before and after. Prior to the test, Rahal’s car was damaged after being hit by Mario Moraes and E.J. Viso in Edmonton so the team elected to move Wilson from his older chassis that was being used for oval races to his new chassis that made its debut on the Watkins Glen road course, where he started second, so that Rahal could run Wilson’s oval car. Near the end of Wilson’s first test run it is believed that a part on the car failed which led to a crash. The team is still investigating the cause and believes the car is most likely irreparable due to extensive damage. Fortunately Wilson wasn’t injured in the crash although he has lingering aches and pains from the impact. In a season filled with “firsts,” he will experience another this weekend. “Going back to the place where I just crashed a week ago is something I have never had to come across before on an oval,” said Wilson who finished a season-best third in Edmonton at the last event. “I’m sure we will get back up to speed pretty quick and I’ll gain my confidence back. We’ll push it to the limit and see what the McDonald’s car is capable of. We’re going back to a couple of 1.5 mile ovals and hopefully will pick up where we left off and continue to learn how to make the car faster. We are working hard to close the gap to the rest of the field but five years is a lot of ground to make up in one season.” Wilson was competing in Formula One in 2003 when the current evolution of chassis was introduced in the Indy Racing League. He entered the 2008 IndyCar Series season having raced on an oval five times and is now a “veteran” of 13, five of which were on 1.5 mile tracks like Kentucky Speedway. His highest oval finish this season is seventh at Milwaukee and Richmond while his highest finish specifically on a 1.5-mile oval is ninth in Kansas. He is hoping for another top-10 result this weekend. “The key to a strong finish is to have a good race car,” said Wilson, who has won at least one race the past three seasons. “I think we will still struggle in qualifying but hopefully we will have a good race car and stay out of trouble in the race. If we just keep working the traffic and strategy we can come away with a decent result like we have managed to do previously this year. I will be back in my oval car for Kentucky after the crash there in my new one. We have found that the new chassis are faster and Graham confirmed that last week when he was using my older one for the test. We will give it our best shot.” Fourteen drivers entered in the 26-car field have competed in one of the eight IndyCar Series races here before. Wilson and teammate Graham Rahal are two of the 12 that will compete here for the first time. Unlike many of the drivers in the rookie class, he had never competed on an oval until this season. His highest start is second on the one-mile track in Milwaukee and third on the 0.75-mile short oval in Richmond. It is commonly thought that the 1.5 mile tracks are the most time-consuming to develop a competitive racing setup for. Due to the failure on Wilson’s race car in the test last Thursday, the team parked Rahal’s car to check it over before he resumed running on Friday and completed 112 laps. “I’m looking forward to racing at Kentucky Speedway, one of the last two 1.5-mile ovals of the season,” said Rahal, 19, whose best finish on an oval is 10th on the 0.87-mile track in Iowa. “Last week we made good progress in the test. There is still a ways to go but we’re getting there. We are much more competitive than we were at the start of the season so we are headed in the right direction. After doing the test in Justin’s oval car last week, I am looking forward to getting back in my primary car and seeing what speeds we can do. Hopefully we will be as competitive as we would like to be.” On Thursday at 5:00 p.m. EDT, Wilson will be joined at a recently-opened McDonald’s near Kentucky Speedway by Menard’s driver Ed Carpenter. The duo will unveil a commissioned mural by artist Ardi Arani that depicts their race cars and will be prominently displayed at the restaurant. Both will interact with media, fans and customers at the location which opened almost two weeks ago in Sanders, Kentucky (976 Highway 1039, Sanders, KY 41083), one exit away from the speedway. This weekend’s Meijer Indy 300 can be seen on live on Saturday, August 9 at 6:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. The event will get underway with practice and qualifying on Friday and the 200-lap race will begin at 6:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday. As always, fans can follow the action from every on-track session via the official website of the IndyCar Series, www.indycar.com. It will also be broadcast live on IMS Radio Network and XM Radio Channels 144 and 145. JUSTIN WILSON, driver of the #02 McDonald’s Dallara / Honda / Firestone: AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY: Will be his first race here and 11th on a new track this season of 14. Highest finish on an oval this season is seventh at Milwaukee and Richmond. Highest career oval finish is 2nd in Milwaukee 2006 (Champ Car). Highest oval start this season is 13th at Nashville and highest overall career oval start is 3rd at Milwaukee in the 2005 Champ Car race. 2006 & 2007 RUNNER UP TO THE CHAMPION: Finished runner up in the Champ Car championship to the driver he recently replaced, four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais, in 2006 and 2007. Was a championship contender until the conclusion of the penultimate race of each season. He also finished third to NHR drivers Bourdais and Oriol Servia in 2005. PERSONAL: Justin Boyd Wilson was born on July 31, 1978 (29) in Sheffield, England…He married the former Julia Coggins in England on 12-29-2006 and reside in a suburb of Denver with their newborn daughter Jane Louise (born 4-12-08; expected 6-1-08)…His father Keith was an amateur Formula Ford racer in England but retired before Justin was born due to a crash that broke his back and legs. Instead of taking interest in mother Lynne’s love of horses, Justin followed his father’s passion and began racing karts when he was eight…In order to help finance his 2003 season in Formula One, Justin created a company -- Justin Wilson PLC – and approx. 900 investors “bought shares of Justin” which raised $2 million. A portion of his earnings go toward repaying the debt…He has conquered the challenges of dyslexia and, if he wasn’t a race car driver, would be a designer of cars or etc. because he is curious about how things work or how to improve them…Hobbies include cycling, miniature golf, video games, karting and trying to fly one of his two RC Helicopters…He spends his free time plotting and completing home improvement projects as well as trying to find time to mow the yard between races…His typical day begins at 7 a.m. and he calls the U.K. and checks his email before spending an hour at his local gym with Julia. After lunch he rides his bike for 1.5 hours and devotes the remainder of the day to home projects, reading 50+ pages of NHLR engineering reports and hanging out with friends…At 6’ 3-1/2” he is the tallest IndyCar Series driver…Listens to Coldplay, Stereophonics, The White Stripes and dance music. JUSTIN WILSON, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Going back to the place where I just crashed a week ago is something I have never had to come across before on an oval. I’m sure we will get back up to speed pretty quick and I’ll gain my confidence back. We’ll push it to the limit and see what the McDonald’s car is capable of. “I will be back in my oval car for Kentucky after the crash in testing there in my new one that was to be used on road courses. We have found that the new chassis are faster and Graham confirmed that last week when he was using my older one for the test while his was being repaired. We will give it our best shot. We are working hard to close the gap to the rest of the field but five years is a lot of ground to make up in one season. We’re going back to a couple of 1.5 mile ovals and hopefully will pick up where we left off and continue to learn how to make the car faster. The key to a strong finish is to have a good race car. I think we will still struggle in qualifying but hopefully we will have a good race car and stay out of trouble in the race. If we just keep working the traffic and strategy we can come away with a decent result like we have managed to do previously this year.” GRAHAM RAHAL, driver of the #06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara / Honda / Firestone: AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY: Will be his first race here and 10th on a new track this season of 14. Highest start on an oval is 2nd at Milwaukee and highest oval finish is 10th at Iowa, both in 2008, his first year to race on ovals. PERSONAL: Graham Robert Rahal, 19, was born in Columbus, Ohio on 1-4-1989 and resides in New Albany, Ohio…The 6’2” driver is one of four children of Bobby Rahal, three-time open wheel champion, Indy 500 winner and Hall of Fame race car driver…Has two sisters (Michaela and Samantha) and one brother (Jarrad)…Became the youngest IndyCar Series winner with his victory in his series debut in St. Pete on 4-6-08 and appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman" on 4-16-08 to discuss the feat…Graduated from New Albany High School with a 3.8 GPA on 6-3-07 despite missing over 80 days of school that year due to racing. ESPN The Magazine covered his graduation… When not racing he likes to work on cars, hang out with friends and family or play other sports for fun…Is a self-proclaimed “Car Guy” and still has the first car he received when he was 16 – a Subaru WRX sti – and is in the process of turning it into a race car with a Cosworth race engine. He purchased an ’07 Atomic Orange Corvette Z06 with his prize money but later sold it and now has an ’07 Ron Fellows limited edition Corvette Z06 as well as an ’08 Chevy Trailblazer SS. In addition he has a 1964 Mini Cooper that he restored for his high school senior project. He also temporarily owned a Porsche GT3 and an Audi he earned by graduating high school with a GPA of 3.5 or above…To prepare for the physicality of racing he spends many hours doing cardiovascular training and weightlifting, skiing, running or bicycling… His favorite type of clothing is anything made by Puma… His favorite food is sushi and his weaknesses are ice cream and white chocolate mocha drinks at Starbucks…His favorite books are those written by Lance Armstrong (and anything he read other than for school)…His favorite thing to watch on TV is any Ohio State Buckeye game, his favorite actor/actress are Owen Wilson and Eva Longoria and favorite movie is “Wedding Crashers.” GRAHAM RAHAL, #06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I’m looking forward to racing at Kentucky Speedway, one of the last two 1.5-mile ovals of the season. Last week we made good progress in the test. There is still a ways to go but we’re getting there. We are much more competitive than we were at the start of the season so we are headed in the right direction. After doing the test in Justin’s oval car last week, I am looking forward to getting back in my primary car and seeing what speeds we can do. Hopefully we will be as competitive as we would like to be.”