IndyCar Series finale as Auto Club Speedway has several storylines Ed Carpenter won last year’s Indy-Car season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana. This year, Helio Castroneves will try to wrap up his first career Indy-Car season title with a strong performance on Oct. 19. Jeff Gross– Getty Images POSTED: 09/25/13, 10:35 PM PDT | What makes a season-finale special? For the IndyCar Series, closing the 2013 season at Auto Club Speedway next month with the MAV TV 500, there will be quite a few storylines that will generate interest. For openers, with just next week’s doubleheader at Houston remaining on the schedule before the Oct. 19 race at Fontana, will Helio Castroneves dance with joy? The past “Dancing With The Star” winner is 49 points ahead of Scott Dixon in his quest for his initial driving championship. And he is thinking about it. “It was horrible, this three, four weeks of break because it gets you thinking too much,” Castroneves said about the series break since the Baltimore race on Sept. 1. “You’re like, ‘What should I do, go for it or should I just take it easy?’” he said. “At this point I’m just thinking I have to have a very, very good solid race.” • Will Tony Kanaan’s good fortune hold on the 2-mile superspeedway? The Indianapolis 500 winner won an IndyLights title at the track in 1997 and seven years later, wrapped up the IndyCar driving title. This time around, a win will be worth the $250,000 bonus from Fuzzy’s Triple Crown bonus. “We’ve had quite a strong car on the ovals this year so we’re definitely looking forward to the last oval of the season,” said Kanaan during a break in Tuesday’s testing. • Will the speedway’s marketing efforts result in a larger crowd than a year ago? Track president Gillian Zucker said ticket sales are tracking 8,000 better than in 2012 when 30,000 turned out on a hot September night. The crowd, one of the biggest in IndyCar outside the Indy 500, was treated to a race that featured 29 lead changes among 12 drivers, with Ed Carpenter taking the checkered flag. • Can Carpenter repeat at ACS? Only Sam Hornish has been able to win back-to-back open-wheel races at Fontana. No driver achieved the feat at Ontario Motor Speedway. It’s been a different story on road courses. Dan Gurney (1967-68) and Rick Mears (1981-82) accomplished the feat at Riverside International Raceway while five drivers accomplished the feat at Long Beach. Mario Andretii (1984-85), Alex Zanardi (1997-98) and Paul Tracy (2003-04) did it as well as Sebastien Boudais (2005-07). Al Unser Jr. holds the mark, a four-year stretch (1989-1991) in addition to another two-year streak (1994-95).
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 01:24:47 +0000
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