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INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2002 - The fourth annual Indy
Racing Season Opener Party will take place Saturday, March 2,
in the Flag Room at the Brickyard Crossing Golf Resort & Inn
on the grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Indy
Racing League fans from
www.trackforum.com have organized a non-profit gathering
for people who can't attend the 20th Anniversary Grand Prix of
Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway in person and would like to
watch the season opener with other Indy Racing fans.
Several of the Indy Racing fans plan to tour the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum and take track tours around
the famous 2.5-mile oval when the IMS gates open at 9 a.m.
Following the tours, they will proceed to the Flag Room in
time to watch "Indy Racing 2Day" at 12:30 p.m. (EST) on ESPN2.
Fans will have a chance to win several prizes, including Indy
Racing T-shirts, hats, TrackForum logo wear, passes to RACERS
karting center in Indianapolis and other Indy Racing
memorabilia. The party is free. For more information,
call Brenda Stone with BCI at (317) 492-2702 or visit
www.trackforum.com.
The
$20-million man: Al Unser Jr. starts the 2002 Indy Racing
League season Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the
first and only American open-wheel driver to have topped the
$20 million mark in career winnings.
Unser is the all-time CART leader with $18,828,406 in
earnings, but that total does not include the $1,624,825 he
has collected over the past two seasons driving in the IRL.
His grand total heading into the 20th Anniversary Grand Prix
of Miami is $20,453,231. Unser's winnings have come in
295 starts, his first being at the former Riverside, Calif.,
road course in 1982. If Unser starts the season's first four
IRL events - Miami, Phoenix, Fontana, Calif., and Nazareth,
Pa. - and qualifies for his 15th Indianapolis 500 start, he
will take the green flag in his 300th top-level open-wheel
event at Indy. Al Unser, his father and Indy Racing
League driving coach, started 321 races over 30 seasons. But
because of the difference in purses during his career his
winnings totaled $6,740,843. Michael Andretti, who will
return this season for his second straight Indianapolis 500,
is second all-time in earnings at $18,055,594. The $346,225 he
received for placing third in last year's Indianapolis 500
helped push his total past the $18-million plateau.
Bridgestone/Firestone helps CARA, kids: Since 1998, the
Bridgestone/Firestone Trust Fund has made annual contributions
totaling $194,500 to support the CARA Charities' "Buckle Up
Baby" child car-seat program. This year's Trust Fund
contribution of $50,000 will allow CARA to continue its
mission of providing free child car safety seats to low-income
families across the United States. "Today there are hundreds
of families protecting their children while traveling, thanks
to the generous contributions from the Bridgestone/Firestone
Trust Fund," said Mary Lou Bogner, national director of CARA
Charities. "The life-saving seats are well known for their
ability to safeguard infants and small children, but many
low-income families simply cannot afford them. Because the
Bridgestone/Firestone Trust Fund and others have recognized
this fact, we've been able to use their contributions to aid
hospitals, medical facilities and social agencies in
purchasing seats for families in their communities." CARA
Charities will make its first Buckle Up Baby contribution of
2002 when it presents a check for $2,500 to Homestead Hospital
near Miami. Al Speyer, executive director of
Bridgestone/Firestone Motorsports, will join Bogner in making
the check presentation March 2 in pre-race activities for the
20th Anniversary Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami
Speedway. "The Trust Fund is proud to support CARA Charities
and the Buckle Up Baby project," Speyer said. "In addition to
providing financial support, we'll be working with CARA
Charities to increase public awareness about the importance of
having and properly using child safety seats. It's rewarding
to know the efforts spearheaded today by CARA Charities and
the Bridgestone/Firestone Trust Fund might prevent a serious
injury or save a life somewhere down the road." Firestone is
the Official Tire of the Indy Racing League.
Indy
Racing Night scores big: Indy Racing Night was a big success
Feb. 23 during the Indiana Pacers-Los Angeles Clippers game
Feb. 23 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, as more than
13,000 Indy Racing schedule magnets were distributed to fans.
1996 Indy Racing League co-champion Buzz Calkins and rookie
Rick Treadway signed autographs for fans in the IMS Pavilion
and acted as honorary scorers during the NBA game. Calkins and
Treadway also participated in the halftime show. Each was
paired with two children and raced large tricycles around the
court. A Johns Manville Indy Racing car also was on display in
the lobby of Conseco Fieldhouse throughout the night.
Ice
links: Indy Racing League standout Robbie Buhl and U.S.
women's Olympic hockey team star Angela Ruggiero have
something in common: Both play with the Grosse Pointe (Mich.)
Old Devils senior men's hockey team in suburban Detroit in the
offseason. Buhl, a Detroit native, played hockey and lacrosse
for Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., in high
school. He was an NCAA Division III All American in lacrosse
at New England College in Henneker, N.H. Ruggiero, from Harper
Woods, Mich., recently completed her second Olympics. She was
a standout for the U.S. women's team that won the gold medal
in the 1998 Winter Olympics. This year's team won the silver
medal. Ruggiero also plays for Harvard University.
On the
air: The IMS Radio Network will broadcast a season preview
live from Homestead-Miami Speedway starting at noon (EST)
Saturday, March 2. The network's coverage of the 20th
Anniversary Grand Prix of Miami starts with a pre-race show at
12:30 p.m. March 2 and live race coverage at 1 p.m.
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