New inversion rule debuts at Liberty Challenge
Beginning with the Liberty Challenge June 16-17 on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the winner of Race 1 will participate in a blind draw to determine how many cars will be inverted for start of Race 2 – 0, 4, 6 or 8.
The format marks a change from three previous doubleheader race weekends over the past two seasons when the top six finishers in Race 1 were automatically inverted for Race 2.
“This will be an exciting new twist," Indy Pro Series executive director Roger Bailey said. “The inverted field has led to increased competition on the racetrack. In two of the past three events, we’ve seen the Race 1 winner move up from sixth to win Race 2 as well. That type of passing is exciting for people to watch.
“With more of a random process to determine how many cars are inverted, everyone will be racing as hard as they can to the checkered flag."
Raphael Matos (2006) and Alex Lloyd (2007) completed doubleheader sweeps on the streets of St. Petersburg while Wade Cunningham improved from sixth to fourth at Infineon Raceway (2006).
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The 2007 IndyCar Series season continues with the Iowa Corn Indy 250 on June 24 at Iowa Speedway. The race will be telecast at 1 p.m. (ET) by ABC and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network. The IMS Radio Network broadcast also is carried on XM Satellite Radio and www.indycar.com. The sixth season of Indy Pro Series competition continues with the Liberty Challenge doubleheader on June 16-17 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The races will be telecast by ESPN2 at 5 p.m. on June 21