IPS: IRL: Kentucky Speedway pre-race notes

Indy Racing League to continue it's "Champion's Challenge" In "The Belterra Casino Indy 300" at Kentucky Speedway August 10-11.

The Indy Racing League will continue its season-long battle of champions on August 10-11 at Kentucky Speedway. 2001 IRL Champion Sam Hornish, Jr., 2000 and 2001 CART Champion Gil de Ferran, two-time Indianapolis 500 Champion Helio Castroneves and two-time"Belterra Casino Indy 300" Champion Buddy Lazier will be among other top circuit drivers such as Scott Sharp, Felipe Giaffone, Sarah Fisher, and Tomas Scheckter in the 22-car field takes that will take the green flag at Kentucky Speedway on Sunday, August 11, at 1:30 p.m.

The race will be preceded by the Kentucky Speedway debut of the Indy Racing Infiniti Pro Series featuring racing prodigies A.J. Foyt, IV, Arie Luyendyk Jr., and Ed Carpenter as well as join actor/producer and 10-year road racing veteran Jason Priestley. The green flag waves for the 16-car"Kentucky 100" field at 11:30 a.m. on August 11.

Gates open at 8:00 a.m. on August 11 and the first 15,000 fans to enter the speedway will receive one of three bobbleheads depicting league drivers Buddy Lazier, Sam Hornish, Jr., and Al Unser, Jr. Fans also will be able to register to win the Official Kentucky Speedway Belterra Casino Indy 300 Pace Car, a 2002 Ford Mustang GT, courtesy of event title sponsor Belterra Casino Resort throughout the weekend.

Kentucky Speedway opens its fourth and final weekend of the season with the NASCAR Hills Bros. All Pro Series and IRL qualifying on"84 WHAS AM 150 & Pole Day" on Saturday, August 10. The"WHAS 150" begins at 2:00 p.m. and will be followed by Indy Racing Infiniti Pro Series and IRL qualifying for"The Belterra Casino Indy 300." Speedway gates open at 10:00 a.m. on August 10.

OTHER KENTUCKY NEWS:

BIFFLE CONTINUES NASCAR BUSCH SERIES DOMINATION AT INDIANAPOLIS
No. 60 Grainger Ford captain Greg Biffle, second in the"Kroger 300 Presented by Oreo" this past June at Kentucky Speedway, extended his NASCAR Busch Series points lead by nipping series rival Jason Keller by .0147 seconds at the finish line at Indianapolis Raceway Park on August 3. Through a more than impressive 10-race stretch, Biffle has engineered a total of four wins, four second-place, one-third and one eighth-place finish. Biffle, scheduled to move to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series circuit in 2003, now owns four wins, 13 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes through 22 starts this season. He extends his series points leading margin to 82 over the second-place Keller and a 287-point advantage over the third-place Jack Sprague. Fourteen races remain on the 2002 series schedule.

KENTUCKY TOP-10 FINISHER COOK MOVES TO SECOND IN NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES POINTS WITH WIN AT INDIANAPOLIS
Terry Cook led 178 of 200 race laps in his No. 29 Power Stroke Diesel Ford at Indianapolis Raceway Park on August 2 en route to taking his third win in his past seven series starts. The win was his fourth of 2002 and not only gives him the series lead in wins, but helps him tighten the noose on series points leader and Kentucky Speedway"Kroger 225" champion Mike Bliss. Cooks moves up two spots in the points standings to second and trails Bliss by just five points. The series enters the week with nine events remaining and seven drivers in contention for the championship. Bliss is separated from the seventh-place David Starr by 86 points and the fifth-place Robert Pressley by 58 points. The third-place Jason Leffler, second at Indianapolis, trails Bliss by 29 points.

FORMER KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY CHAMPIONS FINISH IN TOP FIVE IN NASCAR WINSTON CUP"BRICKYARD 400" AT INDIANAPOLIS
2001 Kentucky Speedway NASCAR Busch Series Champion Kevin Harvick grabbed his second top-five and fourth top-10 finish in his past four starts, and 2000 Kentucky Speedway ARCA champion Ryan Newman snared his fourth top-five in as many starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 4. Newman was fourth and Harvick fifth in"The Brickyard 400," but did not threaten champion Bill Elliott, who took his second straight NASCAR Winston Cup Series win.

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