IRL: Sears Point: Scott Sharp preview

Infineon Race a Homecoming for Scott Sharp

The IRL IndyCar Series prepares for its first-ever permanent road course event this weekend with the Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix at Infineon Raceway. For Scott Sharp, the event marks a homecoming on two fronts. Sharp is a former Northern California resident, spending three years in the Danville/Alamo area, the hometown of wife Kim and father-in-law/Trans-Am veteran Greg Pickett.

Sharp has turned more laps around the Sonoma Valley circuit than any other driver in the IndyCar Series field, claiming two podiums including a victory in 1993 from his Trans-Am days. He gained a new perspective of the rolling 2.26-mile, 12-turn road course during an April test, noting the open-wheel challenges facing both drivers and engineers with the circuit's numerous elevation changes and sweeping corners.

Scott Sharp, #8 Delphi Panoz/Honda/Firestone:

"The fans, the series, the drivers -- everyone is in for just a tremendous race at Infineon. It is certainly one of my favorite road courses. It is an awesome driver's track. You get so much thrown at you and the team -- uphill, downhill, camber, off-camber, tight, fast, slow, all kinds of different corners. It's a challenge. I have won there in the past, and we had a strong test there in April. We are all going to have to do a lot of tuning to where we finished in April because the temperatures are going to be a lot hotter, and it is going to be quite a workout for the drivers with the race distance. Running through the hills of the wine country in an IndyCar [Series car], I don't know if it gets much better than that."

SCOTT SHARP FAST FACTS: Is in his 10th season of IndyCar Series competition, and is the only driver to have contested every season of IndyCar Series competition since the inception of the IRL 10 years ago-- career record includes nine wins, five pole positions and 32 top-five finishes-- was the 1996 IndyCar Series co-champion and the 2001 Indianapolis 500 MBNA Pole winner-- is a former two-time SCCA Trans-Am Champion and three-time SCCA National Champion-- 37 years old from Norwalk, Connecticut-- currently resides in Jupiter, Florida.