IRL: St. Pete: Firestone preview

FIRESTONE FIREHAWK FAST FACTS
IndyCar® Series

Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Albert Whitted Airport/Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.
March 30-April 1, 2007 - Round 2 of 17

Race Distance: 181 miles/289.7 km (100 laps on the 1.8-mile/2.897-km temporary street circuit).

Television Broadcast: Live - Sunday, April 1, at 2:30 p.m. EDT on ESPN.

Firestone Firehawk™ Race Tires Supplied:
*692 dry-condition slicks
*Each car receives eight sets (32 total slick tires) for the race weekend
*304 wet-condition grooved tires
*Each car receives four sets (16 total tires) of rain tires
*Both the Firehawk slicks and rain tires are identical in specification to the tires used at St. Pete in 2006. They represent the "softest" compound/construction available in each category (street tire slick, rain tire).

Quote from Al Speyer, Executive Director, Firestone Racing: "It's time to take it to the streets in St. Pete, one of our favorite venues on the IndyCar Series schedule. In addition to supplying all the competing IndyCar and Indy Pro series cars with Firestone Firehawks, Firestone has renewed its position as Official Tire of the grand prix. Returning to a street course also means the return of the exciting Firestone Fast Six qualifying shootout for the IndyCar Series. It makes for a big Firestone weekend and we're looking forward to it."

Firestone Performance Award: This $10,000 prize commemorates Firestone's status as the only tire manufacturer to have participated in every IndyCar Series race, and is normally given to the driver leading the lap number corresponding to the cumulative number of races in series history. But since the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is the 136th IndyCar Series race and the race distance is only 100 laps, the Firestone Performance Award will go to the driver who leads the lap when the 136th race mile is completed, which is lap number 76.

-credit: firestone