IPS: Nashville: Round 11 preview

WHAT: Indy Pro Series: Sunbelt Rentals 100, 11th race in 16-race 2007 season

WHERE: Nashville Superspeedway, 1.33-mile concrete oval

WHEN: Indy Pro Series: 4:30 p.m. (ET), Saturday, July 14

DISTANCE: Indy Pro Series: 77 laps/100 miles

POSTED AWARDS: Indy Pro Series: More than $275,000

CARS: Indy Pro Series: Dallara chassis; Firestone tires

PREVIOUS RACE WINNERS: Indy Pro Series: Jay Howard (2006), Jaime Camara (2005), Thiago Medeiros (2004), Mark Taylor (2003), Cory Witherill (2002).

2006 SERIES CHAMPIONS: Indy Pro Series: Jay Howard

TV: Indy Pro Series: Race: ESPN2 (tape-delay), 5 p.m. (ET), July 18

Note: Live streaming video coverage of the Sunbelt Rentals 100 (4:30 p.m., (ET) July 14) is available at www.indycar.com and www.espn360.com.

SCHEDULE (all times local; subject to change):

Friday, July 13
9:15-9:45 a.m. Indy Pro Series practice
12:15 -1 p.m. Indy Pro Series practice
4 p.m. Indy Pro Series SWE Race Car Parts Pole Qualifying
6:45-7:15 p.m. Final Indy Pro Series practice
7 p.m. Autograph session

Saturday, July 14
3:30 p.m. Sunbelt Rentals 100 (77 laps/100 miles) (ESPN2, 5 p.m. EDT, July 18; taped)

THE TRACK:
1.33-mile concrete oval
Frontstretch: 2,494 feet banked at 9 degrees
Backstretch: 2,203 feet banked at 6 degrees
Turns: 1,220 feet banked at 14 degrees
Width: 55 feet (minimum)

* Ground was broken on Nashville Superspeedway in August 1999, and the facility includes 3,000 acres of which 1,200 have been developed. The track, owned by Dover Motorsports, Inc., is one of three concrete ovals in the United States, the others being Dover International Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway. The facility has 50,000 seats (25,000 permanent, 25,000 temporary) and 24 luxury suites. Ken Schrader won an ARCA event on April 13, 2001, the first race at the new facility.

INDY-STYLE RACING IN NASHVILLE:
Middle Tennessee has hosted top-level auto racing since 1958, but open-wheel racing only has taken place there since July 2001.

NASCAR stock car races were held at Nashville Speedway USA from 1958-1984. The track's weekly racing series helped launch the careers of Darrell Waltrip, Sterling Marlin and Bobby Hamilton.

In 2001, racing moved 30 miles east of Nashville to Nashville Superspeedway, which played host to its first IndyCar Series event that July. Since then, five drivers have claimed the hand-painted Gibson guitar given to the race winner.

The 1.33-mile tri-oval is the only concrete track on the IndyCar Series schedule. The pavement, which consists of 7,500 cubic yards of concrete, was placed full-width for the entire length of the track by a concrete paving machine that was specially constructed for the project.

INDY PRO SERIES NOTES:

* Camara holds 'Iron man' title: Jaime Camara established the Indy Pro Series' all-time mark for consecutive starts at the Liberty Challenge at Indianapolis on June 16 with his 32nd consecutive start. He extended the streak to 36 at Watkins Glen on July 8. Camara competed for Sam Schmidt Motorsports in 2005 and for Andretti Green Racing in 2006. He returns in the AGR entry in 2007.

* Cunningham can extend record: Wade Cunningham has started in the top 10 in the past 19 consecutive races, which is the Indy Pro Series record.

-credit: irl