* Richard Antinucci, the nephew of 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever Jr., drives the No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car. He will be making his first start at Nashville.

* Sean Guthrie, driver of the No. 4 Carcrafters Guthrie Racing car, is the son of three-time Indianapolis 500 starter Jim Guthrie. Guthrie will make his third start at Nashville this weekend in search of his first win.

* Arie Luyendyk Jr., driver of the No. 26 Andretti Green Racing/AFS Racing car, also seeks his first win at Nashville. The second-generation driver, who finished second in the inaugural Nashville race in 2002, is the son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk.

Firestone Indy Lights drivers face concrete challenge: The Firestone Indy Lights makes its seventh visit to the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway, the only concrete facility on the schedule. The concrete surface puts a premium on handling as track conditions change throughout the race. Along with Kentucky Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway is one of only three tracks to have played host to the Firestone Indy Lights every season since its inception in 2002.

Home of Firestone

Nashville-based Firestone provides all of the tires for every Firestone Indy Lights team and serves as the title sponsor of the Firestone Indy Lights. The company operates a distribution center near Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., which handles 90,000 tires per day and services customers in the company's mid-South region, shipping tires to every state east of the Mississippi River.

Season To Date:

* Five drivers have won races this year - Dillon Battistini, Raphael Matos, Richard Antinucci, J.R. Hildebrand and Bobby Wilson. Battistini has the most wins with three (Homestead, Indianapolis and Iowa). Matos and Antinucci split the doubleheaders at St. Petersburg and Watkins Glen.

* Five drivers have won the SWE Pole Award this season - Raphael Matos, Dillon Battistini, Pablo Donoso, Arie Luyendyk Jr.., and Franck Perera. Matos is the only driver to win more than one pole (Homestead and St. Pete).

* Richard Antinucci has finished first or second in six of the nine races this season. He won St. Petersburg 2 and Watkins Glen 2 and finished second at Homestead, St. Petersburg 1, Indianapolis and Watkins Glen 1.

Milestones:

* Arie Luyendyk Jr. will attempt to make his 56th Firestone Indy Lights start at Nashville Superspeedway, which would extend his series record.

* Bobby Wilson will attempt to make his 38th consecutive start, which is second on the all-time list. Jaime Camara holds the series record with 42 consecutive starts from 2005-2007.

* Richard Antinucci and Raphael Matos moved into a tie with A.J. Foyt IV for seventh on the Firestone Indy Lights all-time win list with their victories at Watkins Glen.

Schedule (local time):

July 11
9-10 a.m. - Firestone Indy Lights practice
12:30-1:30 p.m. - Firestone Indy Lights practice (two groups)
4:15 p.m. - SWE Pole Qualifying

July 12
2:45 p.m. - Sunbelt Rentals 100 pre-race
3:30 p.m. - Sunbelt Rentals 100 (77 laps/100 miles)

-credit: irl

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