Wheldon nominated for Moore Legacy Award

PacWest Lights Driver Dan Wheldon Nominated For Greg Moore Legacy Award

(Indianapolis, IN) - PacWest Lights rookie Dan Wheldon, driver of the #1 Gemstar Communications PacWest Lights Lola has been nominated as the one of the finalists for the second annual Greg Moore Legacy Award.

The award, which honors the Canadian star and fan favorite who lost his life in the 1999 season finale, reflects the driver who best typifies Moore's legacy of outstanding talent on track as well as displaying a dynamic personality with fans, media and within the CART community. It is designed to encompass candidates from the FedEx Championship Series as well as its two development series, the Dayton Indy Lights Championship and the Toyota Atlantic Championship. There is a minimum of one driver from each series represented for the award.

Representing the FedEx Championship Series is Patrick Carpentier, Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan. Representing the Toyota Atlantic Championship is David Rutledge, and representing the Indy Lights Championship is Dan Wheldon.

"I am very happy and, of course, honored to be nominated for such an award," said Wheldon. "I'd definitely like to follow in the footsteps of somebody such as Greg Moore. It would be an extreme privilege to win an award named in Greg's honor. It's an award I'd love to win and he's a person I'd love to emulate in Champ Car. Again, I'm extremely happy and hopefully I can finish off the last two races competitively and pick up the award at the end of the season, finishing what has been a strong year for me."

Wheldon, a 23-year old Englishman is enjoying an outstanding rookie campaign in the Dayton Indy Lights Championship. He is currently riding a two-race win streak (Gateway and Road Atlanta) and is tied for second in the championship with 123 points. He also added podiums at Long Beach (2nd) and Milwaukee (3rd). Wheldon is now tied with Faulkner for the Rookie of the Year heading into this weekend's event at Laguna Seca.

-PacWest-