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photo: Bret Kelley

The weather could not have been better for Carb day.  The sun was shining.  Light clouds rolled in here and there but most important of all, NO RAIN!  If you remember last year, Carb day was a wash.  The IndyCar Series were on the track for about 15 minutes before the rain came ending practice, canceling the pit stop competition, and postponing the Firestone Indy Lights race to Saturday.  This was not the case this year.

The Firestone Freedom 100 proved to be an eventful one.  Martin Plowman of Panther Racing lost control of his car in turn one causing team mate Pippa Mann to head up into the wall.  Their appeared to be no damage to her car other than the the two right side tires being flat.  She limped the car to the pits and the crew found other probems with the car.  This was definitely an upset for Panther Racing and Mann’s and Plowman’s first Firestone Freedom 100. 

Ana Beatriz went into the wall hard missing the safer barrier on lap 16.  She sustained minor injuries and was later released.

Wade Cunningham went on to win the race after passing JR Hildebrand with a lap and a half left.  Wade Cunningham did start from pole position and despite the many lead changes stayed up front.  

The whole race was to and fro. I got to the front early and knew I couldn’t lead all 40 laps, so I fell back because I didn’t want to be leading at the end. I knew I had a fast car, and it was a matter of being at the right place at the right time.  The last lap I was yelling at my car to keep going like a jockey on his horse

JR Hildebrand’s P2 finish placed him first in the points standings.  Andretti Green has shown that they have a good oval and road/street course setup this year.

It was great that we were able to have the pit stop competition this year.  Helio Castroneves and Team Penske won this year showing that they are having and excellent month of May.  I believe he was also the fastest at the final practice.  If they win the race, they will be the first since Buddy Rice driving for Rahal Letterman Racing in 2004 to get the pole win the pit stop competition and the race.  A task that does not happen often.

But wait… It gets better for Helio.  News reports also stated that the IRS has dropped the last charge pending against him. 

Coverage of the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 begins tomorrow at noon on ABC.

Today was another interesting day at Homestead Miami Speedway.  Panther Racing’s rookie driver Pippa Mann remained the fastest Firestone Indy Lights driver in today’s final practice session with her teammate Martin Plowman who is also a rookie finishing in P4.  Today the media was present for the Versus network photoshoots as well as private sessions with various IndyCar Series drivers.   Milka Duno drove for Newman Haas Lanigan Racing but it has been reported by IndyCar.com that her deal has not yet been finalized for the season.  Her car is sporting the Citgo logo with a new paint scheme.  Don’t get too excited, its not totally different. Justin Wilson also tested with Dale Coyne Racing and does not yet have a finalized deal with them.  As I was strolling through the garage area I spotted Ryan Hunter-Reay talking to various teams and crew members.  Sarah Fisher made an appearance as well strolling around and speaking with old crew members and owners.  Robert Doornbos surpised everyone with his push to P4 with a speed of 209.584 mph.  The biggest issue of the evening seemed to be all the yellows that were drawn out due to tires suffering punctures on the track.  The test session ended with Scott Dixon at the top of the charts with a speed of 211.372.  He was then followed by Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti, Mario Moraes, and Will Power.  The night wrapped up with video shoot of the Versus livery car driving around the 1.5 mile oval with other IndyCar Series cars for the new Versus network promotions.  IndyCar Series testing resumes tomorrow at 4 p.m.  and you can catch all the timing and scoring by checking out IndyCar.com

photo: Pippa Mann getting ready to take to the track

Yes…  You read the title correctly.  IRLblog is on site covering the IndyCar and Firestone Indy Lights testing at Homestead Miami Speedway.  Today the rookies of the Firestone Indy Lights are on the track.  Teams did not waste any time this morning getting the ball rolling.  With more rookies than veterans scheduled to test over the course of today and tomorrow, I don’t see why they would have.  Drivers such as Brandon Wagner of Davey Hamilton Racing,  Martin Plowman and Pippa Mann of Panther Racing, Mario Romancini of RLR / Anderson Racing, and Junior Strous of ASR-Nelan Motorsports have been turning laps since 9 a.m.  Team PBIR, although a new team has put no stranger to American open wheel racing Jay Howard behind the wheel.  PBIR will not test today but will be on track tomorrow along with the rest of the Firestone Indy Lights teams.

Pippa Mann is the fastest rookie on the track thus far with a best speed of 187.582 mph around the 1.5 mile oval with the majority of the field just 1 mph slower.  You can watch live Firestone Indy Lights Scoring by following the link below.

Firestone Indy Lights live timing and scoring