Single-car qualifying, which preceded the Firestone Fast Six shootout, will be eliminated on road and street courses in favor of group sessions that will progressively narrow the field to the fastest six, who will then enter a 10-minute shootout for the pole.
"Its terrific to see the energy the IndyCar folks are devoting to all the competitive elements of their events," said Steve Page, president and general manager of Infineon Raceway. "The drama of qualifying is a key part of the story line for an IndyCar race weekend and these kinds of enhancements just improve the show for our fans."
Preparations for qualifying at road and street courses will begin with two Friday practice sessions in which all cars will participate together for a total of two-and-a-half hours. On Saturday morning, the cars will be randomly divided into two groups for a final practice session. Each group will get 30 minutes of practice time.
Qualifying begins Saturday afternoon with the two groups competing for 20 minutes each. The fastest six cars from each group will advance to another round of qualifying while positions 13 down will be established for the race by the fastest laps turned by the remaining cars.
The 12 advancing cars will then enter a 15-minute group qualifying session with all previous times erased. Following that session, the fastest six cars will advance to the Firestone Fast Six shootout while the remaining six cars will fill positions seven through 12 on the starting grid based on their fastest laps from that session. Once again, all times will be erased and the six finalists will battle for 10 minutes to win the PEAK Motor Oil Pole.
"Qualifying for our road and street courses has been full of drama ever since we introduced the Firestone Fast Six concept in 2005," said Brian Barnhart, president of the operations division of the Indy Racing League, the sanctioning body of the IndyCar Series. "Expanding the group format into several stages will add additional levels of intrigue and strategy that will keep fans entertained throughout."
Drivers and teams will also have two new off-season enhancements when they visit the challenging Sonoma Valley road course. IndyCar Series cars are now equipped with a paddle shift system and an optional variable-assist steering rack. Both improve driver safety. The paddle shift system allows drivers to keep both hands on the wheel while shifting, and the steering rack makes it easier to turn the wheel the farther it is turned.
The newly unified IndyCar Series visits Infineon Raceway for the fourth consecutive year, Aug. 22-24. The weekend will also feature the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series and a double-header weekend for the Indy Lights series. For more information or to purchase tickets, be sure to call 800-870-RACE or CLICK HERE.
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