INDYCAR and ROAD TO INDY Take to the IMS ROAD COURSE

It's qualifying and race day for the inaugural Grand Prix of Indy featuring all classes of the Road to Indy series and Indycar on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The 2.434-mile, 14-turn course, incorporates portions of Turns 1 and 2 and the front straight of the Speedway. The racing will feature a standing start and will run clockwise, the opposite of the Indianapolis 500, creating even more diverse competition during the month. Drivers will have at minimum four unique opportunities to pass, including the revised Turn 1, a 90-degree right hand corner.

All series – including Indycar will qualify on Friday plus Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and USF2000 will have the first race of their weekend double-header. Following is the on-track schedule. Note that all times are Eastern Time (ET)

Once again we have Canadians entered in every series and some, like Scott Hargrove (Pro Mazda) and Daniel Burkett (USF2000) are looking to build of strong performances at Barber Motorsport Park two weeks ago. Hargrove (Vancouver, BC - #3 Cape Motorsports w/ WTR) was just 0.0123 behind his main rival (Spencer Pigot) in Practice 1 and would go on to lead in Practice 2 on Thursday. Hargrove is joined on the Pro Mazda grid by Garett Grist (Grimsby, ON - #27 Andretti Autosport) and Dalton Kellett (Toronto, ON - #80 Team Pelfrey). Grist started the day going 7th in practice 1, improving to 4th in practice 2. Kellett also improved in the afternoon session.

In USF2000, Burkett (Winnipeg, MB - #4 Belardi Auto Racing), coming off two fourth-place finishes, struggled in both practice sessions but it is a tightly contested field and we expect another strong performance under race conditions. Other Canadians on the entry list include Nathan Blok (Beachburg, ON - #33 John Cummiskey Racing) and James Dayson (Vancouver, BC - #16 ArmsUp Motorsports). Blok went 11th in practice. Dayson did not participate (NOTE: Dayson was on the Barber entry list but did not compete)

Zack Meyer (R) (Toronto, ON - #2 Team Moore Racing) continues to work his way to the front in Indy Lights and had solid practice going 5th and 6th in the sessions within 0.595 seconds of the leaders in a very strong field.

All eyes of course will be on the Indycar qualifying with high hopes for James Hinchcliffe (Oakville, ON #27 Andretti Autosport). Hinchcliffe was 7th in practice one and 5th in practice 2. It is very tight in the main event with sixteen cars within one second of the lead.

Post qualifying and race updates will be posted via Facebook (www.facebook.com/RaceCanada.ca) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/RaceCanada_ca) with a wrap at the end of the day.