After 14 races; 14 battles for wins – it comes down to this weekend’s MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway for Chevrolet IndyCar V6 teams and drivers to settle both the IZOD IndyCar Series coveted Driver’s Championship, as well as the Oval Track Championship.
“It is hard to believe that we are heading to the final race of the 2012 season,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series. “It has been an extraordinary year for Chevrolet as we made the return to IndyCar competition with the all new 2.2 liter twin turbo Indy V6 engine. The results stem from the passion, skill and experience applied via the collective effort of the Chevy Teams, our technical partners and internal resources. But, there remain a couple pieces of unfinished business as we prepare for the weekend at Auto Club Speedway - the driver's championship and the oval track championship. We feel very fortunate that there are Team Chevy drivers mathematically in the mix for both titles. We wish all of the Team Chevy drivers and teams the best of luck this weekend in Fontana. It is sure to be a nail-biter.”
The top-three drivers in the battle for the Driver’s Championship are all members of Team Chevy. Team Penske’s Will Power heads to the two-mile oval track with a 17 point lead over Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay. Helio Castroneves, also from Team Penske, sits 35 points behind Hunter-Reay.
Tied atop the standings for the Oval Track Championship are Hunter-Reay and KV Racing Technology driver and former Series Champion (2004) Tony Kanaan. James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport, is sitting in third position in the Oval Track Championship standings.
"Having a 500-mile race as the season finale is a great way to close out the IndyCar season,” concluded Berube. “It requires a significant effort from everyone involved; the race teams and drivers, Firestone tires, Sunoco fuels, the Somatro safety team and countless others that make the race a show of skill, strategy and grit. It is also good practice for another piece of unfinished business - that other 500-mile race in May."
Chevrolet clinched the Series Manufacturers’ Championship following the 13th race of the season at Sonoma Raceway. That same weekend, Power was crowned the Road Course Champion for the third consecutive season.
Saturday night’s 250-lap/500-mile race will be the first appearance for IndyCar at the Fontana, California track since 2005. Chevrolet competed previously in Indy-style competition as an engine manufacturer in 1986-93 and 2002-05 with V-8 engines, winning 105 races which included two victories at Auto Club Speedway, 2002 and 2003. The wins powered Chevrolet to six driver champions, and included seven Indianapolis 500 victories.
The IndyCar season finale is scheduled to start at 5:45 p.m. PT (8:45 p.m. ET) Saturday night with live television coverage on NBC Sports Network.
The live radio coverage will air on the IMS Radio Network on SiriusXM (XM 94 and Sirius 212). In addition, IndyCar live timing and scoring with the radio broadcast can be found at www.indy.car.com.
*Courtesy of Chevrolet USA Newsroom
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