For the one hundredth and eleventh time, American open-wheel racing heads to the Milwaukee Mile. Milwaukee IndyFest takes place this Saturday afternoon and there are a few things to look forward to.
Who Will Be Driving For Panther And Dale Coyne Racing?
There are two vacant seats for Milwaukee as of today. Oriol Serviá and Pippa Mann drove for Panther and Dale Coyne respectively but neither have been announced for Milwaukee. Serviá has been announced for Iowa in a fortnight but has not been announced for Milwaukee, a track where he has finished in the top ten in his last seven appearances at the track, including five top fives. Mann only got to complete two laps at Texas last week before the engine expired.
Ryan Briscoe is in France testing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and it appears unlikely he will be driving at Milwaukee. Briscoe drove the doubleheader at Belle Isle for Panther Racing. Townsend Bell and Buddy Rice have been drivers linked to the National Guard Chevrolet. Bell has three starts at Milwaukee with finishes of thirteenth, sixth and eleventh. Bell will be at Milwaukee as he is one of the color commentator for NBCSN. Rice has two top tens in five starts at the Mile including a second place in 2004. Rice retired for each of his other three starts.
Ana Beatriz drove for Dale Coyne in the first five races of 2013 and finished seventeenth in her only start at Milwaukee in 2011. She was reportedly still looking to find the funding to race after Indianapolis. Other drivers who have raced recently looking for rides include JR Hildebrand and Katherine Legge. Hildebrand has finishes of twenty-first and twenty-second in two starts at the Mile while Legge finished sixth and eighteenth in two starts at Milwaukee. Legge also led her first career laps at Milwaukee in 2006 and drove for Dale Coyne in 2007.
Road To Indy Returns
The ladder system returns to racing this weekend at Milwaukee. Pro Mazda hits the track for the first time since the Night Before The 500 at Lucas Oil Raceway (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park). Matthew Brabham has won the last four races and leads Diego Ferreira by thirty-one points. Four Americans occupy the next four positions in the standings. Shelby Blackstock is third after four straight podiums ahead of Spencer Pigot, Scott Anderson and Kyle Kaiser. This is the final oval event for Pro Mazda in 2013.
Firestone Indy Lights returns to racing after a four-wide photo finish at the Firestone Freedom 100 saw Peter Dempsey pick up his first career Indy Lights win ahead of Gabby Chaves, Sage Karam and Carlos Muñoz. Muñoz leads Dempsey by twenty-seven points. Muñoz is also coming off a great month of May which saw the Colombian finish second in the Indianapolis 500 and win Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. Chaves and Karam are twenty-eight and twenty-nine points back of Muñoz. Karam won at Milwaukee in the 2011 Star Mazda race.
A Taste of Formula One At Milwaukee
It's not Jim Clark showing up in 1963 and going head to head with the likes of AJ Foyt, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones and USAC's best but they are Brits. David Hobbs and Will Buxton will be added to the NBCSN crew this weekend. Hobbs will join Leigh Diffey and Townsend Bell (should he not be racing) in the booth as Wally Dallenbach will be in Michigan calling the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race for TNT. Will Buxton will be working the pit lane for Marty Snider who will also be in Michigan working as a pit reporter for TNT. Buxton worked as a pit reporter on Pole and Bump Day at Indianapolis this year.
NBCSN's coverage of Milwaukee IndyFest begins Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. ET.
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