The following is a series of stats, notes and quotes from Conquest Racing for this weekend’s Meijer Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway.
Meijer Indy 300
Kentucky Speedway, 1.5-mile tri-oval
August 8 - 9, 2008, Race #14
Race Distance: 200 laps (300 miles)
Broadcast: ESPN2, 6:30 p.m. ET
CONQUEST KENTUCKY STATS
Races at Kentucky Speedway : 1
Best Finish: 20th (2002, Laurent Redon)
Best Start: 15th (2002, Laurent Redon)
KENTUCKY PRE-RACE NOTES
30 and Counting
Conquest Racing will be participating in its 30th IndyCar Series race this weekend. The team initially did two IndyCar Series races in 2001 before taking on a complete season of 15 races in 2002. This weekend’s Meijer Indy 300 will be the team’s 13th start this season and second at Kentucky Speedway after it competed there in 2002 with Laurent Redon.
Welcomed Break
After a welcomed break in the schedule, which allowed the team members to fine tune the cars and regroup, the Conquest Racing crew is ready to get back to the race track and highly-motivated to attack the last part of the season. With the season-winding down, the team is looking to capitalize on the experience it has built since the start of the season in order to finish this first season in a unified IndyCar Series on a high note.
Camara at Kentucky
While this will once again be Enrique Bernoldi’s first appearance at a race track, it will be Jaime Camara’s fourth race visit to Kentucky Speedway. Camara participated in the last three Firestone Indy Lights races at the 1.5-mile tri-oval with a best start of second and best finish of fifth.
Best of Conquest 2008
Conquest scored its best oval starting position of the season with Enrique Bernoldi with an eighth spot on the grid in Milwaukee and achieved its best combined effort when the team placed both drivers in the top six in Long Beach in April at the Champ Car World Series finale.
The team also completed their first Indianapolis 500 this year when Bernoldi took the checkered flag on the lead lap in 15th place. It was the Brazilian’s first oval finish of the season.
Bernoldi led the team’s first laps of the season in St. Petersburg (3) while Jaime Camara led the team’s first oval laps (44) of the season in Richmond .
QUOTEBOARD
#34 Jaime Camara Sangari Dallara/Honda/Firestone
IndyCar Series Starts: 10
Best 2008 Start: 19th (Kansas City)
Best 2008 Finish: 14th (Richmond, Mid-Ohio)
"Rookie of the Year" Standings: 8th
Point Standings: 23rd (126 points)
"It was nice to get a weekend off last week after a long stretch of back-to-back races. But we’re ready to go back racing in Kentucky this week.
I’ve been there in Indy Lights and tested there a couple of times with Andretti Green Racing last season so I’m hoping that my past experience at Kentucky Speedway will help me get the results that Conquest Racing and myself have been looking for all season."
#36 Enrique Bernoldi Sangari Dallara/Honda/Firestone
IndyCar Series Starts: 12
Best 2008 Start: 8th (Long Beach, Milwaukee)
Best 2008 Finish: 4th (Long Beach)
"Rookie of the Year" Standings: 6th
Point Standings: 20th (196 points)
"This weekend, I’m motivated to get rid of the bad luck that has been following me for a while now. I’m headed to Kentucky refreshed from the off week and ready to turn things around for the final races so that we can end this season on a high.
As a team we have gained plenty of experience since the start of the season and individually I have also learned a lot and I think with all of that combined we can have a strong end to the year."
CONQUEST RACING AT A GLANCE
2008 SEASON
IndyCar Series Races: 12
Best Start: 8th (Milwaukee, - Enrique Bernoldi)
Best Finish: 5th (St. Petersburg, - Enrique Bernoldi)
Champ Car Races: 1 (Long Beach)
Best Start: 3rd (Franck Perera)
Best Finish: 4th (Enrique Bernoldi)
IndyCar Series Overall
IndyCar Series Races: 29
Best Start: 4th (Dallas, Richmond, Kansas City, 2002 – Laurent Redon)
Best Finish: 2nd (Fontana, 2002 – Laurent Redon)
Champ Car World Series Overall
Champ Car World Series Races: 74
Best Start: 2nd (Cleveland, 2004 – Justin Wilson)
Best Finish: 2nd (Twice – Monterrey, Mexico, 2005 - Andrew Ranger / Assen, Holland, 2007 - Jan Heylen
- Karina Redmond -
