NEWMAN/HAAS/LANIGAN RACING MAKES ITS DEBUT AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (April 24, 2008) --- Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) will continue their transition into the IndyCar Series with this weekend’s Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway. Only one person on the team has actually seen the track in person and that is the youngest winner in a North American major open wheel racing series – Graham Rahal, driver of the No. 06 Hole in the Wall Camps race car.

Rahal, 19, will make his oval racing debut this Sunday in Kansas. He was unable to compete in the season opening event at Homestead-Miami Speedway when the team did not have enough time or spare parts to repair his car after a testing crash earlier that week. Rahal won in his IndyCar Series debut on a street course in St. Petersburg on April 6 but knows he has a steep learning curve ahead of him.

“I’m looking forward to my oval debut in the IndyCar Series,” said Rahal. “I don’t know too much about racing at Kansas Speedway. I have actually been there once to watch my dad’s team race but that doesn’t translate much too actually driving there myself.”

Last weekend, Rahal had one of the fastest race cars on the streets of Long Beach but was unable to capitalize on a strong points-earning finish and retired in 13th place after running as high as fourth in the event which caused him to drop from fourth to ninth in the IndyCar Series point standings. Although this is only the second race on an oval for the five teams transitioning from the Champ Car World Series, Rahal is optimistic that NHLR is already making progress.

“Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing have done a good job preparing the cars for Kansas and they have done a little work in the wind tunnel so I think we will be a little more competitive there than we were on the one oval race we have had so far this year,” said Rahal. “It’s hard to catch up to the years of knowledge the other teams have in such a short time frame but if anyone can do it, this team can.”

McDonald’s driver Justin Wilson received a standing ovation from the team when he returned to the pits after the conclusion of the season-opening event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. After thousands of man hours went into preparation for the team’s series debut in less than a one-month time frame, a 15th place finish was like a victory of sorts for the eight-time championship winning team. Wilson and company were able to gain valuable experience during the 200-lap event around the 1.5 mile oval and he is hoping to continue to build on that this weekend.

“I don’t know much about the track except what I learned from watching the DVD of last year’s race,” said Wilson, who started and finished 15th in Homestead. “It’s going to be a new track for us but from what I have been told it is similar to Homestead but not quite as difficult. We are going to try to build on what we learned at Homestead. I thought the McDonald’s car was good in the race but we are hoping to maybe qualify a fraction better. For the race, my aim is to finish in the top-10 with a view to getting stronger throughout the season.”

Wilson, the two-time runner up to NHLR driver and four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais, will be making his seventh start on an oval this weekend. Last weekend, he set the fastest laps in both provisional and final qualifying on the streets of Long Beach in the Champ Car finale to earn pole but he succumbed to engine failure after only completing 12 laps in the race. He has put the disappointment of being unable to earn the maximum number of championship points from that event behind him and, like Rahal, he believes the team has continued to make made progress on their oval racing program.

“I think we have made some gains already but the big gains are going to come once we get to Indianapolis and beyond,” said Wilson who spent a few days with his wife Julia and newborn daughter Jane between races. “This process takes some time and we are only heading into our second IndyCar Series oval race so we have to be patient. Hopefully we will pick up some points in this race that we missed out on in Long Beach.”

Kansas Speedway is one of nine tracks on the IndyCar Series schedule that will be new for the 26-year-old team. Three different teams, including NHLR, have won the first three events of the season. The Road Runner Indy 300 will get underway with practice and qualifying on Saturday, April 26 and the 200-lap race will begin at 4:00 p.m. local time on Sunday afternoon. Fans can watch all the racing action live on ESPN2 beginning at 5:00 p.m. EDT. It will also be broadcast live on IMS Radio Network at 5 p.m. EDT and XM Radio 145.



JUSTIN WILSON, driver of the #02 McDonald’s Dallara / Honda / Firestone:

AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY: Will be his debut here and second oval race in the IndyCar Series (ICS) as well as seventh overall.

SO FAR IN 2008: Qualified 17th but started 15th in the season-opener in Homestead due to two cars having their qualifying speeds disallowed. Dropped one lap down when he was hit by Will Power on a restart after approx. 22 laps and had to pit to replace a deflated tire but rallied to finish 15th…Started third in his street course ICS debut in St. Pete but alternate fuel and tire strategies dictated by intermittent rain led to a ninth place finish after he led a total of 18 of 83 laps…Was the pole winner on Friday and Saturday in the Long Beach Champ Car finale and dropped to second on the start but engine failure on Lap 13 ended his race and he finished 19th to drop from 15th to 19th in the ICS point standings with 49 points.

2006 & 2007 RUNNER UP TO THE CHAMPION: Finished runner up in the Champ Car championship to the driver he recently replaced, four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais, in 2006 and 2007. Was a championship contender until the conclusion of the penultimate race of each season. He also finished third to NHR drivers Bourdais and Oriol Servia in 2005.

FIFTH SEASON IN A U.S. BASED OPEN WHEEL SERIES: After competing in Formula One for Minardi and Jaguar in 2003, Wilson came to the Champ Car World Series as a rookie in 2004. In his four seasons of CCWS competition he won four races and six poles. He finished on the podium 15 times in 54 starts and led 409 laps.

FOUR WINS, SEVEN POLES AND 15 PODIUMS IN CHAMP CAR: During his four seasons in the Champ Car World Series, Wilson earned FOUR wins (2005 – Toronto, Mexico City; 2006 – Edmonton; 2007 - Assen), SEVEN poles (2005 – Portland, Mexico City; 2006 – Toronto, Mexico City; 2007 – Portland, San Jose; 2008 – Long Beach) and earned 15 podium finishes in 55 starts. After an impressive rookie season with Mi-Jack Conquest Racing in ‘04 where he finished 11th in the season-ending standings, he moved to RuSPORT for 2005-2007. He finished third to NHR drivers Bourdais and Servia in ‘05 and runner-up to Bourdais in 2006 & 2007.

PERSONAL: Justin Boyd Wilson was born on July 31, 1978 (29) in Sheffield, England…He married the former Julia Coggins in England on 12-29-2006 and reside in a suburb of Denver with their newborn daughter Jane Louise (born 4-12-08)…His father Keith was an amateur Formula Ford racer in England but retired before Justin was born due to a crash that broke his back and legs. Instead of taking interest in mother Lynne’s love of horses, Justin followed his father’s passion and began racing karts when he was eight…In order to help finance his 2003 season in Formula One, Justin created a company -- Justin Wilson PLC – and approx. 900 investors “bought shares of Justin” which raised $2 million. A portion of his earnings go toward repaying the debt…He has conquered the challenges of dyslexia and, if he wasn’t a race car driver, would be a designer of cars or etc. because he is curious about how things work or how to improve them…Hobbies include cycling, miniature golf, video games, karting and trying to fly one of his two RC Helicopters…He spends his free time plotting and completing home improvement projects as well as trying to find time to mow the yard between races…His typical day begins at 7 a.m. and he calls the U.K. and checks his email before spending an hour at his local gym with Julia. After lunch he rides his bike for 1.5 hours and devotes the remainder of the day to home projects, reading 50+ pages of NHLR engineering reports and hanging out with friends…At 6’ 3-1/2” he is the tallest IndyCar Series driver…Listens to Coldplay, Stereophonics, The White Stripes and dance music.

JUSTIN WILSON, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I don’t know much about the track except what I learned from watching the DVD of last year’s race. It’s going to be a new track for us but from what I have been told it is similar to Homestead but not quite as difficult. We are going to try to build on what we learned at Homestead. I thought the McDonald’s car was good in the race but we are hoping to maybe qualify a fraction better. For the race, my aim is to finish in the top-10 with a view to getting stronger throughout the season. I think we have made some gains already but the big gains are going to come once we get to Indianapolis and beyond. This process takes some time and we are only heading into our second IndyCar Series oval race so we have to be patient. Hopefully we will pick up some points in this race that we missed out on in Long Beach.”



GRAHAM RAHAL, driver of the #06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara / Honda / Firestone:

AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY: Will be his first IndyCar Series (ICS) oval race and only his second on an oval track after having finished second at Pikes Peak in a junior formula, Star Mazda event in 2005.

YOUNGEST WINNER IN SERIES HISTORY: Became the youngest winner in a major North American open wheel series when he drove to victory in his IndyCar Series debut in St. Pete at the age of 19 years and 93 days old. The previous mark was held by Marco Andretti who won at Infineon Raceway at 19 years, 167 days old. Rahal had only run 10 laps at testing speed in an ICS car on a road course (Sebring) due to a pre-race three hour test (4-1) being cancelled due to rain. Nelson Philippe holds the Champ Car record for his ’06 win in Australia at 20 years, two months and 29 days old. With his second place finish in Houston in 2007, he became the youngest Champ Car driver (1979-2007) to finish on the podium at 18 years, three months and 18 days.

SO FAR IN 2008: Missed the series opener in Homestead due to a lack of time and parts to repair his lone race car after a testing crash the Tuesday prior to race day…Progressed to Group 2 in qualifying for his debut on the street course in St. Pete but was unable to get a clear lap and qualified ninth. The race began under caution while standing water was cleared and once the green flag flew he progressed up to third place before his first pit stop a race that saw multiple pit strategies. He was hit on Lap 37 by Will Power which caused a spin and he dropped to 23rd but the team elected to gamble and keep him on track while others pit on Lap 60 under caution and he moved into second before the restart on Lap 65 and took the lead and held it through two more restarts including one with three laps to go while holding off two-time St. Pete winner Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan. He won by a 3.5 second margin to become the youngest winner in series history at 19 years, 93 days old after he led a total of 19 of the 83 laps and moved to fourth in the standings…Started ninth in Champ Car series finale in Long Beach and was up to fourth when he was alongside Montagny during an attempt to pass for third and was spun which dropped him back to 12th place. While setting the fastest laps of the race, he charged through the field and into seventh before he hit the tire barrier on the final lap to drop to 13th place and ninth in the ICS standings with 70 points…Is second in the Rookie of the Year standings to Will Power by 17 points.

PERSONAL: Graham Robert Rahal, 19, was born in Columbus, Ohio on 1-4-1989 and resides in New Albany, Ohio…The 6’2” driver is one of four children of Bobby Rahal, three-time open wheel champion, Indy 500 winner and Hall of Fame race car driver…Has two sisters (Michaela and Samantha) and one brother (Jarrad)…Became the youngest IndyCar Series winner with his victory in his series debut in St. Pete on 4-6-08 and appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman" on 4-16-08 to discuss the feat...Graduated from New Albany High School with a 3.8 GPA on 6-3-07 despite missing over 80 days of school that year due to racing. ESPN The Magazine covered his graduation… When not racing he likes to work on cars, hang out with friends and family or play other sports for fun…Is a self-proclaimed “Car Guy” and still has the first car he received when he was 16 – a Subaru WRX sti – and is in the process of turning it into a race car with a Cosworth race engine. He purchased an ’07 Atomic Orange Corvette Z06 with his prize money but later sold it and now has an ’07 Ron Fellows limited edition Corvette Z06 as well as an ’08 Chevy Trailblazer SS. In addition he has a 1964 Mini Cooper that he restored for his high school senior project. He also temporarily owned a Porsche GT3 and an Audi he earned by graduating high school with a GPA of 3.5 or above…To prepare for the physicality of racing he spends many hours doing cardiovascular training and weightlifting, skiing, running or bicycling…His favorite type of clothing is anything made by Puma… His favorite food is sushi and his weaknesses are ice cream and white chocolate mocha drinks at Starbucks…His favorite books are those written by Lance Armstrong (and anything he read other than for school)…His favorite thing to watch on TV is any Ohio State Buckeye game, his favorite actor/actress are Owen Wilson and Eva Longoria and favorite movie is “Wedding Crashers.”

GRAHAM RAHAL, #06 Hole in the Wall Camps Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I’m looking forward to my oval debut in the IndyCar Series. I don’t know too much about racing at Kansas Speedway. I have actually been there once to watch my dad’s team race but that doesn’t translate much too actually driving there myself. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing have done a good job preparing the cars for Kansas and they have done a little work in the wind tunnel so I think we will be a little more competitive there than we were on the one oval race we have had so far this year. It’s hard to catch up to the years of knowledge the other teams have in such a short time frame but if anyone can do it, this team can. We received back-up cars recently but they won’t be ready for race weekend so we are in the same situation we were in for the first two IndyCar Series races.”