Carroll Joins Andretti Camp

May 3rd, 2010

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Andretti Autosport’s latest IZOD IndyCar Series driver is 2009 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport champion Adam Carroll, who will drive a limited schedule of IndyCar Series events in the second half of the 2010 season. Carroll, a native of Portadown, Northern Ireland, captured five wins, six poles and eight podiums in seven rounds on his way to winning the 2008-2009 A1GP World title for Team Ireland.

“I’m very excited to be joining the driver lineup at Andretti Autosport,” Carroll said. “It is gratifying to know that the success I’ve enjoyed so far in my career has drawn the attention of a team owner like Michael Andretti. The IZOD IndyCar Series is clearly one of the most competitive formulas in the world right now and I’m looking forward to being introduced into the field later this year.”

Andretti Autosport has yet to determine Carroll’s schedule or car assignment, but has committed to run the 27-year-old in the IZOD IndyCar Series this season.

- In the paddock area on Saturday was Bill Simpson of Impact Racing. Simpson was with his attorney, Jim Voyles, who will represent the embattled safety equipment manufacturer in the ongoing dispute with the SFI Foundation over decertification of some of the company’s products.

- Team owner A.J. Foyt did not come to Kansas Speedway marking a rare instance the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner has skipped an IndyCar race. Foyt attended Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

- Leading into the first oval race of the season, points leader Will Power of Team Penske was upbeat.

“This is the first time I’ve been on a big team with all the ingredients you need to win,” Power said. “Last year I would get in the car and drive it as it was but this year I’m getting the car suited to my style of driving. It’s a very good start but a long season.”

But Power encountered an early problem on pit lane and finished 12th. He leads Scott Dixon by 26 points after five rounds of racing.

“The first stop I went a touch long in the pit box which cost us some time,” Power said. “The car felt pretty good all day. The restarts were interesting and I definitely have a better idea of who I can work with out there. Overall, I’m glad we ran as well as we did and I’m feeling good going into Indy.”

- For Danica Patrick, it was only slightly better on the ovals than on the street and road courses as she finished 11th.

“I’ve had a rough start to the year,” Patrick admitted. “I didn’t focus enough on the road courses getting a car that is suited to me. I think we go off base by not trusting in each other enough and staying focused.”

She scoffs at the criticism that her NASCAR Nationwide Series effort has taken her focus away from the IndyCar Series and has affected her performance.

“I don’t think anything I’ve done in the stock car has hurt my racing in any way at all — it can only help,” Patrick said. “It’s just been an unfortunate start without having any good breaks.”

- When Patrick is finished as a race driver, she might be able to pursue a career as a clothing designer after she admitted she has designed some of her clothes.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “I guess I’m kind of creative and I like to play around and create things. When I was young I would cut up clothes how I wanted and create my own style. I would like to get in a little deeper into that as my career goes on for an after-career, career.”

- There were six different teams represented in the top-10 finishers in Saturday’s race.

- Helio Castroneves finished fourth.

“It was a good start for us on the ovals,” Castroneves said. “We ran clean, we ran strong and we ran inside the top-five most of the day. We lost a couple of positions at the end there, but there was so much traffic and the car really changed. It’s pretty tough out there. You can’t blink or you might lose your spot. We were able to get into a good rhythm today and I think we created some good momentum for the month of May. At the end of the day, it was a positive result for Team Penske.”

- There are only two Japanese drivers in the IndyCar Series and both were involved in the same crash when Hideki Mutoh and Takuma Sato crashed on lap 186. Prior to that, Sato was very impressive in his first oval track race.

“Today was a very exciting day for me being my first race oval race,” Sato said. “I was running in sixth place with 14 laps to go when a yellow flag came out. There was a pack in front on the restart while I was racing Hideki (Mutoh) side by side. It looked like he was pushing up to the wall and I had nowhere to go. After having a conversation with Hideki, he was being pushed up into me by the lapped orange car. We both had nowhere to go. It’s very, very unfortunate. I feel bad for the fans, particularly for all of the Japanese fans and all of Hideki’s fans.

“It’s just frustrating and I’m very disappointed not to finish. However, I really enjoyed racing with many great drivers and gaining a lot of positions as well as understanding how oval racing works.”

Mutoh admits that he has great respect for Sato and couldn’t believe both drivers from Japan were in the same crash.

“This is very unfortunate because we had a very good race up to that point, and I didn’t want to crash Taku because I respect him a lot,” Mutoh said.

- Target Chip Ganassi Racing has partnered with T-Mobile USA, Inc. to become an associate sponsor on Dario Franchitti’s No. 10 Target Honda. As part of the relationship, T-Mobile will have prominent logo placement on the rear wing of Franchitti’s car throughout 2010.