Jonathan Urlin roars into tomorrow's Indy Racing League Infiniti Pro Series event at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado Springs tied for third in the points championship. This is the first year for the 20-year-old Londoner in the IRL's development series and his fourth race.
Urlin is coming off a fifth-place finish May 18 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Driving a Budget Rent A Car-sponsored Dallara, he finished fifth in his first race March 2 at Homestead-Miami, then seventh at Phoenix on March 22.
All races are 100 miles. Total prize money each race is $100,000 US, with the winner receiving $25,000.
Urlin, who has completed all 207 laps, has won almost $10,000 in the three races, but it all goes back into supporting the appetite of a $115,000 US race car.
"I don't get to see any of it, so I don't have any idea how much it is," he said when asked how much he's won.
Urlin flew to Colorado on Wednesday. He's running up as many air miles as he is track miles as the 12-race series criss-crosses the U.S., racing on the IRL IndyCar Series tracks.
"This will be my first time on this track," he said of the one-mile Pikes Peak tri-oval. "Each track is completely different. It's all part of the learning process.
"It's good we get to race on the same tracks the IndyCar Series runs on because if I happen to jump in an Indy car next year, I won't be blind to the track. I'll already have been on the track."
The closest Urlin will come to London is Michigan International Speedway July Canada Day Shootout
Interest is already beginning to peak for the second Dodge Canada Day Shootout June 28-29 at Cayuga Speedway, featuring three drivers from NASCAR Winston Cup.
Sterling Marlin, Kenny Wallace and Brett Bodine are confirmed to compete in the CASCAR Super Series event.
Last year, a NASCAR cast headed by eventual Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart attracted a crowd of 15,000 to the race that was won by Matt Kenseth on the five-eighth- mile oval.
The NASCAR drivers will be in action on the Sunday. Time trials are at 3:15 p.m., with twin 50s at 4:30 p.m.
The Mopar 200 goes at 7 p.m.
The Saturday program will feature a CASCAR Carquest Sportsman Series event. Qualifying is at 3 p.m., with Carquest Sportsman 150 at 7 p.m.
"We used to race at Cayuga twice a year when I was running ASA," said Wallace, who is from St. Louis and one of NASCAR's most popular drivers.
"I always did pretty well at that track."
Marlin, from Franklin, Tenn., was odds-on favourite to win the 2002 Winston Cup championship, collecting two wins and leading the points for 25 weeks until a neck injury ended his season early.
Bodine said he watches all kinds of racing on Speed Channel and has seen the CASCAR Super Series.
"As soon as I hung up the phone the first time, I was excited about this deal," he said.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
Racing for a cause
Super Series driver Billy Innes of Springford northeast of Tillsonburg will be driving for charity in the Canada Day Shootout.
The Ruckus Racing Team will raise money for Camp Trillium, a camp in Waterford for children with cancer.
"It's a fun time for the kids," Innes said of the camp. "They can enjoy what others take for granted, away from hospitals and treatment.
"The kids get to be recognized for their skills, rather than the terrible sickness they're affected by."
Innes will accept sponsors from 10 cents a lap up to $2 a lap, unless someone wants to contribute more. He said $10,000 is his goal.
"I'm warning you, I plan on running all 250 laps," said the 39-year-old.
To sponsor Innes, phone 519- 428-0980 or e-mail ruckusracing@simcom.on.ca.
The ultimate drag
This is the ultimate match race -- track manager against track manager.
Sunday, during the two-day Hot Rod Reunion at St. Thomas Dragway, St. Thomas manager Paul Mathers goes the quarter-mile against Ron Biekx of Grand Bend Motorplex.
Biekx will drive his fuel altered 1948 Fiat Topolino Coupe. It's powered by a supercharged fuel-injected, nitromethane-burning Chrysler hemi.
The fuel altereds made an appearance during the IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals at Grand Bend two weeks ago and were a big hit with fans.
Where these cars are headed as they go down the track, nobody really knows.
Mathers, a former CASCAR Super Series racer, will drive Bill Denny's award-winning 1938 Chev Coupe powered by a nitrous-oxide 706-cubic-inch Pontiac mountain motor.
"This is going back to the old days when these cars were raced on a regular basis," said St. Thomas owner Dave Mathers, Paul Mathers' father. "Now, they've got new technology in the old bodies.
"This is not a matter of which track's better. We probably give that to them. But it's for bragging rights -- who's the quickest, who can do it to who."
