Blooming Blogger

Lin Jarvis, the Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director, celebrated Valentino Rossi’s 100th GP victory on the podium with the Italian star and then spoke to motogp.com.

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider sorry for last lap error.

For the second race in succession Casey Stoner was totally physically exhausted after finishing in third place at Assen, but it is hoped he will be fit to ride properly next weekend.

The threat of rain did not appear to be imminent as the riders commenced their warm-up sessions on Saturday at the Alice TT Assen.

Spaniard quickest in last preparatory session.

Italian quickest in warmup for Alice TT Assen.

Valentino Rossi triumphs at the Dutch MotoGP in Assen, ahead of championship rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner.

Welcome to the SunTrust Indy Challenge, the eighth race of the 2009 IndyCar^® Series season. John Griffin, vice president of public relations for the Indy Racing League, and Aimee Turner, director of media relations for the Richmond International Raceway, and their staffs are here to assist you. Please direct your questions and requests to anyone in the Media Center.

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TODAY’S SCHEDULE (all times local):

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Helio Castroneves’ third Indianapolis 500 victory, which he accomplished six weeks after being found non-guilty by a federal court jury of tax-evasion charges, is nominated in the “Best Moment” category.

“It’s so many things together,” said Castroneves, who celebrated with his traditional fence climb and broke into tears in Victory Circle. “It was a moment for me, a moment for the fans, a moment for the track being 100 years old. It’s certainly one moment that I’ll never forget.”

Also nominated are the victory by the U.S. swim team in the Olympic relay and University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow’s emotional speech in a news conference following the team’s only loss during the 2008 season.

Castroneves and reigning IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon also are nominated in the “Best Driver” category along with Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and NHRA top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher.

“To be in this category is just fantastic. It’s great if we can make it happen,” Castroneves said.

Added Dixon: “It’s cool.”

The ESPY Awards, which are distributed for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly, was created by ESPN in 1993. Through July 11, fans can vote for Castroneves and Dixon at www.espys.tv or via mobile phone at www.espn.mobi.

The ESPYs, hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, will be broadcast at 9 p.m. (EDT) July 19 on ESPN. IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick will be an award presenter.

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Team 3G announced that eco-friendly lighting technology manufacturer Novicomm will become a marketing partner for the remainder of the 2009 IndyCar Season. The Novicomm logo will be displayed on the Team 3G car beginning this weekend with driver Jaques Lazier.

 ”We are honored that Novicomm has selected Team 3G as a platform for marketing cutting-edge and eco-friendly products that preserve the environment and saves money for both companies and consumers” said Team 3G co-owner Steve Sudler. “We look forward to introducing their LED lighting systems to environmentally conscious IndyCar fans.”

Novicomm markets solid state lighting using light emitting diodes (LED) that effectively replace fluorescent bulbs. The LED Replacements product line includes standard commercial cylinders, custom tubes and other products in development. Lighting accounts for 8 percent of all energy consumption in the United States and 22 percent of electricity nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. If solid-state lighting, such as light emitting diodes, replaced all existing lights, the DOE estimates customer savings of $115 billion by 2025 and a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse emission gases. 

“The IndyCar Series provides a great platform to showcase our technology and deliver our eco-friendly message to a passionate audience” said Novicomm CEO Michael Ernst. ”Since all Indycars are powered by ethanol, we have a shared vision with the IndyCar Series in reducing greenhouse emission gases.”

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McDonald’s, primary sponsor of Graham Rahal’s No. 02 car for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, produced 250,000 souvenir soda cups bearing the second-year IndyCar Series driver’s image for 95 Central New York restaurants from Utica to Binghamton.

“It’s cool what they’ve done,” said Rahal, who will be competing in the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen on July 4-5. “They told me they sold out of them a couple weeks earlier than they thought they would so I was pretty happy about that. I have a few of them at home and I’m hanging onto them tight. It would be cool to see one pop up somewhere.”

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Almost everyone of legal drinking age in the state has a Michael Jackson moment in their head this weekend — a song, a performance – at Richmond International Raceway.

The King of Pop, whose album “Thriller,” 27 years ago altered the direction of pop music and videos, died June 25 in California. He was 50. Jackson was preparing for 50 shows scheduled at London’s O2 Arena this summer.

“When I was young and he was in his heyday, my mom and I would drive all over whenever he used to come to Texas,” A.J. Foyt Racing team director Larry Foyt said. “We would catch the show in Houston and then go to Dallas. A.J. used to make fun of me for liking him. If it’s not country and western, it was ‘Why are you listening to that?’ ”

Asked to pinpoint his favorite Jackson song, Foyt – like most – couldn’t formulate an immediate answer.

“There are just so many and different types, I’m going to go with ‘The Way You Make Me Feel,’ ” he said.

Sales of more than 750 million albums in his solo career (not counting those with his brothers, The Jackson 5) put him in the company of other pop icons the Beatles and Elvis Presley.

It was the 1970s Saturday morning cartoon show on ABC featuring the brother act that Helio Castroneves, who was singing parts of the theme song, “ABC,” on pit lane after qualifications for the SunTrust Indy Challenge.

“Man, I love the cartoon, ‘The Jackson 5ive,’ and the “ABC,” he said. “It was awesome.”

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Davey Hamilton will be pulling double duty today. Hamilton finished 20th in the James River Grounds 100 USAC Silver Crown Championship Series race and will enter the radio broadcast booth for the SunTrust Indy Challenge tonight. Hamilton will join Indy Racing Radio Network anchor Mike King in calling the 300-lap IndyCar Series race. Hamilton has 51 IndyCar Series starts including nine in the Indianapolis 500.

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The United States men’s national soccer team will face Brazil for the FIFA Confederations Cup on June 28 in South Africa. Here in Richmond, the match has drawn interest from IndyCar Series drivers hailing from both countries.

“Of course, I’ve been following the tournament,” said 2004 IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan, who lists Brazilian soccer star Kaka among his most admired athletes. “Brazil beat the U.S. 3-0 last week, and I’m sure that’s what’s going to happen tomorrow. Brazil has a big tradition about soccer and we played really well but he U.S. won against Spain, I live here now, but obviously I’m going to cheer for Brazil tomorrow.”

While soccer doesn’t hold as big an interest for the U.S.-born IndyCar Series drivers, some of them have been following the exploits of the American team. Danica Patrick applauded the team’s effort via the social networking site Twitter following its win over Spain and Ed Carpenter said he has been following the team thanks to updates from his sister-in-law’s husband.

Helio Castroneves says he acted on emotion immediately after taking the checkered flag at the Indianapolis 500 on May 24. It was unbridled joy. It was captivating. It was cathartic.

Castroneves’ third Indianapolis 500 victory, which he accomplished six weeks after being found non-guilty by a federal court jury of tax-evasion charges, is nominated in the “Best Moment” category.

“It’s so many things together,” said Castroneves, who celebrated with his traditional fence climb and broke into tears in Victory Circle. “It was a moment for me, a moment for the fans, a moment for the track being 100 years old. It’s certainly one moment that I’ll never forget.”

Also nominated are the victory by the U.S. swim team in the Olympic relay and University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow’s emotional speech in a news conference following the team’s only loss during the 2008 season.

Castroneves and reigning IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon also are nominated in the “Best Driver” category along with Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and NHRA Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher.

“To be in this category is just fantastic. It’s great if we can make it happen,” Castroneves said.

Added Dixon: “It’s cool.”

The ESPY Awards, which are distributed for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly, was created by ESPN in 1993. Through July 11, fans can vote for Castroneves and Dixon at www.espys.tv or via mobile phone at www.espn.mobi.

The ESPYs, hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, will be broadcast at 9 p.m. (EDT) July 19 on ESPN. IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick will be an award presenter.

Didn’t get to watch IndyCar Weekly live on June 22 on indycar.com?

Well, listen to the audio segments HERE, featuring host Mike King’s candid interviews with Danica Patrick and Ana Beatriz.

IndyCar Weekly is broadcast from 7-8 p.m. (EDT) Mondays via streaming video on indycar.com. It’s also available by Podcast HERE and audio replay HERE on the IMS Radio Network page.