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Fast Facts: IndyCar Grand Prix at The Glen

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Chris Owens 2016

Courtesy of the INDYCAR PR staff, here’s this week’s Fast Facts ahead of the IndyCar Grand Prix at The Glen, the second-to-last race weekend of the season. See below:

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INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen Fast Facts

Race weekend: Friday Sept. 2 - Sunday, Sept. 4
Track: Watkins Glen International, an 11-turn, 3.37-mile road course in Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Race distance: 60 laps / 202.2 miles
Entry List: INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen (PDF)
Push-to-pass parameters: 10 activations for 20 seconds each
Firestone tire allotment: Eight sets primary, three sets alternate
Twitter: @WGI @IndyCar, #INDYCARGP, #IndyCar
Event website: www.theglen.com
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2010 race winner (most recent event): Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara-Honda)
2010 Verizon P1 Award winner (most recent event): Will Power (12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara-Honda), 1 minute, 29.3164 seconds, 135.832 mph
Qualifying record: Ryan Briscoe, 1:28.1322, 137.657 mph, July 4, 2009

NBCSN television broadcasts: Practice, 11 a.m. ET Friday, Sept. 2 (live); Qualifying, 6 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 3 (taped); Race, 2 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 4 (live); Kevin Lee is the lead announcer for the Saturday and Sunday NBCSN broadcasts this weekend alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy. Pit reporters are Jon Beekhuis, Katie Hargitt and Robin Miller. Jake Query fills in for Lee as lead announcer for Friday’s live practice show.

Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Zach Veach. Jake Query and Nick Yeoman are the turn announcers with Dave Furst, Rob Howden and Michael Young reporting from the pits. All Verizon IndyCar Series races as well as qualifying sessions are broadcast live on network affiliates, Sirius 212, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app. All Verizon IndyCar Series practice sessions are available on IndyCar.com,indycarradio.com and on the INDYCAR Mobile app.

Video streaming: Friday afternoon’s practice session (3:30 p.m. ET), Saturday morning’s practice (11 a.m. ET), qualifying for the Verizon P1 Award (3 p.m. ET Saturday) andSunday’s final practice (10:30 a.m. ET) will be available on RaceControl.IndyCar.com.

INDYCAR Mobile app: Verizon Wireless puts fans around the world in the driver’s seat with its INDYCAR Mobile app. The app has been enhanced with new features to keep fans in the know of the latest race-day action. Exclusive features of the INDYCAR Mobile app for Verizon Wireless customers will stream live through the app and includes enhanced real-time leaderboard and car telemetry; the ability to follow the race in real time with the interactive 3D track; live in-car camera video streaming for select drivers during Verizon IndyCar Series races; live driver and pit crew radio transmissions during races and live Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network audio streaming during all track activities.

At-track schedule (all times local):

Friday, Sept. 2
11 - 11:45 a.m. - Verizon IndyCar Series practice #1, NBCSN (Live)
3:30-5:30 p.m. - Verizon IndyCar Series practice #2, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)

Saturday, Sept. 3
11 - 11:45 a.m. - Verizon IndyCar Series practice #3, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
3 p.m. - Qualifying for the Verizon P1 Award (three rounds of knockout qualifying),RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live); TV: NBCSN (Taped, 6 p.m.)

Sunday, Sept. 4
10:30 - 11 a.m. - Verizon IndyCar Series warmup, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)
1:55 p.m. - Driver Introductions
2:30 p.m. - Command to Start Engines
2:37 p.m. - INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen (60 laps/202.2 miles), NBCSN (Live)

Championship facts:

• Simon Pagenaud leads the Verizon IndyCar Series championship with two races to go for the first time in his career.

• Simon Pagenaud leads Will Power by 28 points. Pagenaud has led the championship since the second race of the season at Phoenix. With 54 maximum points available at Texas, the points lead could change for the second time in 2015.

• There are nine drivers still mathematically eligible for the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series championship: Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves, Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, James Hinchcliffe and Carlos Munoz. Any driver who trails the points leader by 104 points or more following the race will be eliminated from contention.

• Six drivers were eliminated from championship contention at Texas Motor Speedway on Aug. 27 - Charlie Kimball, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi, Juan Pablo Montoya, Sebastien Bourdais and Mikhail Aleshin.

• Since the first Indy car race at Watkins Glen in 1979, the winning driver has won the championship once - Rick Mears in 1981.

Key championship point statistic: The driver who has led the championship with two races to go has failed to win the championship in six of the last nine seasons. Scott Dixon in 2008, Dario Franchitti in 2011 and Will Power in 2014 are the exceptions.

Point differential: The 28 points which separate Simon Pagenaud and Will Power is the fourth-largest margin with two races remaining since 2010. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who trailed Power by 36 points with two races remaining in 2012, and Scott Dixon, who was 34 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya last year, have overcome a larger deficit. The average deficit with two races to go since 2007 is 20.67 points.

Championship-eligible drivers’ results at Watkins Glen: Will Power, Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon are the only championship-eligible drivers to have raced an Indy car at Watkins Glen International. Dixon and Power are former race winners at The Glen with Dixon winning three in a row from 2005-2007 and Power winning in 2010. Kanaan’s best finish is second and he has a pair of podium finishes. Castroneves has won three pole positions at the track, but has never finished better than fourth in six starts.

Race notes:

• There have been eight different winners in the 14 previous Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2016: Juan Pablo Montoya (Streets of St. Petersburg), Scott Dixon (Phoenix International Raceway), Simon Pagenaud (Streets of Long Beach, Barber Motorsports Park, Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course), Alexander Rossi (Indianapolis 500), Sebastien Bourdais (Raceway at Belle Isle-1), Will Power (Raceway at Belle Isle-2, Road America, Toronto and Pocono), Josef Newgarden (Iowa Speedway) and Graham Rahal (Texas Motor Speedway). Dixon’s win at Phoenix on April 2 tied him for fourth on the all-time Indy car victory list with Al Unser at 39. He is the active leader in wins. Bourdais’ win at Belle Isle on June 4 tied him with Bobby Unser for sixth on the all-time list with 35 wins. Power’s win at Pocono on Aug. 22 tied him with Rick Mears and Helio Castroneves for 11th all-time with 29.

• The INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen will be the 10th Indy car race at Watkins Glen International. Will Power won the last Verizon IndyCar Series race at the track in 2010. Bobby Unser won the first Indy car race at The Glen in 1979.

• Scott Dixon is the winningest Indy car driver at Watkins Glen with three victories (2005, 2006 and 2007). Bobby Unser won at Pocono twice. Past winners Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay (2008) and Will Power (2010) are entered this year.

• Will Power is the only driver to win the race from the pole in 2010.

• Team Penske has won four times at Watkins Glen. Penske’s winning drivers are: Bobby Unser (1979 and 1980), Rick Mears (1981) and Will Power (2010).

• Chip Ganassi Racing has three wins at Watkins Glen, all by Scott Dixon from 2005-2007.

• Scott Dixon has finished on the podium in four of his six starts at Watkins Glen, including his three wins. Tony Kanaan has a pair of podium finishes in his six starts, including a second-place finish in 2005. Marco Andretti has finished in the top five in three of five starts.

• Eight drivers entered in the event have competed in past Indy car races at Watkins Glen: Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Will Power, Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato. Castroneves, Dixon and Kanaan each have six starts, most among the entered drivers. Six of those drivers have led laps at the track (Dixon 68, Castroneves 50, Power 45, Andretti 11, Kanaan 11 and Hunter-Reay 9). Dixon has led in five of his six previous starts.

• Five rookies - Max Chilton, Conor Daly, RC Enerson, Spencer Pigot and Alexander Rossi - are entered. Rossi leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings by 83 points over Daly, with Chilton 127 points behind.

• Tony Kanaan seeks to start his 264th consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Teammate Scott Dixon has made 205 consecutive starts heading into the weekend, which is the third-longest streak in Indy car racing.

• Helio Castroneves will attempt to make his 326th career Indy car start, which ranks fourth on the all-time list. Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 325rd Indy car start, which is fifth all-time.

• Ryan Hunter-Reay will attempt to make his 200th career Indy car start at Watkins Glen. He would become the 20th driver to reach that milestone.

• The 2016 season is the second in which aerodynamic bodywork component kits are used. The aero kits, produced by engine manufacturers Chevrolet and Honda for their respective supplied teams, are the latest technical innovation to enhance on-track performance through competitive aerodynamic development. Each manufacturer produces two kits for teams - one for short ovals/road courses/street courses and another for superspeedway ovals - but within each kit, teams have multiple component options available.

• The second season of aero kit competition complements the fifth year of engine manufacturer competition between Chevrolet and Honda with their 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engines. It will be another season testing speed and durability to determine the manufacturer champion.