MAVTV American Real 500
Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, CA
4 p.m. EDT Saturday, June 27, 2015
NBC Sports Network
IndyCar Radio Network Broadcast and Live Stream

COMPETITION

* After 10 of 16 rounds in 2015, Honda trails rival Chevrolet by 163 points (865-820), in the battle for the IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship. This includes bonus points [for engines achieving mileage goals] and penalties [for engine failures and early change-outs].

* Honda’s Graham Rahal comes to Auto Club Speedway in contention for the IndyCar Series Drivers’ Championship. Rahal’s best results this year include third in the second Detroit race, and runner-up results at the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver finished fifth at the Indianapolis 500 and currently stands fifth in the 2015 championship standings with 283 points, best among Honda-powered drivers.

* Marco Andretti, seventh in the drivers’ championship with 272 points, is the only driver who has completed every race lap of the 2015 season.

* Bryan Herta Autosport’s Gabby Chaves continues to lead the IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year standings with 168 points, 15th in the overall drivers’ championship. The Herta organization previously took Jack Hawksworth to series Rookie of the Year honors in 2014.

* Drivers and teams using Honda engines have won 213 Indy car races and 10 Indianapolis 500s, both during years of multi-manufacturer competition (1994-2005, 2012-15); and during Honda’s tenure as single engine supplier to the series (2006-11).

* In 22 years, Honda Performance Development, the racing arm of the American Honda Motor Co., Inc., has grown from just a handful of staffers to approximately 150 associates; and from a simple engine-rebuilding facility to a complete motorsports Research & Development organization, engaged in programs ranging from pinnacle racing series including the Verizon IndyCar Series, Pirelli World Challenge, TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship; to grassroots and entry-level categories including karting, Quarter Midgets and Formula F competition.

HONDA AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

* The LA Galaxy will be hosting Honda drivers Gabby Chaves and James Jakes on the 24th at their home game against Portland. The drivers will be meeting with children from the Childrens Institute Inc., one of the non-profit groups the LA Galaxy supports. On raceday, children from CII will be visiting trackside and receive a tour of the garage area.

* As an owner of a rescue dog, Chaves also is visiting the Best Friends Animal Society facility while in Los Angeles to help support their animal adoption programs.

* Honda-powered Indy car drivers have won three previous times at Auto Club Speedway in events featuring multi-manufacturer competition.

* Dario Franchitti led a 1-2-3-4 Honda sweep of the top finishing positions in the 2005 Fontana race, having been followed to the checkers by his Andretti Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan, Rahal Letterman Racing’s Vitor Meira and Scott Sharp, driving for Fernandez Racing.

* In 2004, Honda drivers swept the top three places, and claimed five of the top six finishing positions. Team owner/driver Adrian Fernandez won the 200-lap event, followed by Kanaan and the late Dan Wheldon, both driving for Andretti Green Racing. Buddy Rice finished fifth for Rahal Letterman Racing and Franchitti rounded out the top six.

* In 1998, former series champion Jimmy Vasser won the 500-mile Championship Auto Racing Teams event in Fontana, with his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate – and future paralympic gold medal winner – Alex Zanardi finishing third during his second consecutive CART championship season.
HONDA RACING/HPD VIDEOS

* Video recaps from this weekend’s Honda Verizon IndyCar Series race at Auto Club Speedway are being posted on the “Honda Racing/HPD” YouTube channel.

* Produced by the Carolinas Production Group, the video packages can be found in the 2015 HPD Trackside Video Playlist at: https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV