Notes & Quotes: Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix
Takuma Sato: No. 14 ABC Supply Honda
Jack Hawksworth: No. 41 ABC Supply Honda
Takuma Sato On:

Detroit: “Detroit is a great track. Heavy braking followed by a long straight makes a good opportunity for overtaking and that’s makes the race very exciting. The track is bumpy and has a variety of different types of corners so after having the month of May with the smooth track at Indy, Detroit is a quite contrast but I like it. It’s nice and refreshing. We had a very competitive car last year so I’m looking forward to go back with new package.”

Winning the pole:  “We worked on the balance of the car and it all came together in qualifying on Sunday morning. The day before that, we were struggling a little bit but we figured it out, and it was such a great feeling that the car responded really well so I could push very hard. I knew that the good lap time was coming during a lap but didn’t expect that was P1, so it was great feeling.”

Key to success here: “The track is very bumpy and a tricky one, so there are always so many things that happen in the race. You need to be at the front to grab any chance but just minimize the mistakes and hope all come together.”

Four races in four weeks: “Well, it is a little tough for drivers but usually we can find a little time to rest so we should be fully ready every week. But I think it’s going to be super tough for the crews. The boys never stopped and never had an enough time to recover. They’re constantly working especially since we just finished the biggest race so everyone is tired plus they have to convert the car from oval to the road-course! I hope the boys had a little time off before Detroit and come back on track fresh. I am looking forward to the race weekend.”

Jack Hawksworth On:

Detroit: “Detroit is probably the most technical track we visit from a driver’s point of view and one of the hardest tracks on the car. It’s extremely bumpy and there are huge amount of corners with big variation between very slow generic street circuit corners to some quick sweepers like T1 and 2. It’s certainly one of my favorites, and it challenges both the driver and engineers to adapt best to the rough surface. It rewards a compliant car and big commitment but can catch you out with even the smallest mistake.”

Qualifying 3^rd last year: “We had a very strong run going in the first race. I started from 3rd on the grid and advanced to 2nd in the opening lap. After that I closed in on the leader but was forced to take a very long pit stop around lap 20 whilst running in 2nd due to a brake rotor failure on the left front. Unfortunately in qualifying for race two the track conditions changed substantially and we missed on a few critical set up parameters.”

Key to success here: “Detroit is extremely bumpy and hard on the car. Compliance over the bumps and good mechanical grip is extremely important. Drivers need to be extremely precise as they thread the needle through the tight bumpy streets. It requires big commitment but there is absolutely no room for error.”

Return to street racing: “It’s a very different style of driving and this is what makes Indycar so diverse! Personally I can’t wait to get back out on the streets, Indy is a lot of fun but after turning only left for the past two weeks I am more than ready to start turning right and hustling the car around the concrete jungle! The Detroit circuit is hard on the cars and the drivers due to its physical nature. This means that being in good shape physically can pay off around here.”

Past performance at Detroit: In five races, Takuma Sato’s best start is 1st (Race 2 in 2014), and his best finish is 18^th (both races in 2014).  The best finish for the ABC Supply team is fourth with Darren Manning in 2007.

ABC Supply celebrates its 10th anniversary of its sponsorship of AJ Foyt Racing: ABC Supply began sponsoring the AJ Foyt Racing team with the 2005 Indianapolis 500. The company has leveraged its involvement by entertaining nearly 70,000 associates and customers over the past 10 racing seasons. At Detroit, the company will entertain nearly 400 guests.

ABC Supply national account AREI – American Roofing & Exteriors, headquartered in St. Louis, will be featured on the engine cover of Takuma Sato’s no. 14 ABC Supply Honda in Race 1 on Saturday. Nordmann Roofing, located in Toledo, Ohio, will be featured on the engine cover of the No. 14 in Race 2 on Sunday. Guests will receive the VIP treatment this weekend along with a Meet and Greet with Takuma Sato.

ABC Supply roofing customer, C & L Ward, headquartered in Davison, Mich., won Saturday’s ‘Your Name Here’ contest for Race 1 of the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. Sunday’s winner for Race 2 is Napier’s Home Improvement, located in Trenton, Mich. Each company’s name will be atop the sidepods of the No. 41 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda on the respective day. Guests will receive selected merchandise, race tickets, hospitality and garage passes, plus a Meet and Greet with Jack Hawksworth.

Headquartered in Beloit, Wis., ABC Supply was founded by Ken and Diane Hendricks in 1982. The company has more than 490 branches in 49 states and is dedicated exclusively to serving professional contractors. ABC Supply has distinguished itself by following a simple guiding principle – take care of contractors better than any other distributor. It remains an “employee-first” company that treats its associates with respect and gives them the tools they need to succeed. As an eight-time winner of the Gallup Great Workplace Award, which recognizes the best-performing workforces in the world, ABC Supply is one of only three companies in the world to have earned this honor every year since its inception in 2007. More information is available at www.abcsupply.com.

The Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix Race 1 and Race 2 will be shown live at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday respectively on ABC-TV.

For more information on the ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Racing program, please check our web site: www.foytracing.com.  To follow us on Twitter: @AJFoytRacing, @TakumaSatoRacer, @JackHawk41, @LarryFoyt14. On Facebook, we have the AJ Foyt Racing fan page.

INDIANAPOLIS May 24, 2015–This year’s Indianapolis 500 held drama from the first lap to the last as Juan Pablo Montoya fended off his teammate Will Power by a mere tenth of a second to win the race for the second time. Montoya first won the Memorial Day Classic in 2000.

The final 14 laps provided fans with some of the most thrilling racing ever at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the leaders swapped the top spot eight times! Finishing third through fifth were Charlie Kimball for his best finish ever here, Scott Dixon, and Graham Rahal, who piloted the top-finishing Honda-powered car.

The drama on the first lap came from Takuma Sato’s charge from the outside of the eighth row into Turn 1. He was squeezed into the wall by 20-year-old Sage Karam, who was not expecting Sato to be able to maintain his speed through the turn and the exit onto the short chute. It triggered a multi-car crash.

Sato skittered away with a broken steering arm and toelink while Karam crashed heavily enough that he was done for the day. The ABC Supply team was able to replace the left front steering arm during the caution period which lasted 11 laps due to another incident between Montoya and Simona DeSilvestro during the caution period. Sato lost two laps to the repair.

When the race restarted, Sato was last. Teammate Alex Tagliani had moved from 20th to 13th in the No. 48 Al-Fe Heat Treating Honda. Season-long teammate Jack Hawksworth had moved from 28th to 24th in the No. 41 ABC Supply Honda but then pitted to top off his fuel tank.

As the race settled in, Tagliani ran in the top half of the field getting as high as 13th on the second fuel stint. At one point, he led two laps under caution during the pit stop cycles. However, his car appeared to lose the handling midway through the race, perhaps due to changing track conditions. He dropped as low as 26th but then came back to finish 17th.

“It was a pretty eventful race for us, nothing I could ask more of from the guys,” Tagliani said afterwards. “I am very appreciative and honored to be part of the Foyt family. I was really appreciative just to be here, it means a lot to me. Having the limited time we did, we were playing a little on the fly today with pit stops, so that hurt us a little bit, but other than that I think the race was okay. The car was fairly good, it was missing a bit of speed, but I think in general we can say we accomplished what we needed to accomplish as a team. Doing it last minute like this was very difficult for everyone, but we pulled it off. We managed to run all 500 miles without a problem on the car, and that says it all for all the hard work and preparation the Al-Fe Heat Treating guys put into the car. I am very, very proud of them.”

Jack Hawksworth’s move through the field reached its high of 14th place by the three-quarter mark of the 200-lap race. His teammate Sato ran highly competitive lap times – at one point keeping pace amongst the leaders as he worked to be in position to get his laps back.

In all, Sato was able to get three laps back by the time sixth caution came out on lap 176. Unfortunately the caution was for his teammate Hawksworth, who had hit Sebastien Saavedra as the field ahead of them had scrambled around a slow car. Both cars spun and hit the wall in Turn 4. Hawksworth emerged unscathed but Saavedra sustained a contusion to his right foot.

“There was a bit of a gap for me to the big group that was in front and they had a huge checkup,” Hawksworth explained. “I guess I misjudged my closing speed a little bit and I touched the back of the 17 and he spun and then we all started crashing. It was disappointing but it was the last 20-30 laps of the Indy 500 and I was going for it. I’m fine but disappointed for the team and our sponsor ABC because we had a pretty decent car–maybe could have gotten a top 10. Not the day we wanted but we’ll try again in Detroit.”

Now on the same lap as the leaders, Sato’s passes on the track finally started counting in the final boxscore. In the final green flag stint he climbed from 19th to 13th to match his best result at this track. It was the second time he placed 13th, the first occurring in 2013 driving for Foyt.

“There was a bit of drama at turn 1–I was really disappointed,” Sato said. “I was staying in my line-outside- going to turn 1 on the outside and I exited turn 1 on the outside and it all looked good. The number 8 car was just coming up and my front wheel was already in front of his rear wheel so I could do nothing. I was sandwiched between him and the wall. Unfortunately I had to come back to the pit and replace the left front steering arm and toe-link and got a couple laps down. It took 150 laps to get our three laps back. The ABC boys did a good job on the pit stops and the strategy so that we were on the lead lap for the final restart. I had to work my way up from the back and I gained a couple positions in the end. It was a hard race and a really disappointing race.”

“No attack, no chance” is Takuma Sato’s philosophy. It is written on the banners that his fans bring to the race track and the t-shirts that they wear. And today his fans saw it in action.

But there was the team’s philosophy of “Never give up” that emerged during this race as the No. 14 ABC Supply Honda made up three laps thanks to quick pit work, savvy race strategy and Sato’s considerable drive.

The ABC Supply team will stay in Indianapolis the next couple days as they prepare for the journey to Detroit on Wednesday. Next weekend there will be a doubleheader with ABC-TV broadcasting both races Saturday and Sunday afternoon starting at 3:30 p.m. ET.

New wine bar features premium Foyt Family Wines from vineyards in Napa and Sonoma

Speedway, Ind. May 20— Wine aficionados and racing fans can now share motorsports memories over a bottle of Foyt Family Wines’ award-winning Meritage, Chardonnay or Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon — just in time for the 99^th Running of the Indianapolis 500 this weekend. Starting tomorrow (May 21), the Foyt Wine Vault at 1190 Main Street is open for business.

The new wine bar is part of an expansion of A.J. Foyt Racing’s team offices in Waller, Texas. The team renovated the 45,000-square-foot Main Street building to serve as its central hub for the summer’s Midwest racing events. The newly renovated building includes an impressive wine bar serving the legendary racing family’s award-winning wine sourced from select vineyards in Napa and Sonoma, Calif., along with select craft beers.

“The Foyt Wine Vault is more than just a tasting room—it’s a slice of racing history. It’s a great place to relax with friends, and a cool venue to host your special events,” said co-owner A.J. Foyt IV. “We serve some of the best wines created in Northern California and a good selection of craft beers for your enjoyment. And oh, by the way, you can get a close-up look at the last Indy car that A.J. drove in the Indy 500 in 1992.”

Guests will find this venue as a pleasing and comfortable place to relax and enjoy the Foyt family’s premium wines, from delicate Rieslings and Sauvignon Blanc to full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel.  Pairings include cheeses from Tulip Tree Creamery, meats from Smoking Goose and chocolate from The Best Chocolate in Town.

“Rich in taste and history, the Foyt Wine Vault in Speedway is a unique experience in both,” said co-owner Larry Foyt. “The Vault pays homage to A.J. Foyt. When you step through the doors, you’ll have an up close and personal look at the life and career of A.J. As you travel back in time, you’ll be sipping on Foyt’s award-winning California wines.  It doesn’t get better than this.”

The Foyt Wine Vault will be open to the public Thursdays through Sundays with the following hours: Thursday, 4:00 – 10:00 p.m.; Friday, Noon – 1:00 a.m.; Saturday, Noon – 1:00 a.m. and Sunday, Noon – 10:00 p.m.

The wine bar also offers private tastings and will host public and private events. Its wine specialists will walk guests through the tasting lists, giving details such as how the wine was made and the history of Foyt racing. The Foyt Wine Vault may be booked for private events Mondays through Wednesdays.

As auto racing’s most inspiring champion, A.J. Foyt is the record winner of 67 IndyCar races and seven national championships. He is also the only driver to win all three major motorsport races: the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Speedway Town Council President David Lindsey welcomed Foyt Wine Vault to Main Street, citing its close identification with racing and innovation. “A.J. Foyt on Main Street further demonstrates that our community’s economic development is creating a place where a legend of the track would want to locate. This move is another big step in our revitalization,” he said.

Vince Noblet, director of the Speedway Redevelopment Commission, shared the sentiment: “When Speedway began its redevelopment plans in 2005, one of the dreams was to bring racing legends like A.J. Foyt and his team back to Main Street — the racing capital of the world. We’re primed to build upon our unique history and motorsports ancestry, which are integral parts of the rich fabric that makes Speedway a great place to live and work.”

“The Indianapolis Motor Speedway holds a rich part of my history and future,” said A.J. Foyt. “I remember what Main Street looked like when I first came to Indy, and the commission has managed to modernize it but retain the area’s history, too. We’re happy to be part of Speedway’s redevelopment.”

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About Foyt Family Wines

Foyt Family Wines was created by Larry Foyt and A. J. Foyt IV, the son and grandson, respectively, of the racing legend. Both men joined the family business of racing.  Larry has run in NASCAR races as well as the Indy 500 and A.J. IV ran his first Indy 500 at the age of 19. Joining forces with winemaker Tom Meadowcroft in 2009 to further pursue their passion for fine wines, Foyt Family Wines debuted with its release of No. 14 which was a 2006 St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. For more information:www.FoytWines.com.

About A.J. Foyt Racing

A.J. Foyt Racing, located 20 miles northwest of Houston, has been competing at the top levels of motorsports since 1965, nearly 50 years. With Foyt driving, his team won two Indianapolis 500s (1967 and 1977) and three national IndyCar championships. Since his retirement from driving in 1993, the team has continued to win, claiming two more national titles and the 1999 Indianapolis 500 with driver Kenny Brack. In 2014, Takuma Sato drove the No. 14 ABC Supply-sponsored Dallara/Honda in the Verizon IndyCar Series. Sato became the first Japanese driver to win in a major North American motorsports series with his 2013 Long Beach Grand Prix victory for AJ Foyt Racing. For more information: www.ajfoytracing.com.

About Speedway Redevelopment Commission
The SRC consists of five volunteers appointed by the Speedway Town Council. Using input from the entire community, the commission is charged with developing a plan to revitalize a 700-acre area, including Speedway’s Main Street and the large area to the northwest termed Area 2. More information about the SRC is available atwww.speedwayindiana.com.

INDIANAPOLIS May 17, 2015 – Alex Tagliani led the way with a four-lap average speed of 223.722 mph, good enough for 22nd on the grid for the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500. It is Tagliani’s first IndyCar appearance since last year’s 500, and the Canadian was confident that there is more to come from the No. 48 car.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the pace of our No. 48 Al-Fe Heat Treating car,” said Tagliani, who will make his seventh start in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing next Sunday. “I think we had a (lap of) 225 in there, but we missed on the gearing.” The 2011 500 pole sitter is looking forward to race day, where he has a best career finish of 10th. “The car is good, it’s really good in traffic, so hopefully we can do well with this on Sunday.”

Takuma Sato, who was amongst the faster cars in practice, was not as happy with his run. The No. 14 ABC Supply Co. Honda turned a four-lap average of 223.226 mph, which puts him 27th, on the outside of row 9.

“Obviously we’re disappointed,” said Sato. “It was not the run we wanted, and we struggled to find speed. But over the course of practice I think the No. 14 ABC Supply Car is really strong in race trim, and that’s all that really matters.”

Jack Hawksworth also had a strong car in practice that did not translate to qualifying. Hawksworth was bogged down in 31st after his first run, and had to return to the track later, where he and the team found a setup that turned out a 223.738 mph four-lap average, fast enough to best teammate Tagliani for 22nd, but because he had to run a second time as part of the last row shootout, will start 31st, on the inside of row 11.

“Obviously today didn’t go to plan,” said the Britain native. “I don’t think anything was wrong with the car, unfortunately we were just super slow on the first run.” Hawksworth was much happier with his car in the second run, and is confident in his No. 41 ABC Supply Co. machine heading into race week. “We’re relieved to have made the race…I think we have a good racecar. Now we have to move towards next week and try to understand what happened and have a good race day.”

Scott Dixon’s four-lap average of 226.760 mph earned the three-time champion his second Indianapolis 500 pole. Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Tony Kanaan, and Helio Castroneves round out the top five, with Justin Wilson completing the second row of cars for Sunday’s race.

Monday afternoon, teams will have the opportunity to fine-tune their race setups in a three and a half hour practice session. Following that, only the hour-long practice session on Carb Day separates the 33-car field from the green flag. The 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 will be broadcast on ABC-TV on Sunday May 24th, with coverage beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET.

Race Report: Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS May 9, 2015—Takuma Sato and the ABC Supply team claimed their first top-10 of the season with a ninth place finish in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. They did it with A.J. Foyt sitting in the pit stand for the first time this season.

It was a long time coming for a team that ended 2014 with three top-6 finishes in the last five races. Sato, who started 22^nd, was able to avoid the carnage in a first turn accident on the opening lap which caught his teammate Jack Hawksworth among others. Sato vaulted from 22^nd to 12^th on the first lap.

Meanwhile Hawksworth, who started 11^th, was caught in the accordion effect of Helio Castroneves, who started third, tangling with Scott Dixon, who had started second. Hawksworth, with nowhere to go, hit Luca Filippi but also spun to avoid hitting Dixon. He had to pit to replace his front wing and hope for a yellow which never came.

Sato, who started on black tires, pitted early in the fuel window on lap 16 while running 11^th. He slipped to 20^th initially but was back to 11^th by the time of his second stop. Before his third and final stop, he was tenth. Slipping to 12^th, Sato climbed back into the top 10 as the pit stops cycled out.

As Sato moved into ninth with six laps to go, team strategist Larry Foyt radioed, “Good job Taku, bring the car home.”

“A very good day,” said a jubilant Sato afterwards. “I enjoyed the race. We were fortunate to avoid the first lap incident. I was very calm to see everything happening in front of me and I was able to make a good jump because of it. After the restart I was gradually losing a little position because the car was sliding a little bit. As the track got better because there was more rubber on it, our car was reacting better so our lap times came back. The boys did a fantastic job to get me out with very quick pit stops and I had a couple of fun overtakes on track and we came back strong for our first top 10 finish—finally! We had a trouble-free, no mistake race so our ABC Supply team did a great job.”

Hawksworth, who was optimistic about his chances in this race since he led 31 laps last year, had to make several pit stops when a vibration developed in the right rear by lap 44. The crew changed tires but a lap later, Hawksworth was back in the pits. The team took the car to the garage when they realized camber shims had fallen out of the right rear. If Hawksworth had any hopes of repeating his performance in the season opener in St. Petersburg when he finished eighth, they were dashed when he rejoined the race 13 laps down. He was credited with 23^rd.

“I misjudged the front of the field, there was a tangle at the front and there was a concertina effect,” said Hawksworth. “I tried to go left and there was a car there and we obviously touched and then I spun the car to avoid Dixon. We were praying for a caution all the way through to bunch the field back up but then the right rear camber shims fell out so we were done anyway. It’s a disappointing day really.”

Will Power won the race with a dominating performance which included winning the pole yesterday. Second through fifth were: Graham Rahal, Juan Pablo Montoya, Sebastien Bourdais and Charlie Kimball.

The teams will be busy prepping the cars on Mother’s Day—switching them from the road course aero kit to the superspeedway oval kit. Indianapolis 500 practice on the 2.5-mile oval track begins on Monday.

That race will be broadcast live on May 24 on ABC-TV starting at 11 a.m. ET

INDIANAPOLIS May 8, 2015—Jack Hawksworth qualified 11^th in the No. 41 ABC Supply Honda for the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The quickest of the Honda-powered contingent, Hawksworth posted his best qualifying run of the season with a time of 1 minute, 10.4558 seconds (124.623mph).

“It was a solid qualifying run,” said Hawksworth, whose best start of eighth came at New Orleans when the grid was set by entrants’ points. “We ran pretty clean. The car was pretty good especially in the first round, it didn’t feel quite as good in the second round for whatever reason but we’ll have a look through stuff tonight. We just have to keep on getting better and hopefully tomorrowwe can have a good day.”

Takuma Sato, who was among the quickest Hondas in the practice sessions, was on his hot lap in qualifying when Justin Wilson came out of the pits and into the racing line, forcing Sato to lift and lose speed.  His lap of 1 minute, 10.7391 seconds (124.124 mph) put his No. 14 ABC Supply Honda 22^nd on the grid.

“It didn’t work out like we wanted in qualifying,” a frustrated Sato said afterwards. “There was a slow car in front of me as I was on my qualifying lap which was unfortunate, and then on the second lap, the tires weren’t as fresh and we didn’t get the speed we wanted. It’s disappointing but hopefully we can make the car faster for tomorrow’s run.”

Will Power won the Verizon P1 Award with his record-breaking run of 1 minute, 9.4886 seconds (126.357mph) for the 38^th pole of his career. Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Simon Pagenaud and Tony Kanaan completed the Firestone Fast Six.

Teams will have a 30-minute warm-up tomorrow morning to fine tune the cars for the race, which will be broadcast by ABC-TV starting at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Takuma Sato: No. 14 ABC Supply Honda
Jack Hawksworth: No. 41 ABC Supply Honda

TAKUMA SATO ON:

· The circuit: “It is unique, simply as it is Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It has a long straight so we trim out the downforce level which is unique as not many other road circuits do in our calendar. And because of that, there are quite few overtaking opportunities and that’s great for racing.”

· Why he likes it: “IMS did a good job to make it fun to drive by combining fast and technical sections together. The track layout is quite a bit different from F1 days but still one-third of the track is the same, so it reminds me of the USGP and my special memory here. It is a good feeling.” (Sato finished third in 2004).

· How he thinks the new aero kit will perform: “It should perform well as the track has a long straight line so we need a good top speed. Honda has been very fast in the speed trap so I am looking forward to racing there.”

· New superspeedway aero kit after May 3 test on oval: “I like it a lot. It works straight out from the box. Obviously the engineers prepared well but no one knows how it will behave until we run it. It is much more aero efficient than last year’s car so you can generate the same amount of downforce but significant less drag. So the car is very fast and the drivability is good so far. It’s still too early to judge but I’m happy to start with a very positive feeling.”

· His favorite restaurant in Indy: “There are many great restaurants in town but Eddie Merlot’s is one of my favorite steakhouses. We go there on some special occasions and I always enjoy the very delicious dishes there.”
JACK HAWKSWORTH ON:

· The circuit: “This has always been a great circuit for me. The front row start last year and then leading the most laps etc., winning the sports car race here in July, and topping the time sheets in my first Star Mazda test way back in 2011, it’s certainly been a happy hunting ground for me! I don’t particularly think there is any specific reason why I have been strong here other than I seem to have had some pretty good cars. It’s certainly an interesting circuit though and being good on the brakes and carrying good minimum speed is pretty important.”

· Key to a good finish: “The key is the same as it always is, you need to be fast, consistent and mistake free. We need to call a good strategy and be strong on both the start and restarts. It’s a very long run down to turn one and that makes things very interesting.”

· Going from the road course to the oval: “I’m glad we have a day between the two this year. Last year testing began the following day and for the smaller teams this is a real disadvantage due to the huge work load it places on the whole crew. Having a day in between also gives me time to recover mentally from the race and reset before we start preparing for the 500!”

· Honda’s Superspeedway aero kit: “I only ran a few laps but the initial impression was pretty good. Taku seemed to have a really good day and this is certainly promising. However, it is extremely early days and trying to draw any conclusions is like trying to predict the lottery.”
· Favorite restaurant in Indy: “My favorite place to eat is Piada! They do great salads and pasta. They just opened a new branch over at Keystone so they are definitely worth checking out. Apart from that, Fogo De Chão is high on the list, especially if it’s been a good weekend!”

The Foyt Team is dedicating this race to the memory of two parents who passed away recently— Lewis Rozolis, the father of Keith Rozolis, ABC Supply President and CEO, and Adele Westman, the mother of Kurt Westman, Alfe Heat Treating founder and CEO.

Past Performance: Last year Takuma Sato started 16th and finished ninth. Jack Hawksworth started second and finished seventh driving for Bryan Herta Autosport.

ABC Supply national account, Best Choice Roofing, headquartered in Henderson, Tenn., will be featured on the engine cover of the No. 14 ABC Supply car during the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Guests will receive the VIP treatment this weekend along with a Meet and Greet with Takuma Sato.

ABC Supply local roofing customer, CRG Residential, located in Carmel, Ind., won the ‘Your Name Here’ contest for the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The company name will be atop the sidepods of the No. 14 ABC Supply Dallara/Honda. Guests will receive VIP treatment, plus a Meet and Greet with Jack Hawksworth.

ABC Supply celebrates its 10th anniversary of AJ Foyt Racing sponsorship: ABC Supply began sponsoring the AJ Foyt Racing team with the 2005 Indianapolis 500. The company has leveraged its involvement by entertaining nearly 70,000 associates and customers over the past 10 racing seasons. This weekend the company will entertain 160 guests.

Headquartered in Beloit, Wis., ABC Supply was founded by Ken and Diane Hendricks in 1982. The company has more than 490 branches in 49 states and is dedicated exclusively to serving professional contractors. ABC Supply has distinguished itself by following a simple guiding principle – take care of contractors better than any other distributor. It remains an “employee-first” company that treats its associates with respect and gives them the tools they need to succeed. As an eight-time winner of the Gallup Great Workplace Award, which recognizes the best-performing workforces in the world, ABC Supply is one of only three companies in the world to have earned this honor every year since its inception in 2007. More information is available at www.abcsupply.com.

The Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis will be televised live on ABC-TV Saturday, May 9th starting at 3:30pm ET.

For more information on the ABC Supply/AJ Foyt Racing program, please check our web site: www.foytracing.com. To follow us on Twitter: @AJFoytRacing, @TakumaSatoRacer, @JackHawk41, @LarryFoyt14. On Facebook, we have the AJ Foyt Racing fan page.

Alex Tagliani Hired to Drive No. 48 Al-Fe Heat Treating Honda
Third AJ Foyt Racing Entry to Honor Dan Gurney
INDIANAPOLIS May 5, 2015—Veteran IndyCar driver and 2011 Indianapolis 500 Pole Winner Alex Tagliani will drive the Al-Fe Heat Treating Honda-powered Dallara for AJ Foyt Racing as the storied race team prepares for the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500. Al-Fe Heat Treating marks its fifth year with AJ Foyt Racing which began with an associate sponsorship in 2011.

Adding to the lore will be the tribute to Dan Gurney and his No. 48 Eagle Indy car, an idea which started with team owner A.J. Foyt, who co-drove with Gurney to win the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1967.

“My good friend Dan Gurney used to run that number and he’s supposed to be back at Indy this year so I thought it would be a great way to honor him. And he had some good runs with that number!” said Foyt.

Designed by Ryan Westman, regional sales manager for Al-Fe Heat Treating, Inc., and artist Jason LaFrenais, the No. 48’s matte black and bright white livery evokes the paint scheme of Gurney’s No. 48 Eagle that he drove to second place in both the ‘68 and ’69 Indy 500s.

Gurney, who plans to attend the 500 for the first time since the 2011 Centennial Anniversary, is looking forward to seeing the No. 48 on track and meeting up with Foyt, with whom he co-drove to victory in the 24 Hours of LeMans in 1967. As a team owner, Gurney won the 1975 Indy 500 with Bobby Unser driving the No. 48 Jorgensen Eagle.

“I am deeply touched by my old friend and team mate A.J. Supertex Foyt to be honored in this way and I will be rooting for Alex Tagliani in “48” with a big smile on my face,” Gurney said.

Al-Fe Heat Treating began its association with the team when they signed as an associate sponsor of the No. 14 and No. 41 cars for the 2011 Indianapolis 500. Since that the race, they expanded their program every year with this year seeing Al-Fe Heat Treating become the primary sponsor on an Indy 500 entry.

“This year’s Indy 500 marks Al-Fe Heat Treating’s fifth year as an associate sponsor with A.J. Foyt Enterprises and what better way to celebrate that milestone than to sponsor Foyt’s third entry into the 99th running of the greatest spectacle in racing: the number 48 Al-Fe Heat Treating Special,” said Kurt Westman, Founder and CEO of Alfe Heat Treating.

“One of the most memorable times of my childhood was to attend the Indy 500 time trials and the race with my family,” Westman revealed. “My brother and I would spend hours standing at the fence line along Gasoline Alley trying to catch a glimpse (and photograph) of the cars and drivers–A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Parnelli Jones, Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney to name a few.

“It’s almost impossible to explain the excitement and pride I feel in being able to be part of one of the most famous race teams in the world, and more so this year by sponsoring the A.J.’s No. 48 Al-Fe Heat Treating, Dan Gurney-tribute car driven by Alex Tagliani.
Westman, whose association with the Foyt team began in 2011 with the 100th Anniversary Indy 500, has expanded his company’s sponsorship from a single race to a season-long sponsorship of the two-car team.

“The Verizon IndyCar Series, and its great venues, presents our company a wonderful opportunity to develop business relationships, entertain customers and employees that share this common interest–and the Indy 500 is at the top of the list!” Westman said.

Driver Alex Tagliani returns to the IndyCar cockpit for the first time since last year’s Indy 500 where he qualified 24th and finished 13th for Sarah Fisher Racing. Tagliani, 41, has over 200 starts in IndyCar competition: 131 in the CART/Champ Car Series and 71 in the Verizon IndyCar Series to date. In his six starts in the Indy 500, he has finished in the top-13 four times with a best finish of 10th in 2010. He has started in the top-11 four times, including his pole winning run in 2011.

“I want to thank Al-Fe Heat Treating, Sexton Properties, ABC Supply, and everyone at Honda Racing and HPD for their hard work and support in making this opportunity happen,” said Tagliani. “I am really excited and honored to be part of the AJ Foyt Racing organization because driving for A.J. at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is something really, really special. Having the chance to contribute to the Foyt family legacy at the Speedway is my mission for the month of May.

“I am thrilled to be part of honoring Dan Gurney by driving a car in his livery. Bringing the Gurney Eagle’s vintage look to the new Honda Aero kit car is for sure going to be a crowd pleaser. As a new dad, sharing this unique tribute with my family and the Foyt Family is very special. Taking the Dan Gurney No. 48 Al-Fe Heat Treating machine to Indy’s victory circle would be awesome, and we’re aiming to do just that.”

In addition to the No. 48, Foyt will field his regular entries the No. 14 and No. 41 ABC Supply Hondas driven by Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth in this year’s month of May contest. It will be the first time that AJ Foyt Racing has fielded three cars in the Indianapolis 500 since 2005, when Larry Foyt was still driving.

“Dad has a long tradition of adding extra cars at the speedway, and although we hadn’t originally planned on it, when the opportunity came, it made good sense,” said Larry Foyt, President of AJ Foyt Racing. “It was important to have a driver with the ability and experience of Alex, so adding him to our lineup is a great fit. I’m looking forward to see this special livery racing alongside our ABC Supply machines. Al-Fe Heat Treating and the Westmans have been wonderful associates—and friends–of the team, and I’d like to thank them for making this third entry a possibility.”

Tagliani will take his first laps in the Al-Fe Heat Treating Honda on Monday, May 11 when the track opens for its first full day of practice for the Verizon IndyCar Series. Qualifying takes place the following weekend May 16-17. The Indy 500 will be broadcast live on Sunday, May 24 by ABC-TV. The pre-race broadcast starts at 11 a.m. ET.

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Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Alfe Heat Treating, Inc. is the largest commercial aluminum heat treating operation in the United States. The company operates plants throughout the Midwest and Southeast serving aerospace, automotive, military, & commercial customers with both ferrous and non-ferrous facilities. For more information, please visit www.al-fe.com.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. April 26—Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth drove their hearts out in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Sunday afternoon but the results won’t show that.

Starting side by side in row 10, the drivers set out to gain what they could after a tough day in qualifying. They began by gaining several spots in the opening laps. Around lap 15 of the 90-lap race, some cars began pitting early in their fuel window. However, the ABC Supply Hondas were running competitive laps and the team kept them out because they were catching the cars ahead.

That’s when the first hammer dropped.

As Will Power exited the pits on lap 19, Sato was running 11th and approaching Turn 1. Power, who didn’t see Sato or was trying to beat him to the corner—on cold tires no less—collided with Sato, damaging the nose.

“I had the collision with Will which looked like he didn’t see me when I was already committed into the turn,” said Sato afterwards. “He just came out of the pit and we were side by side and I tried to avoid him but it was not possible. He is the last guy I would want to hit out there.”

Officials penalized Power for avoidable contact, and when Power saw the replay after the race, he made a point to apologize to Sato for the incident. Debris from the accident brought out the first of two cautions and everyone pitted. Power took his drive-through-pitlane penalty after the race restarted.

Hawksworth got a good restart and began working his way through the field and moved into the top five when he didn’t pit during the second caution period [laps 34-38] for the accident between Stefano Coletti and James Jakes.

When Hawksworth pitted just past halfway (under green), he dropped back to 21st but again as stops began cycling through, he moved up to 11th. His final stop on lap 65 proved his undoing as a broken air gun resulted in an extra-long stop. The gains he’d made evaporated, and he rejoined the field in 21st which is where he finished.

“I didn’t get a great start off the line, got caught in it in the first corner but got my rhythm in the first stint and picked off a few cars,” Hawksworth recounted. “Then we pitted and had a good second stint and were running with Pagenaud and Kanaan. On the restart [lap 39], I passed Pagenaud but couldn’t stop the car on the exit and I ended up losing that spot. Then we settled into a rhythm and were doing ok but we died there on the reds at the end and should have pitted a lap earlier. But when we did pit, we had an issue [airgun broke] and we lost a lot of time in the pits. So then it was day done and we just had to bring the car home. It’s disappointing really because we could have gotten a top 10 or 11 out of it.”

Sato, who had had a good stint on red tires, went with a second set of reds after pitting under caution on lap 35. However, the tire degradation was pretty severe for the length of the next fuel stint, particularly since it was under green the entire time. His lap times began falling off. He soldiered on but he lost eight positions over two laps and finally pitted on lap 64. He still had to save fuel to make it to the end of 90 laps which he was able to do. He finished 17th.

“It was good to finish the race under the very tough and difficult circumstances. At the start of the race we gained a couple positions and we were working through our strategy when the yellow came out and we tried to take advantage of it so we pitted. I think the decision was ok as there were a couple other good cars on the same strategy. We used red tires in two stints but one stint was really long and later in that stint we were struggling to keep pace quite a lot. Now you can say we should have come in change tires get a splash of fuel, etc. but at that time it was a difficult decision and we were losing a lot of positions but the team decided at the time to stay out so I would only have one more pit stop. It was a tough day but we learned something for both cars and hopefully we can put it to good use for the Indy Grand Prix.”

Josef Newgarden scored his first career victory driving for Sarah Fisher whose team merged with Ed Carpenter’s this year. Second through fifth were Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon, Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The teams will be heading to Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this week to test next Sunday on the 2.5-mile oval for the first time with the superspeedway aero kits. Then they will switch to the road course kit later that week as they prepare for the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indy which will be run on May 9. It will be broadcast live on ABC-TV starting at 3:30 p.m. ET.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. April 25–Jack Hawksworth and Takuma Sato will start side-by-side in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at the picturesque Barber Motorsport Park tomorrow afternoon.

Hawksworth will start 19th after posting a time of 1 minute, 8.0082 seconds in the No. 41 ABC Supply Honda. “Not a good day, we obviously struggled a lot for speed,” said Hawksworth. “We just have to keep our heads down and see why really. We need to understand what the change has been since St Pete and the pre-season. Hopefully we can find out what’s going on.”

Sato will start 20th having posted a time of 1 minute, 8.2541 seconds in the No. 14 ABC Supply Honda. “In qualifying, the car didn’t feel bad–it was balanced–but we just weren’t quick enough to transfer,” said Sato. “It was disappointing but hopefully we can improve for tomorrow.”

The teams will have a 30-minute final practice session tomorrow morning. The race, broadcast live on NBC Sports Network starting at 3 p.m. ET, will also be broadcast live on XM satellite radio’s ch. 209, Sirius 212 and the IMS Radio Network.

Helio Castroneves won his second straight Verizon P1 award in his AAA Insurance Chevy for topping the Firestone Fast Six session with a time of 1 minute, 7.1925 seconds. His teammates Will Power and Simon Pagenaud were second and third quickest. Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, and Tony Kanaan rounded out the top six.