virgivaughn: INDYCAR News and Notes

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Today’s IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Mazda Road to Indy headlines:

1. Hunter-Reay to compete in Race Of Champions

2. Kanaan joins Barrichello in Brazilian Stock Car events

1. Hunter-Reay to compete in Race Of Champions: IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay will join Formula One champions Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Vettel in the Race OfChampionship in Thailand later this year.

It will be the first appearance at the all-star racing event for Hunter-Reay, who claimed four wins on his way to winning his first series title.

“After a career-best season culminating in an (IZOD) IndyCar Series Championship, I could see no better way to cap off 2012 than representing the USA and INDYCAR, competing against the best drivers from other top-level championships around the world at ROC,” said Hunter-Reay, the first American to win the IZOD IndyCar Series crown since 2006. “It has always been a goal of mine and I’m honored to be one of the few invitees to compete in the Race Of Champions.”

Held every year since 1988, the end-of-season Race of Champions brings together drivers from motor sport’s main disciplines – including Formula 1, INDYCAR, world rally, touring cars, sports cars, and the X-Games – and sets them free to battle head-to-head in identical machinery.

Drivers pair up for the ROC Nations Cup, this year scheduled for Dec. 15, before the individual Race Of Champions takes place on Dec. 16. ROC 2012 will take place on a specially constructed tarmac track with two parallel lanes winding their way round Bangkok’s Rajamangala National Stadium.

“We are delighted that Ryan will be joining us for ROC in Bangkok,” race organizer Fredrik Johnsson said. “He has had a fantastic season in the IndyCar Series and he proved his worth by coming out on top in such a thrilling finale. Now we’ll all be very interested to see how he gets on against the best drivers from around the world. He will also race for Team USA, which has a great history of its own in the ROC Nations Cup, and is overdue for another victory.”

Hunter-Reay is the third IZOD IndyCar Series champion to compete in the event, joining Tony Kanaan (2004) and Dan Wheldon (2005). The last INDYCAR driver to participate was Bertrand Baguette, who raced in the 2010 ROC in Germany.

2. Kanaan joins Barrichello in Brazilian Stock Car events: IZOD IndyCar Series driver Tony Kanaan will compete in two stock car races in Brazil later this year.

Kanaan will race in Brasilia on Nov. 11 and in Sao Paulo on Dec. 9. Rubens Barrichello, Kanaan’s KV Racing Technology teammate and boyhood friend, will join Kanaan at the Interlagos track in Sao Paulo.

Kanaan will be making his debut in the series. Like Barrichello, Kanaan will be donating his earnings in Brazil to the charity he and Barrichello founded to support underprivileged children in their native Brazil.

Source: INDYCAR, Press Release

The post INDYCAR News and Notes – Oct. 3, 2012 appeared first on Catchfence.