ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest

TV: NBCSN telecasts the race live (3 p.m. ET Aug. 17) and qualifications (8 p.m. ET Aug. 16). Leigh Diffey is the chief announcer, with Townsend Bell and David Hobbs as analysts. The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires race will be telecast at 6 p.m. (ET) Aug. 17.

Radio/web: All Verizon IndyCar Series on-track sessions are broadcast on www.IndyCar.com and the INDYCAR 14 app in conjunction with real-time Timing & Scoring. In addition, the races will be broadcast on IMS Radio Network affiliates, XM 209 and Sirius 213. Paul Page is the chief announcer. … Timing & Scoring for all Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires and Pro Mazda sessions also is on IndyCar.com.

Live practice and qualifications streaming: Live streaming of the Aug. 16 Verizon IndyCar Series practice sessions and single-car qualifications will be on www.IndyCar.com, incorporating Timing & Scoring and the IMS Radio Network broadcast.

Twitter: @MKE_IndyFest, @IndyCar, #IndyFest

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Weekend schedule (all times Eastern):

Saturday, Aug. 16 – 9:15-9:45 a.m. Pro Mazda practice
                                10-10:45 a.m. Indy Lights practice
                                11 a.m.-noon Verizon IndyCar Series practice
                                12:15-12:45 p.m. Pro Mazda practice
                                1:30-2:15 p.m. Indy Lights practice
                                2:30-3:30 pm. Verizon IndyCar Series practice
                                3:45-4:30 p.m. Pro Mazda qualifications
                                5-5:45 p.m. Indy Lights qualifications
                                6-7:15 p.m. Verizon IndyCar Series qualifications
                                7:30 p.m. Pro Mazda race (100 laps)

Sunday, Aug. 17 – 1 p.m. Indy Lights race (100 laps)
                               3 p.m. NBCSN on air
                               3:45 p.m. Verizon IndyCar Series race

Weather forecast: Scattered late-afternoon rain Aug. 16; high of 83 … Mostly sunny Aug. 17; high of 80

Qualifications: Single-car qualifying on the 1.015-mile oval. A qualifying attempt consists of two consecutively timed laps. Order is determined by blind draw.

Race laps: 250

Pit boxes: 37 feet

Tires: Firestone will supply the same tire compound and construction as used in the 2013 race.

Fuel: 84 U.S. gallons of E85 for practice and qualifications; 84 gallons for race. Four pits stops were the norm in the 2013 250-lap race, with the first for most entrants between Laps 64-69.

Engines: 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V6s supplied by Chevrolet and Honda ... 140 kPa turbo boost for ovals.

Driver’s approach: “There's no banking support in the corner so it feels like you're going into very fast corners at a road course rather than a typical oval track. It might not actually be a very fast track due to high downforce we have and the track's flat corners but we feel so much speed in the cockpit because you need to use all of the track's width. Because each straight is so short, you need to set the good position at the corner before you get there (to pass). It's not easy to go two wide like other typical ovals due to no banking, but it's possible and sometimes we even use brakes, so passing here is tricky but it's a great feeling when you achieve it.  Overtaking is not easy here so qualifying is important and you always want to start at the front. But at the end of the day, it's still oval racing so you can recover your position when your car works well.” – Takuma Sato, driver of the No. 14 ABC Supply car for A.J. Foyt Racing

2013: Ryan Hunter-Reay, driving for Andretti Autosport, won for the second consecutive year. He overtook race leader Takuma Sato on Lap 198 of 250 and went on to win by 4.8 seconds over Helio Castroneves. Marco Andretti (42.8584 seconds, 170.515 mph) started on the pole.

For spectators:  A Verizon IndyCar Series autograph session is from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Aug. 17 at the INDYCAR Fan Village in the infield. … Also meet drivers at the Rock the Block Street Party from 5-10 p.m. Aug. 15 at the Hilton City Center on Wisconsin Street in Milwaukee. Other infield activities Aug. 16-17 include Pro Beach Volleyball, interactive games, an Indy car legends Q&A session and concerts. Get details HERE. … The H-Block Honda Fan Section, a dedicated grandstand area for fans to cheer on their favorite drivers, will be located in Sections 101-105 of the main grandstand this weekend. In addition to a reserved seat, ticket-holders will receive a Honda Fan Pack that includes sunglasses and a $25 gift certificate offer for taking a test drive at local Honda dealers. … The Metro Milwaukee Honda Dealers is the presenting sponsor of the race.

Of note: Will Power regained the lead in the Verizon IndyCar Series championship standings from Team Penske teammate Castroneves at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Aug. 3 and carries a four-point advantage into the weekend. Hunter-Reay is 63 points back in third. There are 11 drivers eligible to win the title. … There have been 10 different winners this season – one off the Indy car record set in 2000 and ‘01. … Milwaukee is the second of two short oval races this season. In July at Iowa Speedway, Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden used a late-race pit stop to fit fresh tires and then sped through the field in the final laps for a 1-2 Honda finish. … In addition to Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan won in back-to-back years (2006-07). … Ryan Briscoe scored his maiden IndyCar win at Milwaukee in June 2008 while with Team Penske. … Scott Dixon has eight top-10 finishes, including a win in 2009, in 10 races at Milwaukee. … ABC Supply will host more than 1,500 guests this weekend at the Mile; most of them are associates (and their families) from the company's headquarters in nearby Beloit. … Michael Andretti won at Milwaukee five times in his Indy car career as a driver and has five wins as owner of Andretti Autosport. Andretti, whose Andretti Sports Marketing is promoting the race, hopes to visit Victory Lane three times this weekend with one of his four Verizon IndyCar Series entries as well as his team's two Indy Lights cars and two Pro Mazda cars. … Hunter-Reay (2012) and Dario Franchitti (2011) are the only drivers to win at Milwaukee and the Verizon IndyCar Series championship in the same season.

History: The Milwaukee Mile has hosted auto racing events since 1903 and sanctioned Indy car racing since 1933 (AAA sanction). Wilbur Shaw won the 100-lap race on the dirt oval in 1933 with an average speed of 79.584 mph. The oval, which has 9.25 degrees of banking in all of its turns and 2.5 degrees on the straightaways, was paved for 1954. The race will be the 10th under INDYCAR sanction. Andretti Autosport has won five of the past nine races.