17May08
JOB DONE...

On his first of his three possible qualifying runs, Alex put his Rahal Letterman/Chip Ganassi Racing Wii Fit car solidly into the 92nd running of the Indy 500 race next weekend.

After crashing heavily last week, Alex was in hospital and missed Saturday's first qualiying, which sets positions 1-11 for the race. The best Alex could aim for was 12th. Just to qualify or the Indy 500 is an achievement, but in a 500 mile race, with between 7 and 12 pit stops, anything can happen!

To explain qualifying: it's simple! You do 4 flying laps, and the average of those 4 laps is your qualifying time. If you decide you want to try again, you can do so - you have 3 attempts to set our best qualifying time. BUT ... when you go out again, your previous time(s) are scratched. And on a day like today - there is a very blustery wind, which really affects the car - different each and every lap - there's a huge risk.

Today's qualifying sets positions 12-32, and on his first run, Alex ran 4 laps of 221.1mph/221.6/221.9/222.3 ...each lap, the car was getting quicker. An average speed of 221.7 over the 4 laps - good enough for 19th position overall.

"OK so we didn't get it quite right in that run" Alex remarked "i ttook us too long to get up to speed, but that puts us solidly in the game, and we'll stick with that. Our race car setup is good, and we have a long race ahead of us. We're in this to win it, and there are many precedents of guys winning from a long way back. Our goal is to emulate that next weekend"

Bump Day is tomorrow, where the last of the runners try and qualify for the 33rd and last place. Those who don't make it, for whatever reason, will not make the race in this historic and emotive event - the 92nd running.

For Alex to be safely qualified is a result in itself, particularly as this will be his first Indycar race. But he's looking for an even better result in the race itself.

Indy has historically been lucky for Alex. He married his fiancee Sam here. His daughter, Ava was born here. He won here on the oval last year in the Indy Lights series; he won on the Indy F1 road course too, and became the first person in history to have won on both the road and the famous oval. Now he's looking to go for the Big One. "My race car is good" he said "and I think we have a good chance of a competitive finish". There are betting men out there who are backing the dark horse this year ...

Testing resumes tomorrow (where Alex will just practice pit stops ... he's never done one, and there will be between 7 and 12 pit stops on race day) and finally an hour's practice on Friday.

Then it's race day on Sunday ... the world's biggest one-day sporting event, with up to 440,000 fans cramming the 2.5 mile oval, and millions of viewers worldwide ... don't miss it!!

17May08
NUMBER ONE FAN...

Alex's daughter, Ava, is rooting for her Dad ...

14May08
ALEX BACK ON TRACK...

Testing has been rained off these past few days, but resumed for an hour this afternoon. Alex - in his newly-liveried car (sponsored by Nintendo Wii to mark the launch of their new Fit game) turned 13 laps, with a quick lap of 219+mph, just 3mph off the fast time of the day by Scott Dixon, who has already taken pole position for Target Chip Ganassi Racing for this, the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25th. Alex was happy to have run a few laps and was basically running the car to shake it down after it was completely rebuilt after last week's accident. "The car isn't quite right, in particular the new seating position, which is too low, but we should be able to sort that tomorrow" he declared. "It's great to be back in the car again"

The weather looks set to be potentially problematic tomorrow (Thursday) as well, but Friday and Saturday are forecast good - Saturday is qualifying for positions 12-32

09May08
ALEX HITS THE WALL HARD ON FAST FRIDAY...

Testing was looking promising, with Alex and the team concentrating on perfecting the car's balance and mechanical characteristics, before trimming off the downforce ... he did a practice qualifying run (which is the average speed over 4 laps of the 2.5 mile track) which averaged around 223.3mph and so decided to trim off some downforce from the front and rear wings to gain that extra little bit of speed. But something went wrong with the settings, and the car was imbalanced at high speed, which catapulted him in the wall in Turn 1 as he got up to speed (223mph on the data). It was a big hit, monitored at 75g upon impact, and Alex was taken to hospital, awake and conscious, after reporting neck pains. X-rays were positive - nothing broken - and after an overnight stay, he was released.

ESPN News show footage ... »

The downside is that he missed out on Pole Day, and so will not qualify in the top 11, but he is recovering quickly and should be back in the car, which the team are working hard to rebuild, when testing resumes on Wednesday.

The second round of qualifying, which should have taken place last Sunday, was rained off, and so positions 12 - 32 will be decided on Saturday 17th. Alex is hopeful that he should qualify in the front of this group, if not 12th, and can then work on race pace to try and get the car towards the front on race day, May 25th.

His seat was crushed in the impact, and his helmet took a hard knock, but Alex is fine in himself and should be cleared to drive on Wednesday, when testing resumes. Right now, he is recuperating at his Indianapolis home, and looking forward to getting back in the car after a day or two of rest.

His teammate, Ryan Hunter-Reay, suffered a similar (albeit not quite so hard) accident later on Pole Day, missing out on the top 11 so they will both be out to show some speed on Saturday. Finally, our thoughts are also with Chuck Buckman, friend and mechanic, who was involved in a pit lane accident and is recovering from injuries in hospital.

07May08
ALEX TOPS THE TIMESHEETS AT THE R.O.P ...

After 2 days of testing, Alex posted a lap of in excess of 222mph to top the timeshseets in the Rookie Orientation Program. This is a structured, compulsory exercise for all rookies (drivers who have not raced an Indycar at the Speedway before) to ensure they can get safely up to speed .. very high speed .. in a safe and disciplined fashion. Alex went effortlessly through the increasing speeds necessary to pass the test, posting the quickest lap, just a couple of mph below last year's pole time.

Testing now begins in earnest for qualifying, which takes place on Saturday 10th May (Pole Day, which decides the fastest 11 cars) followed by Sunday (when the positions for 12th-22nd are decided). Positions 23-32 are decided one week later ... meanwhile, those cars who have already qualified can be working on race setups. Bump Day will decide which of the remaining cars will qualify for the 33rd and last place on the grid. It's an exciting and unique format, and Alex will be hoping to tune his Rahal Letterman Ganassi racing car to have a chance of qualifying in the top 11 on Saturday.

Report (www.rahal.com)... »

Interview ... »

09Apr08
TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING AND RAHAL LETTERMAN RACING ANNOUNCE A PARTNERSHIP TO RACE ALEX IN THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 ...

It has been a long time waiting for Alex, to finalise some racing in 2008, but finally he will get his first opportunity in 2008 to put in some seat time, as TCGR and RLR announced they would join forces to run Alex in the RLR #16 car at the Indy 500 on 25th May - one of the biggest and most prestigious races in the world.

Alex will partner existing RLR driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay, with TCGR providing engineering backup and support - a combination which excites all involved.

At the Press Conference which was called to make the announcement, Chip Ganassi stated : “I really think everyone is going to be hearing a lot about Alex Lloyd in the coming years. He is one of the sport’s future stars.”

Testing and activities commence at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 4th, and basically continue through the month of May. The race will be televised around the world, it is reputed to house the world's largest single-event audience - up to 440,000 will be seated around the 2.5 mile track - and there will be constant updates and live video streaming on the web site www.indycar.com

Alex's program after Indy is not yet finalised. With the recent fantastic news of the merger between Champ Cars and Indycars, coming together under the Indycar banner after 12 years of diluting American Open Wheel Racing, this has meant former Champ Car teams joining the Indycar series and needing chassis and engines and parts - some new, some from existing teams - whilst Dallara (chassis) and Honda (engines) work to ensure that all teams should have sufficient cars and parts for the month of May. Once the situation settles down - the merger happened incredibly quickly - Alex is hopeful that his 2008 program will become more clear.

Finally, an apology. There are a few reasons for being unable to update this website over the course of the last few months - some very valid, but mostly it's the fault of the writer ... sorry!!

Report (www.rahal.com)... »

24Jan08
TESTING BEGINS FOR THE DAYTONA 24 HOUR RACE ...

Alex and team mates Scott Dixon, Dan Wheldon and Salvador Duran began testing in preparation for this weekend's big Rolex Grand-Am race at Daytona International Speedway - the Daytona 24 Hours. Team Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates were looking confodent on the 3.56 mile, 12 turn speedway road course, where their Daytona Prototype car reaches speeds in excess of 200mph on the fiercely steep-banked oval before diving into the twisty infield section.

The oval speedway is well lit through the night, but the drivers will have to race on headlights only through the infield section

Qualifying takes place later today - live timing =scoring and video on www.grand-am.com

15Jan08
ALEX HONOURED AT THE AARWBA BANQUET ...

The American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association is the oldest and largest organization of its kind. Founded in 1955 in Indianapolis, AARWBA has reached the stature of the football and baseball press associations. Because so many support the aims and programs of AARWBA, it has grown to more than 400 members throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

Every year the AARWBA members vote to decide the 14 drivers who, in their opinion, merit inclusion on their 1st team - the All-American First Team, and Alex was honoured at the AARWBA 38th Annual All-America Team banquet in Indianapolis for his record-setting year in the Indy Pro Series in 2007 and proudly accepted First Team Honours, joining Dario Franchitti, Sebastien Bourdais, Mika Salo, Scott Pruett, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson amongst others ...

Report (www.Indycar.com)... »

Dec07
ALEX TO COMPETE IN DAYTONA 24 HOURS WITH TCGR...

The Target Chip Ganassi Racing team announced that they will be fielding two Rolex Grand-Am cars for the Daytona 24 hour race, with Scott Pruett, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Memo Rochas in the #1 car, whilst Alex joins Dan Wheldon, Scott Dixon and Salvador Duran in the #2 car.

TCGR won the Daytona 24 Hour race for the last two years, and is looking for a history-making three-in-a-row on 26th-27th January.

In testing, things are going well, with both cars in the top five. The race will be busy - over 60 cars on the track, which incorporates the majority of the fearsomely-banked oval, together with a short, twisty infield section, so the main objective is to keep out of trouble for the most part of the race, and get into a position to go racing in the last couple of hours.

The car Alex is driving is one of the Daytona Prototypes - very rapid 200+ mph cars - and avoiding the slower cars will be of paramount importance in getting to the end of the race.

Real-time timing and video of the race is available from 24th January through to 27th January on the official website www.grand-am.com

5Oct07
JUST WHEN YOU THINK THINGS CAN'T GET MUCH BETTER, THEY SUDDENLY DO ...

Alex and his wife Sam announced the birth of their first child on 5th October - a daughter, Ava Grace. Ava weighed in at 6lbs 11oz, and is doing well at home in Indianapolis. Congratulations, Alex and Sam! What a year!

17Oct07
ALEX SIGNS FOR TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING...

The Target Chip Ganassi Racing team announced today that Alex Lloyd has signed for them in a multi-year contract, which will see him racing in Indycars next year, and most likely in the Grand Am series too ...

Report (www.indyproracer.com)... »

12Sep07
ALEX AND DANICA WIN THE INDY DOWNFORCE FANS AWARD FOR MOST POPULAR DRIVERS...

The fans had their say at the annual Indy Downforce celebrations, voting Danica Patrick and Alex as the two most popular drivers from the IRL series.

"I'm flattered and honoured so much by this" said Alex, "as I never expected a British driver to take this award. I guess that it must be clear that I love being here in America, my home is here now, and I'm here to stay. A huge thank you to all the Indy Downforce members who voted for me, I'm very grateful to everyone"

11Sep07
ALEX SCOOPS THE AWARDS AT THE IRL BANQUET...

Alex took several awards at the annual Indy Racing League championship ceremony and banquet last night ...

Report (www.indyproracer.com)... »

And after Alex's 2007 IndyPro championship-winning year, which re-wrote the record books, how does the IPS prepare for 2008?

Report (www.indyproracer.com)... »

23Aug07
THE CLOSEST FINISH EVER ...

Alex qualified on pole at the Chicagoland Raceway in the final round of the Indy Pro championship, thus setting a record that will be tough to beat - wherever qualifying took place, he qualified on the front row for every race this year.

Report (www.indyproracer.com)... »

The race ended as a thriller, with Alex finishing 2nd to his teammate, where they recorded the closest finish ever measured - a gap of 0.0005 second. A fraction over an inch...

Report (www.indyproracer.com)... »

"I would have loved to have won the last race" said Alex, "but I took the decision to push Logan over the final part of the race, and break clear of the pack. It worked, and we had an incredibly exciting drag race to the line. An amazing finish - if I couldn't have won it, I couldn't have asked it to have been a better result for Logan and for the whole Sam Schmidt team. What a race ... what a year!"

23Aug07
ALEX WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN STYLE ...

Alex won the Indy Pro championship in the style he said he would - at Infineon Raceway (Sears Point) in California, having qualified 2nd (on the front row yet again) he blasted around the outside of polesitter Richard Antinucci on the first corner, and led every lap to take a record 8th win of the season and emphatically clinch the championship

It wasn't easy - because although Alex pulled a good gap on cold tyres, the car started to go off in the middle section of the race, and Antinucci closed to within half a second, but never close enough to challenge Alex. An accident further down the field brought out the yellow flag for a couple of laps, and Alex's tyres cooled, bringing back the balance of the car, and he simply drove away on the restart to record his 8th victory of the season from 14 races, and with it a record-breaking championship year.

Alex was hoping to complete the double in the 2nd race of the double-header weekend at Infineon, but it was not to be. A fuel pump problem meant that he did not start the 2nd race.

In addition, following his successful test in the Indycar for Chip Ganassi Racing, Alex was asked to drive the Ganassi Grand-Am car in the 3-hour race on Saturday, which made for a very busy weekend! Never having driven the car before, Alex qualified 5th, and did the first stint of the race (directly after his Indy Pro race win), bringing the car in for its pit stop in 4th place, and handing over to his co-driver, Michael Vallente. Sadly the car was collected by a back marker later in the race, and Vallente was forced to retire.

Video - Highlights from the race (from www.Indycar.com/pro)... »

Video - Alex and Sam Schmidt talk about winning the championship (from www.Indycar.com/pro)... »

Race Report (www.Indycar.com/pro)... »

Report (www.indyproracer.com)... »

23Aug07
ALEX GETS FIRST INDYCAR TEST WITH GANASSI AT SEBRING ...

Alex got behind the wheel of an Indycar for the first time last week, when he tested the Target Chip Ganassi Racing car with Scott Dixon at Sebring, sharing the car with Scott, and getting down to some very competitive times in the 2 hours he spent in the car, and coming away knowing he could go even faster, having studied the data and slept on it!

He appears to have impressed the team with his speed, feedback and attitude, as he has been invited to compete for Ganassi in this weekend's Grand-Am race at Infineon, California. This will make for a very busy weekend, as Alex also has a double-header in the Indy Pro series at Infineon, where he can wrap up the championship, barring any misfortune.....

Report (www.indyproracer.com)... »

Press Release ... »

18Aug07
WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT - THE DRIVER OR THE TEAM?? A RECENT REPORT SAYS IT'S THE DRIVER ...

Report (www.indyproracer.com)... »

13Aug07
A THRILLER IN KENTUCKY

The night race at the Kentucky Speedway proved a fantastic spectacle, and showed why racing on the one-and-a-half mile ovals is such a favourite for fans and drivers alike.

Starting on the front row, Hideki Mutoh, Wade Cunningham and Alex pulled clear of the pack, and there ensued a race-long duel to try and unseat Mutoh, the pole-sitter, from the lead, inches apart at over 190mph ... three abreast they entered the last turn, Mutoh on the inside, Alex half a car length ahead, but not quite able to hold the advantage over the Panther Racing/Super Aguri car as they crossed the line.

On that last lap, Alex set a new track record of 192.563 mph in the #7 Sam Schmidt Motorports/Lucas Oil car as he tried to slingshot into the lead

By finishing 2nd, however, Alex eliminated all but Mutoh from the championship race.

Mutoh took the clean sweep this weekend - 50 points for the win, 1 point for pole and 2 points for most laps led ... thereby gaining 13 points over Alex. However, Alex has a huge 98 point advantage over Mutoh, and, barring a catastrophe, he has no realistic chance now of beating Alex to the championship in the 3 remaining races

The next race is a double-header at Infineon, California in two weeks time - a circuit Alex loves and where he won last year ...

Championship Standings after 13 of 16 races:

1. Alex Lloyd              548
2. Hideki Mutoh           450 (-98)
3. Wade Cunningham 377 (-171)
4. Bobby Wilson          332 (-216)
5. Jaime Camara         320 (-228)

Press Release ... »

Race Report (www.motorsport.com)... »

Race Report (www.indyproracer.com)... »

10Aug07
ANOTHER FRONT ROW START FOR ALEX IN HIS FIRST NIGHT RACE AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY

In Friday's qualifying session, Alex put his Sam Schmidt Motorsports Lucas Oil #7 car on the front row of the grid for the tenth time this year ... every race, in fact, where there has been a qualifying session ... with a lap averaging 190.7mph, just failing to clinch his 5th pole position by 7/100ths of a second from Hideki Mutoh, the man who lies second in the championship points, 111 points behind Alex.

Alex said "I think the race should be pretty good. Qualifying went reasonably well. We were second quick. We didn't quite have the speed to get pole, but we did a quick time and one that I think that we're pleased with. In the race, we seem to have a good race car. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. Obviously with the night race it's going to be a bit of a new thing for everybody, but we should be in a pretty good position."

Alex has been happy with his car in race configuration, and the Kentucky Speedway is one of those quick ovals which allows 3-wide racing at very high speeds, and a lot of use of drafting (slipstreaming), making the racing fast and furious.

This will be the first night race that most of the Indy Pro drivers have ever done, including Alex, and they are being thrown in at the deep end - there has been no practice at night, so when the race kicks off at 2am Eastern time on Saturday night under the stars, it will be a new experience for most of them.

Alex goes into the race with some confidence - with the exception of the race in Nashville, where Alex was hit by debris whilst leading the race, he has won every oval race so far this year ...

25July07
ALEX'S DRIVE SHAFTED AT MID-OHIO

Another slap in the face from Lady Luck forced Alex out of the race with a broken drive shaft - his first DNF (did not finish) this year.

The race started well, Alex made a great start and took off into the lead, pulling away on cold tyres by over half a second a lap. But he was soon on the radio to his team, as the car was too soft for the conditions, rolling over as it hit the rubber on the corners and unsettling the car. He tried making adjustments, but the Cheever car of Richard Antinucchi (which was the quickest car all weekend in truth) was soon up to speed and on lap 15, Alex was powerless to stop him taking the lead and pulling away. However Alex was comfortable in 2nd place, unable to coax any more speed from the car, but not losing ground to Wade Cunningham a few seconds behind him.

A yellow flag then came out, bringing out the pace car, and Alex felt that the subsequent restart would give him a great chance to regain the lead (although he confided that he didn't think he would be able to retain it) - his restarts have been great this year. However as the green flag came out on lap 23, Alex found he had no gears, no drive at all to the wheels, and he was forced to coast to the side of the road and out of the race.

Although disappointed, his huge championship lead was barely eroded - he still has a 111 point lead with just 4 races remaining.

Championship points are awarded as follows: Win=50, 2nd=40, 3rd=35, 4th=32, 5th=30, 6th=28, 7th=26, 8th=24, 9th=22, 10th=20, 11th=19, 12th=18, 13th=17...etc Whilst not yet mathematically impossible, most of the other drivers are realistically looking for 2nd place now ...

Championship Standings after 12 of 16 races:

1. Alex Lloyd             508
2. Hideki Mutoh           397 (-111)
3. Wade Cunningham 342 (-166)
4. Bobby Wilson          320 (-188)
5. Jaime Camara         290 (-218)

Press Release ... »

Race Report (www.Indycar.com/pro)... »

24July07
ANOTHER POLE FOR ALEX AT MID-OHIO

Alex kept up his record of qualifying on the front row in every race of the season so far, by taking pole position yet again on the Mid-Ohio road course.

The two practice sessions weren't promising, as Alex found the car to be 4 seconds off the pace in the first session. He and his engineers made adjustments to the setup and brought the gap down to 4/10ths of a second in the second practice session.

Qualifying was held early the following morning, and the track was green (slippery). Each lap was quicker than the last, and Alex realised that the quickest lap was likely to be the last lap of the session. He came into the pits with 4 laps to go, and put on a new set of tyres - a risk, because the tyres were taking a long time to come up to temperature ("to come on" as the drivers say), but on Alex's final lap, the tyres were almost there, and he nailed a great last lap, putting him on pole position for the race.

"That was tough" he said afterwards "because the tyres were only just in, but we made it count, it was a great effort by the whole team"

As far as the race was concerned, Alex felt that any one of perhaps four cars could win tomorrow. "To be honest, I don't think we quite have the car right yet" Alex declared "but we should be competitive and there's no better place to start than from pole position"

16July07
RACE LEADER BECOMES ROAD SWEEPER

Just as Alex was thinking the race was almost won, two backmarker cars collided directly in front of him as he was coming to lap them. Unable to avoid the debris spraying across the track in front of him, Alex's front wing was almost sheared off. He was forced to pull into pit lane on lap 75 of 77 for a replacement nose cone, and a certain win turned into an 11th place finish.

Although hugely disappointed, his already huge championship lead was only eroded by 6 points. The winners trophy at Nashville is a fantastic Gibson guitar ... Alex grimaced "I wanted that guitar" ....

Alex had won every oval race this year until now!

Championship Standings after 11 of 16 races:

1. Alex Lloyd             499
2. Hideki Mutoh           367
3. Wade Cunningham 302
4. Bobby Wilson          292
5. Jaime Camara         266

Race Report (www.IndyProRacer.com)... »

15July07
ALEX TAKES POLE AT NASHVILLE

Once again the Sam Schmidt Motorsports Lucas Oil #7 car powered to the front of the grid, as Alex took a hard-won pole position on the only concrete oval in the series ...

Report (www.IndyProRacer.com)... »

8July07
ALEX WINS AGAIN AT WATKINS GLEN

The changes worked! The SSM Lucas Oil #7 car, piloted by Alex, found the straight line speed they were lacking yesterday, and it took Alex just 4 laps to carve his way decisively from his 4th place starting position into the lead of the race - a lead he would never relinquish over the 29 lap race, despite a full course yellow flag session closing up the field. As usual, Alex's restart was superb, opening up a 15 car gap as the course went green, and Alex pulled inexorably away by 1/10th every lap to take another win in this record-breaking season.

This latest win gives Alex 7 wins from 10 races this season, blitzing the Indy Pro series records as he pulls further ahead in the championship ...

Championship Standings after 10 of 16 races:

1. Alex Lloyd            477
2. Hideki Mutoh          339
3. Bobby Wilson         277
4. Wade Cunningham 270
5. Mike Potekhen        231

Press Release ... »

Race Report (www.Indycar.com/pro)... »

Race Report (www.IndyProRacer.com)... »

7July07
AT WATKINS GLEN - WHEN 3RD SEEMS LIKE A DISAPPOINTMENT...

Alex found the SSM Lucas Oil #7 car nearly 3 seconds off the pace at Watkins Glen in the first of the two test sessions, but managed to close the gap to around half a second by the end of the truncated second session, leading into qualifying. Slightly closer again in qualifying gave Alex yet another front row start, but the car was slow in the first race, lacking straight line speed - what Alex was able to make up in the twisty infield section was more than lost in the long fast sweepers and straights, and Alex was less than happy to finish 3rd - his worst result of the season!

"Most people tested here last week" he said "and maybe it was a mistake that we didn't do the test, as we started out so far off the pace, but we now know what we have to do for tomorrow".

The inverse grid meant Alex would start 4th in the second of two races at Watkins Glen, and Alex declared himself hopeful that they can change the car and challenge for the win in tomorrow's race ...

4July07
ALL TIME LEADER ...

With his race win at Iowa Speedway, Alex becomes the "winningest" driver in Indy Pro history ...

Report ... »

3June07
ALEX BACK TO WINNING WAYS AT IOWA SPEEDWAY...

The inaugural race at the 7/8 mile Iowa Speedway was a thriller. The small banked oval boasted average lap times in excess of 160mph, and some very close racing. Alex had qualified on the front row again, second to Wade Cunningham the IPS 2005 champion. At the start of the race, Cunningham retained the lead with Alex in his tow lap after lap. 115 laps beckoned - the most laps of any IPS race to date, with the track so small that there was a genuine danger of drivers getting dizzy! Despite 4 yellow flag incidents, Alex remained under Cunningham's gearbox, staying on the high line, until lap 105, whereupon he dived inside and took the lead, to the cheers of the assembled crowd, who were loving the close racing ....

Race Report (www.Indycar.com/pro)... »

Race Report (www.IndyProRacer.com)... »

Press Release ... »

Post Race Video Interview ... »

20June07
A BRACE OF SECONDS ON THE INDIANAPOLIS ROAD COURSE KEEPS ALEX ATOP THE CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE...

Alex started second and stayed that way throughout the first of the two races, which was held on Saturday. "We were disappointed with the race car set-up, to be honest" Alex reported. "We had a second-place car today". Polesitter Hideki Mutoh cleared off into the distance to take his first Indy Pro win, whilst Alex retained a comfortable second place, but struggled throughout the race with the car;s handling, which deteriorated as the race went on, although it was only a short race distance.

Alex and his engineer spent a long time studying data, to try and work out what went wrong, and made a number of big changes for the Sunday race, and although the car was still not perfect, it proved to be a good step in the right direction. With the top 8 places revered for Sunday's grid, Alex would start 7th, and he made the most of the 18 available laps to cut decisively through the field up to 2nd place ... but with insufficient time to hunt down Bobby Wilson, who took the lead from the front row, second was the best result achievable. The car was much better and came stronger towards the end of the race, so Alex feels they have made some strides in the right direction towards getting a good basic road course setup.

The next race is on Saturday June 23rd at the small 7/8ths of a mile Iowa Speedway oval - over 115 laps - where Alex hopes to return to Victory Lane again ... watch practice, qualifying and the race live on www.Indycar.com/pro ...

(P.S. Congrats to Lewis on a great win!)

Race Report ... »

15June07
FRONT ROW START FOR ALEX AT THE LIBERTY CHALLENGE AT INDIANAPOLIS...

It wasn't perfect, but Alex reckoned he got all he could out of the car to claim a front row start at the Liberty Challenge double header support race for the United States Grand Prix, with the Panther Racing/Super Aguri car of Hideki Mutoh taking its first pole position in front of the F1 Super Aguri team bosses.

Alex feels he will have a good race car tomorrow (Saturday) for the first of the two races, and is looking to continue his winning streak, but this won't be easy, he says - he's the man they all want to beat right now ...

Report ... »

9June07
SAM SCHMIDT AND ALEX LLOYD JOIN TO ANNOUNCE THE "RACING TO RECOVERY" CHALLENGE...

Sam Schmidt Motorsports and Alex Lloyd today announced the “Racing for Recovery Challenge,” a pledge drive to take place leading up to next weekend’s United States Grand Prix Liberty Challenge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - the F1 support race

Alex has won 7 of the last 9 Indy Pro races, and Sam Schmidt said "As many races as Alex has been winning, we felt it’d be a great time to utilize his hot streak to help raise funds and awareness for our foundation”

Individuals and companies may take part in pledging donations towards Schmidt’s foundation contingent on Lloyd’s performance in next week’s races.

The standard pledge is $1,000 and $3,000.  If Lloyd wins either race, those responsible for pledges will agree to donate $1,000 to Schmidt’s foundation.

Should Lloyd win both races, the donation price tag will hike to $3,000 for the foundation.

The Sam Schmidt Paralysis Foundation was founded in 2000 while Schmidt was still in the rehabilitation hospital. Its mission is to raise funds to support spinal cord injury research which also benefits stroke victims, people with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, ALS, and other neurological disorders. The foundation is active in advocacy efforts benefiting the disabled and funds organizations throughout the world that directly benefit people with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities. More information
can be found at www.samschmidt.org ....

Report ... »

3June07
ALEX STAYS PERFECT WITH VICTORY AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE...

It has a become a familiar story so far this season, as Alex led from lights to flag - all 100 laps of the demanding Milwaukee oval - to win 5 races out of 5 this year, and become the first driver in the Indy Pro history to do so. Two or three yellow flag periods punctuated the race, and this tends to hurt the leading car the most, as it closes up any lead they have built up, but Alex timed his restarts well and was never seriously challenged. ... he lapped the entire field up to the 4th place car ...

Race Report (www.Indycar.com/pro)... »

Race Report (www.IndyProRacer.com)... »

Press Release ... »

Post Race Video Interview ... »

2June07
ALEX CONTINUES HIS DOMINATION OF THE INDY PRO SERIES AS HE TAKES POLE AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE...

There was a chance of rain, as the cars lined up for qualifying, Alex having topped the timesheets in testing earlier today, but the weather held clear and Alex duly converted his good form into pole position. Unusually, testing, qualifying and the race all take place on the same day ... the race takes place later this afternoon ...

Report ... »

28May07
ALEX DRIVES INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS...

Post-race video interview ... »

25May07
ALEX DOMINATES AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY...
Alex led every lap of the 100 mile race at the famous Brickyard 2.5 mile oval to become the first man in history to win on both the road course and the oval, and making it 4 wins out of 4 this season ... 6 wins from 12 starts in his Indy Pro career ...

In his own words ... »

Report ... »

12May07
WHAT DO YOU DO BETWEEN RACES...
It;s an oft-asked question, particularly as the Indy Pro series has an 8 week gap between the races at St Petersburg and the Freedom 100 race on the Indianapolis superspeedway. Here's what Alex is doing ...

Report ... »

2May07
ALEX QUICKEST AGAIN IN MILWAUKEE TEST ...
Once again Alex topped the unofficial timesheets in his Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt car in a private test, attended by the top teams, at the Milwaukee Mile. The car wasn't perfect out of the box, but it took only a couple of runs to dial the car in to the demands of this circuit - a short one-mile oval - but then Alex and his engineer worked closely and well to improve the car each time they went out, posting a quick time which was good enough to beat last year's pole time by over 2/10ths of a second.

The technique of driving this type of oval, and the car setup, is very different to the 1.5 mile banked ovals such as Homestead (where Alex won in March) and also for Superspeedways, such as Indianapolis. The cars are not pedal to the metal all the way round, and the corners are basically akin to high speed corners on a road race track. The car needs to be set up for these high speed corners, and the driver then has to put the car on the limit, throughout the quick corners, trying to work out a balance for qualifying, and a different balance for the race itself, where grip levels will change from the rear to the front of the car as the race progresses.

"We ended up with the car feeling probably the best I can imagine it being" Alex said after the test, "so we're confident now of being able to put up a strong show at the Milwaukee race in June"

29Apr07
ALEX TOPS INDIANAPOLIS TESTING...
Alex topped the timesheets in his Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt car at Indianapolis, as he bids to make it 4 out of 4 this year. Testing results can be deceiving, of course, particularly in oval racing, where a draft/slipstream can make a big difference, but Alex felt he had the car which could run in clear air and in traffic....

report ... »

Timesheet (PDF) ... »

15Apr07
VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH AUTOSPORT RADIO ...

Interview with Alex (Windows Media) ... »