October 1, 2011 - Sparta, KY - Simona De Silvestro came to Kentucky with a goal to continue improving her confidence on the ovals. She accomplished that goal - and more - with her qualifying run on Saturday evening at Kentucky Speedway.
During the short race weekend on the 1.5-mile oval, De Silvestro and her HVM Racing team made the most of a packed Saturday schedule that included two practice sessions and the qualifying run. Despite only turning a few laps during the day's first practice, the Nuclear Clean Air Energy team worked hard during the second session to give their driver a car that she was comfortable with for qualifying.
De Silvestro's qualifying time of 216.924 puts her in P13 for the start of Sunday's race.
"I feel very happy with the qualifying run," said De Silvestro. "I think it's one of the best positions - if not the best - that I've ever had on an oval. I think the Nuclear Clean Air Energy team did an awesome job. The car is really smooth, so it's helping me with my confidence. I realize that the bigger challenge will come tomorrow in dealing with traffic, but the car has been pretty comfortable all day today, so overall I'm really happy."
De Silvestro will aim for a solid result on Sunday as she and the other drivers of the IZOD IndyCar Series compete in the Kentucky Indy 300, starting at 2:45 p.m. ET. The 200-lap race will be broadcast live on Versus TV, with pre-race activities beginning at 2 p.m.
About HVM Racing
HVM Racing was founded by Keith Wiggins and is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. HVM enters 2011 as its tenth year of competition since forming in 2001 and has earned six victories, two pole positions, and an additional 16 podiums. They earned "Indianapolis Rookie of the Year" honors with driver Simona De Silvestro at the 2010 event and since joining the IZOD INDYCAR Series in 2008, the team has earned nine top-10 finishes. HVM finished fourth and third, respectively, in the Champ Car World Series in 2006 and 2007, and earned drivers Mario Dominguez and Robert Doornbos Rookie of the Year honors in 2002 and 2007, respectively. Follow HVM Racing at www.hvmracing.com, on twitter at www.twitter.com/HVMracing, and on facebook at www.facebook.com/HVMRacing.
About Entergy
Entergy is the second largest owner and operator of U.S. nuclear energy plants. They operate or provide management services to 12 reactors at 10 sites. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity and delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and more than 15,000 employees. Follow at www.NuclearCleanAirEnergy.com and www.entergy-nuclear.com; on Twitter at www.twitter.com/EntergyNuclear and www.twitter/NuclearCleanAir, and on facebook at www.facebook.com/Nuclear Clean Air Energy.
For more information, contact:
Monica Hilton, Public Relations
HVM Racing, LLC
Phone: (608) 669-3211
Email: mhilton@hvminc.net
Web: www.HVMRacing.com