Scheckter returns to Conquest Racing
Conquest Racing will be welcoming Scheckter for a second consecutive race. The South African made his debut with the team last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, where he was unfortunately taken out of the race after five laps.
“We’re very happy to have Tomas back with us for this weekend at Kentucky Speedway," expressed team owner Eric Bachelart. “Sadly his race was short-lived at Chicagoland but in the little time he had in the car over the weekend he did an excellent job and we’re looking forward to having him in the car again. His experience on ovals was of great help to the team.
“We’re also very happy to announce our association with Norcote International which will be featured on our #36 car as the primary sponsor."
Norcote International is a premier manufacturer of UV curable screen printing inks and emulsions. Their products are used for flat-screen and rotary-screen printing on many types of plastic, vinyl, metal, decals used for racing graphics and other materials compatible with the UV curing process. The Crawfordsville, IN-based company also has facilities in the United Kingdom, Singapore and Mexico.
"Having an association with Conquest Racing and Tomas Scheckter at the Kentucky IndyCar race is a perfect fit for the Norcote brand," said John Fisbeck, Norcote's CEO. "Just like IndyCar racing, Norcote uses cutting edge technology and is able to quickly adapt to changes in order to provide our customers with unsurpassed services and products. And, just like IndyCar, we are headquartered in the Midwest but we are global leaders in our industry."
Fans will get to see the Norcote International colors on the #36 Honda/Dallara driven by Tomas Scheckter starting on Friday when teams take to the 1.5-mile tri-oval at Kentucky Speedway.
This weekend’s event will be the eighth race for Scheckter at that track. His best result at Kentucky Speedway came in 2007 when he finished fifth after starting sixth.
“I’m looking forward to driving the Norcote International car at Kentucky Speedway for Conquest Racing," said Scheckter. “It will be great to drive for them again and to continue what we started last week. We had a good first weekend together at Chicagoland despite the early retirement from the race and I really enjoyed working with everyone on the team.
“The car was really good at Chicago and I think we can keep on improving heading into Kentucky. I’m confident that we can leave there with a good result."
As has been the case this season, Bertrand Baguette will be making his first appearance at Kentucky Speedway. The Belgian driver is coming off an encouraging run at Chicagoland Speedway where he spent the final laps of the event battling for a top five finish.
“We had a very good race at Chicagoland which allows us to go into Kentucky quite confident," told Baguette. “There’s always work to be done and improvements to make but the Chicago race was very encouraging. The car was very good on the 1.5-mile oval so it should be good in Kentucky too. We found a good base setup on the car that I feel good with. I think we will be able to do a race as good as the one in Chicago if not better.
“It will also be great to have Tomas back with us this weekend. His experience on the ovals was a big help to the team and myself last weekend. I learned a lot from him in one weekend and I look forward to working with him again at Kentucky."
The Conquest drivers will be on track starting Friday, September 3, 2010 at 10:15 am ET for a one-hour practice session. Qualifying for the 200-lap race starts at 1:30 pm ET and will be followed by a 30-minute final practice from 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Kentucky Indy 300 goes green at 8:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 4, 2010 and will be broadcast live on Versus starting at 8:00 p.m. ET with the pre-race show.