SHOCK FAILURE STICKS PANTHER IN 20TH POSITION DURING EVENTFUL HONDA EDMONTON INDY

EDMONTON, Canada (July 25, 2010) – The National Guard Panther Racing team and driver Dan Wheldon finished 20th Sunday in the Honda Indy Edmonton on the City Centre Airport, where the team had to overcome a shock failure early in the race that prohibited the team from advancing any further up the grid.

Wheldon started 22nd in the race and had moved up a position during the team’s first run of the day when the National Guard driver felt something wrong with the car. The team pitted on Lap 27 for tires and fuel, but had to return to the pits just two laps later when they discovered the shock on the left-rear wheel had failed. The team quickly fixed the problem in pit lane, but by the time Wheldon returned to the field, he was five laps behind the leaders.

“It’s been a very tough weekend for us, but I think the National Guard Panther Racing boys continue to work very hard and never give up,” Wheldon said. “We found something that helped us in the warm-up and had we not had the problem during the race we would have been even quicker out there towards the end of the race. But unfortunately we had a problem and that’s the way racing goes, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort that we didn’t get the result we wanted.”

With the result, Panther is now in the 10th position in the IZOD IndyCar Series points standings but trail Andretti Autosport driver Marco Andretti by just a single point for the ninth position and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver Justin Wilson by only nine points for eighth.

“I’m extremely proud of the team and how hard they fought all weekend,” Panther team owner John Barnes said. “The guys were able to change out both rear shocks after the failure and only lose four laps, which enabled us to pick up several spots during the race. Dan did a great job hanging in there and fighting all day. We had a lot of adversity this weekend, but I’m proud of how our team represented Panther and the National Guard.”

The IZOD IndyCar Series will take a weekend off prior to traveling to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where the (RACE) will be broadcast live on VERSUS at (TIME), with additional coverage provided by the IMS Radio Network, www.indycar.com, XM Channel 145 and Sirius channel 211.