WHELDON, PANTHER QUICK OUT OF THE GATE AT WATKINS GLEN - FOURTH ON FIRST DAY

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - (July 2, 2010) – National Guard Panther Racing driver Dan Wheldon got off to a quick start Friday during practice for the Camping World GP at the Glen by posting the fourth-quickest lap times amongst the IZOD IndyCar Series field.

“I’m always excited to come to Watkins Glen because it’s one of my favorite tracks and certainly my favorite road course track,” Wheldon said. “I was certainly excited to get here and we built a lot on what we learned here last year.”

Wheldon posted a quick lap of 132.181 mph, 1:13.783 seconds, trailing only Team Penske teammates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves and former Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon. Last season, Wheldon was running inside the Top Five during the final stages of the race but the team elected to utilize black Firestone tires during the final stint, and several other competitors went for the Red alternate tires – which caused the No. 4 car to slip a the end of the event.

Panther finished runner-up here to Dixon in 2006 with Vitor Meira, and Wheldon collected his best finish of fifth place in his first start here in 2005 with the team formerly known as Andretti Green Racing.

“The National Guard Panther Racing car was really good here last year, we just got caught out a bit on strategy, but the pace of the car during the race was really good,” Wheldon said. “And like I’ve said we’ve just been able to expand upon that and that’s a really good sign for the continuity of the team and coming back to these racetracks for the second time. I’m looking forward to a good weekend.”

The track will host another round of practice tomorrow prior to its three-round knockout qualification session that concludes with the Firestone Fast Six shootout.

The Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen will be broadcast live on Sunday, July 4th on ABC, with additional coverage provided by www.indycar.com, the IMS Radio Network and XM Channel 145 and Sirius channel 211.