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CONTACT:
Sharon Watson
Director, Public Affairs Office
Work: (785) 274-1192
Cell: (785) 806-4063
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   April 21, 2009

No. 09-031

INDY RACING LEAGUE DRIVERS TO SIGN AUTOGRAPHS FOR KANSAS NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS AND FAMILIES

Indy Racing League drivers will be signing autographs Thursday, April 23, for Kansas National Guard members and their families. Indy Racing League driver Dan Wheldon, Panther Racing owner John Barnes and other associated IRL National Guard Team members will be on hand from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Topeka South Armory, Building 688, Gary Ormsby Drive and J Street, Forbes Field, Topeka. 
A National Guard IRL race car will be on display and available for photographs for those in attendance. All members of the Kansas National Guard are encouraged to attend.

“People in the racing sport have to ‘go fast’ on the track and off,” said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the adjutant general. “Like many of us, their schedules are packed, with little time for activities not directly related to preparing for and participating in a race. Our Soldiers and Airmen are always appreciative when these drivers and owners set aside time out of their busy schedule to visit with us and show their support for what we do.”

Dan Wheldon, a native of Emberton, England, began his racing career competing in kart racing. He won eight British national titles and the Ayrton Senna Memorial World Cup. In his first professional season in 1996, he was runner-up in the British Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship, scoring three victories and seven top-three finishes.

Wheldon began his IndyCar career in 2002. He scored an IndyCar Series record of six victories in 2005. The week before the end of the 2008 season, when he finished fourth in the IndyCar Series standings, Wheldon signed a multi-year deal to drive for Panther Racing. He has appeared six times at the Kansas Speedway, including a win in 2008.

The National Guard 2009 Indy Racing League Program is designed to emphasize the three tenets of strength maintenance: the recruiting of quality Soldiers, attrition management of first term Soldiers, and the retaining of qualified Soldiers in units and in the National Guard. The Program is intended to support the efforts of the state’s recruiting and retention force by providing two distinctly separate, but simultaneously conducted, events with interactive assets to help promote the National Guard.

Follow the Kansas Adjutant General’s Department on Twitter at http://twitter.com/KSAdjutantGen

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