INDIANAPOLIS, Ind . — The championship points leader in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires series, Devlin DeFrancesco, is looking to follow up his first victory in the series with more strong results at the triple-header on the road course at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week.

The Cooper Tires Indy Pro 2000 Indy Grand Prix will present a challenge for DeFrancesco and the No. 17 Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport team. The Italian-Canadian racing driver will have just one 30-minute practice session on the Indianapolis road course before qualifying and the first of three races.

But, despite the challenge of the compressed schedule and a new track, DeFrancesco has momentum on his side. After scoring five top-five finishes (including three podium finishes) in the opening six races of the championship at Road America, Mid-Ohio and Lucas Oil Raceway – he followed that up with an impressive lights-to-flag victory at World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis just last week.

The victory extended DeFrancesco’s point lead from seven points to 25 over Idaho’s Sting Ray Robb.

DeFrancesco’s Indy Pro 2000 campaign is supported by Kimoa - the fashion, clothing, and accessories brand founded by Fernando Alonso; world-class racing simulator manufacturer Allinsports; Apple’s largest premium retail partner, Simply Mac; Engine Media; Pure Kana and One Plant Merchandise.

Practice begins Thursday, September 3rd at 9:45 AM Eastern time, with qualifying at 12:45 PM and Race 1 at 3:35 PM that same day. DeFrancesco will take the green flag again on Friday for a pair of races at 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM.Live timing and radio can be found athttp://www.roadtoindy.tv/race-control.html.

Q: How do you think the momentum of winning that first race will carry you through the rest of this championship?

A:“I’d very much like to think that it will give us an advantage. But, this weekend will be really tough. It’s a new track for me and we only have 30 minutes of practice before qualifying. So, we need to be realistic and keep our feet firmly on the ground.

“Do I think we’re going to be fast? Absolutely yes, I don’t have a doubt in my mind about that. But, I don’t want to go in with super high expectations outside of doing the best we can and see what comes of it.

“The entire Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport team is just fantastic. I get to work with some of the best engineers and mechanics in the entire Road to Indy on this program. Their experience is especially useful on weekends like this one when we don’t have much time to practice and I, personally, don’t have experience at the track. While I’m not expecting that we go there and dominate right out of the gate, don’t count us out!”

Q: Racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a goal for every racing driver. How excited are you for the weekend? And what have you been doing to prepare?

A:“It’s a dream come true. It’s such a special place for everyone in motorsports and so to get a good result there would be incredible.
“I’ve been getting really good advice from Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Kanaan in preparation for the weekend. Their help was so useful at Lucas Oil Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway and I really think it helped me perform at my best. They have so much experience in this sport, and they’re both so amazingly talented and successful, I am very lucky to have them in my corner and I have the ability to draw from their years of experience.

“My engineer Doug Zister also has a lot of experience and success at Indianapolis. So I have such an incredible team of people around me in this program—including the new addition of having Kimoa on board. So I want to be able to go out and perform well for myself, especially at Indy, but also for all of the people I represent.

“I’ve been doing a bunch of laps on the Indy road course in preparation for the weekend on my Allinsports simulator. It is a great way to prepare yourself for each race weekend.”

Q: How good did winning in St. Louis feel and how badly do you want to feel that again?

A:“Winning felt amazing. It’s something I haven’t experienced in three years and you almost forget how good it feels! It’s the best feeling in the world and nothing beats it. Hopefully I get to feel more of that this weekend in Indy and through the rest of the championship.”