Southtown Star from Tinley Park, Illinois • 12

B6 SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2009 I SOUTHTOWNSTAR weather National Weather for Saturday Getaway weather at a glance i Sliown Is today's weather, Temperatures tyre today's highs and tonight's lows '1 1 Southlands 5 day forecast I 80 61 Sunshine and some clouds today with a shower or thunderstorm around; breezy. Winds west- northwest 10-20 mph. Mainly clear tonight. Sturgeon Bay Traversa City 7281 Ql. At- WwV IflL Manistee 6860 Shown are noon posillona o( waalhor ayalems and precipitation Tempaialure bands are htghs lor lha day Forecast highlow tampnraiures are given lor aelacled citiet T-Storms Rain Showers EDE3E3E3G3E3 National Forecast A storm system will bring showers and thunderstorms to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley today Some ol these storms will be severe across Indiana and Ohio There will he afternoon thunderstorms near the Southeast and Gulf coasts and across Florida More afternoon thunderstorms will develop across the Rockies The Nation RealFeel Temperature 8a.m 69 Noon 78 6p.m.

78 The patented AccuWntter com Ruffed Twroriterf it an exclusive index ol the efleets ol temperatuie wind humidity, sunshine intensity cloudiness, precipitation, pressure and elevation on the human body Todays UV Index 8i.m 1 Noon 6 4p.m 4 The higher the AccnWoiOier cm UV Mm" number the greater the need lor eye and skin protection 0 2 low, 35 moderate 6-7 high ST 10 very high extreme I Milwaukee 7863 7659 o. Chicago Almanac Chicago through 6pm yesterday Temperature High 83- low .61 Record high 105 In 1934 Record low 53 In 2000 Average humidity 62 Barometer at 6 pm 80 Precipitation Pait 24 bra 000 Month to date 136 Year to date 2711" Normal year to data 19 36 Record for Ally 8 33" (1982) Sun and Moon Sunrise today 5 38 a m. Holland 7460 Qt Lake Michigan Wind northwest 10 20 knots Waves 2-4 feet Visibility under 2 miles a shower or thunderstorm. Water temperature: 71 Lake Geneva 7660 Qu Saugatuck I 7460 OL i 5 Waukegan 7261 iJL Jii, 1, A toi.Al.Mli.it South Haven 7460 Galena 7956 Kalamazoo 7860 Pollen Grass Trees Weeds Mold Absent Absent High New Buffalo 8161 816pm 10 02am 1009 pm, Sunset tonight Moonrbo today Moonsot today St. Charles Chicago 8058 8061 Michigan City 0 7560 Source: National Allergy Bureau Air Quality The presence of man made pollutants affecting aspects of human health 'Warsaw, 8059 0L TinleyPaTrsterton 060 I 7859 Utica 8158 Bass lake 8158 jiipiiu ii'jy Today's forecast Yesterday Vest main offender Good, Ozone 50, Good Particulates The Region 050 Good 51 tOO Modnate 101 150 UnlraMy lor sensitive groups, 15! 200 Unhealthy 201 300 Very Unhealthy, 301 500 Hazardous lowce: Wiikbs FPA Forecasts and graphics provided 02009 Sun.

3L Montfcello 8259 7 0 Champaign 1559 Decatur 8559 QL Todays weather drawing daht0 Today HI LoW 79 62 1 80 56 1 81 60 1 78 60 1 79 62 1 81 58 76 61 1 85 60 1 82 59 1 73 61 1 81 58 pc 69 58 1 8l 601 80 61 1 80 60 72 61 1 Marshall 8659 QL City Arlington Hts Aurora Oe Kalb Deerfield Des Plaines Elgin Gary Hammond Kankakee Kenosha Salle Lennox, W1 Morris 1 Munster Tinley Park Waukegan IS BY CODY FIGUS ST. GERALD SCHOOL 1 1 IJ Ss 0 jitvn uT'VY' fit! i Uk" ShdbyYllle 8861 A. 4-, Weather (W) i sunny pc partly cloudy e-doudy ib showers thundensorms rain if sihw flumes snow l-ice r'-tt 1 7hvmAumu! iJtr auto racing Lockport senior-to-be putting talents on display today and Sunday in Joliet BY DICK GOSS SUN TIMES NEWS OROtiP PHOTOS BY MICHAEL R. SCHMIDT SUN-TIMES NEWS GROUP her older brothers Erie, now 23, and Brian, now 20. They were racing for three to four 1 years when 1 decided to give it a try," she said.

Right away, I was hooked. In my second year of go-karting, I was winning championships already, and I moved up to the Skip Barber series." She takes pride in being the first female in the Skip Barber National Series. Shes 13th in the standings, with her best finish this season sixth place in the first of two races at Virginia International Speedway, She finished ninth in her most recent race, at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, last weekend. Freiberg said she looks up to drivers such as Danica Patrick and Simona De Silvestro, who leads the point standings in the Atlantic Championship series and also is to race this weekend at Autobalm. 1 i When Freiberg is asked whether she wants to be the next Patrick, she replies, No, I want to be better than Danica Not that it will be an easy task, It is hard to be a girl in racing," she said.

Everyone is always looking at you to see what youre doing." But if that is an obstacle, Freiberg is overcoming it quite nicely. In her younger days, from fourth grade through her freshman year of high school, she played basketball, But then she decided racing is what she wanted to do. The other thing I do is martial arts," she said. I do workouts whenever I can. That keeps me in good shape, and its good for my concentration, FYeiberg is an outstanding student She has achieved high honors at Lock-port, takes advanced placement cours- es and is to graduate early, in the winter, 1 She would like to work college into her immediate future, but that may not be a match With her racing career, i I want to go to college, but it will be so difficult, she said.

If I go, it will probably be online or somewhere close to where my (racing) team is located. Theres only a certain time in life where you can attack these opportuni- The way Ashley Freiberg figures it, the car does not know whether a guy or a girl is driving, 1 As long as you drive fast," she said, The 17-year-old Homer Glen resident and senior-to-be at Lockport High School is very good at doing exactly that. She is to make her debut in the Star Mazda open-wheel series this weekend during the Harrahs Autobahn Grand Prix at Autobahn Country Club (3795 S. Patterson Road, Joliet), and she relishes the opportunity. Mazda provides a ladder system where you from go-karting to the Skip Barber National Series to Star Mazda to the Atlantic Championship series," she explained.

Ive done karting, moved up to the Skip Baiter series, which I am in now, and if you do well, you move up to Star Mazda So this is pretty exciting, to have the opportunity to run in it for the first time here at home. Its a good idea to get my feet wet. I want to run the series next year, and Ive been testing with my team (Team GDT)." Freiberg is to run Star Mazda races today and Sunday at Autobahn, with her dad, Chuck, and mom, Donna, likely to be on hand. She intends to win, of course, but if she doesn't, she said there still is a payoff, Every weekend, whenever I get in a car, my goal is to learn something new," she said. I even learn when I wreck.

The drivers out here are all so good. The Skip Barber is an open-wheel developmental series in which cars top out at about 130 mph. Cars in the Star Mazda series top out around 150. But the increased speed is not a concern. That doesnt bother me, Freiberg Said.

A few laps of practice, and you get used to it." Friday's first practice found Freiberg 18th in the field of 22 cars, lapping the 3.56-niile circuit at 94.362 mph, about 3 mph slower than session leader Peter Dempsey, and about 1.7 mph slower than teammate Rick Rosin. Freiberg began racing in go-karts at age 13, following in the footsteps of I want to be better than Danica. i ASHLEY FREIBERG (RIGHT) REFERRING TO IRL DRIVER DANICA PATRICK 1 ties, and if Im going to give racing my best shot, I have to do it now. Some friends have disappeared, but that is understandable considering how often she is away. As I move up in racing, Im not home very often, she said.

People see me in newspapers or on the news or online, but they dont see me in person very often. I had a boyfriend, but that didnt work because I was away a lot. A lot of friends dont really understand racing or understand what I am doing, either." If she is to continue racing in earnest, landing a solid sponsorship for the Star Mazda series is a necessity. Im going up to the cliff of the money mountain, and its really steep," she said. My dad has been very supportive financially, but he cant do it unless I get a sponsor." 1 For more information on Freiberg or her race team or for sponsorship opportunities, visit www.ashleyfreibergracing com.

forever. My brother, Eric, used to race in the Star Mazda series but got out of it when my dad ran out of money for him. That will happen with me, too,.