Scott Dixon needs to only look at the second half of the 2007 IndyCar Series season to make him alternately smile and shudder as it relates to this year's championship race. He was 65 points arrears of leader Dario Franchitti exiting the Richmond race, but rattled off four victories in the final eight to outscore Franchitti 370-331 and set up a season-ending duel for the series title.
The momentum hasn't slowed. The driver of the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry has eight top-five finishes in nine races, including three victories, and holds a 43-point advantage over Team Penske's Helio Castroneves at the halfway point of the season. Dixon's teammate, Dan Wheldon, is 52 points behind.
Dixon isn't comfortable with the cushion, especially with six of the final nine races on road/street courses. First up is the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen (July 6) on the 3.4-mile Watkins Glen International circuit.
Dixon's steady results netted the 2003 title when he was a freshman in the series, and similar results have bred confidence throughout the No. 9 car crew. Castroneves hasn't forfeited many points though he's looking for his first victory since April 2007 and his first IndyCar Series title. The No. 3 entry has finished in the top five in eight of the nine events, including runner-up four times.
Tony Kanaan is fourth in the title search (82 points back) and teammate Danica Patrick is fifth (131 behind). AGR driver Hideki Mutoh leads the Bombardier Learjet Rookie of the Year standings and is sixth overall. Marco Andretti, Ryan Briscoe, Oriol Servia and Ed Carpenter also are in the top 10.
On the tail end of a frustrating first half of the IndyCar Series season, Tony Kanaan found relief on a steamy night at Richmond International Raceway.
"I'm going to enjoy my win for sure," said Kanaan of his 13th victory in the IndyCar Series, which included five in 2007. "I knew that I had to keep fighting. There's nothing else I can do. If you're going to have the season you expect every year, then it's going to be pretty boring I would say."
Team Penske's Helio Castroneves finished in the runner-up spot at a caution-filled Saturday night race at Richmond International Raceway with an impressive on-track performance. Castroneves went from an 18th place starting spot to second in the 300-lap SunTrust Indy Challenge, eventually finishing one position ahead of Scott Dixon, the only driver ahead of Castroneves in the 2008 IndyCar Series championship standings.
"I was driving the wheels off it," Castroneves said about his run in the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda. "I was trying everything I could to make up spots and we were able to have a good showing today."
Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon started fourth and sixth and survived 102 caution laps. Wheldon finished fourth in the 300-lap SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond.
"It was a tough night." Dixon said. "We had a very good car. Once again it was very tough to pass here. Even when the tires got old it was very hard to get close to people. If we were out front, I think we had a car to win. Kanaan definitely looked pretty strong tonight but I think the Target car still had a chance."
"I was trying to be aggressive while trying to finish the race and it was difficult behind the other cars." Wheldon added. " We knew there would be more than a few wrecks tonight, and that proved to be the case. The car shut off on the last lap for some reason and that's not what we need when we're trying to close the point gap."
Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s (TCGR) Scott Dixon started from pole, led 58 of 228 laps and claimed his third win of the season at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night. The race ended under caution after Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact while battling behind Dixon for second place with five laps remaining. Dixon was a contender from the drop of the green flag in the No.9 Target car, running in the top-three for the majority of the event. Flawless pit work again was the theme for the Target team as Dixon was able to stay out front and survive eight caution periods for 52 laps. The turning point of the race came when he passed Andretti on lap 222 – just before Andretti and Hunter-Reay tangled and brought the race to its conclusion under the yellow flag.
Results from Texas
1. Scott Dixon, No.9 Target Honda Dallara 2. Helio Castroneves, No.3 Honda Dallara 3. Ryan Briscoe, No.6 Honda Dallara 4. Dan Wheldon, No.10 Target Honda Dallara
Terry Blount of ESPN thinks...the IndyCar Series needs to take a hint from NASCAR on this one and think about a green-white-checkered overtime finish.
"I was thinking about that," said Helio Castroneves, who finished second. "I definitely had the car to make something happen. But we can't compare ourselves to what NASCAR does. It would be a mess."
If ever a driver was due for luck, it was Ryan Briscoe. Over the last two weeks, he hasn't hesitated cashing in. After an early season of bad breaks, culminating at the Indianapolis 500 with his now infamous contact with Danica Patrick while exiting the pits (which knocked them both out of the race), Briscoe was in desperate need of something positive to happen. His racing fate changed June 1 at The Milwaukee Mile when he won his first-ever IndyCar Series race. Briscoe finishes third in Fort Worth.
Dixon's teammate Dan Wheldon rebounded from a practice accident in the No.10 Polaroid car, made up seven positions on a sore ankle and finished fourth. Wheldon’s weekend started with a practice crash on Friday which sent him into the turn four wall and eliminated the No.10 team’s primary car. The team rallied to prepare the backup car for qualifying and Wheldon came from the infield care center to qualify the car 11th. Wheldon had moved up to fourth by just lap 11 but had to restart near the rear of the field after Briscoe stopped in his pit stall under yellow. Briscoe would serve a penalty for the incident and Wheldon managed to rebound up through the field to finish fourth.
Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon won the 2008 Indianapolis 500 on Sunday (May 25th) capping a month-long demonstration of speed that eventually overwhelmed every challenger. Dixon's win was a career first for him at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in his sixth '500' start.
"The whole month has been good," said Dixon. " A lot of people have worked hard on these cars to make them fast. It's hard work and the team has been unstoppable because of it. There were so many yellows (eight) it was hard to get a rhythm. Toward the end I didn't think anyone could pass me. The team did a fantastic job."
Dixon owns the lead in the IndyCar championship chase with a fifteen point cushion over Helio Castroneves. Dixon has 191 points, Castroneves 176 and Dan Wheldon is third, with 153 points
Team Penske's Helio Castroneves came back from serious damage to his car to finish fourth Sunday. Castroneves struck debris from a crash early in the race, but his crew repaired the No. 3 Team Penske Honda/Dallara and got him back in the race.
"Fourth place is definitely not what we expected," Castroneves said. "We tried everything we could. We had a little issue with the debris. I was trying to avoid a slow car; I slammed on the brakes instead of hitting him. I pulled away and a piece of the debris hit my front wing, so we had to stop to change that. Let me tell you, wow, what a team."
The first half of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing saw Target Chip Ganassi racing (CCGR)teammates, Dixon and Dan Wheldon alternating between first and second place. Wheldon spent time in the pits fixing handling issues with the No.10 Target machine throughout the last 100 laps after leading 30 circuits in the first half of the race.
Thanks to the rain, Brian (Barnhart) has decided to line 'em up by entrant points - giving Helio Castroneves the first starting position for the third year in a row. The question we got now: Can Helio (Castroneves) bring it home first like he did in 2006, or will he fade (to seventh) like 2007?
Castroneves didn't have to do anything (this week) to earn the pole for the Indy Japan 300. That was taken care of during the first two IndyCar Series races of the season.
"I'm sitting in the right spot in the championship to be in this situation and I'll take it," said Castroneves, who has won nine of the 30 races in which he's started from the pole. "We feel we have a consistent car. In the last few years we were very fast here, and I feel we can continue."
Scott Dixon, who won the season opener on the Homestead-Miami Speedway oval, will be making his third front-row start at Twin Ring Motegi. He was on the pole in 2003, led 45 laps, but finished 15th because of a crash. Andretti Green Racing teammates Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti will share Row 2, while Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick will be on Row 3.
After second-place finishes at TRM in each of the last two seasons, Wheldon will attempt to return to Victory Lane - the place he called home in both 2004 and 2005. In five starts at Motegi, Wheldon has led 354 of 1,000 laps (35.4%). Can he become the series first three-time winner at the track?
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