DIXON TURNS TABLES ON SCHECKTER, WINS KANSAS MBNA POLE

KANSAS CITY, Kan., Saturday, July 5, 2003 – Scott Dixon traded places with teammate Tomas Scheckter at just the right time July 5, winning the MBNA Pole for the Kansas Indy 300.

Scheckter and Dixon were the two fastest drivers, respectively, in the two practice sessions Friday and pre-qualifying practice this morning, but Dixon edged his teammate with a lap of 25.0911 seconds, 218.085 mph in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone.

2002 Indianapolis 500 Bank One co-Rookie of the Year Scheckter was second at 25.1134, 217.892 mph in the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone.

“The team’s done a great job,” Dixon said. “This week, going into qualifying, we pretty much knew it was going to be between one of us.

“I actually thought Tomas was going to get it. He’s been fast all weekend. I’m not sure what happened there; we just ended up getting him. As I said, I think a lot of the credit goes to the team.”

It was the third pole position of the season for Dixon, including the top spot he earned based on practice times when qualifying was rained out at Twin Ring Motegi.

Dixon’s pole continued his recent domination of the IRL IndyCarÔ Series. He has won the last two races in the series, on June 15 at Pikes Peak and June 28 at Richmond, and will attempt to tie a series record with his third consecutive victory when the Kansas Indy 300 starts at 1 p.m. (EDT) Sunday. ABC and the IMS Radio Network will broadcast the race live.

Tora Takagi qualified third on the 1.5-mile Kansas oval at 25.1542, 217.538 in the No. 12 Pioneer Mo Nunn Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone, giving that equipment package a sweep of the top three spots. Toyota-powered cars captured the top seven spots in the qualifying order.

2003 Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran was fourth at 25.3504, 215.855 in the No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone. De Ferran and teammate Helio Castroneves will combine to make the record 1,000th Indy-style start for Penske Racing on Sunday.

2001 Bombardier Rookie of the Year Felipe Giaffone qualified fifth at 25.3689, 215.697 in the No. 21T Hollywood Mo Nunn Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone. Giaffone put in the strong effort despite just one qualifying lap, as Mo Nunn Racing pulled his primary car from the qualifying order due to an engine problem.

Series points leader Tony Kanaan qualified eighth at 25.3821, 215.585 in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone.

This is the second time this season that Target Chip Ganassi Racing has swept the front row. Scheckter and Dixon qualified 1-2, respectively, for the Bombardier 500 last month at Texas Motor Speedway.

Dixon and Scheckter also have combined to lead 702 laps this season, just 27 laps fewer than all other drivers combined this season. Dixon has three victories; Scheckter is seeking his first win.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Scheckter said. “I had a good race here last year. I think we’ve got pretty good race cars, so if everything comes together, hopefully we’ll have the same result tomorrow.”

 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Qualifying Saturday for the Kansas Indy 300 IRL IndyCar Series event on the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, with starting position, car number in parenthesis, driver and chassis-engine:

1. (9) Scott Dixon, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 218.085
2. (10) Tomas Scheckter, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 217.892
3. (12) Tora Takagi, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 217.538
4. (6) Gil de Ferran, Dallara-Toyota, 215.855
5. (21) Felipe Giaffone, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 215.697
6. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Toyota, 215.631
7. (31) Al Unser Jr., Dallara-Toyota, 215.619
8. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 215.585
9. (13) Greg Ray, Panoz G Force-Honda, 215.459
10. (8) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Toyota, 215.406
11. (27) Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda, 215.154
12. (15) Kenny Brack, Dallara-Honda, 215.145
13. (26) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 214.888
14. (55) Roger Yasukawa, Dallara-Honda, 214.854
15. (5) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Toyota, 214.400
16. (14) A.J. Foyt IV, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 213.141
17. (2) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Chevrolet, 211.619
18. (4) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Chevrolet, 210.224
19. (52) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Chevrolet, 209.881
20. (24) Robbie Buhl, Dallara-Chevrolet, 209.244
21. (91) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Chevrolet, 208.883
22. (23) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Chevrolet, 207.390

 

DIXON REIGNS SUPREME AT WET RICHMOND

RICHMOND, Va., Saturday, June 27, 2003 . The only thing that could stop
Scott Dixon during the SunTrust Indy Challenge was rain.

Dixon led every lap before a heavy thunderstorm arrived June 27 at
Richmond International Raceway and forced the race to end after 206 of 250
scheduled laps on the .-mile oval. It was the first time in IRL IndyCarTM Series
history that a driver has led every lap of a race.

It was the third victory of the season for Dixon in the No. 9 Target Chip
Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone and his second in a row. No
other driver has won more than once this season.

.I.m just so excited,. Dixon said. .Back to back after Pikes Peak.
Basically, now all we wanted to do was to have consistency and get some points. We
are ecstatic and just know that now we really have to be focused on
getting all the points that we can to chase down Tony Kanaan..

Dixon averaged a race-record 106.798 mph and earned $136,800 for the
victory. He stayed in second in the standings but reduced Kanaan.s series lead
from 49 to 27 points, 247-220.

Marlboro Team Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran
finished second and third, respectively, in their Dallara/Toyota/Firestone cars,
giving Toyota a sweep of the top three spots. This was the sixth victory in
seven races this season for Toyota.

Two-time defending series champion Sam Hornish Jr. finished a season-best
fourth in the No. 4 Pennzoil Panther Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone. It was
the best finish of the season for a Chevrolet-powered car.

Kanaan was fifth in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone.

Light rain started to fall on Lap 198, triggering the last of five caution
periods. The rain intensified, causing the race to be called on Lap 206.

The victory completed arguably the most dominant event for a driver in
Indy Racing League history. Dixon led all three practice sessions and won the
MBNA Pole on Friday and then led every lap of the race. He also led both
days of the series Open Test on May 22-23 at the Richmond .bullring..

.I think, even from day one when we tested here, the car has been great,.
Dixon said. .I seem to like the mile circuits and even smaller, so I really
had a good time tonight. We really came through..

Despite his dominance, Dixon only was able to pull away from the rest of
the field during the last 10 laps. His lead over Castroneves grew to 4.2
seconds on Lap 193 after the lead hovered around one second or less for much
of the race. Lapped traffic on the tight-confines oval prevented Dixon from
gaining a big advantage.

.We are getting there,. Castroneves said. .Don.t worry, we are going to
catch them. It is a shame because traffic is a big factor here. For sure,
they are doing a good job, but we are coming back. We had a terrible result at
Pikes Peak. Now we are coming back. Wait for the next one..

Said de Ferran, who recorded his fourth consecutive top-10 finish: .I
don.t know if we would have caught the leader. Both Helio and Scott were real
strong. We were pushing like qualifying those last few laps there. It was
very, very tight. In traffic I was just waiting for an opportunity..

Hornish scrambled more than any other driver to finish in the top five. He
started third but an early pit-road collision forced him to climb from the
middle of the pack.

On Lap 61, Hornish was exiting his pit stall and collided with Felipe
Giaffone, who was entering his stall. Hornish was forced to return to the pits
twice in the next 11 laps for the Pennzoil Panther crew to check the
steering. The front suspension was slightly bent by the contact.

Then on Lap 92, the handling of Hornish.s car became very loose. He was
ninth on Lap 135 before starting a drive toward the top five filled with
wheel-to-wheel, inches-apart passing of cars on the lead lap and lapped
traffic. Hornish passed Kanaan for fourth place in Turn 2 on Lap 185.

.We had a really good handling car and kind of some of that luck that we
haven.t had this year,. Hornish said. .We were doing the right things on the
racetrack. We haven.t had the best of luck in the pits this year. It.s
kind of one thing after another. It.s fun to go out there and pass people, but
sooner or later, we.re going to get there..

Vitor Meira and rookie A.J. Foyt IV were unhurt in separate accidents.

The next IRL IndyCar Series race is the Kansas Indy 300 on July 6 at
Kansas Speedway. The Aventis Racing For Kids 100 IRL Infiniti Pro Series race
takes place the same day at the 1.5-mile Kansas oval.

 

RICHMOND, Va. - Results Saturday of the SunTrust Indy Challenge IRL
IndyCar Series event at Richmond International Raceway, with order of finish,
starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and
reason out (if any):

1. (1) Scott Dixon, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 206, $136,800
2. (10) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Toyota, 206, $86,650
3. (6) Gil de Ferran, Dallara-Toyota, 206, $71,950
4. (3) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Chevrolet, 206, $63,400
5. (4) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 206, $51,600
6. (7) Felipe Giaffone, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 206, $45,700
7. (14) Kenny Brack, Dallara-Honda, 206, $44,400
8. (11) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 206, $43,200
9. (12) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Chevrolet, 206, $43,800
10. (16) Al Unser Jr., Dallara-Toyota, 206, $42,100
11. (18) Roger Yasukawa, Dallara-Honda, 205, $40,700
12. (5) Greg Ray, Panoz G Force-Honda, 205, $40,100
13. (22) Tora Takagi, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 205, $38,500
14. (8) Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda, 205, $37,100
15. (15) Robbie Buhl, Dallara-Chevrolet, 205, $36,000
16. (19) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Toyota, 204, $34,800
17. (17) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Toyota, 204, $33,600
18. (13) Tomas Scheckter, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 204, $33,600
19. (2) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, $32,400
20. (20) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, $31,200
21. (21) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Toyota, 127, accident, $31,200
22. (9) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Chevrolet, 54, accident, $31,200

Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 106.798 mph.
Time of race: 01:26:47.9459.
Margin of victory: under caution
Cautions: 5 for 58 laps.
Lead changes: 0
Lap leaders: Dixon 1-206.
Point standings: Kanaan 247, Dixon 220, Castroneves 207, de Ferran 202,
Unser 187, Brack 187, Sharp 162, Hornish 154, Giaffone 151, Scheckter 137,
Takagi 137.

 

2003 IRL IndyCar Series Point Standings
(After 7 of 16 races)
1. Tony Kanaan 247
2. Scott Dixon 220
3. Helio Castroneves 207
4. Gil de Ferran 202
5. Al Unser Jr. 187
Kenny Brack 187
7. Scott Sharp 162
8. Sam Hornish Jr. 154
9. Felipe Giaffone 151
10. Tomas Scheckter 137
Tora Takagi 137
12. Buddy Rice 132
13. Roger Yasukawa (R) 112
14. Greg Ray 95
15. Robbie Buhl 94
16. Jaques Lazier 91
17. Buddy Lazier 86
18. Sarah Fisher 83
19. Dan Wheldon (R) 82
20. Michael Andretti 80
21. A.J. Foyt IV (R) 75
22. Dario Franchitti 72
23. Vitor Meira 58
24. Bryan Herta 46
25. Shigeaki Hattori 43
26. Alex Barron 41
27. Shinji Nakano 35
28. Scott Mayer (R) 26
Tony Renna 26
30. Jimmy Kite 17
31. Robby Gordon 8
32. Airton Dare 6
33. Robby McGehee 5
34. Jimmy Vasser 4
35. Richie Hearn 2
36. Billy Boat 1

(R) -- Series rookie

 

DIXON WINS MBNA POLE AT RICHMOND; CHEVY BOUNCES BACK

RICHMOND, Va., Friday, June 27, 2003 – Scott Dixon won the MBNA Pole for the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway, enduring a one-hour rain delay before making his qualifying run.

Dixon earned his first IRL IndyCarTM Series MBNA Pole at 16.0582 seconds, 168.138 mph in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone on his first of two qualifying laps. He started from the pole in April at Twin Ring Motegi after qualifying was rained out and the lineup set by practice times.

Fourteen of the 22 drivers in the field made their qualifying attempt before heavy rain fell on the ¾-mile Richmond oval, forcing a delay of exactly one hour. Dixon, who was fastest in both pre-qualifying practices, was the fourth qualifier after the rain delay and 18th overall.

“The car was fast all week,” Dixon said. “The Target crew did a great job. I think we had a little more, actually. We ran out of gas between Turns 3 and 4. I think we would’ve broken 16 (seconds). We had great balance. We can’t really complain about anything, really.”

Sarah Fisher qualified second at 16.1673, 167.004 in the No. 23 GMAC/AOL/Dreyer & Reinbold Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone, leading a resurgence for the Chevrolet engine. It was the best qualifying position for a Chevy driver this season, as the engine manufacturer has endured a rough start in the battle with Honda and Toyota, new to the series this season.

“It was a great run for us,” Fisher said. “The folks at GMAC and AOL have been looking for a good run since Indy. This is our chance to shine.

“Chevy shines on the short tracks. I come from a short-track background, and (engineer Mark) Weida and I have a good rapport together. This is our one-year anniversary (working together), and it seems to have all come together tonight.

“I love Richmond.”

The SunTrust Indy Challenge starts at 8 p.m. (EDT) Saturday. ESPN and the IMS Radio Network will broadcast the race live. Dixon will attempt to continue his win streak, as he triumphed June 15 at Pikes Peak.

Tora Takagi qualified third at 16.1944, 166.724 in the No. 12 Pioneer Mo Nunn Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone.

Two-time defending series champion Sam Hornish Jr. also helped return Chevrolet toward the front of the grid by qualifying fourth at 16.2360, 166.297 in the No. 4 Pennzoil Panther Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone.

Defending Richmond winner Hornish qualified third for the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway but had qualified outside the top 10 for the next five races before coming to the short “bullring” at Richmond.

“We all have the same thing in mind,” Hornish said. “We know what we need to do to make the car go fast on the handling tracks. It’s definitely a track that we like to come to. The feel of this track is different than a lot of other ones we go to. Both ends are different.

“Today’s just a big setup for tomorrow night. We really have to make sure we have a good setup that will keep the tires on the car all night long and be able to make passes toward the end of the race.”

Series points leader Tony Kanaan rounded out the top five qualifiers at 16.2516, 166.137 in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone decked out in a special “Hulk” paint scheme.

 

RICHMOND, Va. - Qualifying Friday for the SunTrust Indy Challenge IRL IndyCar Series event on the .75-mile Richmond International Raceway, with starting position, car number in parenthesis, driver and chassis-engine:

1. (9) Scott Dixon, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 168.138
2. (23) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Chevrolet, 167.004
3. (12) Tora Takagi, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 166.724
4. (4) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Chevrolet, 166.297
5. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 166.137
6. (13) Greg Ray, Panoz G Force-Honda, 166.050
7. (6) Gil de Ferran, Dallara-Toyota, 165.964
8. (21) Felipe Giaffone, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 165.586
9. (27) Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda, 165.408
10. (2) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Chevrolet, 165.299
11. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Toyota, 164.526
12. (26) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 164.200
13. (52) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Chevrolet, 164.178
14. (10) Tomas Scheckter, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 163.628
15. (15) Kenny Brack, Dallara-Honda, 163.359
16. (24) Robbie Buhl, Dallara-Chevrolet, 162.933
17. (31) Al Unser Jr., Dallara-Toyota, 162.702
18. (8) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Toyota, 162.611
19. (55) Roger Yasukawa, Dallara-Honda, 162.407
20. (5) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Toyota, 161.193
21. (91) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Chevrolet, 159.865
22. (14) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Toyota, 153.450

 

 

 

 

 

 

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