Wheldon, the 2005 Indianapolis 500 champion, hadn’t visited Victory Lane since
winning at Kansas last April when he led 177 of 200 laps, and while the Target
Chip Ganassi driver led only the final 49 laps this time around, it was enough
for his 14th career victory.
Wheldon’s teammate - Brisbane-born Kiwi
Scott Dixon - dominated the race by leading 145 laps, however the 2003 Kansas
winner pitted for a final stop two laps before a yellow flag was called – seeing
him shuffled back to seventh with time only to climb to third in the final 28
laps.
Andretti Green Racing’s Tony Kanaan finished second, his best
finish of the season. Helio Castroneves finished fourth and retains the series
points lead heading into the Indianapolis 500, while Marco Andretti and Hideki
Mutoh made up the top six with Sydney’s Ryan Briscoe in seventh after another
strong run.
Danica Patrick, who recorded her first career victory one
week ago, was seventh when she went in for her final pit stop; however a bent
wheel ended her race. She was 19th.
Also seeing their race ended early
was Briscoe’s fellow Australian Will Power - the winner of the Champ Car World
Series finale just last weekend at Long Beach, California – who saw his race
ended on lap 22 due to contact when he got too close to another car and lost
‘aero’, with the air disturbance from the car ahead taking away downforce from
Power’s car.
The 2008 IndyCar Series season now heads to the 92nd
running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as
the series continues on a schedule that is the most diverse in world
motorsports.
The 2008 schedule will take the teams and drivers to short
ovals, superspeedways, and road and street courses including the Gold Coast Indy
300 which is regarded as a ‘crown jewel’ in international motorsport.
The future of the Gold Coast Indy 300 was recently secured for at least
another six years with a deal being reached with the new-look IndyCar Series and
V8 Supercars Australia.
Now regarded as one of the world’s iconic
motorsport events, the Gold Coast Indy 300 will now continue until and including
2013 with major plans already underway for a massive 20th anniversary
celebration in 2010.
With 96 hours of non-stop excitement over October
23-26 as the Gold Coast comes alive to the sound of the IndyCars burning up the
track and Australia’s own V8 Supercars scorching around one of the most famous
beach-side cities in the world, the event is the hottest ticket in town.
Tickets are now on sale for the Gold Coast Indy 300 with ticket options
to suit everyone's needs. Four day Grandstand passes are available for those who
prefer to watch the racing from the comfort of their own reserved seat or for
those who prefer to wander around and soak up the atmosphere then a four day,
weekend or single day General Admission pass might be more their style. For more
information on ticket options go to www.indy.com.au. For information on
Corporate Hospitality packages please call our Sales Team on (07) 5588 6800.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY...
DAN WHELDON (No. 10 Target
Chip Ganassi Racing, finished first):
“It was a really good weekend for
everyone at Target Chip Ganassi Racing,” said Wheldon.
“It's unfortunate
for Scott (Dixon) about when the yellow fell. I'm sure he'll make up for that
later in the year. The cars were very competitive the whole weekend. The crews
performed flawlessly, and that's the kind of weekend you want. It's great to
have that weekend leading into Indianapolis.”
(About staying out longer
than Dixon): "I think to be honest, I was able to sit behind and save a bit more
fuel,” said Wheldon.
“He was doing everything he could. We were running
the same fuel position, and I could hear him lifting. When you're behind a car,
you can save a little bit more and that might have made the difference.”
TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven, finished second):
“If you
watched the last 30 laps of the race, you could see I was just trying to catch
(Dan Wheldon),” said Kanaan.
“I definitely didn't have anything for him.
Second place is pretty good, especially before Indy. We can carry the momentum
into the month (of May). It's a good finish, let's see what happens.”
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, finished third)
“That's two weeks in a row. I don't know what we're trying to do on the
9 car side. We definitely lost the race ourselves,” said Dixon.
“It's
just something we have to work on. At least a Target car won this weekend.
Congrats to Dan (Wheldon). He was just sitting back smartly and saving a bit of
fuel. It's something we need to work on strategy-wise.
“We came away
with good points and are still in the championship and that's what counts.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, finished fourth)
“The
Team Penske car was solid today. We had made some changes between qualifying and
the race, and they seemed to make us a little bit quicker,” said Castroneves.
“However, during the middle part of our runs, we weren’t able to keep up
with the leaders. Thankfully, we were able to stay out of trouble and bring home
a fourth-place finish, which keeps us in the championship lead heading into
Indy."
RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, finished seventh)
“I
thought today was a good race for Team Penske. We had a solid car and I'm fairly
happy with our result,” said Briscoe.
“The final laps were a little
frustrating, because I think I had better than a seventh place car. I was just
trying to play it safe, looking for a solid finish. I thought it was a good day
for me and I feel like I learned a lot out there.”
WILL POWER(No. 8
Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia)
I got caught up at the bottom of the
track, and I couldn’t go high because I wasn’t sure if someone was there,” said
Power.
“I just lost all the air and the KV Racing Technology Aussie
Vineyards – Team Australia car flicked round so quick there was no way I could
fix it.
“It is disappointing. The crew has worked really hard, and I
wanted to do better in my second IndyCar oval race. But now we go to
Indianapolis for the month of May, and we will have plenty of track time to
improve the car. I can also get some more experience on ovals.”
RESULTS: IndyCar Series Road Runner Turbo Indy 300
Results of
the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 IndyCar Series event at the 1.5-mile Kansas
Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver,
chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (2) Dan Wheldon,
Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
2. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
3. (1) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
4. (8) Helio
Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
5. (14) Marco Andretti,
Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
6. (13) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 200,
Running
7. (9) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
8. (5) A.J.
Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
9. (22) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda,
199, Running
10. (6) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running
11. (23)
Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running
12. (20) Graham Rahal,
Dallara-Honda, 198, Running
13. (15) Jay Howard, Dallara-Honda, 197, Running
14. (17) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 197, Running
15. (26) Bruno Junqueira,
Dallara-Honda, 196, Running
16. (24) Milka Dun! o, Dallara-Honda, 195,
Running
17. (27) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 193, Running
18. (12) Ryan
Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 169, Running
19. (3) Danica Patrick,
Dallara-Honda, 156, Mechanical
20. (21) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 150,
Contact
21. (19) Jaime Camara, Dallara-Honda, 150, Running
22. (10)
Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 101, Mechanical
23. (4) Tomas Scheckter,
Dallara-Honda, 96, Contact
24. (16) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 76,
Handling
25. (25) Enrique Bernoldi, Dallara-Honda, 54, Handling
26. (7)
Marty Roth, Dallara-Honda, 41, Handling
27. (18) Will Power, Dallara-Honda,
22, Contact
RACE STATISTICS
- Winner's average speed: 161.774
mph
- Time of race: 1:52:44.9806
- Margin of victory: 2.1778 seconds
- Cautions: 4 caution flags for 41 laps
- Lead changes: 5 among 4
drivers
- Lap leaders: D! ixon 1-26, Wilson 27-31, Dixon 32-77,
-
Castroneves 78! , Dixon 79-151, Wheldon 152-200.
- Point standings:
Castroneves 144, Dixon 138, Wheldon 135,
- Kanaan 129, Patrick 110, Power
97, Andretti 95, Servia 93,
- Carpenter 90, Rahal 88.
ROAD RUNNER
TURBO INDY 300 POST-RACE NOTES:
- This is Dan Wheldon’s 14th career
victory and his first victory of the season. Wheldon’s last victory came at
Kansas Speedway last season.
- Wheldon is the first two-time winner at
Kansas Speedway in eight IndyCar Series races at the track.
- Wheldon led 49
laps in today’s race and has led 382 of 800 laps at Kansas Speedway in the last
four seasons.
- This is the 18th victory for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in
the IndyCar Series. The team also won this season with Scott Dixon at
Homestead-Miami.
- Wheldon and Scott Dixon combined to lead 194 laps,
bringing Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s total to 520 in the eight races at Kansas.
- Tony Kanaan’s second-place finish is his best finish of the season. This
is Kanaan’s 10th consecutive top-10 finish.
- Helio Castroneves retains the
points leading heading into Indianapolis. This is his fifth consecutive top-five
finish.
- Hideki Mutoh’s sixth-place finish ties his career-best finish
which he accomplished earlier this season at St. Petersburg.
2008
INDYCAR SERIES POINTS STANDINGS - POST ROUND FOUR
1. #3 Helio
Castroneves 144 points
2. #9 Scott Dixon 138
3. #10 Dan Wheldon 135
4. #11 Tony Kanaan 129
5. #7 Danica Patrick 110
6. #8 Will Power 97
7. #26 Marco Andretti 95
8. #5 Oriol Servia 93
9. #20 Ed Carpenter
90
10. #06 Graham Rahal 88
16. #6 Ryan Briscoe 72
2008
BOMBARDIER ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS - POST ROUND FOUR
1. #8 Will
Power 97 points
2. #06 Graham Rahal 88
3. #27 Hideki Mutoh 87
4. #36
Enrique Bernoldi 84
5. #33 EJ Viso 83
6. #02 Justin Wilson 71
7. #24
Jay Howard 62
8. #34 Franck Perera 56
9. #19 Mario Moraes 53
10. #96
Mario Dominguez 35
About the Gold Coast Indy 300
The annual Gold Coast Indy 300 is a partnership between the
Queensland Government and IMG. The Gold Coast Indy 300 will be held from October
23 to 26 in 2008.
IMG is the world's premier Sports, Entertainment and
Media Company. IMG is a diversified global business with two major business
segments: IMG Sports & Entertainment, and IMG Media. IMG employs over 2,300
people in 30 countries. Forstmann Little & Co. purchased IMG in 2004.
IMG Sports & Entertainment includes: consulting services; event
ownership and management; fashion events and models representation; licensing;
golf course design; client representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting,
European football, rugby, cricket, motorsports, coaching, Olympic sports and
action sports. In addition, IMG Academies are the world's largest and most
advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport training and educational facility,
delivering world-class sports training experiences to over 12,000 junior,
collegiate, adult and professional athletes each year.
IMG Media, which
includes our content production subsidiaries TWI, Darlow Smithson Productions
(DSP) and Tiger Aspect Productions (TAP), is recognized as a global leader in
the delivery of traditional and new media content and services, with Internet,
broadband and mobile expertise, transforming how audiences access and interact
with content.
IMG Media produces and distributes over 10,000 hours of
sports, documentary, drama, comedy, entertainment, popular factual and
children’s content annually, over multiple platforms across 200 countries,
including award-winning television and radio programming. It also represents the
broadcast rights to many of the world’s premier sporting events and has the
world’s biggest sports archive with more than 200,000 hours of footage.
|
Dan Wheldon took the race win in
Kansas to break a year-long victory drought (Credit - IndyCar Series
Media)
Dan Wheldon stands atop the podium
with Tony Kanaan (left) and team-mate Scott Dixon (right) (Credit - IndyCar
Series Media)
Brisbane-born Kiwi Scott Dixon was
third in the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway (Credit - IndyCar
Series Media)
Sydney's Ryan Briscoe runs alongside
Tony Kanaan during the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 (Credit - IndyCar Series
Media)
Team Australia's Will Power races
with Tomas Scheckter at Kansas Speedway (Credit - IndyCar Series
Media)
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