September 25, 2005
DIXON ON TARGET; TOYOTA WINS WATKINS GLEN
Scott Dixon powered past Dario Franchitti and then Tony Kanaan to take the lead on Lap 48 and then went on to lead the final 13 laps to give Toyota and Target Chip Ganassi Racing the victory in Sunday’s Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International.
- Today’s victory is the fourth for Toyota this season and the manufacturer’s 17th in 48 IndyCar Series events. Toyota also scored 21 CART victories for a total of 38 major open-wheel racing victories over the past five-plus seasons. Toyota-powered cars dominated today’s event – with three cars combining to lead 51 laps in the 60-lap event.
- Scott Dixon’s victory is his first of the season and fourth of his IndyCar Series career – and his first since winning in his championship 2003 season at Richmond. The win marks the fifth for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in IRL competition.
- Giorgio Pantano (Target Toyota) earned his first top-five finish with a fourth today after notching a front-row starting spot yesterday in qualifying for just his second IndyCar Series start. Pantano’s finish gives Target Chip Ganassi two cars in the top-four today.
- Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske Toyota) registered his 11th top-10 finishes in 16 starts with an seventh today. In the process, Hornish led his first-ever IRL road course laps (3). The result marks a career road-course best finish for the Defiance, Ohio, native.
- With his 10th-place finish today, Patrick Carpentier (Red Bull Toyota) notched his 11th top-10 showing of the season. In the last 10 races, Carpentier has three top-five finishes and eight top-10s. In addition, he continues to lead the series in laps completed this season. Carpentier appeared to be on the way to a possible podium finish – running in the top three before losing a gear late in the race.
- Pole-sitter Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Team Penske Toyota) ran first or second for much of the race before developing handling problems in the late-going. His day ended one lap prematurely as he was involved in an incident with Tomas Enge on the final lap, resulting in hard contact for each.
- With his seventh-place finish, Sam Hornish Jr. maintains the third position in the point standings, while Helio Castroneves remains in fifth despite his late
crash. Patrick Carpentier moved into a tie for ninth heading into the season finale Toyota Indy 400 at the California Speedway.
Driver, Start/Finish
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 4/1
#10 Giorgio Pantano Target Toyota (Panoz) 2/4
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Marlboro Team Penske Toyota (Dallara) 11/7
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 3/10
#3 Helio Castroneves Marlboro Team Penske Toyota (Dallara) 1/12
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 20/14
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara 13/17
Quotes:
Scott Dixon, #9 Target Toyota: “The team has been working so good on the road courses this year. The whole weekend really clicked for us. I thought it was a really good race. We made the passes when we needed to – and we had the power and the handling to do it. We had a really good car and the whole team did a great job. I was confident we could hold them off before the yellow, but wasn’t sure about the re-start. We got a great start, though, and ran some really strong laps at the end.”
Patrick Carpentier, #83 Red Bull Toyota: "We had a car that was much better than a tenth place finish. Overall the weekend has been great. We had gear shifting problems the entire race. It was a lot of work, and it got a lot worse just before that last yellow. It was not going into fifth gear. I just couldn't hold on to that fourth place once all the cars were packed together. But, I am happy. You look and see where we are coming from and where we are going. There were four of five guys at the front that were clearly leading the field today and we were a part of that. So, overall it's not that bad.”
Alex Barron, #51 Red Bull Toyota: “It was a long day for us. Nothing seemed to click once the race started. I’m not quite sure what it was, but we just need to go back and look at the data to see why we weren’t quick, especially at the beginning of our stints. I was sliding around quite a bit, and had a couple of long slides on restarts. We had a bit of a problem early making a wing adjustment during our first stop, and I spun late. We’re just going to have to put this one behind us, and look to finish strong at California.”
NEXT: Toyota Indy 400, California Speedway, Oct. 16, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
September 24, 2005
LEXUS PUTS TWO ON THE PODIUM AT WATKINS GLEN
After sweeping the front row in qualifying, Lexus-powered cars earned two of the top three spots in Saturday's Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Crown Royal 250 at The Glen. All three Lexus prototypes in the field finished in the top six.
Luis Diaz and Scott Pruett registered their sixth top-three podium finish of the season with a second in the #01 CompUSA Lexus-Riley, while Oswaldo Negri and Mark Patterson earned an impressive third in their #60 Flight Options Lexus-Riley, and Stefan Johansson and Cort Wagner were sixth in the #02 New Century Mortgage Lexus-Riley.
Diaz began the weekend in spectacular fashion in taking the pole position and was able to maintain the lead for the first 11 laps before a full-course caution where he gave up the lead while making a pit stop. Upon returning to the track, Diaz quickly moved back into the top-five where they would run the remainder of the race. After another full-course caution, co-driver Scott Pruett took over the driving duties in second-place where he waged a classic battle for the lead with eventual winner Max Angelelli. Pruett's efforts came up short, though, as he finished in the runner-up position - just .473 seconds behind. The second-place finish marked the team's sixth podium finish of the 2005 campaign.
In just their third race of the season together for Michael Shank Racing, Negri and Patterson turned in a strong performance on the way to logging their best finish of the year with a third. Negri was particularly impressive as he take over in 16th-place and sliced through the field up to the third spot - just a few hundred yards behind the leaders at the race's conclusion.
"This is just so fantastic," beamed Negri. "We really didn't get off to a fast start this weekend and didn't get as much track time as we wanted before the race, but Mark (Patterson) and these guys on the Michael Shank Racing team did such a fantastic job today. The effort I put in the car doesn't come close to repaying their efforts this weekend, but its great we got on the podium and I can't wait for VIR!"
After qualifying second, the tandem of Wagner and Johansson earned a respectable sixth-place finish. Unfortunately, a potential podium finish was lost when Johansson was knocked into the wall as a part of a mid-race incident that eliminated no less than five prototypes. He was able to soldier on for a sixth-place finish, but never able to get back into contention. The result dropped the duo into sixth-place in the championship race with two races remaining.
The Daytona Prototypes head next to the Virginia International Raceway for the VIR 400 on Oct. 9 to be televised live on SPEED beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
Drivers Car Start/Finish
Pruett/Diaz CompUSA Lexus Riley 1/2
Negri/Patterson Flight Options Lexus Riley 14/3
Johansson/Wagner New Century Mortgage Lexus Riley 2/6
CASTRONEVES ON POLE AS TOYOTA TAKES TOP FOUR SPOTS IN WATKINS GLEN QUALIFYING
Helio Castroneves edged fellow Toyota driver Giorgio Pantano by just two one-hundredths of a second as Toyota-powered cars swept the top-four positions in qualifying for Sunday’s Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix presented by Argent Mortgage at Watkins Glen International. Patrick Carpentier and Scott Dixon earned the third and fourth spots on the grid for Toyota.
- Today’s front row sweep is the fifth of the season for Toyota after recording similar feats at Richmond, Milwaukee, Pikes Peak and Sonoma.
- Helio Castroneves’ pole position is the sixth for Toyota this season and the manufacturer’s 22nd in IndyCar Series competition in 48 events.
- The pole is the second of the season for Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Team Penske Toyota) and the 11th of his IndyCar Series career – the first on a road course, although he had earned five pole positions on road courses in CART competition.
- The second-place is the best qualifying effort for Giorgio Pantano (Target Toyota) in IndyCar Series competition coming in just his second race. The 26-year-old Italian has previously raced only on the road course at Sonoma, Calif., where he qualified 13th and finished 14th. He did run in the top 10 during much of the Sonoma race before being involved in a late-race incident that ended his day prematurely.
- Target Chip Ganassi Racing was the only team to qualify more than one car in the top-five today with Giorgio Pantano in second and Scott Dixon in fourth. Dixon registered the top overall time in single-car qualifying today.
- Patrick Carpentier (Red Bull Toyota) earned his best IndyCar qualifying mark to date with a third today. Carpentier appeared to be on his way to his first front-row start until Pantano slipped past him in the last minute of qualifying.
- Helio Castroneves has now qualified in the Firestone Fast Six at all three road course events this season. Castroneves joins Tony Kanaan as the only two drivers in the series to register that feat. The two-time Indy 500 winner qualified second at each of the first two road course events.
Car # Driver Car Qualifying
#3 Helio Castroneves Marlboro Team Penske Toyota (Dallara) 1st
#10 Giorgio Pantano Target Toyota (Panoz) 2nd
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 3rd
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 4th
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Toyota (Dallara) 11th
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara 13th
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 20th
Quotes:
HELIO CASTRONEVES, #3 Marlboro Team Penske Toyota: “When you go for the single lap qualifying, you want to be sure you put it in the top six. I was taking it easy, to make sure we were in the top six. But when you get to the top six, man, you're going for it. You're not messing around. When I got my pole lap, the track was getting better, and I was sure one of those guys was going to beat me. When I heard (Giorgio) Pantano was on the course for one last run, I was hoping he ate a lot of macaroni today. We worked really hard, and we got what we wanted today."
GIORGIO PANTANO, #10 Target Toyota: “We knew we had quite a good car on the long runs. Our goal was to be in the top six for the ten-minute qualifying, and we did that. We're starting second. The important thing is to start on the front row. We did the job, and now tomorrow is the hard race. We have a very good car."
PATRICK CARPENTIER, #83 Red Bull Cheever Toyota: “I went out there and wasn't nervous at all. We had nothing to lose coming in. We were happy with sixth, so we just went for it. We knew our car was better in the long run, so it was a really fun ride. I have never done a lap like that in my life. For us, it was by far the fastest time we've accomplished here by more than a second and a half. During my top lap, I missed the apex of the last turn by about 10 feet, so I left a little bit out there. Other than that, I got everything I could out of the car. The team and Toyota did a great job giving me a great car for this weekend. Starting in the top three is fantastic. The race is going to be very competitive, but when you're starting up front, it's a whole different game. I'm definitely looking forward to it.”
SCOTT DIXON, #9 Target Toyota/Firestone: “It was alright. Just from the get-go, we decided to do one long run with the car. We didn’t really think we could make any time up after the tires had one (heat) cycle in them. We weren’t as good as we’d have liked. We had a lot of understeer and the more I pushed on it, to try and get more time, the more I was waiting for the front end to hook up. I think it’s pretty good for the race. Nobody has done any really long runs, so we should be all right. It was a good day for the team with two in the top four, which is nice for a change. The car seems strong. The cars for the first six or seven laps seemed to get quicker and quicker. Hopefully we’ll have a consistent car.”
September 23, 2005
DIAZ, LEXUS WIN GLEN DP POLE
After a heart-breaking finish at the most recent Daytona Prototype race at Phoenix, Luis Diaz bounced back strong to give Lexus the pole for Saturday’s Crown Royal 250 at Watkins Glen International.
The pole is the 15th for Lexus in 23 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series events – 14 of those coming courtesy of the #01 CompUSA Lexus from Ganassi Racing.
Diaz’ strong run today bodes particularly well considering co-driver Scott Pruett topped the time charts yesterday in the weekend’s first practice session. The duo enters tomorrow’s race in second-place in the championship hunt and already have a pair of victories to their credit in 2005.
The CompUSA entry wasn’t the only Ganassi Lexus in the front, as teammates Cort Wagner and Stefan Johansson will start tomorrow’s 250-mile race from the third position on the grid after a strong run by Wagner in the #02 New Century Mortgage Lexus Riley. They currently are fifth overall in the points chase.
Returning to the grid for the third time this season is the Michael Shank Racing (MSR) duo of Mark Patterson and Oswaldo Negri. Their #60 Flight Options Lexus Riley suffered a broken belt yesterday limiting the team’s practice time. Wet weather conditions this morning cost the team more practice time, although Negri registered the fifth fastest time in today’s second session. The lost practice time finally caught up with the squad in today’s qualifying session, though, as they placed 14th. Patterson and Riley are scheduled to campaign the final three races of the season with MSR.
In addition to the 15 pole positions, Lexus-powered Daytona Prototypes have won seven races heading into tomorrow’s action.
Saturday’s Crown Royal 250 will get the green flag at 3:00 p.m. EDT with SPEED providing live flag-to-flag coverage.
Drivers Car Starting Position
Diaz/Pruett #01 CompUSA Lexus Riley 1st
Wagner/Johansson #02 New Century Mortgage Lexus Riley 3rd
Patterson/Negri #60 Flight Options Lexus Riley 14th
CASTRONEVES LEADS AS TOYOTA TOPS GLEN SPEED CHARTS
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Team Penske Toyota) registered the fastest overall practice speed, while fellow Toyota pilot Scott Dixon (Target Toyota) was third in Friday’s first day of practice in preparation for Saturday’s qualifying for the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix presented by Argent Mortgage.
- After registering the fastest time today, Castroneves will get to decide the qualifying order tomorrow in terms of whether the field qualifies fastest to slowest or vice versa for single-car qualifying prior to the Firestone Fast Six group qualifying.
- After starting second in each of the previous two road course events, Helio Castroneves will try to break that streak with his second pole position of the season tomorrow.
- In addition to the top marks registered by Castroneves and Dixon, Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Giorgio Pantano (sixth) and Red Bull Cheever Racing’s Patrick Carpentier (eighth) combined to give Toyota four of the top eight cars today.
- Sunday’s Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix will be televised live on ABC beginning at 3:30 p.m. EDT
Car # Driver Car Position
#3 Helio Castroneves Penske Toyota (Dallara) 1st
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 3rd
#10 Giorgio Pantano Target Toyota (Panoz) 6th
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 8th
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Toyota (Dallara) 11th
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara 14th
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 19th
September 19, 2005
FAST FACTS - Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix
Sept. 25, 3:30 p.m. EDT on ABC
Watkins Glen International
60 laps/204 miles on 11-turn road course
Race No: 16 of 17
TOYOTA NO STRANGER TO THE GLEN – While the IRL IndyCar Series is scheduled to make its first trip to Watkins Glen, Toyota’s ties with the historic track go back almost 30 years.
The manufacturer is certainly no stranger to on-track success at Watkins Glen, winning six times over an eight-year span in IMSA competition from 1986 to 1993. Juan Manuel Fangio II won three consecutive GTP races from 1991 through 1993. In addition, Toyota Celica GTO cars won three straight at The Glen from 1986 through 1988. Dennis Aase and Chris Cord drove a Toyota Celica to victory in the 1988 GTO race, Willy T. Ribbs led Cord in a Toyota one-two GTO finish in 1987 and Dennis Aase was triumphant in 1986.Toyota also served as the title sponsor of the U.S. Grand Prix Formula One race from 1978 to 1980. Included in the activities was an east coast version of today’s popular Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. This year, Toyota marked its return to Watkins Glen as a sponsor and currently serves as the Official Vehicle of the world famous track.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS – Toyota-powered cars have been in position to reach victory circle each of the first two road course events run in IndyCar Series competition, yet, the manufacturer has gone away win-less after on-track incidents forced the top-running Toyotas out of each event.
At St. Petersburg, Ryan Briscoe (Target Toyota) led in the final 10 laps before a late-race incident with Tony Kanaan. Briscoe then won the pole at Sonoma and led fellow Toyota pilot Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Team Penske Toyota) as the two fastest cars on the track. Unfortunately, both were involved in a three-car incident that ended the day for each.
Castroneves has been the victim of bad luck in the two road course events, qualifying second at each event only to be involved in accidents at both races. In addition to getting caught up in the crash in Sonoma, he was running second at St. Petersburg before being involved in an incident while attempting to lap A.J. Foyt IV early in the race.
QUIETLY SPECTACULAR – While Sam Hornish Jr. won’t be taking away a third IndyCar Series title this year, he has quietly put together another spectacular season. The Defiance, Ohio-native has earned seven top-three finishes with six of those coming in the top-two. Amazingly, Hornish currently sits in third-place overall, despite finishing only 10 of the 15 races to date.
DOWN TO SEVEN – With Ryan Briscoe’s injury at Chicagoland, Target Chip Ganassi Racing will field only two cars for the final two races of the 2005 season. Toyota will power only seven cars at Watkins Glen. As it has for each of the season’s first two road course events, the first-year Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing team will skip this weekend’s event.
EXPERIENCED FIELD - Six of the seven Toyota-powered drivers in this weekend’s field have road racing on their resumes. Only Vision Racing’s Ed Carpenter came up without extensive road course experience as he honed his talents on the short tracks in the Midwest.
PANTANO RETURNS TO TCGR – Former Formula 1 driver turned Giorgio Pantano will make his second start with Target Chip Ganassi Racing this weekend. The 26-year-old Italian was impressive in his IRL debut at Sonoma - registering the fastest time in one of Friday’s practice sessions. Pantano struggled somewhat in qualifying, resulting in a 13th starting position, but recovered to run in the top-10 through much of the race before being knocked off track by another car in the waning laps.. While currently campaigning the GP2 series with the Super Nova team, Pantano competed in 14 Formula One races for the Jordan team in 2004.
POINTS CHASE - Three Toyota-powered drivers continue to rank in the top-10 in the IRL IndyCar Series point standings. Sam Hornish Jr. moved to within 12 points of second after a third-place finish at Chicago. Fellow Marlboro Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves, buoyed by a second place finish at Chicagoland, moved up to fifth. Red Bull driver Patrick Carpentier, who finished fourth on the last road course at Sonoma, is currently 10th; only 12 points out of eighth-place.
Toyota IndyCar Series Driver Line-Up and Position Entering Watkins Glen
Car # Driver Car Current Point Standings (wins)
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Toyota (Dallara) 3rd (Phoenix, Milwaukee)
#3 Helio Castroneves Penske Toyota (Dallara) 5th (Richmond)
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 10th
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 11th
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 15th
#33 Ryan Briscoe Pioneer/Target Toyota (Panoz) 16th
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 20th
#91 Jimmy Kite Ethanol Toyota (Dallara) 22nd
#10 Giorgio Pantano Target Toyota (Panoz) 28th
September 11, 2005
CASTRONEVES, HORNISH EDGED IN THRILLER AT CHICAGO
Helio Castroneves was edged out by just one one-hundredth of a second as he and Marlboro Team Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr. finished second and third in a photo finish to lead Toyota in Sunday's Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway.
- With his second-place finish today, Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Team Penske Toyota) now has eight top-five and nine top-10 finishes for the season. The strong showing moved him back into the top five in points.
- Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske Toyota) registered his seventh top-three finish of the season today with his third-place showing. For the year, he has 10 top-10 finishes.
- With his ninth-place finish today, Patrick Carpentier (Red Bull Toyota) notched his tenth top-10 finish of the season. In the last nine races, Carpentier has three top-five finishes and seven top-10s. In addition, he continues to lead the series in laps completed this season.
- Both Ryan Briscoe (Target Pioneer Toyota) and Alex Barron were eliminated from the race in an early three-car incident. In addition, Scott Dixon (Target Toyota) ran over debris from the crash suffering extensive damage that caused him to lose eight laps.
- Three Toyota-powered drivers continue to rank in the top-10 in the IRL IndyCar Series point standings. Sam Hornish Jr., closed to within 12 points of second-place Tony Kanaan. Helio Castroneves gained one position in the points chase to fifth. Patrick Carpentier is in 10th, but remains lodged in a tight three-way battle for eighth. Dan Wheldon, the 2000 Toyota Atlantic Championship runner-up, remains the championship leader and can wrap up the title by starting the next race at Watkins Glen. If he accomplishes the feat, it will mark the third IRL IndyCar Series won by a Toyota Atlantic grad.
Driver, Start/Finish
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Toyota (Dallara) 4/3
#3 Helio Castroneves Penske Toyota (Dallara) 11/2
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 16/9
#10 Jaques Lazier Target Toyota (Panoz) 21/16
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 19/17
#91 Jimmy Kite Ethanol Toyota (Dallara) 17/18
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 22/19
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara 18/21
#33 Ryan Briscoe Target Pioneer Toyota (Panoz) 22/22
QUOTES:
Helio Castroneves, #3 Marlboro Team Penske Toyota: "I can't believe it. To lose (a race) that close, I don't what to feel, to be honest right now. Should I be happy? Should I be sad? I don't know. It's a weird feeling to finish second in this kind of situation, so close. We got ourselves back a little bit into the championship, and moved up into fifth. Let's keep moving. We gave it all we had, but we just couldn't push ahead on the final lap. Being realistic, Dan (Wheldon) is probably going to win the championship, but it would be a great goal to have two Marlboro Team Penske cars finish in the top five in points."
Sam Hornish, Jr., #6 Marlboro Team Penske Toyota: "It was an exciting race today, we just didn't have enough. With the way the yellow flags worked towards the end of the race I fell a bit back in the field and had to work my way up to the leaders in the final laps. I was able to get right behind Helio (Castroneves) and I tried to push him in front of Dan (Wheldon) into first. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way and we just couldn't get it done. I thought we had a great race and my crew really did a wonderful job getting me in and out of the pits. Now we have to turn our focus back to road courses so we're ready for Watkins Glen in a couple weeks."
Alex Barron, #51 Red Bull Toyota: "I just felt a thump from the rear of my car. Ryan was up over me. He was upside down and there was a lot of fire. It was quick thud and then the next thing you know we were in the wall. It was all behind me and people were moving around, so I can’t really say (what happened) until I see the video. I just felt a thump and a lot of fire in front of me."
Patrick Carpentier, #83 Red Bull Toyota: "It was a great day for me, but I'm definitely sorry about what happened to Alex. You always hate it when these things happen, and he's just ended up in the wrong place a couple of times this year. For me, it was very fun racing today. Things were a bit crazy at the beginning, but the guys calmed down and made the car a lot of fun to drive. This was by far my best race on one of these fast ovals. It was the first time that we were able to stick with the leaders, but it's not going to be the last."
Next: Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix Presented by Argent Mortgage, Sept. 25, 3:30 p.m. EDT – ABC
September 10, 2005
DOMINATING PERFORMANCE GOES FOR NAUGHT FOR LEXUS AT PHOENIX
After dominating the first half of the race, the #01 CompUSA Lexus-Riley of Luis Diaz and Scott Pruett saw it all go for naught when Pruett was hit by another car and knocked into the wall on a re-start just past the midway of Saturday night's Phoenix 250. The car that caused the incident was penalized by Grand American officials, but the hard contact with the wall resulted in heavy rear-end damage for the #01 and the CompUSA team was forced to retire in 16th place.
Prior to the incident, Diaz registered a spectacular drive. After taking the lead on Lap 15, the second-year driver pulled out a 17-second lead and lapped all but the top eight cars before a string of yellows bunched the field. Instead of cutting into the championship lead with a potential victory, Pruett and Diaz lost 17 points. They remain in second place, but now trail by 36 points with just three races remaining.
"This is just so costly for us,” said Diaz. “I can't believe it. This was a real crucial race for us in the championship and we had no control over what happened to us tonight."
The #02 New Century Mortgage Lexus-Riley driven by Cort Wagner and Stefan Johansson suffered their share of ups and downs as well at Phoenix. After starting eighth, Wagner maneuvered into the top-five in the first 40 laps. Their run to the front was de-railed shortly afterward as the car was spun around while passing lapped traffic, dropping them back into eighth-place.
Down, but not out, Wagner handed the car off to Johansson on Lap 61 and the Swede put on an impressive show as he moved into the top three late in the race. A late "push" condition dropped them back to an eventual fourth-place finish. The result moved the squad into a tie for fifth-place in the championship.
"This place is like Bristol for sports cars," said Wagner after the incident-filled event. "It’s exactly what I predicted would happen- lots of on-track tempers and not enough room to vent. I think we all know what happens when Bristol hosts the NASCAR races. This might as well be our version of Bristol."
The Daytona Prototypes return to Watkins Glen for the Crown Royal 250, Saturday, September 24, to be run in conjunction with the IRL's Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix weekend. The race will be televised live on SPEED at 3:00 pm ET.
Drivers Car Start/Finish
Pruett/Diaz CompUSA Lexus Riley 3/16
Johansson/Wagner New Century Mortgage Lexus Riley 8/4
September 06, 2005
FAST FACTS - PEAK ANTI-FREEZE INDY 300
Sept. 11, 1:30 p.m. EDT on ABC
Chicagoland Speedway
200 laps/300 miles on 1.5-mile D-shaped oval
Race No: 15 of 17
CHICAGO IS HORNISH’S KIND OF TOWN – No driver has enjoyed more success at the Chicagoland Speedway than Marlboro Team Penske’s Sam Hornish Jr. In four events on the 1.5-mile oval, Hornish Jr. has registered two wins which were very memorable, a second and a sixth. In addition, the Defiance, Ohio-native also was victorious in Toyota Atlantic competition at the defunct Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero.
The 2002 win over Al Unser Jr. came in the closest race in IRL history, winning by only .0024 seconds. Amazingly enough, Hornish Jr.’s 2003 victory may have been even more spectacular as he won a three-car photo finish by just .009 seconds over Scott Dixon (Target Toyota) and Bryan Herta.
GOING THE EXTRA MILE…AND A HALF – In IRL competition this season, Toyota-powered cars have had a moderate amount of success on the one-and-a-half mile tracks. Sam Hornish Jr. has fared the best with a pair of runner-up finishes at Motegi and Texas. Both Alex Barron (fourth at Kentucky) and Helio Castroneves (fifth at Homestead, Texas and Kentucky) have also logged top-five finishes this season. Three different drivers have earned honors as the top finishing Toyota in the season’s first five 1.5-mile events. In addition, Sam Hornish Jr. won the pole position at Motegi.
Toyota’s top finisher at each of the 1.5 mile tracks (2005 season):
Homestead – Sam Hornish Jr. – 2nd
Motegi – Sam Hornish – 7th
Texas – Sam Hornish Jr. – 2nd
Kansas – Darren Manning – 7th
Kentucky – Alex Barron – 4th
JAQUES’ BACK – After sitting out the most recent round at Sonoma while rookie Giorgio Pantano took over on the road course, Jaques Lazier will return in the #10 Target Toyota at Chicago. Lazier won the inaugural IRL event at the Chicagoland Speedway in 2001, edging out Sam Hornish Jr. in the process.
…HEMELGARN, TOO – The first-year Ethanol Hemelgarn Racing team returns to action with driver Jimmy Kite this weekend at the Pike Anti-Freeze 300 after skipping the most recent event at the Infineon Raceway. Due to its late entry into the series, the team didn’t feel there was enough time to develop an adequate road course program this season and also will not compete at Watkins Glen.
POINTS CHASE - Three Toyota-powered drivers continue to rank in the top-10 in the IRL IndyCar Series point standings. Sam Hornish Jr. fell to third after gearbox problems plagued him in Sonoma. He’s now 17 points out of second. Fellow Marlboro Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves is currently sixth. With his recent surge, Red Bull driver Patrick Carpentier has moved into ninth-place overall, 19 points out of the eighth spot.
TOYOTA DRIVERS AT CHICAGOLAND – Only five of the current Toyota-powered drivers have previously raced at Chicagoland, with all notching at least a seventh-place finish or better. The following is the best finish for each at Chicagoland Speedway:
Sam Hornish Jr. – 1st, 2002, 2003
Jaques Lazier – 1st, 2001
Scott Dixon – 2nd, 2003
Helio Castroneves – 4th, 2003
Alex Barron – 7th, 2003
Patrick Carpentier – 1st Chicagoland start
Ryan Briscoe – 1st Chicagoland start
Jimmy Kite – 1st Chicagoland start
Toyota IndyCar Series Driver Line-Up and Position Entering Chicago
Car # Driver Car Current Point Standings (wins)
#6 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Toyota (Dallara) 3rd (Phoenix, Milwaukee)
#3 Helio Castroneves Penske Toyota (Dallara) 6th (Richmond)
#83 Patrick Carpentier Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 9th
#51 Alex Barron Red Bull Toyota (Dallara) 11th
#9 Scott Dixon Target Toyota (Panoz) 15th
#33 Ryan Briscoe Pioneer/Target Toyota (Panoz) 16th
#20 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Toyota (Dallara) 18th
#91 Jimmy Kite Ethanol Toyota (Dallara) 22nd
#10 Jaques Lazier Target Toyota (Panoz) 24th
LEXUS GRAND-AM BATTLE CONTINUES AT PHOENIX
With just four races remaining, it’s now-or-never time for Scott Pruett, Luis Diaz and the CompUSA Lexus team as the Rolex Sports Car Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway for the Phoenix 250 Saturday night.
Coming off a second-place finish at Mid-Ohio, Pruett and Diaz are now within 19 points of the series leading SunTrust team. This weekend, the pair will head to a track where they finished second a year ago and attempt to cut the lead further for the season’s final three races. For the year, their #01 CompUSA Lexus-Riley has registered two wins, five top-three and eight top-five finishes in 10 races.
Pruett and Diaz aren’t the only members of the Ganassi Racing team looking to rise within the point standings at Phoenix. Stefan Johansson and Cort Wagner currently sit in sixth place in their #02 New Century Mortgage Lexus-Riley – just one point out of the top five. A late, unscheduled pit stop at Mid-Ohio cost the duo their second podium finish of the season. Wagner drove to a third-place showing on the PIR infield road course a year ago, while Johansson is scheduled to make his first Daytona Prototype start at Phoenix this weekend.
Michael Shank Racing (MSR), which returned to the Lexus camp at Mid-Ohio with drivers Oswaldo Negri and Mark Patterson, will not be running this weekend in Phoenix. The team will resume action in the Crown Royal 250 at The Glen on Sept. 24. After a pole-winning “one-off” earlier this year at Laguna Seca, MSR experienced mixed results at Mid-Ohio. A pair of impressive runs of second and fourth in practice opened the weekend, but a red flag in qualifying dropped the team well back on the starting grid. On race day, an early spin dropped the #60 Flight Options Lexus-Riley three laps down and into 44th place. Despite the early problems, Oswaldo Negri climbed in the car and gained 27 positions for an eventual 17th-place showing. The team is scheduled to campaign the final three races on the 2005 schedule.
Lexus-powered Daytona Prototypes have won seven races and registered 14 pole positions in 22 Rolex Series events to date.
Qualifying for the Phoenix 250 is scheduled for Sept. 9 at 6:45 p.m. EDT. Saturday’s start will get the green flag at 7:00 p.m. with SPEED providing one-hour delayed coverage beginning at 8 p.m. Saturday evening. The Rolex Sports Car Series event is planned for 250 miles or 166 laps on the 1.51-mile road course with a time limit of two hours and forty-five minutes.