Scott Dixon is a glass-half-full guy, but as he was pounding out lap after blazing lap on the 1.52-mile Kansas Speedway oval as the race leader he was just waiting for something to go wrong.
It never did, much to his relief.
Dixon won the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 for the second consecutive year, giving Target Chip Ganassi Racing its fourth victory in a row at the track (Dan Wheldon won in 2007 and ‘08) and the team’s seventh IZOD IndyCar Series 1-2 finish. He held off Dario Franchitti over the final six laps after a restart in the first oval race of the season. IndyCar.com
Dixon also moved within 26 points of the IndyCar Series Championship leader, Will Power, who finished 12th, and became the early leader in the Indy Racing League’s newly structured Oval Championship after the first oval race of the season.
“It was a huge day for us, and good for the points,” said Dixon, a two-time IndyCar Series champion. “And the pit stops were impeccable today as well.”
Tony Kanaan of Andretti Autosport finished third at Kansas for the second straight year, followed by Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves, Andretti’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe of Team Penske in front of a crowd of about 40,000.
“You know, it’s definitely been a really good track for us,” said Dixon, a 30-year-old Australian who now lives in New Zealand. “We’ve always rolled off the truck fairly well, made minor changes, and the cars got a little bit better.
“Success here for us has been fantastic. I hope we can carry this momentum for another 30 days (at the Indianapolis 500).” Kansas City Star
Franchitti ran in the third spot for the final restart but made a pass around Tony Kanaan to take second with less than four laps to go.
“It was good to see my old teammate [Kanaan] out there, but he was a little too close at one point,” Franchitti said.
Mario Moraes, Alex Tagliani, John Andretti and Vitor Meira. Kansas was the first of two scheduled races for Andretti, who is driving an entry fielded by his cousin, Michael Andretti, and seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty. He is expected to compete in the Indy 500.
Despite a 12th-place finish, Will Power remained the points leader. Power, winner of the first two races this season, currently holds a 26-point advantage over Dixon, who moved up three spots in the standings. Castroneves is two points behind Dixon.
Danica Patrick finished two laps behind in 11th. MiamiHerald.com
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IZOD IndyCar Series: Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 - Race Results
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