Dixon Does It Again with Edmonton Win
Source: Honda Motor Sports
Jul 28, 2008 - 9:57:24 AM
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Scott Dixon and his Target Chip Ganassi Racing team continue to “get it done” in
the 2008 IndyCar Series, combined efforts for their fifth victory of the season
Saturday at the Rexall Edmonton Indy. The win was the result of great race
strategy – saving fuel early for a quick final pit stop on Lap 52 – and savvy
driving in traffic as Dixon held off a strong late-race challenge from Helio
Castroneves.
Indeed, it was Castroneves who finally “blinked”, running wide in Turn One as
the pair worked its way through lapped traffic, after which Dixon escaped to an
almost six-second margin of victory. Castroneves recovered to finish second, but
fell to 65 points behind Dixon in the championship chase with just four races
remaining.
Newman Haas Laningan Racing’s Justin Wilson, who won the
Champ Car race here in 2006 and has never finished lower than fourth in three
previous Edmonton starts, rounded out the top three; while Paul Tracy earned
massive cheers from his countrymen with a charging drive to fourth after
starting 15th.
The 27-car Edmonton field recorded 10,003 miles in
practice, qualifying and racing this weekend at Mid-Ohio, again without a single
engine failure for the Honda HI8R Indy V-8 used by all competitors in the
IndyCar Series.
Behind the lead quartet, Oriol Servia survived a tight
battle in the final laps, including contact with Ryan Briscoe, to wind up fifth,
with Briscoe sixth. Dan Wheldon led another tight group across the finish line,
just edging Ryan Hunter-Reay for seventh. Tony Kanaan came from last on the
starting grid [due to a spin and resulting engine change in qualifying] to
finish ninth, with Darren Manning just half a car length behind to round out the
top 10.
After six consecutive race weekends, and racing activities
including the Indianapolis 500 for 14 of the last 15 weeks, the IndyCar Series
now takes a one-week break before resuming Saturday, August 9 with the Meijer
Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway.
Scott Dixon(#9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Started
4th, finished 1st, his fifth IndyCar Series win and first road course victory of
2008; 15th career win; extended his IndyCar championship points lead to 65 over
Helio Castroneves:
“We definitely went into a fuel-saving mode during
the middle stages of the race, and that, combined with a fantastic pit stop from
my guys, was the difference today. Helio [Castroneves] was very, very quick when
he was running out front. But the Target guys nailed that pit stop and got me
out front, and Helio wasn’t quite as strong when running in my wake. I want to
thank all the fans here in Edmonton. They’ve been fantastic, among the best we
see all year. I can’t wait to come back next year.”
Paul Tracy(#22 Vision/Walker Racing Honda) Started 15th,
finished 4th in his first open-wheel race since the Grand Prix of Long Beach in
April:
“This feels just like a win for us. Just a week ago, I was
hanging out with nothing to do and really, not sure if I still had a career.
What Derek [Walker] and his team have been able to accomplish in only seven days
is simply amazing. And I think I showed that I still know what to do behind the
wheel, as well. Hopefully we can build on this and turn it into a long-term deal
for the future.”
Jack Spurney (General Manager,
Honda Performance Development) on today’s race:
“I think this was a
great inaugural event for the IndyCar Series here in Edmonton, I was impressed
with the size and enthusiasm of the crowd all weekend long, and I think Edmonton
certainly showed itself in a very favorable light. Congratulations to Scott
Dixon and the Target Chip Ganassi Racing team on another well-earned victory,
their first road-course win of this year. Finally, a sincere ‘thank you’ to all
of our associates at Honda Performance Development and our technical partner,
Ilmor. This stretch of six consecutive race weekends was a severe test of both
our people and equipment, and we came through it with flying colors.”
IRL IndyCar Series
Round 13: Edmonton City
Centre Airport, Edmonton
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| 1 |
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Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi) |
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| 2 |
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Helio Castroneves (Team Penske) |
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| 3 |
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Justin Wilson (Newman Haas Lanigan) |
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| 4 |
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Paul Tracy (Vision Racing) |
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| 5 |
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Oriol Servia (KV Racing Technologies) |
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| 6 |
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Ryan Briscoe (Team Penske) |
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| 7 |
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Dan Wheldon (Target Chip Ganassi) |
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| 8 |
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Ryan Hunter-Reay (Rahal Letterman Racing) |
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| 9 |
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Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green Racing) |
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| 10 |
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Darren Manning (A.J. Foyt Racing) |
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| 11 |
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Buddy Rice (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) |
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| 12 |
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A.J. Foyt IV (Vision Racing) |
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| 13 |
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Ed Carpenter (Vision Racing) |
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| 14 |
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Bruno Junqueira (Dale Coyne Racing) |
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| 15 |
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E.J. Viso (HVM Racing) |
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| 16 |
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Enrique Bernoldi (Conquest Racing) |
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| 17 |
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Marco Andretti (Andretti Green Racing) |
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| 18 |
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Danica Patrick (Andretti Green Racing) |
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| 19 |
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Vitor Meira (Panther Racing) |
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| 20 |
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Mario Moraes (Dale Coyne Racing) |
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| 21 |
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Marty Roth (Roth Racing) |
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| 22 |
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Will Power (KV Racing Technologies) |
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| 23 |
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Jaime Camara (Conquest Racing) |
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| 24 |
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Mario Dominguez (Pacific Coast Motorsports) |
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| 25 |
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Townsend Bell (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) |
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| 26 |
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Graham Rahal (Newman Haas Lanigan) |
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| 27 |
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Hideki Mutoh (Andretti Green Racing) |
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