Backstretch Motorsports

KANSAS CITY, KAN., Sunday, April 27, 2008 - Dan Wheldon won for the first time in a year, taking the checkered flag in the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway to become the first two-time winner in eight IndyCar Series races at the track.

Wheldon, the 2005 Indianapolis 500 champion, hadn’t visited Victory Lane since winning at Kansas last April when he led 177 of 200 laps.

This year, the Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver led only the final 49 laps, but it was enough for his 14th career victory.

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KANSAS CITY, Kan., Saturday, April 26, 2008 - Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon swept the front row starting positions for Sunday’s Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Dixon claimed his 10th career PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award with a four-lap average speed of 213.956 mph (1 minute, 42.3014 seconds). Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, will share Row 1 with teammate Dan Wheldon, the defending race winner. Wheldon, the final qualifier, had a four-lap average of 213.641 mph (1:42.4521).

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The new era of American open-wheel racing started with a bang with last night’s GAINSCO Indy 300. New Zealander Scott Dixon picked up right where he left off last year by notching another season’s first event win on his already impressive IndyCar Series resume. It is Dixon’s second victory on the 1.5 mile Homestead-Miami oval.

It wasn’t a cakewalk for the Target Chip Ganassi pilot with a continuation of last year’s battles swapping turns at the point with Andretti Green Racing’s Tony Kanaan from the drop of the green flag.

“Yeah, today was a tough race.” said Dixon, “I think early on we thought we had a pretty good car. We opted to go a little lighter on downforce than some of the others on the grid. In those longer stints, it started to hurt us. We couldn’t keep the car on the bottom or the middle, to be honest. I tried running high where the other guys were. I couldn’t keep the car down, especially in (Turns) 3 and 4. (Turns) 1 and 2, I didn’t have a problem.”

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Scott Dixon wins his ninth career PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award. His last pole came at Twin Ring Motegi in 2007. It his first career pole at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
This is Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s 16th pole in the IndyCar Series and the team’s second consecutive pole at Homestead-Miami.
Ed Carpenter qualified a career-best second. His previous best was fourth at Michigan International Speedway in 2006.
A.J. Foyt IV qualified a career-best third. His previous best was sixth at Chicagoland Speedway in 2005.
Marty Roth qualified a career-best 10th. His previous best start was 17th at Homestead-Miami in 2007 and Michigan in 2006.
Hideki Mutoh was the top-qualfying rookie at a career-best ninth. He qualified 13th in his IndyCar Series debut last September at Chicago.
Franck Perera was the highest-qualifying driver among those transitioning to the IndyCar Series. He will start 15th.

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