Backstretch Motorsports

GLADEVILLE, Tenn., Saturday, July 12, 2008 - Scott Dixon didn’t have the best car Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway, but he did have the best strategy. Dixon elected to stay out on a late caution to take the lead, and took the win in the rain-shortened Firestone Indy 200.

Dixon grabbed the lead on Lap 149 and had enough fuel to stay in the top spot until rain ended the race with 29 laps left, giving him his third consecutive victory at the Nashville Superspeedway and his fourth this season.

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RICHMOND, Va., Saturday, June 28, 2008 - Tony Kanaan claimed his first victory of the 2008 IndyCar Series season, winning the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway by 4.7691 seconds over Helio Castroneves.

Kanaan, starting from the pole, led 166 of the 300 laps to claim his 13th career victory and his first since Belle Isle in September 2007.

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RICHMOND, Va., Friday, June 27, 2008 - Tony Kanaan won the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award presented by Advance Auto Parts for Saturday’s SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway.

The Andretti Green Racing driver recorded a four-lap qualifying effort of 1 minute, 4.3333 seconds, 167.876 mph in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven machine. The pole is Kanaan’s second of the season and the 10th of his IndyCar Series career.

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INDIANAPOLIS, Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - Marco Andretti was the fastest of 31 drivers who completed laps on the first day practice for the 92nd Indianapolis 500 was opened to all drivers.

Andretti, who finished second in the race as a rookie in 2006, lapped the historic 2.5-mile oval in 39.7177 seconds, 226.599 mph in the No. 26 Team Indiana Jones presented by Blockbuster car.

Tony Kanaan, Andretti’s Andretti Green Racing teammate, was second fastest with a lap of 225.269 mph. Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Scott Dixon and 2005 winner Dan Wheldon were third and fifth, respectively, while Team Penske teammates Ryan Briscoe and two-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves were fourth and sixth, respectively.

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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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AGR’s Tony Kanaan Takes P1 for First Street Course of ‘08

You want drama, you’ve got it. The IndyCar Series day of “Knock-Out Qualifying” at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg provided.

After survivng the unfamiliar oval setting of the Homestead-Miami opener, the street course at St. Pete certainly made a huge difference for the former CCWS transition teams. The comfort zone of twisting turns provided a equalizing atmosphere for the new guys.

Will Power, Team Australia sponsored KV Racing Technologies Honda/Dallara/Firestone driver turned the fastest lap of the IndyCar weekend with a time of 1:02.1355 at a speed of 104.288

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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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