April 30, 2008

Dan Wheldon, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dan Wheldon (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone) saw Victory Lane for the first time in a year, winning 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, last won in the IndyCar Series at Kansas last April when he led 177 of 200 laps. But the real story last Sunday was Scott Dixon (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing D/H/F), who led 145 laps only to get caught out on his final pit stop two laps before a yellow flag came out. Dixon was relegated to seventh and could only climb back to third in the final 28 laps. “It was a really good weekend for everyone at Target Chip Ganassi Racing,” Wheldon said. “It's unfortunate for Scott (Dixon) about when the yellow fell. I'm sure he'll make up for that later in the year. The cars were very competitive the whole weekend. The crews performed flawlessly, and that's the kind of weekend you want. It's great to have that weekend leading into Indianapolis." Wheldon led the final 49 laps to capture his 14th career IndyCar victory. Andretti Green Racing’s Tony Kanaan (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven D/H/F) finished second, his best finish of the season, and Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske D/H/F) finished fourth and retains the series points lead heading into the Indianapolis 500. The 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 is on May 25 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at noon (EDT) by ABC. The race will also air live on the IMS Radio Network. A Spanish-language telecast of the race will be carried by ESPNDeportes. The IMS Radio Network broadcast also is carried on XM Satellite Radio and www.indycar.com.

(Dana Garrett/IRL)

(Dana Garrett/IRL)
Scott Dixon dominated the IRL race in Kansas, leading 145 of the 200 laps.

(Steve Snoddy/IRL)
J.R. Hildebrand (No. 25 RLR/Andersen Racing Allied Building Products) duels with Arie Luyendyk Jr. (No. 26 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc.) in the Kansas Lottery 100 Firestone Indy Lights race last weekend. It was Hildebrand's first victory in Firestone Indy Lights and the first victory for RLR/Andersen Racing. Robbie Pecorari (No. 55 Guthrie Racing) was second, and Luyendyk Jr. was third. The 0.0553 margin of victory is the eighth-closest finish in series history and the closest at Kansas Speedway. Robbie Pecorari improved 21 positions, the greatest advance from start to finish in series history. The previous mark had been held by Jaime Camara, who advanced 20 positions at Homestead-Miami in 2007. 

Kuno Wittmer, RealTime Racing, Acura. Canadian Kuno Wittmer (No. 44 Acura/RealTime Racing/Eibach/Red Line Oil Acura TSX) won the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car race last weekend at VIRginia International Raceway - recording the fifth-closest finish in series history. Teammates Seth Thomas (No. 38 BimmerWorld BMW 325i), of Cumming, Ga., and James Clay (No. 36 BimmerWorld BMW 325i), of nearby Blacksburg completed the top three. Coupled with a second at the season-opening round at Sebring, Wittmer’s win placed him atop the point standings for the first time in his career. The 25 year-old Montreal native now has 225 points - 28 more than Pierre Kleinubing (Acura). Peter Cunningham (Acura) and Charles Espenlaub (Mazda) are tied for third, with 178, followed by Thomas, with 176. Acura extended its SCCA SPEED Touring Car Manufacturers’ Championship Presented by RACER Magazine lead to 12 over defending Champion Mazda, 19 to seven. This race will be broadcast Wednesday, April 30 at 1 p.m. (EDT). The series next travels to Miller Motorsports Park for Round Three, May 18.

(Mark Weber/SCCA)

(Grand-Am)
Scott Pruett (No. 01 SAMAX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley) held off Ryan Dalziel (No. 2 SAMAX BMW Riley) to win last Sunday's Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway by.548 seconds. It was the third victory in four 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 races for Pruett and co-driver Memo Rojas. Dalziel, who took over from co-driver Henri Zogaib, ran down Pruett in the closing laps, closing to within one second with several laps remaining. Marc Goossens, the only other 2008 Daytona Prototype winner after winning last weekend in Mexico City, joined Jim Matthews in finishing third in the No. 91 Riley-Matthews Motorsports Pontiac Riley.

(Grand-Am)
Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell gave Stevenson Motorsports its second consecutive victory in the No. 57 Pontiac GXP.R. Spencer Pumpelly and Tim George Jr. finished second in the No. 66 TRG Porsche GT3, followed by Leh Keen and Eric Lux in the No. 86 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3. Next action for the Rolex Series will be May 17 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.