THE LINE #445

May 14, 2008

(Jim Haines/IRL)
Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Scott Dixon (far right, above) and Dan Wheldon (center) qualified 1-2, respectively, for the 92nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 in their Honda-powered Dallaras. Dixon turned in a four-lap average speed of 226.366 mph around the historic 2.5-mile oval in his No. 9 machine. The pole is Dixon's 11th in his IndyCar Series career, but his first at the Indianapolis 500 in six starts. Wheldon qualified at 226.110 mph in the No. 10 Ganassi team car, and Ryan Briscoe (above left, No. 6 Team Penske D/H/F) slotted third at at 226.080 mph. This is the first time teammates have qualified 1-2 for the Indianapolis 500 since Team Penske's Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves did it in 2006. Dixon's pole comes with a $100,000 check from PEAK Motor Oil. "It hasn't really sunk in yet," said Dixon, who has two poles and one victory in 2008. "It means a lot. "It's not just for me, though. I think a lot of it, and I think (team owner) Chip (Ganassi) and probably (team managing director) Mike (Hull) and (chief mechanic) Ricky (Davis) have touched on it already, but it's the hard work that goes into it. Indy, for our team, I think our development and working toward this race started well early in the winter. I think Chip and Mike and all the guys in the team are adamant on putting up a strong fight for this year's '500.'" Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske D/H/F), a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, will start fourth at 225.733 mph, while Danica Patrick (No. 7 Andretti Green Racing Motorola D/H/F) turned a four-lap average of 225.197 mph for fifth starting position, and Tony Kanaan (No. 11 AGR Team 7-11 D/H/F) qualified sixth at 224.794 mph. Row Three will be occupied by Marco Andretti (224.417 mph), Vitor Meira (224.346 mph) and Hideki Mutoh (223.887 mph), who is the highest-qualifying rookie. Final round qualifying will take place this coming Saturday, with "Bump Day" coming on Sunday.

(Autostock)
Publisher's Note: Carl Edwards chats with Darlington master David Pearson ("The Silver Fox") before last Saturday night's Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway. Edwards (No. 99 Roush Racing Ford) finished second to 23-year-old superstar Kyle Busch (No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota), who turned in another dominant performance. We can't show you pictures of Kyle or his car, because Toyota refuses to give us access to their motorsports photos, which is just fine by us. I featured Kyle in a recent Fumes column dubbing him one of the emerging talents in racing, worldwide, and he's confirming his prodigious talent week-in and week-out. It's the way Kyle wins that's so special, with blistering speed and a take-no-prisoners attitude on the track that is refreshing to see. And the fact that he doesn't bother with the usual NASCAR politically correct sanitized bullshit makes it even better. -PMD