Chip Ganassi Racing Happy With IndyCar 1-2 At Mid-Ohio

Dixon Wins the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, Franchitti Second

LEXINGTON, Ohio (August 7, 2011) – Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) driver Scott Dixon piloted the No. 9 Target Honda Dallara to its first win of the season at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Dixon’s 26th career win is also the 85th for TCGR and the 144th for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams. Teammate Dario Franchitti took the checkered flag in second.

Dixon took the green flag from the pole for the first time this season and was able to extend his lead over the rest of the field during the early portion of the race. Following a caution on lap 22, Dixon hit pit road with most of the leaders and would restart third behind cars that stayed out. He quickly moved back up into second and began chasing down the leader. Dixon came in for his second stop on lap 55, but after rejoining the race, the caution was displayed and Dixon was placed second behind teammate Franchitti. On the restart, Dixon drove the No. 9 Target Honda back into the lead with less than 30 to go. After pulling away from second, Dixon led the remainder of the race and went on to score his first victory of the season.

Franchitti started the afternoon in third and spent the entire first run of the race inside of the top-three. After the first yellow flag of the day flew, Franchitti drove to the attention of his crew and received new tires and a full tank of fuel. After restarting fourth, he wasted little time moving the No. 10 GE Honda back into the top-three by using the outside lane to make the pass for third. After holding his position for the next stint, Franchitti picked up the lead during a round of green flag stops. While on pit road, the caution flew again and after beating Dixon to the blend line, Franchitti was awarded the lead for the restart. After the green came back out, Franchitti fell to second behind Dixon, but was still one of the fastest cars on the track. The battle for second seemed to be heating up, but with a few laps to go, Franchitti pulled away and took the checkered flag in second.

NOTES

- This is Dixon’s first win of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Season and 26th career win.

- This is Dixon’s third win at Mid-Ohio (2007, 2009).

- Dixon swept the pole and race for the first time since Motegi in September 2009

- Franchitti is still the only driver to have completed every lap in the 2011 season (1483 of 1483).

- Franchitti has finished in the top-five in 10 of 12 races this season.

- Franchitti now has 11 top-10s in 2011.

Race winner Scott Dixon, second place Dario Franchitti, third place Ryan Hunter-Reay

Photo by: Adriano Manocchia

Franchitti now has 428 points extending his lead over Will Power to 62 in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings. Dixon remains third in the standings, 93 points behind Franchitti.

Up next for Team Target is Round 13 of the IZOD IndyCar Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 on Sunday, August 14th (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

TCGR Quoteboard:

Scott Dixon: “A superb job by Team Target today to get a one-two. We worked so hard to get the pole, and to come back today and win is fantastic. We had been leading all day and I wanted to get back to the front. I was lucky enough that Dario did what he had to do and luckily enough he didn’t fight us too hard going into the corner. He did a hell of a job and I respect him for that.”

Dario Franchitti: “Scott [Dixon] had one of those days today. He was in a different zip code and he deserved to win it. From the time we came here for the test, he had been on a mission and totally deserved to win today. A great job by the Target boys to get one-two and a great points day for us. It’s a tough race and it is easy to make a mistake, so I’m pretty happy.”