Thoughts on Edmonton with TCGR Managing Director Mike Hull:
"Edmonton is a fantastic race track. Once again we're in
front of knowledgeable fans who demonstrate their love for Indy Car
racing. It's the combination of a road and street circuit with
real passing zones. The visibility for the spectators and race teams is
unparalleled. You can see racing on the entire course -- like
watching a big video game in the first person. In terms of winning the
2008 race, it came down to the end as it should with the competitiveness
of Indy Car racing. Dixon and Helio had a fantastic race and both
deserved to win the race, it just happened to go Dixon's way. The
way that they raced each other clearly defines the skill set to carry
speed into bumpy corners under braking while working to get the bite
necessary to exit in front of each other. When you think about an Indy
Car race you think about ovals, but Edmonton adds a whole new dimension
to the requirement to win a championship."
TCGR at Edmonton: Dixon recalled, "That was probably our best
weekend of the season from a team standpoint. At the start of the weekend
the car was maybe top-10. And we slowly worked at it and come qualifying
we were fourth, but only a tenth or two off pole. I couldn't
believe we'd come that far after being so far off in first practice
that morning. Then we had a fantastic race car. Oriol Servia was pretty
easy to get past, then Briscoe played a bit of team tactics to give Helio
a chance to pull away. But we really nailed the pit stop and came out
ahead of both of them. Then the car was so good that I could stay ahead
of Helio and save fuel at the same time. We had about a three-second gap
and he was pushing hard, then he made a mistake, slid wide in turn one
and from then on it was smooth sailing. But again, to go from a car like
that to a dominant car in that weekend was one of the most satisfying
races of the year for all of us."
TCGR Open Wheel History Lesson: Franchitti's win in Toronto two
weeks ago was the 70th for TCGR (40 in CART, 30 in IRL). Overall it was
win number 111 for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc. across open wheel,
stock car and sports car racing (1990-present). Dixon's win in
Edmonton in 2008 was win number 102 for the team.
Swapping the points lead...again: Two weeks ago at Toronto,
Franchitti (finished 1st) took over first place in the IndyCar Series
point's race, with Dixon (finished 4th) dropping to second. It was
the third consecutive weekend the Target drivers swapped the points lead,
and the sixth race of the season that either Dixon or Franchitti have
been atop of the IRL standings.
Scott Dixon and the No. 9 Target Team
Defending race winner: "You look at races where you kind of didn't
have the best car but you came away with the win, and other races
throughout the season you had the best car and didn't win. So it's nice
to get those occasionally and it was a real team effort that day. We
weren't maybe the best car, but we put everything together when it
counted and that's what pulled us through especially at the end. For a
lot of the drivers it really brings back a lot of memories of Cleveland
-- very similar, very wide. It's extremely bumpy, you have to get really
aggressive and it has a great flow about it once you get into it. Tracks
like that create great racing because there are such wide entries to many
of the turns and you can try different things. It's a good all-arounder
but it's a tough, tough place. It's fun and it's a track everyone can see
from the grandstands. There are a very limited amount of circuits, apart
from an oval, where everybody can see everything that's going on. It's
like a Milwaukee. For the fans it's fantastic, and to race in Canada is
always a ton of fun. The fans are really enthusiastic and
knowledgeable."
On the verge: Dixon's win in Richmond still has him tied with Sam
Hornish Jr. for the most wins in IndyCar Series history with 19. A repeat
victory this weekend in Edmonton would give him a 20th win and sole
position of the IRL record.
Dario Franchitti and the No. 10 Vaseline MEN Team
Vaseline MEN Paint Scheme: Unilever, one of the world's largest
consumer goods companies, will announce later this week a deal that
introduces Vaseline® MEN as an associate sponsor of Target Chip Ganassi
Racing and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Vaseline® MEN
will be the primary sponsor for of the No. 10 Honda Dallara driven by
Franchitti and the No. 1 Chevrolet driven by Martin Truex Jr. at select
races across the IndyCar and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS). The
Vaseline® MEN paint scheme will make its debut for Target Chip Ganassi
Racing this weekend on the No. 10 car. Vaseline® MEN will debut on the
No. 1 Chevrolet in the NSCS at Dover, Del. on September 27 (ABC, 1:00pm
ET) and again in Martinsville, Va. on October 25 (ABC, 1:00pm ET).
Edmonton Debut: When the unified IndyCar Series debuted at Edmonton in
2008, one prominent name missing was 2007 series champion Franchitti.
After a stint in NASCAR last season, Franchitti will participate in his
first race at Edmonton City Centre Airport. Championship contenders
Dixon, Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves all competed at Edmonton last
season, with Dixon and Castroneves taking podium position and Briscoe
scoring the pole. Franchitti will look to make up ground quickly getting
acclimated to the 1.96-mile track.
Dario's Testing and Overseas Travel: After his win in Toronto two
weeks ago, Franchitti traveled with the team to Mid-Ohio the next day to
test in preparation for next month's Honda Indy 200. From there
Dario went to his homeland of Scotland for the week to relax before
arriving in Edmonton Wednesday.
-credit: cgr
