IRL News - Dixon Snatches Lead From Franchitti
28/08/2007
The championship lead in the IndyCar Series that has been Dario Franchitti's for so long now belongs to Scott Dixon, after a controversial race at Infineon Raceway, and with just two races to run.
Dixon passed Franchitti's crippled car on a restart with eight laps remaining on Sunday and went on to win the Motorola Indy 300 at Infineon Raceway and take a four point lead in a tight battle for the IndyCar Series championship.
Dixon was able to wrest the lead away after Franchitti – who had started from pole position and led most laps – tangled with teammate Marco Andretti on the 68th lap of the 80-lap race.
As Andretti, fresh from the pits, accelerated up the hill from pit out, the two cars collided. Andretti spun, but Franchitti soldiered on with a broken left-front suspension and wing damage.
When asked if he felt the crash overshadowed his victory, Dixon didn't blanch. "It doesn't bother me whatsoever," Dixon said. "We won the race and that's what matters, and it shows on the points board. I'm sure that's going to be a topic of a lot of segments on TV, but I have no problem with that. What we needed to do, we did. It's all fine by me."
Franchitti said he didn't want to assess blame for the accident until he saw a replay of the crash. The two cars were approaching the soft, blind right-hander, and Franchitti attempted to move the No. 27 Andretti Green Racing Honda/Dallara inside Andretti's No. 26 AGR Honda/Dallara.
As Franchitti was about midway through completion of the pass, the two cars touched, sending Andretti into the gravel trap.
"Marco was out there trying to win the race and we were out there trying to win the championship," Franchitti said.
"It was a case of he had his priorities, I had mine. You saw what happened. I'd really like to look at the accident and talk to him before making further comment on it. Right now I've only got my side of it and he's got his."
Team co-owner Michael Andretti blamed Franchitti for the crash, but Franchitti answered back with a frank assessment of the elder Andretti's approach to owning a four-car team that includes his son.
"Michael's in an awkward position as a team owner and a father," Franchitti added. "Sometimes he doesn't have as clear a view as he should have as a team owner. I'm trying my hardest to win a championship for Andretti Green Racing. We'll leave it at that."
The dust-up between teammates only benefited Dixon, whose No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda/Dallara passed Franchitti's ailing car as the two headed into Turn 3 on the restart with eight laps remaining.
"I could definitely see what happened," said Dixon, who trailed the two AGR cars up the hill into Turn 1 just before the crash. "It was one of those situations where Marco was coming out of the pits and Dario was at full speed.
"Dario probably thought because Marco was his teammate that Marco was going to give him some room, but I really don't think Marco knew he was there."
Helio Castroneves also got past Franchitti after Dixon's pass and began pursuing Dixon. The field was slowed by a full-course yellow on the 73rd lap when Scott Sharp spun into AJ Foyt IV, but Castroneves was not able to get by Dixon after that, and the 27-year-old New Zealander claimed his fourth victory in the last six races and the series points lead.
"It's good for us," Dixon said. "We've got a lot of momentum with the three wins in a row and now this one. To be honest, for the couple of races, they've had us covered. For some unknown reason, we've still come out on top."
For Castroneves, the runner-up finish was his best since winning at St. Petersburg in April, providing some reprieve for a season that has had its share of misery.
"Today I wasn't thinking about points," Castroneves said. "It was just win, win, win. That's why I was like, 'I'm just going to go for it.' When I had an opportunity with the yellow, I was going for it."
Following Dixon, Castroneves and Franchitti to the finish line was Tony Kanaan, who Franchitti credited with salvaging third for him by not pressuring during the waning laps. "Tony could have pounced at any point, but he didn't," Franchitti said. "I'm amazed at how much of a team player he is."
Dixon and his crew weren't quite as impressed, especially when they heard the call earlier in the race over the AGR radio frequency for Kanaan to hold up Dixon while he was running third and Kanaan was second behind Franchitti.
"He was not playing fair at all," Dixon said of Kanaan. "We were all warned in the drivers' meeting about team tactics. I think the IRL maybe was watching another race because it was definitely going on."
Kanaan indicated that what he did was within the guidelines set by Brian Barnhart, the IRL chief operating officer and chief steward who warned drivers before the race that team tactics that resulted in a caution would be met with penalties.
While the title is likely to be decided between Franchitti and Dixon, Kanaan still has a mathematical chance to score his third win – which made his selfless act to support Franchitti all the more remarkable.
"I had to protect Dario as much as I could over the final laps," Kanaan said. "The guy has done a lot for me over the years, and I was thinking about the team.
"Motor racing is a very selfish sport, but I'm proud of what I did today. It wasn't going to change anything for me to be second, third or fourth. I want this team to win the championship."
In the end, though, the spoils went to Dixon, who completed a sweep of road courses in the 2007 IRL season, having won earlier at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio. "That's a hell of an accomplishment," Dixon said.
The final two races run on consecutive weekends, with a road course at Belle Isle, Detroit, this weekend, followed by the Chicagoland oval the following week.