Defending champions believe all 4 of their drivers can win races source: indystar.com Tony Kanaan nearly delivered a perfect season in winning the Indy Racing League's 2004 championship. His team wasn't so precise. Despite helping drivers finish first and second in the Indy-car standings, Andretti Green Racing only won eight of the league's 16 races and snared just five poles. AGR's four drivers led only 52.5 percent of the laps, and only three of them won a race. Each failed to win the Indianapolis 500. AGR can do better in 2005. And the scary part is, it just might. Dan Wheldon keeps getting better, Dario Franchitti has now run a full season in the IRL, and Bryan Herta is a top road-course driver, which should fit nicely in the league's 17-race schedule that includes three non-oval events for the first time. In addition, Kanaan is still the driver to beat when the IRL's season begins Sunday with the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "I think (one of us at AGR) can win the championship again, and we can win more races," Kanaan said. "That's our goal anyway." The Indianapolis-based team produced one of the most impressive seasons in Indy-car history last year, with all four drivers finishing in the top nine at season's end. Kanaan became just the second driver in nine IRL seasons to clinch the title prior to the final race. Kanaan and Wheldon, the season runner-up, each won a league-high three races with Franchitti capturing two. Only Herta failed to reach victory lane after getting there at Kansas Speedway in 2003. Wheldon is excited about AGR's prospects while trying to maintain perspective. "I think we're going to be very, very competitive," he said of the team. "But I think with the league continuing in the direction that it is, I think there's going to be about 12 people that can win an individual race. "It's going to be, I think, a lot more difficult." AGR's top challenge figures to come from Honda-powered Rahal Letterman Racing, which returns Indy 500 winner and third-place season finisher Buddy Rice, who won three races in 2004. Adrian Fernandez also won three races last year, but he isn't competing due to a lack of sponsorship. Kanaan began touting the 26-year-old Wheldon for the 2005 championship minutes after he wrapped up last year's title. Kanaan stands by the claim. "If I had to pick, that's the guy, right there," he said. Wheldon was second to Kanaan last season in number of races led with 11, and he is entering his third season with AGR. The only concern for Wheldon is the loss of race-day strategist Tony Cotman, who is now vice president of operations of the Champ Car World Series. Cotman was replaced by Indy-car veteran John Anderson. Franchitti signed a contract extension during the offseason and is excited about racing on the street circuit of St. Petersburg, Fla., (April 3) and the road courses of Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., (Aug. 28) and Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International (Sept. 25). The Scotsman was among the quickest in winter road course testing. "Maybe we'll see the first 1-2-3-4 (finish for AGR)," he said. Kanaan likes Franchitti's chances to win more than the two races he won last year (Milwaukee and Pikes Peak). "If you compare his first (full) year in the IRL against my first year, he won more races," said Kanaan, whose championship came in his second IRL season. "He will (improve), you watch." Kanaan won one IRL race in 2003 before winning three last year in a season that included a record 15 consecutive top-five finishes and completion of all 3,305 laps, a first in Indy-car racing. Kanaan's goal this year is to win six races, which would break Sam Hornish Jr.'s IRL record of five set in 2002. "What happened last year (with consistency) isn't going to happen again," Kanaan said. "But there are many ways to win a championship." Twenty-two car-and-driver combinations are expected for Sunday's race, including one owned by IRL founder Tony George. It will be the first race that George has entered a car in the series he founded in 1996. George's stepson, Ed Carpenter, is the driver. Among the top newcomers are Cheever Racing's Patrick Carpentier, a winner of five races in Champ Car; former Formula One test driver Ryan Briscoe of Ganassi Racing; and Danica Patrick, who is on Bobby Rahal's team and will have a good chance to become the first woman to win an Indy-car race.
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