Great start of season for AGR
source:
irl.racing-live.com
Dan Wheldon, driver of the #26 Klein Tools/Jim Beam
car, used a little bit of luck, some great fuel strategy and an enormous amount
of skilled driving to capture his second consecutive win at Twin Ring Motegi.
The win, Wheldon's sixth victory in the Indy Racing League® IndyCar® Series, was
his third checkered flag of the 2005 season.
He becomes the first driver in IndyCar Series history to win three of the first
four races in a season and now leads the IndyCar Series points championship by
46 points.
Wheldon spent the first half of the race among the top-five drivers and by the
halfway point, he was running in third place. Wheldon took his first lead on lap
122 when the race resumed after a caution. On the restart, he passed two
teammates, Bryan Herta and Dario Franchitti, to take the lead. On lap 139 of the
200-lap event, another accident slowed the field and brought strategy and fuel
conservation into the race equation. Two laps later, Wheldon came into the pits
leading the race and took fuel only. Trying to conserve fuel, Wheldon was in
third place late in the race when many cars were forced to pit after lap 195.
On lap 198, race leader Tomas Scheckter ran out of fuel on the front stretch,
the race went yellow on the next lap and Wheldon secured the victory. It was on
his victory lap that Wheldon's Klein Tools/Jim Beam car ran out of fuel on the
backstretch, where it had to be towed in to begin the victory celebration.
Honda-powered drivers swept the top-six positions with Scott Sharp, Buddy Rice
and Danica Patrick finishing second, third and fourth, respectively. Wheldon's
AGR teammates, Herta and Tony Kanaan, rounded out the top six.