Former series titleholders see another strong run in the making source: indycar.com / Dave Lewandowski Question: What will it take to win the 2007 IndyCar Series championship? Dan Wheldon: "One more point." True, the affable Brit missed repeating as the title holder by the slimming of margins. He tied Sam Hornish Jr. in points after 14 rounds of ovals and street/road courses, but was relegated to runner-up by falling short in the tiebreaker (four victories to two). Entering his second season with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Wheldon and teammate Scott Dixon see another run at the top in the picture. "I've been kind of disappointed with my 2006 season because of all the chances we missed," said Wheldon, who opened and closed the season with trips to Victory Lane. "We came so close in so many races, including the Indy 500, but just didn't quite get it done in the end. You don't want to tie for a championship. You want to win it outright. This year, we'll do everything not to let those opportunities get away from us." Click it: Wheldon, bio, photos and more | Dixon bio, stats and more | Dixon previews season Wheldon, who has won the past two races at Homestead-Miami Speedway and was quickest in preseason testing on the 1.5-mile oval, missed the top 10 only twice (St. Petersburg and Watkins Glen) as he connected with his Dave Higuera-led crew and engineer Andy Brown. "We know each other a lot better now," said Wheldon, driver of the No. 10 Dallara/Honda/Firestone. "I'm really eager to get back to Homestead and start the season off. One of the changes that I'm happy about is running the Dallara chassis on road courses this year. I'm more familiar with it, and I feel really confident and comfortable in the car. It'll help in developing my road course driving technique and hopefully will translate with success on the track." Dixon, who finished a scant 15 points out of the championship, sees opportunities to reclaim the title he won in 2003. The 17-race schedule features five road/street events (up two from '06). Dixon is the two-time defending winner at Watkins Glen and also won at Nashville last year. "The start of the season kind of snuck up on us pretty quick, but I can't wait," said Dixon, driver of the No. 9 entry. "I think this has been the longest off-season I have ever had so I'm pretty excited and pumped up to get started. "You don't really get a really good idea of where you really are until you get that first race under your belt. We saw some of the usual suspects at the front, but preseason testing isn't always a good indication and there are bound to be some surprises in the first two races. We have a lot to build on. Last year was a strong year and we're looking to improve on it. Consistency will be the key and capitalizing on every opportunity. It should be a fun year."
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