Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon will start their 2006 season early after being confirmed as part of Ganassi's two pronged Daytona Prototype assault on the upcoming Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. source: crash.net New IRL teammates Wheldon and Dixon are no strangers to the twice round the clock marathon, both drivers having competed in the 2005 event, albeit with different teams. Wheldon and Dixon will be joined by Ganassi's Nextel Cup driver Casey Mears in the #2 Target sponsored Riley-Lexus, and both feel that they have a legitimate chance of overall victory at the end of the month. "Anytime you run in one of Chip Ganassi's cars, you expect to run up front," said Wheldon. "This time around at the Rolex 24, I have two strong teammates in Scott Dixon and Casey Mears. But actually I have five great teammates if you take into consideration the #01 car and their experienced driver line-up. These guys all know how to win races, and I look forward to racing with all of them at the end of the month in Daytona." Last year Wheldon and co-drivers Dario and Marino Franchitti and Milka Duno were in contention for overall victory when a crash put their Howard-Boss Motorsports Crawford out of the running shortly after dawn. Although the defending Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion admits that competing at the Rolex is fun, he will be taking the race very seriously. "I ran this race last year for the first time with another team and had a blast," said the Briton. "But this year it will be different." Dixon finished sixth in the 2005 Rolex with Mears and Darren Manning and, like Wheldon, is a huge fan of the event. "My first Rolex 24 race was quite the experience in 2004, and I think it'll be great to have another year of experience coming back this year," stated the 2003 IRL Champ. "It's a cool race that represents the best of a number of racing disciplines. This is going to be a really fun event, but it's also going to be ultra competitive out there."
Recent Articles
|
Racing Multimedia
Recommendations |