Both Target Chip Ganassi Racing's cars battled in the top three for most of the 200 laps at Kansas Speedway. source: irl.racing-live.com But with three laps left, a the side by side battle between pole sitter Dan Wheldon and Sam Hornish Jr. for the checkered flag resulted in a second place finish for Wheldon by just 0.0793 seconds, and fourth place for team-mate Scott Dixon. The previous day, Wheldon had earned his first pole position start for the Target team (third career pole) and the driver of the No.10 Honda Dallara led the race on six different occasions for a total of 45 laps. Wheldon and eventual race winner Hornish traded the top spot twice in just the final five laps, with Wheldon ahead by 0.0078 of a second as they crossed the start-finish line on Lap 197 but the Penske car broke free on the final half lap to take home his third win of the season. "I'm just disappointed to come up short again," said Wheldon who scored his fifth top five finish of the season. "We gave everything we had. I tried pinning him down a couple of times. Obviously, I've got to respect the fact he needs racing room and his car was pushing a little bit. It got to the point where he was just quicker. He just blew right by me on the backstretch on that final lap. Mechanically his car was working a little better. So it was second for us. To be fair, he deserved to win. He drove hard. We just need to keep working harder and try to win." Dixon was also a contender for most of the race and had his own battles up front, leading five laps of his own. However, while in third place following the final caution, the no.9 Target car got too loose on the restart and dropped back four positions. Dixon fought his way back in the final laps for a fourth place finish.
Recent Articles
|
Racing Multimedia
Recommendations |