Dixon wins IZOD IndyCar race at Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Target Chip Ganassi Racing owns Kansas Speedway.
Scott Dixon won the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 for the second consecutive year, giving Team Target its fourth victory in a row on the 1.5-mile oval (Dan Wheldon won in 2007 and ’08).
Dixon held off teammate Dario Franchitti over the final six laps after a restart in the first oval race of the season. Andretti Autosport’s Tony Kanaan improved 11 positions to finish third and Helio Castroneves was fourth.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 37 IZOD car for Andretti Autosport, moved up 17 spots from his starting position to finish fifth. Pole sitter Ryan Briscoe in the No. 6 Team Penske car finished sixth with Mario Moraes seventh in the No. 32 KV Racing Technology car. Alex Tagliani was eighth in the No. 77 FAZZT Race Team entry.
This is the 22nd career IZOD IndyCar Series victory for Scott Dixon. His most recent victory came in 2009 at Motegi. Dixon had made six consecutive starts without a victory before today. Dixon was thankful for the momentum, “It’s huge. Winning at Kansas going into the month of May is a big deal. Team Target has had a slow start to the season, but this is what we need and jump back into points table. It’s certainly good to get that momentum going to Indy.”
This is Target Chip Ganassi Racing fourth consecutive race at Kansas Speedway. Dan Wheldon won in 2007-2008. Scott Dixon has won the last two races here at Kansas Speedway.
Helio Castroneves finished fourth. He and Tony Kanaan are the only IZOD IndyCar Series driver to finish in the top 10 in every race this season.
Ryan Hunter Reay finished fifth, his career-best finish on an oval. His previous best finish on an oval was sixth at Indianapolis in 2008. John Andretti finished a career-best ninth. His previous best was 11th in 2008 at Iowa Speedway.
Danica Patrick finished 11th. “Today was really disappointing because I think the GoDaddy car was actually pretty strong. I really wanted to enjoy a great run today, but it just didn’t happen for us.”
