Richmond Top 3: Ganassi

A pole, a victory, most laps lead; if there was a point to be gained this weekend, the dynamic duo of Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti earned it. In the process Dixon became the first three-time winner of the 2009 season while his teammate Franchitti regained the series points lead buy just one point over Dixon.

Starting from the pole, Franchitti led most of the first half of the race, except for a chunk of laps lead by the out of sequence Hideki Mutoh. In the lead once again when the caution came out prior to his pit stop, he was forced to stop for a splash & go with the pits closed, then pit again a few laps later for a complete pit stop. It was at this point that the lead was handed over to teammate Scott Dixon.

"The timing of the yellow tonight decided the race. My mistake was using too much fuel [early], trying to get a gap, and that ultimately hurt us when the yellow came out just as I was coming into Pit Lane. Once Scott [Dixon] got ahead, we did our best to pass him, but couldn't get it done. I'm disappointed not to win, but the points lead is a definite bright spot for us. We've had a pretty good season so far, and I'm looking forward to going to Watkins Glen next week, and then Toronto."

For Dixon's part, he kept pace with his teammate for the first half of the race and was in the right place, at the right time, with just the right amount of fuel to allow him to take over the lead. From there Dixon did what he does best, pulled away to a comfortable lead and managed his fuel consumption to bring the car across the line and nab his 19th career win.

"Today was all about patience. It was really tough to pass, very slippery off-line, and that made it a track-position race. I've got to hand it to Dario [Franchitti], he was making more passes than anyone tonight. But it was a bit frustrating. I was able to save a bit more fuel than Dario in the first stint, and then we got a break on the yellow [flag] and that got us out in front. It's a one-two finish for the Target Chip Ganassi team, and a huge points night for us, with both Penske cars not finishing."

The team now heads to Watkins Glen where Dixon had a winning streak going until last year's uncharacteristic mistake under yellow, when the Kiwi drove into the back of Ryan Briscoe, taking them both out of the race.

Copyright © 2004-2010 OpenWheelWorld.net