Photo by Charlie Leffler
With his win in Richmond, Scott Dixon matches Sam Hornish Jr. with the most wins in the IndyCar Series.

View Photo Gallery

0 Comments Email Article Tweet This Share

Teammates Dixon and Franchitti take one-two in SunTrust Indy Challenge

  Chip Ganassi driver Dario Franchitti won the pole for the SunTrust Indy Challenge but it was teammate Scott Dixon who took the checkered flag giving the Target duo a one-two finish in Richmond this past weekend.

  With the win, Dixon matched Sam Hornish Jr. with the most wins (19) in IndyCar history. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” Dixon said. “Definitely would like one more so we can have that record outright. But achievements like that are something that you can look back and really treasure.”

  The one-two finish also created a similar standing in season points. Franchitti moved into the series points lead followed by Dixon.

  But despite the good finish, neither Ganassi driver was pleased with how things played out on the track because passing was a rarity.

  “It was a bit of a misfortune really,” Dixon said. “It was very difficult to pass because of the track, it is just the last couple of years we’ve slipped into a car that’s not enabling a whole lot of passing. So tonight was a premium of saving fuel. I saved a little bit more than Dario on that first stint.”

  “It was obviously disappointing not to have won, but it came down to a track position race,” Franchitti said. “Scott and I were very, very equal tonight but it was just who was out front and unfortunately my mistake was using too much fuel to pass (Hideki) Mutoh.”

  In fact, Franchitti went so far as to apologize to the fans following the race for its lack of excitement. “I guess the frustrating thing tonight as far as driving the car, my car, it was one of the better ones out there and it was a handful,” he said. “I don’t think anybody had an easy night and unfortunately the fans can’t see that, it doesn’t translate into the show tonight but everybody was out there hanging on.”

  The action on the track started as if it would be repeat of last year’s record setting nine yellow flag wreck-fest when Jaques Lazier spun into the turn two wall on the initial green flag. Yet ironically, the race ended with only four cautions tying it for the fewest in RIR history, but three of the four yellows were the result of wrecks in turn two.

  Nineteen laps into the first green flag racing it was Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe making an early exit from a race for the first time in nearly a year when he also hit the turn two wall.

  Naturally in a position race, it was two yellow flags that contributed greatly to the eventual outcome. When Briscoe’s accident brought out a caution, everyone except Hideki Mutoh and Danica Patrick pitted, putting the Andretti Green duo out of sync with the rest of the field. But it was a gamble that eventually put them in a position to win.
  Because he stayed on the track, Mutoh took the lead for the first time in his IndyCar career and held it for 74 laps.

  Franchitti and Dixon retook the top two slots on lap 111 when the ARG pair finally pitted, but they barely beat the clock when Mike Conway slid into the turn four wall on lap 135. Both Dixon and Franchitti were in the pits and had to make a quick exit in order to retain their lead.

  However, when Patrick and Mutoh pitted for the final time on laps 224 and 229, they put themselves in prime position because Franchitti, Dixon and Graham Rahal, running in third needed one more stop to finish the race. With no passing, the race would have been in AGR’s hands when the lead trio pitted.

  Yet, just as the leaders were due to head in, Helio Castroneves spun into the turn two wall allowing Dixon, Franchitti and Rahal to pit under yellow and virtually seal the win.

  It was not until after the race that Patrick found out how close she and her teammate were to actually winning. “It’s always so disappointing to come and talk to people after the race and figure out what could have been but you know at least it could have been. I don’t think we expected that at the beginning of the weekend.”

  Rahal, Mutoh and Patrick rounded out the top five.