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Bullseyes on their cars — and on their backs

Target Chip Ganassi Racing sweeps front row for Kansas

Some time after Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon put up a four-lap average speed of 213.956 m.p.h. that would eventually win the pole for tomorrow’s Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway, Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves told IMS Radio following his own qualifying run that TCGR was on “another level.”

While race day is yet to come, the two-time Indy 500 champion was correct this afternoon on the 1.5-mile oval. The only man that came close to Dixon was his TCGR teammate and defending Kansas champ Dan Wheldon, who was the final qualifier on the day. The British driver came close, but he fell short of the goal with an average speed of 213.641 m.p.h. in his No. 10 car.

Following the qualifying session, Dixon credited his team with the pole award for their ability to wring out extra speed on a track where aerodynamics is critical:

“I think we have to put a lot of it down to the guys on the team. The guys that prepare these cars are very critical to aerodynamics, especially when you’re by yourself. In a pack, it doesn’t show that much, but a lot of credit goes to them for being ready for today.”

Meanwhile, Wheldon was already looking forward to a big day on Sunday:

“It was a good day for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. I probably wasn’t as aggressive as I should have been. But we do have a lot of work to do to be competitive tomorrow.”

The Target duo will be out to maintain its supremacy in the Sunflower State on race day. They’ll also be looking to stop “Danicamania” cold.

After Danica Patrick’s victory last week at Twin Ring Motegi, she and the No. 7 Andretti Green Racing team brought a fast car to the speedway today. While she wasn’t quite able to stand up to TCGR in qualifying, she was the last of the 26 qualifiers to break the 213 m.p.h. barrier as she threw up a four-lap run at 213.225 m.p.h. — good for third starting position.

While Patrick has been on a whirlwind media journey in the wake of her first IndyCar win, her team has been on a breakneck pace getting her machine ready for Kansas after their return from Japan. The Roscoe, Ill. native gave credit to her AGR crew in that regard:

“We arrived here with a good Motorola car. We had a good first run today, and the car is really well-balanced. Hopefully, we can get out in front of the red and white cars. My crew has worked really hard this week turning the car around.”

Starting alongside her in Row 2 will be Tomas Scheckter, who qualified fourth with an average speed of 212.762 m.p.h. in the No. 12 Luczo Dragon Racing car. The South African driver had warned reporters this week that the LDR of 2008 was not quite the same as the LDR that put out a fifth-place effort with Ryan Briscoe at last year’s Indy 500.

This year, LDR is no longer a satellite of Team Penske like they were at Indy in 2007. However, their car sure seemed to carry the same pace over from one year ago. Meanwhile, Scheckter was happy with his performance. After driving for Vision Racing last season, he found himself without a ride for 2008 after leaving the team. He hopes that a good showing tomorrow is in the cards:

“…The main thing for tomorrow’s race is to stay out of trouble and be good in traffic. There are more cars than what I’m used to running around with, so my goal is to stay out of trouble and race the last 15, 20 laps. If we can come away with a top-five finish and a car that is in one piece, we’ll be extremely happy.”

Row 3 belongs to the Vision Racing team, who has been knocking on the door of victory in the season’s first two oval races. A.J. Foyt IV (212.478) barely out-qualified Ed Carpenter (212.401) to take the inside spot on the row.

Behind Foyt is Saturday’s biggest surprise in Marty Roth, who placed seventh in the No. 25 Roth Racing car and out-qualified both Team Penske machines for Ryan Briscoe (eighth) and Helio Castroneves (ninth). It was another qualifying success for Roth’s improving outfit after Roth’s eighth-place start at Homestead. As for its owner and namesake, he quipped to IMS Radio after his run:

“Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while.”

Briscoe will be looking to build on a ninth-place run at Motegi, while Castroneves is attempting to keep his championship lead after a consistent run in the first three events — a fourth at Homestead and two straight runner-ups at St. Petersburg and Japan. Castroneves will be joined in Row 5 by Panther Racing’s Vitor Meira, who is trying to desperately kick-start his season.

Tomorrow’s race starts at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2, IMS Radio Network stations, IndyCar.com and XM Channels 144 and 145.

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All quotes were taken from today’s trackside report unless otherwise noted. Those quotes have been attributed to their proper organizations.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at 7:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.