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Low, then high times for Ganassi gang in Texas

Wheldon crashes in practice, but Dixon takes pole for Texas tilt

Charles Dickens would be proud.

The Target Chip Ganassi Racing team experienced the best of times and the worst of times yesterday at Texas Motor Speedway, but in the end, they came up with the pole position that matters for tonight’s Bombardier Learjet 550K (9:30 p.m. ET on IMS Radio, XM 144/145 and IndyCar.com; 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2).

Dan Wheldon annihilated his No. 10 Polaroid machine during practice. After slamming into the wall in Turn 4, he slid into the infield grass and flipped over before coming to a stop upside-down. Meanwhile, his teammate Scott Dixon continued to show that he’s the man to beat everywhere the IndyCar Series goes. He’ll start from P1 after putting up the fastest four-lap average speed of 214.878 m.p.h. in his No. 9 Target Dallara.

Wheldon, who was cleared to qualify despite absorbing a hit to his right foot, put his backup No. 10 car — in the regular Target colors — into the field at the 11th starting position, alongside Ed Carpenter in Row 6. After qualifying, he said it was “probably” the biggest crash he’d had in his IRL career:

“The guys did a great job getting a new car set up…It’s just the right side of [the right foot], it smashed against the tub. It’s fine; I just can’t put much weight on it. That was probably the biggest hit I’ve had; the first part of it hurt the most. I wasn’t expecting it. The Polaroid car was really strong. It’s disappointing.”

As for Dixon, he thought his pole-winning time wasn’t going to be enough to stand on. When it did, he admitted that he was “shocked” at the outcome:

“The track got fast, and I thought it would benefit guys like [Ryan] Briscoe qualifying later in the day. It’s shocking to be honest. I’m very happy we came away with the pole, especially with how hard the Target team works, but I’m still shocked.”

Starting alongside Dixon in the front row will be two-time Indy 500 champ Helio Castroneves, who narrowly missed the pole will a four-lap average of 214.777 m.p.h. in the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara.

The Brazilian was glad to have the prime track position, especially since the weekend has seen high winds throughout — he’s banking on that to continue tonight:

“The wind is really having an effect here. The turbulent air behind two or three cars makes the car difficult to handle. That’s why it’s extremely important to start the race smartly. This is one of those places where it’s a sprint race from the beginning to the end.”

Last week’s winner Ryan Briscoe will start third in the No. 6 Team Penske car, where he’ll be joined by Andretti Green rookie Hideki Mutoh. Danica Patrick, who was a contender last year at Texas, and Tomas Scheckter, who won at TMS in 2005, will share Row 3.

Row 4 belongs to John Andretti (seventh; Roth Racing’s best qualifying run ever) and IndyCar newcomer Will Power, and Row 5 features Vitor Meira and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The full grid can be seen here. Check out Tony Kanaan in 13th place; if you click on the trackside report at the bottom, you’ll see he wasn’t a happy camper and neither was Bruno Junqueira, who apparently trashed his Dale Coyne Racing team after his “Q” run. If he really did, it’d go together with what Pressdog got out of him at Milwaukee last week.

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Chris’ picks

Favorite: Scott Dixon

He’s had an up-and-down career at Texas, but it’s clear he’s got the quickest car in the field yet again. If he can dodge problems, the only person that can beat him may be himself.

Contenders: Helio Castroneves, Tomas Scheckter, Danica Patrick

Castroneves has won twice at Texas, while Scheckter brings one of the few part-time squads that actually has the ability to win a race. Patrick has a good spot to keep away from the inexperience toward the back and she was fighting with Kanaan and Sam Hornish Jr. for the win last year.

Dark horses: Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon, Ryan Briscoe

You really think that Kanaan’s gonna be mired in mid-pack throughout the race? I don’t and you shouldn’t, either. As for Wheldon, it’ll come down to the car, but he was running strong in practice before his accident. With TCGR behind him, he’ll be okay. For Briscoe, inexperience at Texas (one career start in 2005) sticks him in this category, but he’s got a great shot at following up his Milwaukee win with a strong result.

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All quotes used in this article were taken from yesterday’s trackside report.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 7th, 2008 at 11:38 am 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.