Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves, Sam Hornish Jr., Iowa, Richmond, Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Infineon Raceway, Detroit, Belle Isle
Season review
“It’s been a year
where we’ve
been pushing
everything to
the limit”
Tony Kanaan
and was helped in his title fight when a wheel
came off A.J. Foyt IV’s car, starting a chain
reaction that eliminated Castroneves, Wheldon
and Dixon.
The IndyCar Series’ first visit to the new
Iowa Speedway confounded a lot of teams.
The track was faster than expected and race
day dawned about 20 degrees cooler than
forecast. It was a day of frustration for many,
and eight of the top 10 drivers in the point
standings either crashed or had mechanical
difficulties. Franchitti wasn’t among them.
“We thought Iowa out,” Franchitti explains.
“We thought the issue of the tire
temperatures, the start and the restarts,
through. Maybe it wasn’t the fastest car, but it
was really fast on the start and restarts, and it
was stable. It allowed me to make up positions
there. That, and my guys in the pits; we didn’t
take tires on the last stop and that was a great
call. The whole thing just clicked.”
Franchitti’s energy from his Indy win was
surging, and he took his second victory of 2007.
He now had a significant lead in the points – 51
over Kanaan, with Dixon one more point behind
– thanks to a strong second quarter, and carried
that momentum into the third.
THIRD QUARTER: RICHMOND, WATKINS
GLEN, NASHVILLE AND MID-OHIO
TOP SCORER: SCOTT DIXON
“We went to Richmond and the car was good,
and I was in the groove,” Franchitti says of
race nine of the 2007 season. “That was a
great night. When you’re racing against teams
30 IndyCarSeries 2007 Review
It was a double
celebration at
Detroit’s Belle Isle,
where Tony Kanaan
marked his fifth
victory of the season
and Danica Patrick
scored her best
finish yet, a second
and drivers at this level…to have a night like
that, they’re few and far between, so that felt
really good.”
It’s a good thing Franchitti had a good ride at
Richmond International Raceway. No one but
Dixon had won an IndyCar Series race at Watkins
Glen, and it wasn’t going to change this time.
“Dixon was a very consistent guy all season
long, never had any trouble,” remarks
Castroneves. “It took a long time for him to start
winning, but once he started, he couldn’t stop.”
Dixon not only won at The Glen – although
his victory was overshadowed by the pit lane
confrontation between Kanaan and Hornish,
who finished second – he followed it up with a
repeat victory in the rain-delayed Nashville
Superspeedway race and he’s now the only
man to have won an IndyCar Series race at
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
“The string of three that we had at Watkins,
Nashville and Mid-Ohio was very good,” says
Dixon. “I think we had strong cars all those
places and we didn’t win out of luck.”
The trouble for Dixon was that although he
was gaining ground on Franchitti, it wasn’t
much. Dixon may have had the first-place
points three times, but Franchitti had a third
and two seconds. Dixon won the quarter
handily, but Franchitti kept the score close.
After a disappointing second quarter, Kanaan
had reasonable races in this stretch, with one
glaring exception: spinning all on his own into
the wall at Nashville. That was the second time
it happened to him – the first was at Iowa.
“It’s been a different year for me,” he says.
“I’ve never been through a season where I’ve
crashed twice from my own mistakes. People
kind of wonder what’s wrong with you. Marco
said to me, ‘It’s not that I’m glad that
happened, TK, but now I know you’re human.’
People are not used to me making mistakes. I
guess it’s been a year we’ve been pushing
everything to the limit.”
FOURTH QUARTER: MICHIGAN, KENTUCKY,
INFINEON AND DETROIT
TOP SCORER: TONY KANAAN
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that things
really began to shake up, and things began to
go very wrong for Franchitti. Just as the IndyCar
Series headed toward the finish of its season,
the race tightened up in a hurry.
In a wild Michigan International Speedway
race that had 23 lead changes among nine
drivers, polesitter Franchitti was battling with
Wheldon when the two touched. Franchitti’s car
slid across the bow ofWheldon’s machine and
took off, flying 10-15 feet in the air and
bouncing in front of Dixon before skidding
across the top of the No. 9 car. The incident also
took out Tomas Scheckter and his Vision Racing
teammate Ed Carpenter. No one was hurt, and
Dixon was able to get his car fixed so he gained
some points; but it was essentially a wash.
Oh…and the winner in Michigan? Kanaan.
He did it again at Kentucky Speedway. In
a season of runs, Kanaan was beginning one
of his own.
FACES OF VICTORY:
THE CELEBRATIONS
PHOTO GALLERY
CLICK HERE
Paul Webb/LAT
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