road courses, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, St. Petersburg, Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Infineon. Belle Isle, Milwaukee, Iowa, Richmond, Homestead. Motegi, Kansas, Indianapolis, Texas, Nashville, Michigan, Kentucky, Chicagoland
SIGNS OF
SUCCESS
inning an IndyCar Series championship these days
requires diversity. With the mix of superspeedways,
short ovals and road/street courses, a driver can’t win
by being top of the heap on only one type of track, and it’s
interesting to see how well the drivers did in each genre of track.
So, in what has become a tradition, we’ve added up the totals
and we present the aces of the twist ‘n’ turn road courses, ‘round
and ’round shortracks and pedal-to-the-metal superspeedways.
W
Analyze this
34 IndyCarSeries 2007 Review
TWIST ’N’ TURNS
THE ROAD COURSES
For the second time in as many seasons, Ganassi
Racing’s Scott Dixon gets the crown for king of
the road (courses, that is). Following a strong
second on the streets of St. Petersburg, the Kiwi
retained his title as the only driver who has won
in IndyCar Series competition at Watkins Glen by
taking his third straight victory at the legendary
circuit. Dixon then crossed the finish line first at
the series’ first visit to Mid-Ohio Sports Car
Course, and was able to pounce when Andretti
Green Racing stumbled at Infineon to make it
three-for-three on the permanent road courses.
An eighth-place finish stemming from the laterace
pileup at Belle Isle was disappointing, but
hardly enough to hand the road course title to
second-place man Tony Kanaan.
SCOTT’S STATS…
St. Petersburg 2nd
Watkins Glen 1st
Mid-Ohio 1st
Infineon 1st
Belle Isle 8th
Total points 217
(Runner-up, Tony Kanaan 181 pts)
’ROUND AND ’ROUND
THE SHORT TRACKS
Dario Franchitti is a runaway winner of 2007’s
short-track triple crown, due in no small part to
his clean, focused driving style on the tight,
one-mile or shorter ovals. After coming second
to Andretti Green Racing teammate (and shorttrack
runner-up) Tony Kanaan at Milwaukee,
the Scot survived the treacherous low-grip
conditions caused by chilly weather at the new
Iowa Speedway to take first, and followed that
performance the next week by stomping the
field at Richmond, leading a series-record
number of laps on his way to the win.
DARIO’S DOSSIER…
Milwaukee 2nd
Iowa 1st
Richmond 1st
Total points 146
(Runner-up, Tony Kanaan 96 pts)
PEDAL TO THE METAL
THE SUPERSPEEDWAYS
Overall champ Dario Franchitti also comes top
in the superspeedway rankings as well, but
only just. His emotional wins at the Indy 500
and the title-deciding finale at Chicagoland
were bolstered by top fives at Motegi,
Kansas, Texas and Nashville. But some notso-good
finishes at Michigan and Kentucky
(Flight 27 had rough landings at both tracks)
meant that Scott Dixon was only two points
in arrears when all was said and done.
DATA FOR DARIO…
Homestead 7th
Motegi 3rd
Kansas 2nd
Indianapolis 1st
Texas 4th
Nashville 2nd
Michigan 13th
Kentucky 8th
Chicagoland 1st
Total Points 317
(Runner-Up, Scott Dixon 315 pts)
SPEED
LIMIT
230
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