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TEAM REPORTS (LEXINGTON) - TARGET TEAM RETURNS TO MID-OHIO

THIS WEEKEND’S INDYCAR ACTION: Target Team drivers Scott Dixon (No.9 Target Honda-powered Dallara) and Dan Wheldon (No.10 Target Honda-powered Dallara) hit the road again as the IndyCar Series heads to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the third road course of the season. The Honda 200 at Mid-Ohio will take place Sunday afternoon and is the 11th race in 17-race 2007 season.

INDY PRO SERIES: Chris Festa and the no.9 CareCentric Target Indy Pro Series team will also compete at Mid-Ohio this weekend. Festa had a pole position and a second place finish in the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway but is still looking for an elusive win. The race will be telecast on Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 5:30 pm on ESPN2.

VENUE: The IndyCar series will hold their inaugural event at the 2.258 mile 13-turn permanent road course at Mid-Ohio Sports Car course set in the rolling hills of Lexington, Ohio. Built in 1962 by Les Griebling and several Mansfield-area businessmen as a location for weekend sports car racing, the aptly named Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was purchased in 1981 by the late Jim Trueman, founder of the Red Roof Inns economy lodging chain. Widely known as the most competitive road course in the United States, the circuit has earned its reputation over a 46-year history of great racing among many of motorsport’s legendary competitors.

TV RACE BROADCAST AIR DATE: 1:30 pm (ET) Live on ABC, Sunday, July 14, 2007

CATCH IT LIVE ON THE WEB: The Indycar.com website features LIVE video streaming in addition to LIVE timing & scoring, audio from the IMS Radio Network, a chat feature and links to other videos. Streaming video also will be available live for all practice and qualifying sessions from Mid-Ohio

“GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES”: The Target team has heard that phrase 90 times in the IndyCar Series. Sunday’s race will be the team’s 91st race in IndyCar Series competition. In the span of those races the team has had 180 starts, 15 pole positions, 14 wins, 17 second place finishes, five third places finishes, 36 total podiums, 105 top-10s and 3414 laps led.

The team will also reach a milestone of over 600 race starts since 1990 this weekend. Leading up to this race weekend the Target team boasts 599 starts over 320 races. (CART & IndyCar)

KICK THE TIRES AND LIGHT THE… CANDLES: Scott Dixon will celebrate his 27th birthday on race day at Mid-Ohio.

KEEPING IT GOING, AND GOING, AND GOING… The Target team is hoping to keep the momentum created by two consecutive winning weekends by Scott Dixon on the road Course at Watkins Glen and Nashville Superspeedway.

A LOOK at MID-OHIO IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR: While this will be the inaugural race for the IndyCar Series at Mid-Ohio, Target Chip Ganassi is well acquainted with the road course after 23 starts in 13 races since 1990. The Target cars won back-to-back races at Mi-Ohio with Alex Zanardi in ’96 and ’97 and again in 1999 with Juan Montoya.

The team started 1-2 at Mid-Ohio in 1996 with Zanardi and Jimmy Vasser and finished in the same order for the team’s very first 1-2 finish and the team’s first win at the venue.

The Target team has led 132 laps at Mid-Ohio (out of a possible 1112 laps) since 1990.

ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS: Target Chip Ganassi Racing returns to Mid-Ohio looking to continue the team’s long history of success on road/street courses. The team boasts a total of 54 wins since 1994 (IRL and Champ Car) and 29 of which have come on road/ street courses.

This season Dixon has finished second on the streets of St. Petersburg and won at Watkins Glen International. The IndyCar Series will visit a total of five road/street courses in 2007(St. Pete, Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Sonoma, Detroit )

THE (Championship) RACE IS ON! By virtue of two consecutive victories and four second place finishes Scott Dixon cuts down IndyCar Series Championship points leader Dario Franchitti (434 points) lead to 34 points. Dan Wheldon (337 points) moves up into third place just ahead of Tony Kanaan (331 points). Sam Hornish Jr. rounds out the top five with 329 points.

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS: Highlights this season include three pole positions and four race wins. The Target team has lead 763 laps of a possible 2079, and Dan Wheldon still leads the charge with 578 laps led. Wheldon also has a pole position and a pair of victories while Dixon has two poles, two consecutive wins and has kept his record streak of running at the finish alive at 27 consecutive races.

LAST RACE: Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday Night, July 14, 2007

NEXT RACE: Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, August 5, 2007