CART: Dixon, Gidley earn top five finishes for Toyota in Chicago

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

July 30, 2001

- Scott Dixon went from 19th to fourth today to earn his fourth top-five finish of the season. It marks Dixon's third straight top-four finish on a short oval after a first at Nazareth and a third at Milwaukee. He also extended his lead in the Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year award standings to 42 points over Bruno Junqueira.

- Scott Dixon has now registered seven top-10 finishes in his last nine races. In addition, he currently sits sixth overall in the points championship - just four points out of fourth. Dixon led 11 laps today and currently leads the series in laps completed - finishing 1,583 out of a possible 1,629.

- Memo Gidley appeared to be headed for his second podium finish in his last four races before getting caught up behind the lapped cars of Dario Franchitti and Bruno Junqueira. Gidley recovered to earn his second career-top five finish with the other being his second at Cleveland.

- When Memo Gidley took the lead on Lap 188 today and led nine laps, it marked the third time that Gidley has led at least one lap in the last four CART events. He currently sits fifth in laps led this season with 132, despite only racing in five of the 11 Champ Car events this season.

- After running as high as fifth, Tora Takagi placed 11th today - earning his second career points-paying finish and his best-ever oval result.

- Despite finishing 19th today, Cristiano da Matta continues to sit seventh overall in the CART points race. Jimmy Vasser also is in the top-10 at 10th.

Quotes:

Jim Aust, Toyota vice president of motorsports: "We're happy for both Scott Dixon and Memo Gidley to earn top-five finishes, but it's still somewhat disappointing. If appeared as if Memo had a second-place finish before the final re-start when the lapped cars had a major effect on the race - costing him a podium. Hopefully, our luck will turn for the better at Mid-Ohio."

Scott Dixon, # 18 Powerware Panasonic PacWest Toyota: "This was a good result, but not the one we were looking for," said Dixon. "I got really loose after running on one set of tires for most of the second half of the race. I was hoping we could go the distance without new tires but when the late yellow came out, and my car was getting worse, I knew we needed stickers for the last run. I needed the front end of my car to be a bit stronger to make a run at de Ferran. We could have used a few more yellows, but we got huge fuel mileage out of my Toyota and that really helped us a lot. Overall I'm very happy because we were able to secure another 12 points. Consistency will be the key down the stretch, and every point will count."

Memo Gidley, #12 Target Toyota: "The car was pretty solid most of the day today. We had a pretty bad push at the start of the race, but as the tires wore down the car was quick. Mike Hull and my engineers called a great race for more and we were able to make up a lot of positions on their pit strategy. I was running second with about 15 laps to go and I thought that we had a chance to challenge for the victory. On the restart, the cars were stacked up in front of me and there was no place to go. I had to put on the brakes and it cost us a few places on the track, as well as a possible victory for Team Target."

Tora Takagi, #5 Pioneer Toyota: "The week the car was very good the entire weekend and there was no change during the race. Without the last yellow, we might have had a top-five or six finish. I'm happy that we scored a couple points and we are looking forward to the road course in the next race."

NEXT RACE: Miller Lite 200, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Aug. 12, ESPN, 12:00 noon EDT

Text provided by John Prodica

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