Kanaan, Team 7-Eleven Place 11th at Watkins Glen
Kanaan Finishes 11th at Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 4, 2006) - Team 7-Eleven driver Tony Kanaan battled a wet, slick race track en route to an 11th place finish Sunday afternoon at the IndyCar Series Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix.Starting from the outside of the front row on the starting grid, Kanaan briefly took the lead on the first lap before settling into second place. With the wet track rapidly drying, he pitted for slick tires on Lap 4 while continuing his strong run for the next 17 laps. He continued to battle among the leaders until rain began falling again late in the race. With portions of the track dry and other parts damp, Kanaan stayed with the slick tire compound. While running on the lead lap in eighth position on Lap 47, contact with teammate Bryan Herta forced an unscheduled pit stop to replace the front wing and he battled on to finish 11th.
Scott Dixon took the victory with Vitor Meira second, Ryan Briscoe third, Buddy Rice fourth and Felipe Giaffone fifth.
Through five events, Kanaan stands fifth in the driver point standings with 138 points, 44 points shy of leader Helio Castroneves.
Next up for Andretti and the entire IndyCar Series will be the Bombardier Learjet 500 on Saturday, June 10. The event will be televised live by ESPN, beginning at 9 p.m. (EDT). It can also be heard live by XM Satellite Radio subscribers by tuning into XM channel 145.
Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
"This was a disappointing race for everyone on Team 7-Eleven. We had a car that was capable of
placing very high, but we simply weren't able to take advantage."
Kim Green, President, Andretti Green Racing:
"Obviously it wasn't a good day for Andretti Green Racing. We gave up a lot of points across all
four cars. The Team 7-Eleven car was probably a compromise for the conditions. It wasn't perfect but we
had a car that could have won the race. Circumstances didn't play that way and it was a pretty
disappointing day and we need to make sure we get back on the championship track."
2006 Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix Results Pos. Name Laps Pos. Name Laps 1 Scott Dixon 55 11 Tony Kanaan 54 2 Vitor Meira 55 12 Sam Hornish Jr. 54 3 Ryan Briscoe 55 13 Bryan Herta 54 4 Buddy Rice 55 14 Dario Franchitti 44 5 Felipe Giaffone 55 15 Dan Wheldon 41 6 Ed Carpenter 55 16 Marco Andretti 38 7 Helio Castroneves 55 17 Eddie Cheever Jr. 37 8 Danica Patrick 55 18 Kosuke Matsuura 19 9 Scott Sharp 55 19 Jeff Simmons 18 10 Tomas Scheckter 55