IRL's Dixon Posts Top Speed in Practice

Dixon Posts Top Speed in Practice for Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. - Target Chip Ganassi driver Scott Dixon posted the top speed on Friday in practice at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway.

Dixon turned the 12-turn, 2.26-mile road course at 107.662 mph for the top spot and was followed by Marlboro Team Penske's Helio Castroneves (107.279 mph) and Andretti Green Racing's Dario Franchitti (106.907).

Dixon won the IRL IndyCar(r) Series' last road-course event at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) in June and placed seventh in the inaugural IRL event in Sonoma in 2005. Dixon now has the option of starting either first or last in Saturday's single-lap qualifying session.

The top six drivers from Saturday's qualifying session will compete in a 10-minute group session to determine the Firestone Front Six for Sunday's 80-lap feature in the Sonoma Valley (12:30 p.m.).

"We're pretty happy but there's still a ways to go to get through qualifying," said Dixon, who has won two of the five road/street course races since they were added to the IRL schedule in 2005. "We can't hold back anything; we have to win this race."

The Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma is the penultimate race of the 2006 season, which ends Sept. 10 at Chicagoland Speedway. Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske) entered the race weekend leading Castroneves by seven points (418-411). Dan Wheldon (Target Chip Ganassi, 394) and Dixon (385) round out the top four.

"I think we're definitely competitive," Wheldon said. "We're just going to fine tune some stuff tonight so our Target Chip Ganassi cars will be quick tomorrow." Jan Magnussen (SunTrust Racing) was the top qualifier on Friday for Daytona Prototypes in the Sonoma 250 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series, turning the 12-turn, 2.52-mile road course at 102.818 mph. Jorg Bergmeister (Krohn Racing) was second (102.451 mph) with American Patrick Long (Ruby Tuesday) third.

The Sonoma 250, which will span two hours, forty-five minutes, will begin on Saturday at 3 p.m. This marks the debut of the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series in Sonoma.

In Indy Pro Series(tm) qualifying, Wade Cunningham grabbed the pole at 99.840 mph, with Alex Lloyd second (99.162) and Jonathan Klein third (98.449). This is Cunningham's fourth pole position of the season and the fifth of his Indy Pro Series(tm) career. The Indy Pro Series(tm) will take the first of two green flags this weekend on Saturday at 1:45 p.m. for the Carneros 100. For ticket information this weekend, call 800-870-RACE.