Franchitti Finishes Second in Klein Tools/Canadian Club Car
If the following text-only file is not easily readable, particularly any tables of numbers, try enlarging this window since every line has a forced end and there is no word-wrap. Otherwise, this report will look and print better from the following PDF file: http://www.sportssystems.com/applib/PDFload.cfm?file=/email/filehost/EF384.pdf&id=BC384EF9EC574 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For Immediate Release www.andrettigreen.com Franchitti Finishes Second at Infineon in Klein Tools/Canadian Club Car SONOMA, Calif. (Aug. 27, 2006) - Dario Franchitti collected his best finish of the 2006 season with a second-place result at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway. With only one race remaining on the 2006 schedule, the Klein Tools/Canadian Club driver stands eighth in the IndyCar Series driver championship, only two points out of seventh. Franchitti, who started fifth, ran among the top-five drivers until his initial pit stop on lap 28. Although exiting the stop in 10th place, Franchitti was still the fifth car on his pit sequence as several other cars made early pit stops under yellow-flag conditions. Never leaving the top five on his sequence, Franchitti began to make his assault on the leaders as the final pit stops came around. On his final stop on lap 51, Franchitti entered the pits in third place and exited in first place on his pit sequence, fifth place overall, after a sensational four-tire-and-fuel stop by his crew. With plenty of fuel to finish the race, Franchitti was able to pick off drivers in front of him who had to conserve to finish the race. Ultimately, Franchitti was unable to catch eventual race winner Marco Andretti and finished second. It was the first IndyCar Series win for Andretti, who won the 2005 Indy Pro Series race at Infineon, and the second victory for Andretti Green Racing on the season. Vitor Meira finished third. Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves rounded out the top five. The final race of the 2006 IndyCar Series season takes place at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 10. ABC Sports will provide live broadcast coverage of the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 beginning at 1:30 p.m. (EDT). The race can also be heard live by XM Satellite Radio subscribers on XM channel 145. Dario Franchitti, #27 Klein Tools/Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "I knew Marco was in trouble with fuel because he had less than we did. But, he was doing such a good job in Turns 1, 2 and 3 that he was really getting away. I didn't have the fastest car today but I was doing the best job I could behind the wheel. Our race really came alive after that last pit stop when I came in third and my crew put me back out in first (on his pit sequence). The Klein Tools/Canadian Club guys just kept getting me track position today and that last stop was one of the best pit stops I've ever been involved in. I just didn't have enough for Marco. I'm just really proud of the team effort today and really proud of Marco." John Anderson, Team Manager, #27 Klein Tools/Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "We had a good car and it was a great drive with awesome pit stops. The two engineers (Allen McDonald and Dave Seyffert) are the guys that deserve the credit for following through on a tough weekend. I'm sure those guys had a short night last night figuring out what to do to help the situation today. But, Marco did an awesome job, especially on the fuel mileage. I thought the win could have been ours, but a '1-2' for the team is just unbelievable and the first bloody win of Marco's career - fantastic." 2006 Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma Results Pos. Name Laps Pos. Name Laps 1 Marco Andretti 80 10 Bryan Herta 80 2 Dario Franchitti 80 11 Tony Kanaan 80 3 Vitor Meira 80 12 Ed Carpenter 79 4 Scott Dixon 80 13 Kosuke Matsuura 79 5 Helio Castroneves 80 14 Scott Sharp 79 6 Dan Wheldon 80 15 Buddy Rice 75 7 Jeff Simmons 80 16 Ryan Briscoe 67 8 Danica Patrick 80 17 Tomas Scheckter 44 9 Sam Hornish Jr. 80 18 Jeff Bucknum 9 Contact: Rob Cleveland, (317) 872-2700 ext 264, rob.cleveland@andrettigreenracing.com Al Larsen, (317) 872-2700 ext 239, alan.larsen@andrettigreenracing.com