INDYCAR (KANSAS) - TARGET TEAM QUALIFYIES IN TOP FIVE FOR KANSAS LOTTERY INDY 300

THIS WEEKEND: Target Team drivers Scott Dixon (No.9 Target Honda-powered Dallara) and Dan Wheldon (No.10 Target Honda-powered Dallara) will race 200 laps (300 miles) at 1.5 mile tri-oval at Kansas Speedway. The race date was moved to the April date after traditionally running on the Fourth of July weekend for the past few years.

QUALIFYING RESULTS: Target team driver Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon qualified on the second and third rows of the grid for the start of the Kansas Lottery Indy 300. Wheldon qualified fourth with a speed of 213.812 mph while Dixon set a fast time of 213.793 mph.

TV AIR DATE: ESPN2 at 4:30 p.m. (ET) on April 29

CATCH IT LIVE ON THE WEB: The Kansas Lottery Indy 300 will stream live on indycar.com free of charge. In addition to the racing action, the video streaming window includes 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 Kansas Speedway.

THE (Championship) RACE IS ON! After three races, Dan Wheldon took over the lead in the Championship driver’s points standings with 118 points. Scott Dixon trails Tony Kanaan(115) in third place with 112 points.

NEW RUBBER: Each car received eight sets of Firestone Firehawks (32 total) for the race weekend. The tires, new for Kansas Speedway, were developed based on testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway in December and used in the season opener at the 1.5-mile racetrack. They also will be used in June at Texas Motor Speedway.

"Having run this particular tire earlier this year at Homestead, Firestone Racing is confident that the Firehawks will give the drivers the extra grip and confidence they need to race as hard as ever and put on a great show for the fans," said Al Speyer, executive director of Firestone Racing.

KANSAS REVISITED: Dan Wheldon scored the Target Team’s first pole position of the 2006 season at Kansas Speedway with a fast lap of 213.536 mph (25.6257 seconds), Teammate Scott Dixon started the race from third spot of the grid as the first two rows were shared by the Target and Penske teams.

Both Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s cars battled in the top three for most of the 200 laps but with three laps left, a the side by side battle between pole sitter Dan Wheldon and Sam Hornish Jr. for the checkered flag resulted in a second place finish for Wheldon by just 0.0793 seconds, and fourth place for teammate Scott Dixon.

In 2005, Wheldon finished runner up to then teammate Tony Kanaan by 0.0120 seconds, one of the closest margins of victory ever recorded in an IndyCar race.

In 2003, Scott Dixon claimed the pole position and the Target cars started the race 1-2.

A LOOK IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR: Dan Wheldon started the 2007 season-opening weekend off by claiming the pole and went on to begin his second year with the Target team with a win, his third consecutive at the Homestead-Miami track. Scott Dixon’s second place finish gave the team its third 1-2 finish in the IndyCar series. It was the Target team’s 11th win in the series and 51st win since 1994.

In the second race of the season on the streets of St.Pete, Dixon finished second, his 12th IndyCar career second place finish. It was also his third 2nd place finish in a row dating back to the season finale in Chicago last fall.

LAST RACE: Japan Indy 300 at Twin Ring Motegi, Japan. Wheldon finished second to take over the lead in the driver championship points. Scott Dixon finished fourth and is third in the point standings.

NEXT RACE: 91st Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING QUOTEBOARD FROM QUALIFYING:

Scott Dixon-No.9 Target Honda Dallara Firestone : “They made a couple of changes to the car, with taking the wheel covers off and things like that so it is going to add a bit more drag to the car and make the racing a little better. You can’t get it much better here; it’s always good here.”

Dan Wheldon-No.10 Target Honda Dallara Firestone: “I think the race is going to be tight. I think we are going to have to go do some work to make sure we’re fast enough in the race because I think we are a little bit better than what we were (in qualifying). We definitely have the ability to be very quick but I don’t think we have it right just yet and we will need to improve that tomorrow.”

“Kansas is going to be a great event because normally we race there in the heat of the summer and it was very, very hot, but this year it will be slightly cooler, which will make the cars move around slightly less which will probably mean as well that the race will be just as intense as it normally is because we run very, very close there and it will be down to the last turn we come out of, turn 4, as to when you can determine the race winner. And perhaps probably not until we cross the line, which I've been on the receiving end of that a couple of times where I've crossed the line within inches of another car but unfortunately just inches behind. But like I say, after that event it's the start of the month of May. A start of the month to be able to try and drink that milk so I look forward to that.