TEAM REPORT (TARGET-GANASSI) - TOP-TEN FOR TARGET TEAM IN CHALLENGING IOWA RACE

The inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway began with Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in the pole position but quickly turned into a very challenging day for the team.

On the first lap, driver of the no.10 Target Honda, Dan Wheldon spun on the first green flag lap, collecting Vision Racing's Tomas Scheckter and hitting the SAFER barrier. The damage was extensive but the Target crew worked feverishly on the repairs in the garage and got Wheldon back out on track with a deficit of 105 laps.

Meanwhile, in the early going, Dixon led 10 laps in the special scheme blue/white no.9 COMMIT Target Honda until he encountered a steering issue that brought him into the pits. Once again the Target crew worked quickly in the pits and finally returned Dixon to the racetrack (77 laps down).

The Target team’s diligence to get both cars back on track was particularly important for the Championship race as four separate incidents ended the race for seven (7) cars including several of the title contenders; Tony Kanaan (16th place finish), Sam Hornish Jr. (14th place), and Helio Castroneves (8th place).

The team’s efforts enabled Dixon to move up into the tenth place position for an 11th top-ten finish this season for the Target team and extended his streak of running at the finish of a race to 24 consecutive events. Wheldon hung on to finish in 11th place..

The victory at Iowa went to Dario Franchitti who remains the leader in the IndyCar Series Championship with 306 points, a 51 point lead over teammate Tony Kanaan with 255 points. Dixon retains his third place position just 1 point behind with 254 points while Target teammate Wheldon is fourth with 252 points. Sam Hornish Jr. rounds out the top five with 242 points.

The Target team now prepares for next weekend’s SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Speedway on June 28-30.

TARGET CHIP GANASSI QUOTEBOARD:

Scott Dixon: “The steering just seized up and I couldn’t turn anywhere past half way so I had to bring the Commit Target car in to the pits or I would have ended up in the wall. Even if we were able to get back out there for some championship points, it’s very disappointing to have an issue like that ruin your race.”

Dan Wheldon: “It was a disappointing day for the Target team. To tell the truth I think I was trying to go too quick on the start for the temperature of the tires and got loose. What today’s result does show is how hard the no.9 and no. 10 Target crews worked under difficult circumstances to get both Scott Dixon and I back out there and make a big difference to a Championship. Everybody came together and got what done what needed to be done to get back on track. It’s unfortunate for Scott particularly as he would have been very tough to beat.”