TEAM REPORTS (SONOMA) - TEAM TARGET QUALIFYING NOTES

THIS WEEKEND’S INDYCAR ACTION: Target Team drivers Scott Dixon (No.9 Target Honda-powered Dallara) and Dan Wheldon (No.10 Target Honda-powered Dallara) take on the 2.2 mile permanent road course at Infineon Raceway. This weekend’s Motorola Indy 300 presented by Jackson Rancheria will take place on Sunday afternoon and is the 15th race in 17-race 2007 season.

VENUE: The IndyCar series hits the road course at Infineon Raceway’s 2.2 mile configuration in northern- California. In 1968, a twisting 12-turn, 2.52-mile road course and a quarter-mile drag strip were carved into the picturesque rolling hills at the gateway to the Sonoma Wine Country. It is located 30 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and serves as the gateway to the beautiful Sonoma Wine Country

TV RACE BROADCAST AIR DATE: 3:30 pm (ET) Live on ABC, Sunday, Aug. 26, 2007

CATCH IT LIVE ON THE WEB: The Indycar.com website features LIVE video streaming in addition to 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 Sonoma.

QUALIFYING / FAST 6 SHOOTOUT RESULTS: Scott Dixon set the fourth quickest time in single car qualifying and advanced to the Firestone Fast Six Shootout where he was fifth quickest with a fast lap of 1:17.3379 sec / 107.063 mph. He will start from the fifth spot on the grid. Dan Wheldon set a lap time of 1:18.6626 sec / 105.260 mph putting him in the tenth spot on the starting grid. Dario Franchitti earned the pole position with a fast lap time of 1:16.7017sec / 107.951 mph.

FRIDAY INDYCAR PRACTICE: Scott Dixon was fifth fastest in practice on Friday after setting a fast lap of 1:16.8611sec/ 107.727 mph in the first practice. Dan Wheldon was eight quickest with a time of 1:17.4500sec / 106.908 mph. Helio Castroneves paced the opening day of preparations for the Motorola Indy 300 Presented by Jackson Rancheria at the Infineon Raceway with a fastest lap time of 1:16.5548 sec/ 108.158 mph.

PRO SERIES DOUBLE AT SONOMA: The Indy Pro series will run two races this weekend at Infineon Raceway. The no.9 Carecentric Target team and Chris Festa are looking for a good result to build on their most recent fourth place result at the Kentucky 100 race. Festa has a pole position and two second place finishes this year to date; the first in the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway and then at the Indianapolis Freedom 100. Festa qualified 16th for Saturday’s first of two races this weekend with a lap time and speed of 1:24.1440 sec / 98.403 mph and finished Race#1 in 13th place.

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE…: Only three races on three different types of tracks remain in the 2007 IndyCar Series season. This weekend the drivers will battle for 80 laps on the physically demanding natural-terrain road course at Infineon Raceway course. Next weekend they’ll fight for 90 laps on a refurbished Detroit Belle Isle street circuit. The oval at Chicagoland Speedway will host the season finale. Consistent performances, helped along by a resounding victory or two, will reward the champion to the tune of $1 million at the Championship Celebration in September.

Dixon (510 points) has cut down Franchitti’s (518 points) lead in the championship from 65 points just a few short weeks ago to just eight points with three races to go. Race winner Tony Kanaan (466 points) has also closed the gap to the leader to 52 points with his fourth race win of the year. Meanwhile, Dan Wheldon is fourth with 388 points and Sam Hornish Jr. rounds out the top five with 379 points.

A LOOK at SONOMA IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR: The Target team started from the pole position in the previous two years at Sonoma. Ryan Briscoe earned the pole in 2005 and Scott Dixon had the pole position in 2006.

Last year, Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon combined to lead 50 of the 80 laps and both cars were running in first and second place midway through the race. Dixon finished forth after an airjack failure set him back in the pits and Wheldon posted a sixth place finish.

In 2005 at Infineon Raceway, the Target team was very strong having won the pole position with rookie Ryan Briscoe. Scott Dixon qualified ninth and finished seventh due to an alternative fuel strategy. Dan Wheldon, did not finish the race in 2005 with his previous team due to a fuel pick up problem.

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS: Highlights this season include three pole positions and five race wins. The Target team has lead 837 laps of a possible 2564. Dan Wheldon has a pole position and a pair of victories while Dixon has amassed two poles, three consecutive wins and had a record streak of 28 consecutive races in which he was running at the finish (an IndyCar Series record).

TARGET CHIP GANASSI RACING QUOTEBOARD

Scott Dixon: “The whole weekend, we've really been struggling. We decided to go test at Sebring instead of Sonoma with the Indy Pro Series (bonus) test, so that may have hurt us. Hopefully what we did there is going to help us in Detroit. We've just missed it all weekend. It's really hard to get a lap together; the Target car is pretty inconsistent. Maybe with full tanks and a few changes we'll be a little bit better in the race. At least three guys and girls up front have it pretty covered in their cars.”

Dan Wheldon: “I think I just over drove that lap a little bit. It was unfortunate. The Target car is reasonably good. It was good in today's practice session. We just have to make sure we move forward in the race.”