Dixon Tops The Field in IRL Toyota Indy 300 by

           Dixon Tops The Field in IRL Toyota Indy 300

by,Rob Elting                                                                                                                       march3, 2003

Veteran Gil de Ferran led the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 with about 63 laps to go Sunday when he looked in his rearview mirror and saw teammate Helio Castroneves directly behind him. No surprise. But he was a bit shocked to see a Ganassi car behind Castroneves on the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The driver of the Ganassi car was Indy Racing League newcomer Scott Dixon, who had worked his way into striking distance after starting 12th in the 21-car field.
Dixon passed Castroneves for second on Lap 140 and took the lead on Lap 148 of the 200-lap race when he beat de Ferran out of the pits under caution. Then the 22-year-old from Auckland, New Zealand, negotiated his way flawlessly through lapped traffic to hold off de Ferran for the IndyCar Series victory before a crowd of about 25,000. De Ferran finished second, and Castroneves was third.
''I was happy to see the checkered flag,'' said Dixon, who won $106,000. 'We didn't talk a whole lot with about 10 laps to go. Then I heard Mike Hull [managing director of Chip Ganassi Racing] say, `Two laps to go.' I said, 'Thank God for that.' ''
The last person to win in his IRL debut was Juan Montoya, at the 2000 Indianapolis 500. He also drove for Ganassi.
Asked if he expected to be standing in Victory Lane, Dixon, with his face still as red as his fire-resistant suit said, ''Not at all.'' Especially considering his No. 9 G-Force/Toyota did not qualify well at the 1.5-mile, fairly flat oval.
"We knew it was going to be the hardest race of the season because of the way the car works,'' Dixon said. ``But it worked.''
As Dixon walked into the news conference, he passed de Ferran, who finished third in the IRL championship last year. The two spoke briefly, and shook hands, as if to signify the veteran accepting the rookie.
Drivers said the wind wasn't much of a factor, the track was slippery. De Ferran joked with his oil sponsor, saying, ``Man, have you been going around the track and spreading Mobil 1 all over the track?'
Once Dixon realized his car was handling well, he began picking off competitors until only de Ferran, who had taken on lead from teammate Castroneves on Lap 97 of the 200-lap race, was ahead of him entering a key yellow-flag pit stop on Lap 148.
On the last pit stop,Dixon and de Ferran both got four tires, fuel and a front-wing adjustment, with de Ferran's pit crew getting it done in 11 seconds. But Dixon's crew was faster, and he beat de Ferran out.
''Everything just went very smoothly,'' Dixon said. ``We didn't rush ourselves. I didn't come into the box too hot and overshoot, which is pretty easy to do when you're fighting for that position.''
De Ferran needed help from the lapped cars if he was going to make a pass for the lead.''Dixon did a good job driving once he got ahead,'' de Ferran said. ``But every single backmarker came up on, I was trying to get closer to him to see if I could pass him.''
Both Dixon's and de Ferran's cars did not handle as well when approaching other cars. But Dixon successfully passed Tora Takagi, A.J. Foyt IV and Shigeaki Hattori without giving de Ferran an opportunity to retake the lead.
Pole-sitter Tony Kanaan finished fourth, and his Andretti Green Racing teammate, Michael Andretti, who will retire after the Indy 500, finished sixth.
Two-time defending champion Sam Hornish Jr. had problems with low tire pressure that made the car handle poorly for the first 50 laps. He finished a lap down in 10th.
This is Dixon's second victory in major open-wheel racing in North America. His first came in the Championship Auto Racing Teams' event at Nazareth in 2001. At 20 years 9 months 14 days, he became the youngest driver to win any major open-wheel event. Dixon also had a good chance to win the Grand Prix Americas in downtown Miami last October, but after setting up a pass on Tony Kanaan, Kanaan tried to block him and instead forced him into the wall.
Dixon was the 2000 champion of the Dayton Indy Lights, the developmental series for CART, and was CART's Rookie of the Year in 2001. With his upbringing in road racing in Australia, he reluctantly came to the all-oval IRL this season.
''I do think we have a shot at the championship,'' he said.
Well that's the race from Miami, I still enjoyed the St. Pete Grand Prix, much more!
We had a great time in Miami, make sure to visit South Beach when coming to Miami, and lock up your car!
Here is your race Results from Sunday's IRL Toyota Indy 300 at the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Fla.
:1. (12) Scott Dixon,
G Force-Toyota, 200 laps, $106,000.
2. (5) Gil de Ferran, Dallara-Toyota, 200, $104,750.
3. (4) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Toyota, 200, $72,750.
4. (1) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 200, $68,600
.5. (6) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Toyota, 200, $55,400.
6. (2) Michael Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 200, $47,100.
7. (7) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 200, $45,800
.8. (9) Tomas Scheckter, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 200, $44,600.
9. (15) Felipe Giaffone, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 199, $44,600.
10. (3) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Chevrolet, 199, $43,300.
11. (8) Kenny Brack, Dallara-Honda, 198, $41,900.
12. (14) Tora Takagi, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 198, $40,700.
13. (11) Al Unser Jr., Dallara-Toyota, 198, $39,600.
14. (10) Roger Yasukawa, Dallara-Honda, 198, $38,100.
15. (13) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Chevrolet, 196, $37,500.
16. (16) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Chevrolet, 195, $36,100.
17. (17) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Toyota, 194, $34,400.
18. (20) Shigeaki Hattori, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 181, $34,400.
19. (19) Robbie Buhl, Dallara-Chevrolet, 142, accident, $33,100.
20. (18) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Chevrolet, 85, accident, $31,900.
21. (21) Scott Mayer, Dallara-Chevrolet, 2, accident, $31,900.
Winner's average speed: 153.710 mph.
Time of race: 01:57:06.2062.
Margin of victory: 0.5752 of a second.
Cautions: 4 for 32 laps.
Lead changes: 8 among 6 drivers.
Lap leaders: Andretti 1-13, Kanaan 14-46, de Ferran 47-57, Kanaan 58-60, Brack 61, de Ferran 62-91, Castroneves 92-96, de Ferran 97-147, Dixon 148-200.
Point standings: Dixon 50, de Ferran 42, Castroneves 35, Kanaan 32, Sharp 30, Andretti 28, Franchitti 26, Scheckter 24, Giaffone 22, Hornish Jr. 20.