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2005 INDYCAR IRL - FONTANA

2005 INDYCAR - R16 of 16, Oct 16, 2005 Fontana

RACE RESULT

• 1 Dario Franchitti , 200 laps
• 2 Tony Kanaan +0.11
• 3 Vitor Meira +0.98
• 4 Scott Sharp
• 5 Sam Hornish Jr.
• 6 Dan Wheldon
• 7 Tomas Scheckter
• 8 Tomas Enge
• 9 Helio Castroneves
• 10 Scott Dixon
• 11 Herta 12 Rice 13 Kite 14 Barron 15 Carpentier 16 Yasukawa
• DNF: Lazier, Patrick, Carpenter, Foyt IV

WINNER - FRANCHITTI RACE REPORT:

• ArcaEx driver Dario Franchitti drove to his second victory of the 2005 season, this one coming in Sunday's running of the Indy Racing League® IndyCar® Series California Indy 400 at California Speedway, the final event of the 2005 IndyCar Series season. His victory, coupled with Team 7-Eleven teammate Tony Kanaan's second-place finish, gave Andretti Green Racing its fourth '1- 2' finish of the season.
• Starting from the pole position, the Scotsman led the initial three laps then settled into a top-five position before assuming the front-running position by the 140-lap mark. With brief exception he paced the remainder of the race, leading a total of 68 laps, and held off his hard- charging teammate at the line.
• Trailing Franchitti and Kanaan were Vitor Meira in third, Scott Sharp fourth and Sam Hornish Jr. in fifth.
• Franchitti concludes the season fourth in the championship points race with 498 points while AGR secured three of the top-four positions in the series championship with Wheldon (629) and Kanaan (548) placing first and second respectively.
• The 2006 IndyCar Series season opens on Sunday, March 26, at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
• Dario Franchitti, #27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
• "This is a bittersweet win because I lost a good friend here six years ago. It was important for me to win here today for several reasons. Tony and I battled all day, and this is a great way to finish the season. For Tony to have helped me out at the end really means a lot. There's more to racing than kicking the heck out of your teammate; you have to work as a team and we proved that today."
• Kyle Moyer, General Manager, Andretti Green Racing:
• "This was a great way to end the season. The ArcaEx team hasn't had the best of luck this year, but to get a '1-2' finish in the final race of the season is fantastic. This just caps off what has been a fantastic championship season for AGR."

2ND - KANNAN RACE REPORT

• Team 7-Eleven driver Tony Kanaan drove to a second-place finish Sunday afternoon at the Indy Racing League® IndyCar® Series California Indy 400 at California Speedway. The event, the season-finale for the IndyCar Series, was won by ArcaEx teammate Dario Franchitti, giving Andretti Green Racing its fourth '1-2' finish of the 2005 season.
• Kanaan, who started the event from 10th place, moved into the top- five by the 10th lap and either led or maintained a top-three status for the entire race. Standing second to Franchitti at the 150-lap mark, he maintained his runner-up position over the remaining 50 laps before pulling alongside his teammate only to fall short at the line.
• Trailing Franchitti and Kanaan to the finish were Vitor Meira in third, Scott Sharp fourth and Sam Hornish Jr. in fifth.
• Kanaan concludes the season second in the championship points race with 548 points while AGR clinched three of the top-five positions in the series championship with Wheldon (628) and Franchitti (498) placing first and fourth respectively.
• The 2006 IndyCar Series season begins March 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
• Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone:
• "I don't know what happened. I was downshifting and upshifting. I was trying to anticipate things. When you have a close finish like this, it's crazy. Thank God it was one of my teammates that I was racing. It was probably a missed shift or something like that. It was a shame we didn't win, but it was just a good day for Andretti Green Racing. Dario got the win and Team 7-Eleven ended up second in the championship, so it was a good day."
• Kim Green, President, Andretti Green Racing:
• "I think TK might have had a missed shift or something there at the end. He had a strong car all day. I'm really pleased for Dario. He had a fast car all weekend. It was just a great team effort. Dario and Tony are very, very good friends and they raced each other like that at the end."

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