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2005 INDYCAR IRL - TEXAS FORT WORTH

2005 INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP - R5, June 11, 2005 Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth

• COURSE:
• Texas Motor Speedway
• 1.5mile / 2.5 km oval
• RACE:
• 300 miles ; 200 laps

RACE RESULT

*** SAT NIGHT RACE, JUNE 11, 2005 ***

• 1 Tomas Scheckter , 200 laps
  "I knew we had everything we needed to get to the front; this is great for the team, for my morale to get my confidence back up."
• 2 Sam Hornish Jr. +0.05s
  "It was a great race out there tonight. We didn't have quite enough power on our own so we kept trying to radio the No. 4 car and tell them we'll go wherever they go. We knew they were fast. Out here it's really tough to be able to pass on your own cause you got to go on the high side, so you need to have someone push you. So I said I'll push. We'll follow along. The whole Marlboro Team Penske crew did an awesome job. We had a car that we could run right in behind people, which is what you really need to have here. The pit stops were awesome as usual. We just kind of went about our day, and we were in the right place at the right time and worked with the right people."
• 3 Tony Kanaan +0.5s
  "I think it was exciting for you guys. We didn't quite have the speed to win the race tonight. I think Scheckter deserved to win. He had the best car all weekend. He drove a smart race. You have to know how to lose if there is any good way. We did the best we could today."
• 4 Scott Sharp +0.59
  "I am really ecstatic. We were pretty loose early in the race and for the first couple of stints, I really had to fight the car a bit in traffic. The team just did an awesome job. They did a great job in the pits and that catapulted us forward. Chris and John, our engineers, made some great changes on the car and really dialed us in. It was a great finish for us. I tried to get Tony (Kanaan) there at the end. I got a couple of runs up but I just didn't have enough speed to get around him."
• 5 Helio Castroneves +0.82
• 6 Dan Wheldon +13.4
  "Overall, I was about three miles an hour off the pace set by Tomas and Hornish, and that's why we struggled in the race. The boys did a good job in the pits, and we hung in there all night long, but I think we have a little bit of work to do before our next super speedway race."
• 7 Kosuke Matsuura
• 8 Dario Franchitti
• 9 Vitor Meira
• 10 Bryan Herta
• 11 Dixon 12 Briscoe 13 Patrick 14 Barron 15 Yasukawa 16 Carpentier
• 17 Manning 18 Foyt IV 19 Enge
• DNF: Carpenter, Rice, Kite

PANTHER RACING RACE REPORT: Panther Racing & Tomas Scheckter WIN Bombardier Learjet 500k

• Panther Racing driver Tomas Scheckter scored a dominant victory Saturday night in the Bombardier Learjet 500k at Texas Motor Speedway. Scheckter, who has been winless since his rookie season, ended one of the most storied runs of bad luck and misfortune by edging out former Panther driver Sam Hornish, Jr. at the finish line by 0.0534 seconds.
• The victory was the 10th-closest in the history of the Indy Racing League.
• The win is Panther's 15th career victory, and the team regains its title as winningest team in IndyCar Series history. In addition, it was the team's fifth at Texas Motor Speedway, making them the winningest team at the 1.5-mile oval. This is Scheckter's first victory since 2002 at Michigan International Speedway, when he was with Cheever Racing.
• Scheckter dominated the contest, and led a race-high 119 laps. He passed Tony Kanaan on Lap 191 to regain the lead for the final time, and held off Hornish until the thrilling finish. Scheckter gave Panther its first victory since the California race in 2003, and he became the all- time lap leader at TMS. The win also shot Scheckter up to 9th in the chase for the 2005 IndyCar Series Championship.

QUALIFYING

POLE, SCHEKTER: "I think Chevy is smiling right now. We knew we'd be good, but not this good. I like Texas, I like the racing and I enjoy going two- and three- wide all the way around this track. I'm coming back with a win Saturday night no matter what. It's overdue. I made up my mind that I'm going to get it done and there are no more excuses. My engineer, (David Cripps) came up with some ideas in the last session that jumped our speeds way up on the charts. We all are thankful to Pennzoil and Chevrolet to come back after the Indy we had and really make a statement like this. You know, for sure, with Chevrolet -- some companies would pack it in during their last year, but these guys are the exact opposite. I think it's going to be a crazy, crazy race -- I just know it. The last time I was here I started at the back and by Lap 30 I was sitting in the Top Three. This team always seems to put it together here, and I have to thank them for all their hard work so far this weekend."

2ND, EMGE: "First of all, it's nice to be up front and Chevrolet has to be excited about this one. It is a surprise for everybody, but not for us. We knew we had a good engine, we just have to put everything together in the race. It's something special as a night race, and I think our luck will turn around because we haven't seen the checkered flag yet this year. Now we just have to set up the cars as best we can for the Saturday race. I did the race last year here at the end of the season and I learned a lot how to drive in traffic. In this series you want to run with the best drivers, and that's who we will be with up front. Obviously we can play a good game with Tomas because we are first and second. I think this race will suit us well, and so far so good here in Texas. This is only qualifications, and the most important thing is coming on Saturday and the race is always something different, so we'll have to see."

GRID, JUNE 10, 2005

• 1 Tomas Scheckter
• 2 Tomas Enge
• 3 Danica Patrick
• 4 Sam Hornish Jr.
• 5 Vitor Meira
• 6 Dario Franchitti
• 7 Buddy Rice
• 8 Dan Wheldon
• 9 Darren Manning
• 10 Helio Castroneves

RACE PREVIEW

• WHELDON: "I'd love to win at Texas. To make it five out of six for the Klein Tools/ Jim Beam team would be fantastic. One thing that is very difficult about Texas is that it is hard to predict. You run at over 220 miles per hour, you are inches apart and are back and forth with one another. Normally the person that wins takes it by an inch or two. It is the first race after Indy, it's a night race; it is going to be a good one for the fans."
• KANNAN: "It's always special to race at Texas Motor Speedway for several reasons: 7-Eleven is headquartered in Dallas, the stands are always packed with fans and the track is made for our kind of racing. Plus, Team 7- Eleven has had good luck at Texas in the past. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy a Big Gulp in victory lane on Saturday night."
• FRANCHIITI: "I earned my first IndyCar Series pole position at Texas last year and that definitely stands out when I think about Texas Motor Speedway. The racing is really 'pack' racing; two-wide and many rows deep and the difference between being at the front of the group and mired in the middle is very slight. The ArcaEx team has been performing well since Phoenix, so we'll be looking to be at the front of the pack and see what happens when the checkered flag falls."
• SHARP: "I really enjoy the Texas night race. To me, it is the best of IRL entertainment -- two or three abreast and four rows deep. It is non- stop action for the drivers and the fans. I have done really well at Texas in the past. It is a track that suits me quite well and with the momentum the Delphi Fernandez team has, I really expect us to go there and be a serious contender to win the race."