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2005 INDYCAR IRL - NASHVILLE

2005 INDYCAR - R8 of 16, July 16, 2005 Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon

RACE: JULY 16, 2005

• Saturday night race - INDY 200
• 7 p.m, Saturday night, July 16
• 200 laps ; 266 miles

COURSE:

• Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn.
• opened 2001
• first Indycar race in 2001
• 1.33 mile concrete oval; width 55 ft min
• 2004 winner: KANAAN
• 2003 winner: DE FERRAN
• 2002 winner: ALEX BARRON, CHEVROLET

RACE RESULT

• 1 Dario Franchitti (GB) 200 laps
  "We've had a fast car all year, but for some reason or another, we couldn't get to victory lane. We had a wheel bearing failure in warmup, so we feel like we got our bad luck out of the way early."
• 2 Sam Hornish (USA) +1.31s
  "I thought that we could have done a little bit better. We had a really good handling car. The Marlboro Team Penske crew did an awesome job for me in the pits and everything. Dario had the big track position there on the last restart. We were starting seventh. Definitely wish we could've done a little bit better, but Dario was up there all day long. Wish we could have given him a little bit of a run there at the end though. The fuel nozzle got stuck as he was pulling it out, so that slowed us down a little bit, and then I got a little frustrated that that happened and we lost some spots and pushed it too hard and lost four spots, so we had a lot to make up on that last restart. If I hadn't made my mistake, I think that we would have probably at least given Dario a good run for it if not maybe win the race."
• 3 Patrick Carpentier (CAN) +1.58
  "I'm very happy. We led some laps. We still don't have the fastest car out there, but the team played amazingly into the strategy, and we had a lot of luck. You need a bit of luck to do it. At the end there, I hit Ryan Briscoe, one of the Target cars, and it destroyed my nose. They lifted, and I never expected them to lift, and I rear ended them. I came into the pits, changed the nose and fueled it and had enough fuel to go to the end, so it was good. I didn't come in when the pits were closed. I waited even though the car was wobbling."
• 4 Scott Sharp (USA) +1.95
  "It was a great car, the best short-track car I've had in I don't know how many years. We were running third, catching the leaders, and I got taken out by a lapped car. We gave them so many points. It was just great today. The crew keeps giving me these great pit stops. My engineers are really tuning the car well. I had a shot on Dario there, hoping to get him. I got up sort of to his right rear wheel, and I knew that he was going to come across, and he did. You know, what are you going to do? I would probably do the same thing with a few laps to go."
• 5 Helio Castroneves (BRA) +2.5
  "I'm extremely happy with a fifth place finish. We struggled to find speed early in the weekend but we kept fighting. For the race, the team did a great job with the setup of the car, and it handled really well. The only problem was with the gearing. We made sixth gear too short, so I was hitting the rev limiter the whole night. My crew did a fantastic job on pit stops and a lot of credit goes to them for this finish. Maximizing our points this weekend was also important - especially since a couple of the cars in front of us in the championship went out early. I'm looking forward to getting back on a short oval in Milwaukee. We have been performing well on those types of tracks, so hopefully we'll have a strong finish next weekend."
• 6 Scott Dixon (NZ)
• 7 Danica Patrick (USA)
• 8 Ryan Briscoe (AUS)
  "The Target team prepared a great car for me today. I had some push at the start that held me up, but we fixed that in the early stops. I was working my way up when I was passing (Tomas) Scheckter on the outside and he pushed me up into the wall. I had to come in for a new tire and almost lost a lap. It was disappointing because we really had the car for a top-five finish, but the Target Toyota was definitely competitive, and we'll look to be stronger in Milwaukee."
• 9 Buddy Lazier (USA)
• 10 Ed Carpenter (USA)
• 11 Yasukawa
• 12 Foyt IV
• 13 Kite
• DNF: Kanaan, Wheldon, Manning, Herta, Enge, Scheckter, Meira, Barron, Matsuura
• WHELDON: "We're pretty sure that we lost the outside-rear upright and it's unfortunate. I'm not sure that we had a car capable of winning, but the Klein Tools/Jim Beam car was competitive, and we could have picked up some valuable points. It's just a shame."

FRANCHITTI RACE REPORT

FRANCHITTI TASTES VICTORY AT NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY

• LEBANON, Tenn. (July 16, 2005) - ArcaEx driver Dario Franchitti passed Patrick Carpentier on lap 194 and went on to earn the victory in Saturday night's running of the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.
• Franchitti started the event from fourth place and immediately moved forward, passing Tomas Scheckter for the lead on the fourth lap and maintaining the front spot until making a pit stop on lap 32. The Scotsman then settled into a pace which saw him run second to teammate Tony Kanaan over the next 69 laps. Kanaan's retirement on lap 116 gave the lead to Franchitti, and he proved to have the dominant car for much of the remainder of the event. He briefly dropped to third following a pit stop on lap 162, moved to second on lap 174 and re-took the lead for good on lap 194.
• Trailing Franchitti to the line were Sam Hornish Jr. in second, Carpentier in third, Scott Sharp fourth and Helio Castroneves in fifth.
• The victory is Franchitti's third IndyCar Series win and elevates him to third in the driver points standings with 269, just five points shy of second place Kanaan.
• Next up for Franchitti and the rest of the IndyCar Series teams is the ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Indy 225 at The Milwaukee Mile on Sunday, July 24. The event will be televised live by ESPN, beginning at 2:30 p.m. (EDT). It can also be heard live by XM Satellite Radio subscribers by tuning into Extreme XM, channel 152.
• Dario Franchitti, #27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "The ArcaEx car was fast all day. It just seemed to be one thing or another; we got behind some people and had some close moments. But there was plenty of great racing with Tony (Kanaan), with Pat (Carpentier), with Danica (Patrick). I'm just glad to finally get the ArcaEx car into victory lane. We've been fast all year but for one reason or another couldn't get into victory lane. Tonight things went our way."
• Kyle Moyer, General Manager, Andretti Green Racing: "It was a typical 'Franchitti' race. We had to fight and fight and fight to win. We fought the weather, we fought someone else's pit strategy, fought through some bad luck for our teammates, but still got the win. We had the best car and won with it. Hopefully, this will get the ball rolling for the ArcaEx team."

QUALIFYING

GRID (rain washed out final qualifying; grid based on combined practice times)

• 1 Tomas Scheckter
  "It's very satisfying. I was extremely happy about this pole. It's a tough track to get a pole. We were the quickest in the first session, and we were pretty quick in the second session, as well. We felt we had a pretty good chance if we qualified. For some reason, knowing how difficult it is, it's good to walk away with the pole."
• 2 Danica Patrick
  "I thought we would come in here with a good car. Buddy (Rice) and Vitor (Meira) were very fast here last year, and the team put together a good car. I haven't been here before, but luckily enough, when you have a good car on a big oval, you can keep your foot down and it's more straightforward than a lot of other tracks, or road courses or short ovals. I felt good five laps after I got out there and made little improvements here and there. I think now sitting P2, I would have liked to qualify, because I think we have a fast car that can sit on pole. Nevertheless, you never know what can happen in qualifying. Front row is always good. I'll take it and focus on the race. I've proved that you can start in the front and go backwards at some points, with Texas and places like that. You have to make sure you have a good car for the race and one that can go the distance without having too much trouble."
• 3 Buddy Lazier
  "I'm excited to be starting towards the front. The Chevrolet has proven their worth and really hit their stride with the entire team. It's a great time to be a member of Panther Racing and I can't thank them enough for the opportunity they've given me this season. At Nashville you need a combination of handling and horsepower, and I know with (Chief Engineer) Andy Brown and the rest of my crew, we'll have both. I'm fortunate to have a team and teammates that can help me perform."
• 4 Dario Franchitti
• 5 Dan Wheldon
• 6 Vitor Meira
• 7 Tony Kanaan
• 8 Scott Sharp
• 9 Darren Manning
• 10 Ryan Briscoe

RACE PREVIEW

• WHELDON: "Nashville is always a difficult race; one that you can never predict. Everybody is pushing the limit so much now with pit stops and everything that it will be another tight race for sure. I think you'll see a very similar race to the one in Kansas. After our finish in Kansas, the Klein Tools/Jim Beam team is certainly pumped up about getting back to the track and hoping to win, maybe by a small margin over Tony (Kanaan)."
• FRANCHITTI: "It's always exciting to race at Nashville Superspeedway because this is what I consider to be my 'home' track. I will have a large number of family and friends in the stands so it really makes me want to do well there. The track is a difficult one to master because it is slightly bumpy as well as being the only venue we race at which has a concrete surface. The track has a decent amount of grip but doesn't give much warning when you've reached the limit, and when it lets go it can be very sudden."
• KANAAN: "It's always a good feeling to come off of a victory and head into an event where you are the defending champion. We'll be looking to carry some momentum into Nashville and use that race to get Team 7-Eleven closer to Dan (Wheldon) in the point's race."