Race:
Indy Japan 300 on Saturday, September 18 (11:00 PM ET, VERSUS)Track: Twin Ring Motegi (1.5-mile Oval)
Location: Motegi, Tochigi
NOTES / NEWS
Team Target at Motegi: Team Target has claimed two wins (Bruno Junqueira: CART- 2002; Scott Dixon: IndyCar- 2009), five poles (CART: 1999, 2000, 2002; IndyCar: 2003, 2009), 10 top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, leading 790 laps along the way.
GRAND-AM Championship: TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates claimed the GRAND-AM Rolex Series Championship with their ninth win of the 2010 season at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah this past Saturday Sept. 11. Drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas gave Chip Ganassi Racing Teams Inc. its fourth GRAND-AM Series-Championship and 11th overall championship since 1996 (CART: 4; IndyCar: 3).
Organization Record: Last weekend, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc. celebrated another historic landmark in 2010, breaking the organization single season win record. Saturday afternoon, Ganassi drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas scored a victory at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, giving the organization its 17th win of 2010. With the Rolex GRAND-AM Series concluding this past weekend, 12 events remain for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc. in the 2010 racing season (NASCAR: 10; IndyCar: 2).
Welcome Okuma: Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc. announced Tuesday, September 14th its partnership with CNC and machining technology leader Okuma. Okuma, the world leader in the development of computer numeric controls (CNC) and machining technology, will become an associate sponsor during the 2011 racing season on the No. 9 and No. 10 Indy cars driven by Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti in the IZOD IndyCar Series, as well as on the No. 01 Daytona Prototype driven by 2010 series champions Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas in the Rolex GRAND-AM Sports Car Series.
No Stranger to Victory Lane: Since 2008, Target Chip Ganassi Racing has won 16 of the last 27 oval events run in the IZOD IndyCar Series.
Loving Japan: In the last seven starts, Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers have not finished outside the top-five at Motegi. This includes one win (2009) and five podium finishes.
Love Turning Left: Of Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s 39 wins in the IZOD IndyCar Series, 27 have come on ovals (68%).
Mile and a Half Magic: Target Chip Ganassi Racing has accumulated 17 wins (Chicagoland: 2006, 2010; Homestead: 1996, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009; Kansas: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010; Kentucky: 2008; Motegi: 2002, 2009; Texas: 2002, 2008) 15 poles and 35 podiums at 1.5-mile tracks (Chicagoland, Homestead, Kansas, Kentucky, Motegi and Texas) since 1996.
Leading the Way: Target Chip Ganassi Racing has led 3,051 laps at 1.5-mile tracks since 1996, totaling 4,576 miles. This is more than half the distance that Target Chip Ganassi Racing will travel to this weekend’s IZOD IndyCar Series race in Motegi, Japan.
Home Stretch Success: Team Target drivers Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon have four wins and four poles between them at Motegi and Homestead, in the two final IZOD IndyCar Series events (Motegi and Homestead).
Dario Franchitti and the No. 10 Target Team
Dario at Motegi: In five starts at Motegi, Franchitti has two top-five and four top-10 finishes, a best finish of second in 2009, and 120 laps led.
Familiar Ground: Franchitti’s 17 point deficit is the third-closest title chase with two events left in the past five years. He is eight points closer to the lead than he was a year ago when he chased down Will Power’s teammate Ryan Briscoe to win the title. Power has yet to visit Motegi – while Franchitti has finished second and third the past two years
Italian Grand Prix: Franchitti and his brother Marino visited Monaco and Monza Italy for the Italian Grand Prix Formula 1 race during the off week. Franchitti, who was featured as a guest of TW Steel (The timepiece developer of Franchitti’s watch line) joined the Renault F1 Team for the weekend. He also had the opportunity to watch his cousin Paul di Resta, a test driver for the Force India Formula 1 Team, run in Friday morning’s practice session.
Streaking: Since his 18th-place finish at Iowa on June 20th, Franchitti has not finished outside the top five (two wins, a second, three third-place finishes and a fifth).
Points: With the fifth at Kentucky, Franchitti remains second in the championship with 535 points, gaining six points on leader Will Power (just 17 points out of the top spot).
Kentucky Recap: Franchitti lined -up 11th on the grid, and quickly made his way to the top-five by just lap 62. After fuel mileage called for a late race pit-stop on Lap 196, he would come out of the pits in the fifth position where he would ultimately finish.
Scott Dixon and the No. 9 Target Team
History at Motegi: In seven starts at Motegi, Dixon has one victory (2008), two poles (2003, 2009), four top-five and five top-10 finishes, leading 292 laps along the way.
Schedule Announcement: Dixon joined the IZOD IndyCar Series for their 2011 Schedule Announcement at The Milwaukee Mile during the off week. As the defending champion at Milwaukee, Dixon was one of three drivers representing the IZOD IndyCar Series for the announcement; joining four-time Milwaukee winner and former Indy car Champion Johnny Rutherford, and 2008 IZOD IndyCar Series Milwaukee winner Ryan Briscoe.
Did You Know? Five years ago next week (September 25, 2005), Dixon captured his fifth career Indy car win and his fourth IZOD IndyCar Series win at Watkins Glen International. Since this win, Dixon has won 19 IZOD IndyCar Series races.
All-Time Lap Leader: Dixon sits third all-time in laps led (292) at Motegi (Dan Wheldon: 356; Helio Castroneves: 325; Scott Dixon: 292).
Points: After finishing seventh at Kentucky, Dixon remains third in the championship with 469 points, 83 points out of the top spot.
Kentucky Recap: Dixon lined up in the fourth position and ran in the top-three for the majority of the event. During a green flag pit-stop on lap 154, Dixon and the Target team dropped from third to 10th due to trouble in the pits. He would re-group and finish seventh.
About Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR)
Target Chip Ganassi Racing is the reigning Indianapolis 500 Winner and two-time reigning IZOD IndyCar Series Champion. Chip Ganassi created his own one-car IndyCar team in 1990 and established a partnership with sponsor, Target. Today, Target Chip Ganassi Racing includes two entries in the IZOD IndyCar Series for 2008/2003 Champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 Winner Scott Dixon, and 2009/2007 Champion and 2010/2007 Indianapolis 500 Winner Dario Franchitti. Target Chip Ganassi Racing has collected seven Championships and 79 wins since 1994 and operates out of a state-of-the-art race shop facility in Indianapolis, with a corporate office in Pittsburgh.
- Target Chip Ganassi Racing Press Release
