The margin of victory was a lot smaller than last week at Mid-Ohio, but the level of dominance that one of the Target Chip Ganassi Racing cars had over the IndyCar Series field at the Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday was just as great.
But this week, Dario Franchitti was the victorious Ganassi driver, shaking up the IndyCar Series point standings once again with just three races remaining in the 2009 campaign. Franchitti led the 75-lapper at Infineon Raceway from start to finish, Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe finished second for the seventh time this season but regained the points lead, and perhaps most importantly, Scott Dixon endured a difficult day that finally ended in 13th place after a last-lap spin.
"[Dario] got max points here this weekend and that's what he needed," said victorious team owner Chip Ganassi. "Pole, led the most laps, wins the race … both guys [Franchitti and Dixon] now have won four races. That's a big accomplishment for Team Target. We're pretty happy with that and we'll see where we end up in the points."
Right now, both Ganassi drivers trail Briscoe: Franchitti by four points, and Dixon by 20, though that number could change if Marco Andretti is penalized for the clumsy move that punted Dixon from 10th to 14th at the final corner.
Although he won the 2007 event at Infineon, Dixon admitted he is not at ease on the undulating California road course and a 10th-place qualifying performance may have proven to be a critical element of the New Zealander's IndyCar Series title defense. Stuck in the midfield, he got swept into a multicar accident on the first lap and had to fight all afternoon just to claw back into the top 10.
"Kudos to Dario, obviously," Dixon said. "He did a fantastic job, especially with so many Target supporters here today. It was a tough race. We tried to catch a yellow; we pitted early to see if it could vault us up. We just kept kind of coming out in the same position, racing with TK [Tony Kanaan] and Marco and we got into a bit of a mix-up there right at the end. [Andretti] just kind of got into the back of me and spun me around. He came up and apologized. He definitely didn't do it on purpose.
Dario Franchitti hit all the right marks to score the most points possible at Sonoma.
"It's just one of those days. That's racing. I'm glad to move on and get out of here."
Franchitti had no such problems and the Scotsman pretty much controlled the race from the front to earn his 22nd combined Indy racing victory.
"Track position was critical today and getting the Target car on the pole was absolutely critical to our strategy," Franchitti said. "It probably wasn't the most interesting race for the fans, but I did what I had to do today. We kept the Target car out front. We kept to our strategy and I kept a good, consistent pace.
"This is critical and crucial for the championship," he added. "It was definitely a fun race -- for me -- and a great day."
Briscoe basically had one chance to make a run at Franchitti when the leaders were balked by slow backmarker Milka Duno. But thinking of the points situation, he backed off and settled again for second.
"We've just got to keep getting these points," Briscoe said. "Coming in second gets old a little bit, but we know we're up there and the wins are gonna come. If we're going to win this championship I'm going to have to win at least one of the last three. It's that close, it's tough. Scott had a tough weekend which helps us out a little bit, but Dario got maximum points and he's right there."
For the fourth consecutive year, the IndyCar Series championship battle is a good one. The last three events will be staged on three tracks that are about as different as 1.5-mile ovals can be: Chicagoland Speedway, Twin Ring Motegi and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
"Right now we have three oval races to focus on," said Franchitti. "It's going to be a challenge. Scott is the reigning champion, I know how good he is and he's got the same equipment as me. Ryan and the Penske team are going to be tough as well."
Dixon has maintained all summer that he only cares about the points standings after Homestead. After being on the short end of a 40-point swing at Sonoma, he's sticking by that story.
"It can switch big-time and that's what we've got to look at," said the two-time series champion. "We've got to make sure that we're consistent in the last three [races] and hopefully they can have a little bit of a blunder.
"I think between the two of us we've got cars in the Target team that can win all those last three races. That's the attitude. We have to go out there and try and dominate and hopefully I'll win another championship."
John Oreovicz covers motorsports for ESPN.com and has reported on Indy car racing for 17 years. He is a longtime contributor to National Speed Sport News and many other automotive and racing publications around the world. He is also the author of "A Winning Adventure," a detailed look into Honda's American open-wheel racing exploits.
"Oreo" attended the Indianapolis 500 for the first time at age 13 in 1978 and has been on the scene for more than 350 Indy car races under USAC, CART, IRL and Champ Car sanction as a reporter, PR man or fan. He joined ESPN.com in 2004.
John lives in west-central Indiana and can be reached at indyoreo@earthlink.net.
John Oreovicz
