New American open-wheel era or not, it was business as usual Saturday night in the IRL IndyCar Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Chip Ganassi Racing entry, driven by former series champion Scott Dixon, won the season-opener for the third straight year. He took the lead late in the 200-lap race when Tony Kanaan ran out of luck.
While none of the newcomers making the transition from the Champ Car World Series to the newly unified IndyCar series were able to compete with the leaders, predetermination of a disaster proved wrong as the newcomers stayed out of the way of the faster cars and for the most part out of trouble.
On the final lap of last years final race, Dixon, the New Zealand driver lost the IRL IndyCar Series championship to Dario Franchitti when he ran out of fuel on the last lap, got off to a great start with the victory in the Gainsco Indy 300. But it didn't look much like a race he could win.
Kanaan came out of the last round of green flag pit stops in the lead and appeared well on the way to a victory until Ernesto Viso, a rookie driving for one of the former Champ Car teams that just joined the IRL, punctured a tire and spun on the 193rd of 200 laps. Viso slid sideways across the track, Kanaan tried to go under him and almost made it, but he hit Viso's car with the right front of his Seven-Eleven Dallara-Honda, knocking his right front out of alignment.
Kanaan stayed out front for a few laps behind the pace car, with his damaged tire barely touching the ground. But he slowly drove his damaged car into the pits as the green flag waved on lap 197, giving the lead to Dixon, who came away with his second win at Homestead.
Marco Andretti, who led a race-high 85 laps, finished second, about five car-lengths behind the winner. It seemed that it was his race to win about mid-race on but I think his inexperience and a longer final stop put him out of contention for the win.
Hopefully this will be the start of a unified open wheel series that can grow and flourish under the banner of the IRL. In the future I would like to see them go to International circuits, road corses and more street venues to give it the same flavor as the heyday of the early 1990's. Good luck IRL, this hopeful race fan wants to see you succeed.
1 comment:
Like they always say "One mans loss Is another mans gain. Thats how the wheels roll sometimes.
www.motodanica.com
Post a Comment