Franchitti Takes 3rd at Infineon Raceway

Power wins and extends his points lead over Dario with four oval races to go

Results from Infineon Raceway

1.      1. Will Power, No. 12 Honda Dallara

2.      2. Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Honda Dallara

3.      3. Dario Franchitti, No. 10 Target Honda Dallara


SONOMA, Calif. (August 22, 2010) – Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) had another strong finish at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, claiming their fourth double-podium finish of the 2010 season. Scott Dixon finished second and Dario Franchitti finished in the third position after the 75-lap event.

Dixon lined-up sixth on the grid and passed his way into the top-three by just lap 24. He ran in the top three throughout the remainder of the race, challenging eventual winner Will Power for the lead in the closing laps.

Franchitti started in the third position and ran in the top three throughout the race. He quickly made his way up to second on lap 18, and on lap 61 let his Target teammate take up with fight with Power. He would ultimately finish third, joining Dixon on the podium.

NOTES

- The third-place finish marked Franchitti’s fourth consecutive podium finish at Infineon (2006, 2007, 2009)

- The podium finishes mark the 12th podium finish for Team Target in 2010 (Franchitti: eight; Dixon: four)

- Franchitti’s third-place finish was his fourth of 2010, and his 10th top-10 of 2010


With the podium finishes, Franchitti remains second in the championship with 455 points - just 59 points behind leader Power. Dixon remains third in the championship with 419 points – 95 points out of the top spot.

Up next for Team Target is Round 14 of the IZOD IndyCar Series at Chicagoland Speedway for the Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil 300, August 28 (7:00 p.m. ET on VERSUS).

TCGR Quoteboard:

Dario Franchitti: “We did the best with what we had today. We took a gamble on blacks at the end and it didn’t work for us, unfortunately. Scott (Dixon) was definitely quicker on reds and I let him go there, hoping he was going to hunt down Will (Power). Scott really tried to get past him.  There was such a speed difference on the blacks that we couldn’t get close to them at the end.”