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Mark Rotor & Yolanda Rotor
Birthday Wishes Come True for Dan Wheldon…
Wheldon Wins
IOWA CORN
INDY 250!
by Mark Rotor
The 30 year old Target Chip Ganassi race car driver Dan Wheldon really
knows how to celebrate birthday! Wheldon claimed the Iowa Corn Indy
trophy in Newton Iowa on Sunday, June 22 on his birthday.
"What a great day for Target Chip Ganassi Racing and a great birthday
present for myself." Wheldon’s strategy to stay out during
a caution flag with 60 laps to go placed the Target Chip Ganassi #10
car in position to run to the front of the pack past the Andretti Green
Racing drivers Hideki Mutoh and Marco Andretti. "It was a good call not
to do it, but Chip's (Ganassi) not here, so if they had called me in, I
don't think I would have come in anyway."
AGR Team
Meeting with Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick, and
Michael &
Marco Andretti
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Mark Rotor & Yolanda Rotor
Warm Up Act
Sets the Limit on the Sky...and lands safely on the ground.
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Mark Rotor & Yolanda Rotor
Early in the race, Helio Castroneves Penske Racing and Tony Kanaan of
Andretti Green Racing swapped the race lead with Castroneves out front
on the first twelve laps and Kanaan leading laps 16-51. However it was
not to be a victory for either competitor on Sunday. On lap 211 of 250,
Kanaan lost control of his Dolra in turn 2 as he pushed high into the
turn and lost control hitting the
wall. “I lost it. It’s tough to say because I may have heard someone
say that something broke on the car, but I can’t really say. I lost it
coming into turn #1 behind Wheldon and Mutoh. It’s unfortunate because
we were having a good race and we were competitive. I
was setting myself up for the end of the race. Turn 2 has not been
a good turn for me at this race.”
Danica Patrick
in turn #1
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Mark Rotor & Yolanda Rotor
Castroneves ran in to difficulty with 20 laps to go when his right rear
tire began to loose pressure requiring him to pit under green flag
conditions causing him to plummet from 8 position to 14 position at the
end of the race.
Hideki Mutoh's raced Wheldon to the checker flag taking 2nd place
followed by his Andretti Green Racing teammate Marco Andretti who
capture 3rd place. Mutoh archived his career-best finish with previous
best finish of three sixth-place finishes. Mutoh in the #27 Formula
Dream car stated, “I am very happy to finish second. I am almost there,
so maybe next time.” Thus far Mutoh is the season leader in the
Bombadier Rookie of the Year standings.
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Mark Rotor & Yolanda Rotor
Teammate Marco Andretti pursued Mutoh for the final 10 laps of
the racing aggressively running side by side with the #27 car of Mutoh.
”It’s good clean racing” said Andretti. “It had to be good for the
fans. It was good fun out there. I am proud of the Blockbuster boys. We
were towards the front all day and Hideki is on it this year for sure.”
Running in traffic is tough. The track was pretty good.
It was kind of what we set up for. We matched the setup with the
conditions and how we thought the race would play out. It was
completely different from last year.”
Danica Patrick
always focused and ready....
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Mark Rotor & Yolanda Rotor
Danica Patrick finished 6th place on the day and initially gained
advantage by staying out on the race track during yellow flag
pit-stop on lap #189. With Wheldon and Andretti Green
Racing teammate Mutoh, Patrick was 3rd from the front. However, on a
restart with 24 laps to go Marco Andretti passed Patrick on low
side and Scott Dixon passed high leaving Patrick behind eventually
finishing 6th. Andretti commented, “On the restart I knew I could trust
my teammate. Danica was looking out for me and she could have made it
very tough for me and put me below the line. When you get a good run,
you got go with it, and I had a good run.” Andretti had his best finish
since placing third in the Indy 500. Patrick said, "The Motorola car
ran well today. I wish that I was
able to keep position on the last restart, but what's done is done. I
have to thank my crew for all their hard work. I just wish had a better
finish."
Crossing the
Line makes it win #9 for the team this season.
Wheldon Wins
and Target Gets a Bulls eye.
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Mark Rotor & Yolanda Rotor
Wheldon's win gave Target Chip Ganassi Racing its fifth win in nine
IndyCar Series events this season. Wheldon and teammate Scott Dixon,
who finished fourth, plan to donate their combined winnings
(approximately $60,000) to the victims of Iowa's recent floods and
tornados. Wheldon said "My wife and I drove from Chicago to here and we
saw the flooding and it was just heartbreaking. I thought it was
something that Scott (Dixon) and I should do and fortunately, we were
able to."
Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dixon remains the IndyCar Series
points leader, holding a 48-point advantage over Team Penske's Helio
Castroneves.
The Brickyard
has the Gasoline alley and Iowa has Ethanol alley, and lots of Corn.
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Mark Rotor & Yolanda Rotor
This tram for
guests is pulled by a tractor, probably not running on ethanol--but
maybe bio/diesel.
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Mark Rotor & Yolanda Rotor
Tony Kanaan
walks away from a crash in turn 2.
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Mark Rotor & Yolanda Rotor
RACE NOTES:
·
Dan Wheldon records his second victory of the season
and the 15th of his career.
·
This is the 21st IndyCar Series victory for Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
·
Marco Andretti recorded his third podium finish of the season. He
finished second at Homestead-Miami and third at Indianapolis.
·
This was A.J. Foyt IV's best finish of the season. His previous best
was eighth at Kansas.
·
Will Power finished ninth, his best finish on an oval this season. His
previous best was 13th at Indianapolis and Texas. Power finished eighth
at St. Petersburg.
·
Graham Rahal finished 10th, his first top-10 finish on an oval.
·
John Andretti finished 11th, his best finish of the season
and the best finish ever for Roth Racing. The team's previous best
finish was 13th with driver Jay Howard at Kansas and Motegi earlier
this season.
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Mark Rotor & Yolanda Rotor
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