SONOMA, Calif. — Prior to Sunday’s Motorola Indy 300, the IndyCar drivers were warned in the drivers’ meeting that team tactics resulting in a caution period would not be tolerated.
But once the race began, the Andretti Green Racing drivers were blocking as if Joseph Addai of the Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts was carrying the football.
Despite the tactic that was used to try to keep Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon contained so that AGR’s Dario Franchitti could protect his point lead, it didn’t work. That’s because Franchitti inadvertently tackled fellow AGR driver Marco Andretti after that driver made his final pit stop and came back onto the track in front of Franchitti’s speeding race car.
The clipping incident that knocked Andretti out of the race and damaged the front wing on Franchitti’s car allowed Dixon to overcome the team tactics and score his fourth victory of the season.
More importantly, he has taken the point lead away from Franchitti and has a four-point advantage heading into Belle Isle in Detroit.
At one point, Dixon was boxed in with AGR’s Tony Kanaan in front and Andretti to his rear. This protected Franchitti in the lead.
Dixon took pride that he wasn’t going to be intimidated by the team tactics.
“Today was very frustrating, especially having to deal with T.K. (Kanaan) a lot,” Dixon said. “He was not playing fair at all. We were all warned in the drivers meeting about team tactics. I think the IRL was watching another race because it was definitely going on.”
With Franchitti’s front wing flapping in the breeze, Dixon still wasn’t sure he could pass him.
“It’s always hard to tell because I’ve been in situations like that where you’ve damaged a car, you end up going bloody quicker,” Dixon said. “I couldn’t see the car because it was in front of me. I didn’t know what his wing was like. The team had said he had some left front damage.
“I think the problem with him was warming his tires. He had to save the fuel from what our team was telling me and it looked like he struggled just to get going on the restart.”
At one point in the race, Dixon screamed into his radio about Kanaan blocking him.
“You mean you could work those words out?” Dixon joked, because his over-the-air conversation contained a few expletives. “He was just obviously slowing down. When we had clear laps and he was at speed, he was doing 77s (seconds per lap). When they came across and told TK to slow down because Dario was getting into traffic, he started running in the 79s — almost two seconds a lap slower.
“In the middle of the corner, he was just crawling. There are two sections of a lap he was making it very slow and very pronounced that he was trying to give Dario a gap. Of course it’s frustrating. If that’s how it’s going to go, it’s just a bit sad really.”
It was obvious Kanaan’s car was faster than Franchitti’s, but the Brazilian driver refused to pass his teammate, trying to minimize Dixon’s gain in the standings. That also held up Hornish, who probably could have passed both Kanaan and Franchitti.
“I had to protect Dario as much as I could over the final few laps,” Kanaan admitted. “The guy has done a lot for me over the years and I was thinking about the team. Motor racing is a very selfish sport, but I’m proud of what I did today.
“It wasn’t going to change anything for me to be second, third or fourth. I want this team to win a championship, and I’m pretty sure Dario will. It’s a little setback, but we’ve still got two races to go.”
Dixon has gotten little help from his teammate, Dan Wheldon, who was mathematically eliminated from title contention on Sunday.
“That’s why they have four cars,” Dixon said. “That’s the advantage they have.”