2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Season Highlights

The 2010 season marked Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon’s second season as Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates, and they quickly picked up on where they left off in 2009. Franchitti drove to the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series Championship with three overall wins, including the Indianapolis 500, while Dixon posted three wins with a third-place finish in the championship standings. It marked the second consecutive season with both Franchitti and Dixon finishing in the top-three in the championship standings.

With the title, Team Target has now captured three consecutive IZOD IndyCar Championships (2008, 2009, 2010) and eight open wheel championships since 1990 (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010). It not only marked Franchitti’s third IZOD IndyCar Series title, but his third consecutive IndyCar championship, as he spent the 2008 season in NASCAR driving for Chip Ganassi.

Round 1, Sao Paulo Street Course- Sao Paulo Indy 300

• Franchitti earned the first pole of the season and led 29 of 61 laps before finishing seventh
• Dixon started seventh, was involved in a multi-car incident, but still managed a sixth-place finish after falling as far back as 19th

Round 3, Barber Motorsports Park- Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy Credit Union

• Dixon finished in second position and Franchitti in third
• It marked the 22th time in TCGR history the team claimed a double-podium finish

Round 5, Kansas Speedway- Road Runner Turbo Indy 300

• Dixon led 167 of 200 laps en route to the victory while Franchitti finished second
• It was the 10th time in TCGR history the team had swept the top-two spots
• The win marked Dixon’s 23rd in Indy car racing and his 22nd in the IZOD IndyCar Series
• It was the first victory of the season for TCGR and 75th in Indy car racing (1990-present)

Round 6, Indianapolis Motor Speedway- Indianapolis 500

• Franchitti started third, led 155 of 200 laps and won the 94th running of the Indianapolis 500
• It was his second Indianapolis 500 win (2007), and the third for TCGR (2000-Montoya, 2008-Dixon)
• It was the second victory of the season for TCGR and 76th in Indy car racing (1990-present)
• Franchitti climbed to 21st all-time in laps led at the Indianapolis 500 with 255
• Chip Ganassi became the only team owner in history to win both the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year

Round 7, Texas Motor Speedway- Firestone 550K

• Franchitti started second and led 86 of 228 laps on his way to a fifth-place finish
• With the finish Franchitti claimed the championship lead-three points ahead of Will Power
• Dixon started and finished the race in the fourth position

Round 11, Edmonton Airport Course- Honda Indy Edmonton

• Dixon started third, inherited the lead after Helio Castroneves had a blocking penalty enforced and led the final two laps to take his second victory of the season
• It was the third victory of the 2010 season for TCGR and 77th in Indy car racing (1990- present)
• The win marked Dixon’s 24th Indy car victory moving him into 13th all-time on the Indy car win list
• Franchitti finished the race in third, marking Team Target’s third double-podium finish of 2010, the 24th time in history that both Target cars had joined one another on the podium

Round 12, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course- Honda Indy 200 presented by Westfield Insurance

• Franchitti started the event from second position and led 29 laps en route to his second victory of the season
• The win was TCGR’s sixth win at Mid-Ohio, 38th win in the IZOD IndyCar Series and 78th in Indy car racing
• The victory marked the final victory of Chip Ganassi Racing Teams’ weekend hat trick, winning the Honda Indy 200 presented by Westfield Insurance on August 8th (after Juan Pablo Montoya’s victory at Watkins Glen in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series earlier in the day and Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas GRAND-AM win at Watkins Glen August 7th)
• Dixon finished in fifth and extended his record of most consecutive top-10 starts to 44

Round, 13 Infineon Raceway- Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

• The third-place finish marked Franchitti’s fourth consecutive podium finish at Infineon (2006, 2007, 2009)
• The second-place finish marked Dixon’s third top-five finish at Infineon (2006, 2007)
• The podium finishes marked the 12th podium finish for Team Target in 2010 (Franchitti: eight; Dixon: four)
• The finishes marked the 25th time that the Target cars had claimed double-podium finishes
• Dixon extended his record of most consecutive top-10 starts to 45

Round 14, Chicagoland Speedway- Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil 300

• Franchitti started second and used a strategic fuel-only stop on the last round of pit-stops to gain the top-spot
• Franchitti led the remaining 28 laps of the race to claim his third victory of the season
• With the finish, Franchitti gained 36 points on championship leader, and trailed by only 23 points heading into the final three races
• The win gave Chip Ganassi Race Teams, Inc. its 16th victory of 2010, as Ganassi drivers Pruett and Rojas claimed the team’s 15th victory at Montreal earlier in the day to win their eighth GRAND-AM Rolex Series race

Round 17, Homestead-Miami Speedway- Cafés do Brasil Indy 300

• Team Target swept the front row in qualifying for the finale, as Franchitti claimed the PEAK Performance Pole Award and Dixon qualified second
• Franchitti clinched the most laps led on lap 118 of the 200-lap race to earn another two-point bonus (-9).  He went on to finish in eighth, outscoring Power by five points
• Dixon led 47 laps en route to his third victory of the season and TCGR’s sixth of 2010
• Dixon and Franchitti combined to lead 175 of 200 laps
• The win marked TCGR’s seventh overall at Homestead (1996, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010)
• It was TCGR’s 40th win in the IZOD IndyCar Series and 80th in Indy car racing
• The win was the 133rd for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc.

Championship Notes

• Since 2007, Franchitti and Dixon are the only two drivers to win the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship
• 2010 marked the fifth-straight year that Team Target had placed two cars inside the top-four in the overall championship standings
• It was the second time a Target driver has won the Indianapolis 500 and IZOD IndyCar Series Championship in the same season (Scott Dixon – 2008)
• It was the second time in history that Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc. have won two championships in a season (GRAND-AM, IndyCar – 2008)
• Target Team led 15 of 17 races on the season, leading 825 of 2,214 laps (37%)
• Franchitti won the IZOD IndyCar Series Championship by five points over Power, the second-closest margin of victory in IZOD IndyCar Series history
• Franchitti also claimed the inaugural A.J. Foyt Oval Championship Trophy

2010 By the Numbers

Number of Races: 17
Overall Points: Franchitti, 1st, Dixon, 3rd (-55)
Oval Points: Franchitti, 1st, Dixon, 3rd (-39)
Road/Street Course Points: Franchitti, 2nd (-105), Dixon, 3rd (-144)
Most Races Led: Will Power (14), Franchitti (11), Ryan Briscoe (10), Dixon (8)
Most Laps Led: Franchitti (552)
Most Laps Led: Team: Target Chip Ganassi Racing (825)