Results (with starting pos.) from Baltimore
1.    (1) Will Power, No. 12 Honda Dallara
2.    (14) Oriol Servia, No. 2 Honda Dallara
3.    (27) Tony Kanaan, No. 82 Honda Dallara
4.    (4) Dario Franchitti, No. 10 Kellogg’s Honda Dallara
5.    (10) Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Honda Dallara  
 
Franchitti Fourth, Dixon Fifth on the Streets of Baltimore

 

BALTIMORE (September 4, 2011) – Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) driver Dario Franchitti came home fourth in the Baltimore Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. TCGR teammate Scott Dixon was able to hold on and finish fifth in the Streets of Baltimore for Round 15 of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season.

 

Franchitti started the afternoon fourth and wasted little time moving the No. 10 Kellogg’s Honda inside the top-three. He maintained a quick pace throughout the middle portion of the race, not letting the front two get out of his sight. After the final round of green flag stops with less than 20-laps remaining, Franchitti found himself having to fend off challenges from Target teammate Dixon for fifth. In the end, Franchitti brought the No.10 home in fourth.

 

Dixon started the race from 10th and ran inside the top-10 throughout the first stint of the race. After the first round of green flag pit stops, Dixon maintained his top-10 position until contact on lap 38 forced the team to return to pit road with two flat rear tires. Following the final round of green flag stops, Dixon and team found themselves fifth, challenging teammate Franchitti for position. Dixon was able to maintain his top-five position and brought the No.9 Target Honda home fifth.

 

NOTES
- Dixon has now finished in the top-five in six of the last seven races.
- This is Dixon’s 10th top-five and 11th top-10 in 2011
- This is Dixon’s 88th top-five and 130th top-10 finish in Indy car racing.
- This is Franchitti’s 11th top-five and 12th top-10 of the 2011 IndyCar season.
- This is the eighth time in 2011 that Franchitti has started and finished a race inside the top-five.

 

Franchitti now has a five-point lead over Power in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings with 475 points. Dixon remains third in the standings, 77 points behind Franchitti.

 

Up next for Team Target is Round 16 of the IZOD IndyCar Series in Motegi for the Indy Japan 300 on Saturday, September 17th  (11:30 p.m. ET, Versus).

 

Scott Dixon: “Qualifying was a bit bizarre for us. We were the quickest in round one of qualifying, but when we put a new set of tires on for the second round, we struggled. So we started a little ways back and utilized strategy to make it up. Despite getting caught up and having to go from the back to the front, we made a good recovery there toward the end of the race. It was a good day for the Target car and everyone on the team. I also want to just thank the fans for coming out. This is a great track and all it needs is a few more passing zones to give the fans more racing to see. But thanks to Team Target and everyone here in Baltimore.”

 

Dario Franchitti: “Baltimore was a fantastic, yet very challenging track.  There was a great crowd here and I wish we had more passing places for the fans to see. But overall, we had a great time here and everyone at Team Target worked as hard as they could for our fourth place today, but we wish we could have finished a bit higher. As for (Will) Power, we are all very equal on the ovals and the road courses on any given day. When we get the car working the way we like it, we are on a very similar level.”