04/27/14

Grand Prix of Alabama - Race Report

Results (with starting pos.) from the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

1. (17) No. 20 Hunter-Reay, Honda
2. (14) No. 12 Andretti, Honda
3. (5) No. 9 Target Chevrolet (Dixon)
4. (23) No. 10 GE Reveal Chevrolet (Kanaan)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 28, 2014) - Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) drivers Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan finished third and ninth, respectively, at Barber Motorsports Park in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama for the Verizon IndyCar Series.

Dixon started a very wet race on rain tires and picked up a position at the drop of the green flag from his fifth-place starting position. A competitor jumped around him on the restart after an early caution, placing him back into fifth. He continued strong for nearly 20 laps on the 2.38-mile track, pitting with the rest of the field when the next caution came out on lap 21 of 69 to take four alternate tires and fuel. He exited the pits in fourth place and held position until the leaders pitted, leading lap 50 before coming in himself on lap 51. Team Target completed their second pit stop, and Dixon exited the pits just behind the leaders. He fought off the field for the next 15 laps until the final caution on lap 66. The race clock expired and the race finished under yellow. Dixon claimed his fifth-consecutive podium at Barber Motorsports Park, finishing in third place.

Kanaan drove the No. 10 GE Reveal Chevrolet past five competitors in the first lap of the race, moving from 23rd to 18th place. He exited the pits after the second caution in 11th place, switching to alternate tires. By lap 37, the No. 10 was up to ninth place, and hit a race-high fourth when the leaders pitted on lap 50. After pitting on lap 51, Kanaan held off Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Charlie Kimball and Ryan Briscoe until a wreck brought out a caution with five minutes left in the race that continued through to the end. The No. 10 finished inside the top-10 in ninth place.

With the results, Dixon is fourth in the Verizon IndyCar Series point standings with 87 points, while Kanaan stands ninth with 62 points.

Notes of Interest:

• -Dixon turned the fastest lap of the race with a 1:09.299
• -Dixon has finished on the podium in each of the five races held at Barber (second-second-second-second-third)

TCGR Quoteboard:

Scott Dixon, No. 9 Target Chevrolet: "Overall it was a good day for the Target team. We wanted to take one more step up on the podium to first after finishing second here so many times, but we ended up going in reverse this time unfortunately. We'll take third but the tough conditions were the same for everyone with the wet start and a timed race. We seemed to burn up the front tires quick, but we had some great pit stops and overall a solid day."

Up next for Target Chip Ganassi Racing is the Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 10 (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC).