Dan Wheldon has won for the first time in a year, taking the chequered flag in the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 - round four of the IndyCar® Series of which Australia’s Gold Coast Indy 300 is a part - at Kansas Speedway to become the first two-time winner in eight IndyCar Series races at the track.

Wheldon, the 2005 Indianapolis 500 champion, hadn’t visited Victory Lane since winning at Kansas last April when he led 177 of 200 laps, and while the Target Chip Ganassi driver led only the final 49 laps this time around, it was enough for his 14th career victory.

Wheldon’s teammate - Brisbane-born Kiwi Scott Dixon - dominated the race by leading 145 laps, however the 2003 Kansas winner pitted for a final stop two laps before a yellow flag was called – seeing him shuffled back to seventh with time only to climb to third in the final 28 laps.

Andretti Green Racing’s Tony Kanaan finished second, his best finish of the season. Helio Castroneves finished fourth and retains the series points lead heading into the Indianapolis 500, while Marco Andretti and Hideki Mutoh made up the top six with Sydney’s Ryan Briscoe in seventh after another strong run.

Danica Patrick, who recorded her first career victory one week ago, was seventh when she went in for her final pit stop; however a bent wheel ended her race. She was 19th.

Also seeing their race ended early was Briscoe’s fellow Australian Will Power - the winner of the Champ Car World Series finale just last weekend at Long Beach, California – who saw his race ended on lap 22 due to contact when he got too close to another car and lost ‘aero’, with the air disturbance from the car ahead taking away downforce from Power’s car.

The 2008 IndyCar Series season now heads to the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the series continues on a schedule that is the most diverse in world motorsports.

The 2008 schedule will take the teams and drivers to short ovals, superspeedways, and road and street courses including the Gold Coast Indy 300 which is regarded as a ‘crown jewel’ in international motorsport.

Tickets are now on sale for the Gold Coast Indy 300 with ticket options to suit everyone's needs. Four day Grandstand passes are available for those who prefer to watch the racing from the comfort of their own reserved seat or for those who prefer to wander around and soak up the atmosphere then a four day, weekend or single day General Admission pass might be more their style. For more information on ticket options click here. For information on Corporate Hospitality packages please call our Sales Team on (07) 5588 6800.


WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY...

DAN WHELDON (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, finished first):
“It was a really good weekend for everyone at Target Chip Ganassi Racing,” said Wheldon.

“It's unfortunate for Scott (Dixon) about when the yellow fell. I'm sure he'll make up for that later in the year. The cars were very competitive the whole weekend. The crews performed flawlessly, and that's the kind of weekend you want. It's great to have that weekend leading into Indianapolis.”

(About staying out longer than Dixon): "I think to be honest, I was able to sit behind and save a bit more fuel,” said Wheldon.

“He was doing everything he could. We were running the same fuel position, and I could hear him lifting. When you're behind a car, you can save a little bit more and that might have made the difference.”

TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven, finished second):
“If you watched the last 30 laps of the race, you could see I was just trying to catch (Dan Wheldon),” said Kanaan.

“I definitely didn't have anything for him. Second place is pretty good, especially before Indy. We can carry the momentum into the month (of May). It's a good finish, let's see what happens.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, finished third)
“That's two weeks in a row. I don't know what we're trying to do on the 9 car side. We definitely lost the race ourselves,” said Dixon.

“It's just something we have to work on. At least a Target car won this weekend. Congrats to Dan (Wheldon). He was just sitting back smartly and saving a bit of fuel. It's something we need to work on strategy-wise.

“We came away with good points and are still in the championship and that's what counts.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, finished fourth)
“The Team Penske car was solid today. We had made some changes between qualifying and the race, and they seemed to make us a little bit quicker,” said Castroneves.

“However, during the middle part of our runs, we weren’t able to keep up with the leaders. Thankfully, we were able to stay out of trouble and bring home a fourth-place finish, which keeps us in the championship lead heading into Indy."

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, finished seventh)
“I thought today was a good race for Team Penske. We had a solid car and I'm fairly happy with our result,” said Briscoe.

“The final laps were a little frustrating, because I think I had better than a seventh place car. I was just trying to play it safe, looking for a solid finish. I thought it was a good day for me and I feel like I learned a lot out there.”

WILL POWER (No. 8 Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia)
"I got caught up at the bottom of the track, and I couldn’t go high because I wasn’t sure if someone was there,” said Power.

“I just lost all the air and the KV Racing Technology Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia car flicked round so quick there was no way I could fix it.

“It is disappointing. The crew has worked really hard, and I wanted to do better in my second IndyCar oval race. But now we go to Indianapolis for the month of May, and we will have plenty of track time to improve the car. I can also get some more experience on ovals.”

RESULTS: IndyCar Series Road Runner Turbo Indy 300
Results of the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 IndyCar Series event at the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (2) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
2. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
3. (1) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
4. (8) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
5. (14) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
6. (13) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
7. (9) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
8. (5) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
9. (22) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
10. (6) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running
11. (23) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running
12. (20) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running
13. (15) Jay Howard, Dallara-Honda, 197, Running
14. (17) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 197, Running
15. (26) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 196, Running
16. (24) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 195, Running
17. (27) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 193, Running
18. (12) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 169, Running
19. (3) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 156, Mechanical
20. (21) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 150, Contact
21. (19) Jaime Camara, Dallara-Honda, 150, Running
22. (10) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 101, Mechanical
23. (4) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 96, Contact
24. (16) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 76, Handling
25. (25) Enrique Bernoldi, Dallara-Honda, 54, Handling
26. (7) Marty Roth, Dallara-Honda, 41, Handling
27. (18) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 22, Contact

RACE STATISTICS
- Winner's average speed: 161.774 mph
- Time of race: 1:52:44.9806
- Margin of victory: 2.1778 seconds
- Cautions: 4 caution flags for 41 laps
- Lead changes: 5 among 4 drivers
- Lap leaders: Dixon 1-26, Wilson 27-31, Dixon 32-77,
- Castroneves 78, Dixon 79-151, Wheldon 152-200.
- Point standings: Castroneves 144, Dixon 138, Wheldon 135,
- Kanaan 129, Patrick 110, Power 97, Andretti 95, Servia 93,
- Carpenter 90, Rahal 88.

ROAD RUNNER TURBO INDY 300 POST-RACE NOTES:
- This is Dan Wheldon’s 14th career victory and his first victory of the season. Wheldon’s last victory came at Kansas Speedway last season.
- Wheldon is the first two-time winner at Kansas Speedway in eight IndyCar Series races at the track.
- Wheldon led 49 laps in today’s race and has led 382 of 800 laps at Kansas Speedway in the last four seasons.
- This is the 18th victory for Target Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar Series. The team also won this season with Scott Dixon at Homestead-Miami.
- Wheldon and Scott Dixon combined to lead 194 laps, bringing Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s total to 520 in the eight races at Kansas.
- Tony Kanaan’s second-place finish is his best finish of the season. This is Kanaan’s 10th consecutive top-10 finish.
- Helio Castroneves retains the points leading heading into Indianapolis. This is his fifth consecutive top-five finish.
- Hideki Mutoh’s sixth-place finish ties his career-best finish which he accomplished earlier this season at St. Petersburg.

2008 INDYCAR SERIES POINTS STANDINGS - POST ROUND FOUR
1. #3 Helio Castroneves 144 points
2. #9 Scott Dixon 138
3. #10 Dan Wheldon 135
4. #11 Tony Kanaan 129
5. #7 Danica Patrick 110
6. #8 Will Power 97
7. #26 Marco Andretti 95
8. #5 Oriol Servia 93
9. #20 Ed Carpenter 90
10. #06 Graham Rahal 88
16. #6 Ryan Briscoe 72

2008 BOMBARDIER ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS - POST ROUND FOUR
1. #8 Will Power 97 points
2. #06 Graham Rahal 88
3. #27 Hideki Mutoh 87
4. #36 Enrique Bernoldi 84
5. #33 EJ Viso 83
6. #02 Justin Wilson 71
7. #24 Jay Howard 62
8. #34 Franck Perera 56
9. #19 Mario Moraes 53
10. #96 Mario Dominguez 35

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