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Jun 9, 2007 - 10:50 AM

June 9, 2007
Texas Motor Speedway 
Fort Worth, Texas
Race 7 of 17 in the 2007 IndyCar Series season

TV: ESPN2, 10 p.m. EDT

Length: 200 laps 
Track length: 1 1/2 miles 
Race length: 300 miles

Qualifying record: Billy Boat, 225.979 mph, 1998
Race record: Helio Castroneves, 185.710 mph, 2006


DRIVERS TO WATCH
----------------

Helio Castroneves
Team: Marlboro Team Penske
2007 Earnings: $1,039,203

Crashed late at Milwaukee en route to a 16th-place finish last
week; slipped to fifth in the standings, 33 points behind leader
Dario Franchitti; Indy 500 pole winner finished third in the
rain-shortened race, his second straight top-three finish; has
claimed four poles this season, which leads the circuit; took
the checkered flag at St. Petersburg on April 1, leading 95 of
100 laps in the road-course race to collect his 12th career win;
won this event last season.

Scott Dixon
Team: Target Chip Ganassi Racing
2007 Earnings: $1,133,867

Ran fourth at Milwaukee, his third fourth-place finish of the
season; also has three runner-up finishes this season, including
the Indy 500; also has started no lower than sixth and no
higher than fourth this season, displaying remarkable
consistency; is third in the standings with 216 points, just
five behind Franchitti; looking for seventh career win and first
since Nashville last July; was runner-up to Castroneves in this
event last season.

Dario Franchitti
Team: Andretti Green Racing
2007 Earnings: $2,060,083

Followed up his landmark Indy 500 victory by finishing second
behind Tony Kanaan at Milwaukee; checkered flag at Indianapolis
continued a progression up the leaderboard that began with a
seventh in the season opener in Miami and has included a fifth,
a third and a runner-up; has yet to start on the pole this
season but leads the series standings with 221 points, just
three ahead of Dan Wheldon; ran 13th in this event last season.

Tony Kanaan
Team: Andretti Green Racing
2007 Earnings: $900,119

Followed up his disappointment at the Indy 500 by winning last
weekend at Milwaukee, his second victory in as many events at
the mile-long track; finished fifth, third and first in the
opening three races but struggled in the next two despite his
best starting spots of the campaign; won the pole in Kansas but
finished 15th and started second at the Indy 500 but came home
12th; climbed to fourth in the standings and trails teammate
Franchitti by 20 points for the lead; finished seventh in this
race last season.

Danica Patrick
Team: Andretti Green Racing
2007 Earnings: $549,705

Switch to Andretti Green Racing has not produced the anticipated
performance; series starlet continues to run in the middle of
the pack, with no finish better than seventh in the first six
races; finished eighth at Milwaukee but made headlines after the
race by confronting Wheldon, who brushed wheels with her
earlier in the race; also finished eighth in the Indy 500 and is
tied with Vitor Meira for ninth in the standings with 133
points, well off the pace set by Franchitti and the rest of the
leaders; owns just four top-five finishes in 36 career starts
and never has come home better than fourth; placed 12th in this
event last season.

Dan Wheldon
Team: Target Chip Ganassi Racing
2007 Earnings: $777,155

Bounced back from a poor performance at the Indy 500 by running
third last week at Milwaukee; one of the favorites heading into
the Indy 500 but came up with his worst showing of the season,
finishing 22nd due to an accident; by comparison, his finishing
spots in the season's first four races totaled 13; won the
season opener at Miami from the pole and also won at Kansas,
where he started fourth; started and finished second in Japan;
second in the standings, just three points behind Franchitti;
has been no lower than second in the final standings each of the
last three years, taking the series title in 2005; ran third in
this event last season.

2006 Top 10
-----------
 1. Helio Castroneves (3)
 2. Scott Dixon (9)
 3. Dan Wheldon (10)
 4. Sam Hornish Jr. (6)
 5. Scott Sharp (8)
 6. Vitor Meira (4)
 7. Tony Kanaan (11)
 8. Kosuke Matsuura (55)
 9. Ed Carpenter (20)
10. Tomas Scheckter (2)

Past Champions
--------------
2006  Helio Castroneves
2005  Tomas Scheckter
2004  Tony Kanaan
2003  Al Unser Jr. 
2002  Jeff Ward 
2001  Scott Sharp 
2000  Scott Sharp 
1999  Scott Goodyear 
1998  Billy Boat 
1997  Arie Luyendyk