INDYCAR SERIES Firestone Indy 200
Final
for this game
Firestone Indy 200 Preview
Jul 14, 2007 - 10:45 AMJuly 14, 2007
Nashville Superspeedway
Nashville, Tennessee
Race 11 of 17 in the 2007 IndyCar Series season
TV: ESPN, 7:30 p.m. EDT
Length: 200 laps
Race length: 266 miles
Track length: 1.33-mile oval
Qualifying record: Scott Dixon, 206.211 mph, 2003
Race record: Scott Dixon, 161.205 mph, 2006
DRIVERS TO WATCH
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Helio Castroneves
Team: Marlboro Team Penske
2007 Earnings: $1,214,603
Led for the first 19 laps last week at Watkins Glen, but an
accident ended his day; despite the 18th-place finish, he
remains sixth in the standings, 137 points behind leader Dario
Franchitti; has finished fifth here in each of the last two
years and posted a third-place finish in both 2003 and 2004; has
never earned the pole here, starting fifth from the front last
year; has one victory this year despite winning a
circuit-leading five poles in 10 starts; took the checkered flag
at St. Petersburg on April 1 to collect his 12th career win.
Scott Dixon
Team: Target Chip Ganassi Racing
2007 Earnings: $1,467,917
Took the checked flag last week at Watkins Glen for his first
win of the year and seventh career IndyCar Series victory; is
second in the standings and has climbed within 47 points of
Franchitti; is the defending champion here, leading for 69 of
200 laps a year ago; has eight top-five finishes in 10 starts
this season; has been a runner-up four times this year; earned
his only pole of the season at Iowa Speedway last month, but
finished 10th.
Dario Franchitti
Team: Andretti Green Racing
2007 Earnings: $2,454,433
Finished third last week at Watkins Glen and maintained the top
spot in the standings; finished sixth here last year after
winning the 2005 edition of the race; has never started better
than fourth in three appearances here; leads the circuit with
three wins this season - Richmond, Iowa and the Indy 500; has
been runner-up twice this year and has finished in the top five
in nine of 10 starts; only finish out of the top five was a
seventh-place showing in the first race of the year at
Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Danica Patrick
Team: Andretti Green Racing
2007 Earnings: $763,155
Posted an 11th-place finish at Watkins Glen last week; remains
eighth in the standings, 162 points behind Franchitti; finished
fourth here last year, despite starting 10 places off the pole;
started second here in 2005, but ended up in seventh place; had
a career-best third-place finish at Texas on June 9 for her only
top-five finish in 10 starts this season; has started no better
than sixth in her last seven races; has just five top-five
finishes in 40 career starts.
Sam Hornish Jr.
Team: Marlboro Team Penske
2007 Earnings: $960,339
Indy Racing's defending champion finished second last week at
Watkins Glen, but it was his post-race altercation with Tony
Kanaan that got more attention. After the two bumped cars
during the competition, Hornish confronted Kanaan at the end of
the race, resulting in a skirmish that involved Hornish's father
among others; Hornish is fifth in the standings, 97 points off
the pace; started second here last year, but finished 14th when
an accident ended his day after 128 laps; was the runner-up
here in both 2004 and 2005; is the only driver among the current
top five who has yet to earn a pole this year; lone win this
season was at Texas Motor Speedway last month.
2006 Top 10
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1. Scott Dixon (9)
2. Dan Wheldon (10)
3. Vitor Meira (4)
4. Danica Patrick (16)
5. Helio Castroneves (3)
6. Dario Franchitti (27)
7. Jeff Simmons (17)
8. Marco Andretti (26)
9. Ryan Briscoe (5)
10. Ed Carpenter (20)
Past Winners
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2006 Scott Dixon
2005 Dario Franchitti
