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Detroit Indy Grand Prix Preview

Sep 2, 2007 - 10:25 AM

September 2, 2007 
The Raceway at Belle Isle 
Detroit 
Race 16 of 17 in the 2007 IndyCar Series season

TV: ABC, 3:30 p.m. EDT

Length: 90 laps 
Race length: 184.5 miles 
Track length:
2.906-mile 13-turn road course


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

Scott Dixon 
Team: Target Chip Ganassi Racing 
2007 Earnings: $2,007,767

Took over the top spot in the standings by winning at Sonoma;
leads Dario Franchitti by four points, and holds a 62-point
advantage over third place Tony Kanaan with two races to go; now
has a series-best four wins this season along with Kanaan;
bounced back from a DNF at Michigan by finishing second to
Kanaan at Kentucky; enjoyed a stretch of three straight wins
earlier in the season; took the checkered flag at Mid-Ohio for
his ninth career IndyCar series victory; also won at at
Nashville after starting on the pole to became the first repeat
winner there; started his winning streak on July 8 at Watkins
Glen; has finished out of the top-10 just twice this season; has
been a runner-up five times this year; earned his only other
pole of the season at Iowa but finished 10th.


Dario Franchitti 
Team: Andretti Green Racing 
2007 Earnings: $2,844,283

Ran third at Sonoma, but gave way to Dixon atop the standings;
finished eighth at Kentucky prior to the race at Infineon; was
involved in a violent wreck at Michigan, where he flipped
upside-down before landing on the cockpit of his car;
miraculously walked away from the crash uninjured, but did not
finish the race; finished second to Dixon for the second
straight race at Mid-Ohio; is second behind Dixon for wins this
season with three - Richmond, Iowa and the Indy 500; has been
runner-up four times this year and has been remarkably
consistent, finishing in the top five in 12 of 15 starts.


Tony Kanaan 
Team: Andretti Green Racing 
2007 Earnings: $1,577,269

Continued recent solid stretch by running third at Sonoma;
followed up his win at Michigan by starting and winning from the
pole at Kentucky; is third in the standings, 62 behind
Franchitti; holds 84-point cushion over fourth-place Dan
Wheldon; has a series-best four wins this season along with
Dixon, also taking the checkered flag at Milwaukee and Japan;
started second at the Indianapolis 500, but finished a
disappointing 12th; has finished fourth three times - at Watkins
Glen, Richmond and Mid-Ohio; captured pole at Kansas, yet
finished 15th.


Danica Patrick 
Team: Andretti Green Racing 
2007 Earnings: $990,305

Started a second at Sonoma but finished sixth; was involved in
an accident and finished 16th at Kentucky; struggled to a
disappointing seventh-place finish at Michigan; posted her
second consecutive top-five finish with a fifth place showing at
Mid-Ohio; matched her career-best IndyCar Series finish by
taking third at Nashville prior to that; has three top-five
finishes this season, including a third at Texas on June 9;
moved up to seventh in the standings, but is a distant 195
points behind Dixon; started second at Mid-Ohio, but had started
no better than sixth in eight races before that.


Sam Hornish Jr. 
Team: Marlboro Team Penske 
2007 Earnings: $1,209,539

After failing to finish the previous two races after being
involved in accidents, rebounded to place fifth at Sonoma; in
addition to completing just 35 laps at Kentucky, also failed to
finish at Michigan after getting involved in wild multi-car
wreck; defending series champion finished 14th at Mid-Ohio but
remains fifth in the standings, 151 points off Dixon's pace;
placed fourth at Nashville and second at Watkins Glen before the
disappointing finish at Mid-Ohio; lone win this season was at
Texas Motor Speedway in June; made headlines at Watkins Glen
with a post-race altercation with Tony Kanaan.


Dan Wheldon 
Team: Target Chip Ganassi Racing 
2007 Earnings: $1,216,305

Finished seventh at Sonoma; was another top driver who had not
finished the two races prior to last week after wrecking at both
Kentucky and Michigan; has finished out of the top five over
his past six races; was third at Richmond seven races ago;
dropped to fourth in the standings after Mid-Ohio, and is
currently 146 behind Dixon; has two wins this season, starting
and finishing from the pole in the season opener at Homestead;
also won at Kansas.