Kanaan leads 191 laps on way to repeat win at Phoenix
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- With plenty of gas in the tank and some of the Indy Racing League's elite drivers out of the race, Tony Kanaan only had to stay out of trouble and ahead of Scott Dixon to win the Copper World Indy 200.
That's exactly what he did, maintaining his lead through a late caution and restart to beat Dixon going away.
"I led the whole freaking race," Kanaan said about his tactics. "I wasn't going to lose it at the end."
It was Kanaan's second straight win in Phoenix -- the only two IRL wins for the former CART driver -- and it was dominating. He won the fastest Indy-car race at Phoenix International Raceway since 1995.
The Brazilian star of Andretti Green Racing's four drivers led 191 laps -- the most since Bobby Rahal led from start to finish in 1992 -- and averaged 127.981 mph.
Sam Hornish Jr. (four laps), Darren Manning (four) and Tomas Scheckter (one) were the only other drivers to see the field in their mirrors.
Kanaan led 77 laps last year, taking the lead for good with 40 laps to go, and averaged 100.073. This time, he passed teammate and pole-sitter Dan Wheldon on the first lap and ground out the mile circuits in his Dallara-Honda.
Kanaan took advantage of the only major crash in an exceptionally clean race, covering 11 of the last 20 laps under a yellow flag.
On the restart, Kanaan timed his acceleration curve perfectly and pulled away, beating Dixon's Toyota-powered G Force by a dozen car lengths.
Dixon, last year's series champion, finished 2003 with three consecutive second-place performances, then crashed in the season opener in Homestead, Fla., on Feb. 29 and finished 18th.
"It's definitely getting old," said Dixon, who qualified fifth for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Wheldon, last season's IRL rookie of the year, was third, with Alex Barron fourth and Manning fifth.
Recent races in the series have been punishing for cars -- last year's event, when Kanaan beat Team Penske's Helio Castroneves to the finish, featured 10 cautions for 73 laps, and the yellow flag came out at least seven times in five of six races from 1997-02.
The recent arrival in the IRL of some of CART's best drivers may have helped the field stay out of trouble. But the 96-degree heat, which translated into 123 degrees on the pavement and created slippery conditions, made it impossible for some skilled drivers to stay out of trouble.
Hornish, who won at Homestead, lost control coming out of the second turn on the 81st lap, and the back end skated into the wall.
But the impact was relatively light, and Hornish resumed racing after the rear wing was replaced during a pit stop. He completed 195 laps for 15th -- the last car running.
 | |
| Tony Kanaan plants a kiss on teammate Dan Wheldon, who sat on the pole.(AP) |
"Obviously, I have (co-owner) Kim Green talking to me on the radio, and when he says, 'Go to full mixture,' that means we're good to go to the end," Kanaan said. "Thank God I don't have to make those calculations. Toward the end, Kim wants to be a little safe, so we kept saving a little bit of fuel under the yellow flag."
The last of three cautions for 26 laps occurred in the 181st lap when Robbie Buhl's tires lost their grip and he hit the wall, scattering debris on the track.
Scheckter slowed hard to avoid the lost metal, but Dario Franchitti didn't get a warning from his spotters in time and slammed into Scheckter's Dallara-Chevy, driving it tail-first into the wall and sandwiched between his car and Buhl's.
"I have a feeling it was a miscommunication from the spotter," owner Michael Andretti said about losing his fourth car. "(Franchitti) was so focused on Scheckter that he didn't see the yellow, and the spotter didn't call it."
Castroneves, who started third, finished sixth, and Bryan Herta gave Andretti three of the top seven places with his seventh-place finish.
"I think with Helio, he fell off pretty much immediately," Dixon said. "I think within 10-15 laps, he got very loose. I think Sam was struggling a little before he spun. He seemed to be very good in the first laps. He was getting through the traffic pretty well."
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
Copyright 2004, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
