From: Michael Powell 

CHEVY 500 POSTSCRIPT

De Ferran goes out on top; Dixon takes first championship

FORT WORTH, Texas, Monday, Oct. 13, 2003 – Gil de Ferran nearly did the impossible. 

Coming into the Chevy 500 Oct. 12 at Texas Motor Speedway, de Ferran was 30
points out of first place in the championship and needed to win the race
and lead the most laps to earn 52 points in order to have any chance of
winning the championship. 

Even by doing that, he needed Tony Kanaan to finish no better than sixth,
Helio Castroneves to finish no better than ninth and Scott Dixon to finish
no better than 10th. 

It almost happened. 

de Ferran, who retired following the Chevy 500, closed his incredible
racing career in storybook fashion by starting from the MBNA Pole, leading
the most laps and scoring a victory in the Chevy 500. 

The victory came despite de Ferran having to drive through the grass to
avoid an accident in the middle of the race and having to make several pit
stops in order to ensure the car was OK to continue in the race. 

Kanaan and Castroneves touched late in the race, causing both of them to
pit for new tires. Kanaan ended up 14th, while Castroneves finished 13th.
Sam Hornish Jr., who was fourth in points, had engine problems on Lap 176
and finished 17th.

Dixon finished second to win the IndyCar Series championship with 507 points. 

However, de Ferran vaulted from fifth to second in the championship and
finished the season with 489 points, five points ahead of teammate
Castroneves who was finished third in points. 

Amazingly, de Ferran, driving for Marlboro Team Penske, competed in one
less race than the other four drivers eligible for the championship. He
missed the Motegi event in April after he suffered a minor fracture of the
lower back and a concussion in a collision with Michael Andretti in March
at Phoenix. 

After missing the Motegi event, de Ferran went on to score three wins and
finish in the top five eight times. He was also running at the finish of
every event after Motegi. 

There aren’t too many better ways to end a career. De Ferran’s resume
includes a victory in the 2003 Indianapolis 500, two CART championship, a
third- and second-place finish in the IRL IndyCar Series championship and
12 wins. 

It’s not the stats that define de Ferran’s career. 

“I guess the highlights of my career, as I see it, they are not really the
results,” de Ferran said. “The highlights of my career, as I see it, is the
people that I have worked with and the people that came into my life over
the years. I would say that that's the highlight of not only my career, but
of my life. I've been very fortunate that some very nice and great people
have come into my life and have helped me shape into what I am. And, have
helped me as a professional and as a person.”

***

Dixon perseveres for championship: Despite finishing 15th or worse in five
of the 16 races in 2003, Scott Dixon fought his way to the IndyCar Series
championship.

Dixon, driver of the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G
Force/Toyota/Firestone, scored three victories and finished second five
times en route to his first major auto racing championship. 

“It's been a strange year,” Dixon said. “I think we've had lots of ups and
downs, and I think we could have tied it up quite easily if we didn't have
small, nagging little problems with the DNF when we were leading races.
Championships are made to be very difficult to win and that's the way it
played out. I'm extremely happy that it went our way this time.”

Dixon lead 14 races and 748 laps, more than any other driver. He joined
drivers Jimmy Vasser (1996, CART), Alex Zanardi (1997-98, CART) and Juan
Pablo Montoya (1999, CART_ as drivers that have won championship for Target
Chip Ganassi Racing.

“The thing I like about Scott as a driver he's got a great sense of humor,
but at the same time he's all business,” said team owner Chip Ganassi.
“He’s all business when he's out at the track and in the car. We've had
flamboyant drivers, and I don't think flamboyant is a word you would use
for Scott. But, at the end of the day, he's all business when it's time to
get in the car like the other champions we've had. I would rank him right
up there at the top whether it was with Montoya, Zanardi or whoever,
Jimmy.”

As part of his championship tour, Dixon will appear on the “Late Show With
David Letterman” on CBS-TV Oct. 14.

***

Tough ending for Hornish: Sam Hornish Jr. led twice for 12 laps in the
Chevy 500 before spray from his No. 4 Pennzoil Panther
Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone ended his day on Lap 176. Hornish finished 17th
in the race and fifth in the championship. 

“We had a great race,” Hornish said. “The Pennzoil Panther crew did an
awesome job as they usually do, it just didn’t make it to the end. We had a
really good car. With the car we could move in and out of traffic. We could
pass where we wanted to. We just had a great car. We came off of that last
pit stop, and we just couldn’t get back up to speed. We’re not really sure
what happened, but we were spraying a little bit of oil so they made us
come in.”

When Hornish, who won the last two fall races at Texas, climbed from his
car, the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

The fans witnessed the end of one the great driver-team combinations in the
history of Indy-style racing. Hornish will compete in 2004 for Team Penske.
Panther has hired Tomas Scheckter for 2004.

Since joining Panther in 2001, Hornish and the team have won two
championships and 11 races.

“These guys deserve to get another championship, but we got two out of
three,” Hornish said. “I was emotional before the race started, but the way
that I look at it is, I’ve been blessed to be able to do what I’ve always
wanted to do, and that’s to race Indy cars, and hopefully one of these days
win another championship.”

***

Kanaan, Castroneves championship hopes dashed:  On a Lap 179 restart, the
Chevy 500 standings had Gil de Ferran leading, followed by Helio
Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon and Tomas Scheckter.

Had the race ended that way, Castroneves would have won the championship. 

However, after the restart, Castroneves’ No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske
Dallara/Toyota/Firestone and Kanaan’s No. 11 Team 7-Eleven
Dallara/Honda/Firestone, touched while racing and both were forced to the
pits for new tires. The contact ended both of their chances for a
championship. 

Ironically, Kanaan and Castroneves are close friends and grew up racing
against each other in Brazil.

“Well, it's a shame,” Castroneves said. “Neither of us wanted to finish
like that, especially having a chance to win. When he went to pass, we
touched and, all of a sudden, the cars touched. It was close, very close.
It is a shame. Everything was close. It was not the way it was supposed to
be.”

Kanaan was equally disappointed. 

“I felt something from behind me, but I don't know what happened. I was on
the outside, and I gave him plenty of room, and we touched. I don't know
what happened, but it's unfortunate. I had a run on him, I passed him, I
was ahead of him. It's a shame to lose a championship like that after the
race that we did. The team did a great job. I need to thank the guys for
awesome pit stops. Unfortunately, it wasn't our day today.”

***

Wheldon wins Bombardier Rookie of the Year: Rookie Dan Wheldon finished a
career-best third in the Chevy 500 and wrapped up the $50,000 Bombardier
Rookie of the Year title 312-301 over Roger Yasukawa.

“It's fantastic. It's great for Team 7-11. The Klein-Tools/Jim Beam guys
have been fantastic; that car was very good. I wouldn't say overall, on my
own, that I had the fastest car. I had a very good car in traffic, and I am
just very thankful to (Andretti Green Racing co-owners) Michael (Andretti),
Kim (Green), and Kevin (Savoree) for giving me this opportunity”



--- Internet Rex 2.29