Wheldon Wins in Japan


Dan Wheldon, a glowing phenomenon in his sophomore season, took his first IRL victory at the Montegi Twin Ring racing facility in Japan. Wheldon won from the pole and dominated the event with three other Hondas covering his rear most of the event protecting him from a charge by the Toyotas and Chevys. The only reason the other Hondas were covering his rear is because they couldn't catch him!

The young 25-year-old racing star has now racked up his sixth top five and ninth top ten finishes in a row. It appears that he is on his way to setting his mark in the open wheel racing world along side of other big stars who are now reeling in disbelief that it isn't them who is basking in the spotlight. At this rate, Helio Castroneves will forget how to climb fences to celebrate his victories!

Following Wheldon across the finish line were Tony Kanaan (H), Helio Castroneves (T), Darren Manning (T), Scott Dixon (T), Buddy Rice (H), Dario Franchitti (H), Kosuke Matsuura (H), Scott Sharp(T) , and Tora Takagi (T). You'll notice that the top ten were all Hondas and Toyotas. The highest finishing Chevy (C) came in 12th, the No. 51 Red Bull/Cheever Racing entry driven by Alex Barron. Strangely enough, there weren't any Chevys among the top ten starters either! The highest starting Chevy was the No. 2 Menard's/Johns Manville's racing entry driven by rookie British star Mark Taylor. The top ten starters and how they finished:

  1. Dan Wheldon -- No. 26 Honda - finished 1st
  2. Greg Ray -- No. 13 Honda - finished 20th
  3. Tony Kanaan -- No. 11 Honda-finished 2nd
  4. Kosuke Matsuura -- No. 55 Honda -- finished 8th
  5. Buddy Rice -- No. 15 Honda - finished 6th
  6. Scott Dixon -- No. 1 Toyota - finished 5th
  7. Sam Hornish Jr. -- No. 6 Toyota - finished 19th
  8. Vitor Meria -- No. 17 Honda - finished 17th
  9. Dario Franchitti -- No. 27 Honda - finished 7th
  10. Darren Manning -- No. 10 Toyota - finished 4th
* = Rookie

Coming up next is the 88th running of the Indianapolis 500. The month long preparations for the event get under way with practice on May 9th thru May 14th with qualifying beginning on May 15th thru May 16th. Other festivities and celebrations will be carried out during the month. The Indy 500 will be televised by the ABC network on Sunday, May 30th at 12 noon, eastern daylight savings time.

The copyright of the article Wheldon Wins in Japan in Indy Racing League is owned by Thomas M. Sampson. Permission to republish Wheldon Wins in Japan in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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