2006 Peak Antifreeze Indy 300
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1.500 mi / 2.414 km
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Race 14 of 14 in the 2006 IndyCar season
| |||
 | |||
| Date | September 10, 2006 | ||
| Official name | Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean | ||
| Location | Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi / 2.414 km | ||
| Distance | 200 laps 300.000 mi / 482.803 km | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver |  Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske) | ||
| Time | 25.4134 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske) | ||
| Time | 25.2500 (on lap 88 of 200) | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |  Dan Wheldon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) | ||
| Second |  Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) | ||
| Third | Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske) | ||
The 2006 Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 was an IndyCar Series motor race held on September 10, 2006, in Joliet, Illinois at Chicagoland Speedway. It was the fourteenth and final round of the 2006 IndyCar Series and the sixth running of the event. Dan Wheldon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing won the 200-lap race. Wheldon's teammate Scott Dixon finished second and Marlboro Team Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr. finished third.
Wheldon, Dixon, Hornish Jr., and Hélio Castroneves all entered the race with a mathematical chance of winning the Drivers' Championship. Hornish Jr. won the pole position by recording the fastest lap of qualifying, although he was immediately passed by Dixon at the beginning of the race. Wheldon took the lead on the second lap and dominated most of the race while Dixon persistently trailed him in second and battled alongside him several times. With four laps remaining, Dixon nearly collided into Wheldon and briefly backed off, allowing Hornish Jr. to take second place. Dixon passed Hornish Jr. two laps later but Wheldon again defended his position for the final two laps to take the win. There were two cautions and twenty lead changes between four drivers during the race.
Wheldon's win was his second of the 2006 season and eleventh of his IndyCar career. The season ended with Hornish Jr. and Wheldon tied for first place in the championship standings, but the championship was awarded to Hornish Jr. by virtue of earning more wins in the season than Wheldon. Castroneves dropped to third, two points behind Hornish Jr. and Wheldon, while Dixon and Vítor Meira remained in fourth and fifth, respectively.
The Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 was the 14th and final round of the 2006 IndyCar Series and the sixth edition of the event dating back to 2001.[1] It was held on September 10, 2006, in Joliet, Illinois, United States, at Chicagoland Speedway, a four-turn 1.5 mi (2.4 km) asphalt tri-oval circuit with 18-degree banking in the turns, 11-degree banking in the front stretch, and 5-degree banking in the back stretch, and contested over 200 laps and 300 miles (480 km).[2]
Before the race, Marlboro Team Penske driver Hélio Castroneves led the Drivers' Championship with 441 points, one more than teammate Sam Hornish Jr. in second. Dan Wheldon stood in third with 422 points and his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon held fourth with 420 points. Vítor Meira, driving for Panther Racing, was fifth with 383 points.[3] The top four drivers in the standings were all mathematically eligible to win the championship.[4]
Hornish Jr., who endured a lackluster run in the preceding Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma and ceded the championship lead to Castroneves, was relieved that he remained in championship contention after being hampered by various issues throughout the season and aimed to win the race.[5] Castroneves acknowledged Hornish Jr.'s prowess on oval tracks and promised to battle hard with him during the race, but assured that his team's ultimate goal was to prevent Target Chip Ganassi Racing from winning the championship.[6] Wheldon warned he would adopt an aggressive racing strategy at Chicagoland because, according to him, he had "nothing to lose."[7] Dixon predicted the championship would be decided by "a few inches" and evoked memories of his first championship in 2003.[8]
Two test sessions were conducted at Chicagoland prior to the race. The first session, on August 31, was exclusively held for rookie drivers (Marco Andretti, Jeff Simmons, and Marty Roth) and Sarah Fisher, who last competed at the track in 2003.[9] A. J. Foyt IV was the sole participant of the second session, held on September 7, as he reacquainted himself with the IndyCar Series. Foyt IV, who had not competed in an IndyCar race since the 2005 Toyota Indy 400, was chosen by Andretti Green Racing to replace Dario Franchitti after he suffered a concussion during qualifying for the Goodwood Revival on September 1.[10] Team manager John Anderson explained that he was confident in Foyt IV's ability to perform well.[11]
Practice and qualifying
Two 90-minute practice sessions preceded the race on Sunday, both of which were held on Saturday and divided into two groups which received equal track time.[12] Conditions on Saturday were warm and sunny.[13] Dixon led the first practice session with a time of 25.2454 seconds, beating Wheldon, Castroneves, Hornish Jr., and Scott Sharp.[14] The session was briefly paused when debris was spotted on the front stretch after Dixon and Roth made slight contact into each other.[13] Wheldon topped the second practice session with a time of 25.2750 seconds; Hornish Jr., Dixon, Castroneves, and Meira rounded out the session's top-five quickest drivers.[15]
Saturday afternoon's qualifying session required that each competitor complete two timed laps, with the quickest of the two determining their starting positions.[13] Hornish Jr. earned his tenth career pole position with a time of 25.4996 seconds.[16] He was joined on the grid's front row by Dixon, who was eight-hundredths of a second slower.[17] Hornish Jr. later admitted he was somewhat surprised by his qualifying result due to the track's decrease in temperature.[18] The other two championship contenders, Wheldon and Castroneves, occupied the next two positions, while Sharp qualified in fifth.[19] The remaining top-ten positions were taken by Meira, Tomas Scheckter, Kosuke Matsuura, Buddy Rice, and Simmons; Foyt IV, Ed Carpenter, Tony Kanaan, Andretti, Danica Patrick, Fisher, Jeff Bucknum, Bryan Herta, and Roth completed the starting grid.[16] Kanaan and Herta only completed one lap each after they experienced engine issues.[13]
