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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Wheldon eyes records in finale

Associated Press

Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick have been the featured drivers throughout the Indy Racing League season, so it’s only appropriate the two remain in the spotlight heading into the season finale at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., today.

Wheldon, who won the Indianapolis 500 and has wrapped up the season championship, still has a few more records in sight, while rookie sensation Patrick is still looking for her first win.

“I think California is going to be a really good race, because obviously the championship has been decided, but second, third and fourth are up for grabs,” Wheldon said. “There’s going to have to be some big things happen for those positions to change. Then I think you have the fifth through 10th pretty close. I think everybody’s going to be going for broke.”

If qualifying is any indication, it will be very competitive today. Dario Franchitti, Wheldon’s Andretti Green Racing teammate, won the pole with a lap of 219.398 mph, a time of 32.9 seconds. All 22 drivers in the field were separated by just over a second.

Patrick wound up fourth at 218.199, while Wheldon, who still has plenty of motivation to finish the season with a win, qualified seventh at 217.702.

He already has set records for most wins in a season with six and has matched the mark for consecutive wins with three in a row.

In today’s Toyota Indy 400, the 27-year-old Englishman can add more records.

Wheldon has led at least one lap in each of the 14 races this season. If he leads one lap today, he will break the record set in 2003 by Scott Dixon.

The next record would be more difficult. Wheldon needs to lead 145 of the 200 laps to break the single-season mark of 889 set last season by Tony Kanaan.

He’s just $23,636 shy of Buddy Rice’s IRL record of $2,699,040 in season earnings, set last year. Wheldon already is assured of breaking that record with the $1 million check he will receive at Monday night’s awards ceremony as the 2005 champion.

Patrick began the season as a virtual unknown and quickly moved into the public eye with some solid driving. Then she became a household name by nearly winning the pole and the race at Indy, sparking a rage called “Danica Mania.”

Suddenly, she was everywhere – on TV talk shows, on the cover of magazines, on the lips of comedians.

It didn’t hurt her image when she won three poles after her Indy performance, but the next obvious step for the 23-year-old was to win, and that hasn’t happened.

“The most magical and perfect way to end this season would be to win,” Patrick said.

Roush touts multicar ownership

Feeling singled out by NASCAR’s proposed cap on teams, Roush Racing distributed a 10-point argument outlining benefits of multicar ownership.

NASCAR chairman Brian France said last weekend he was looking at placing a limit on the number of teams a car owner will be able to field in the Nextel Cup series. Any limits would be phased in over the next few seasons.

Car owner Jack Roush – who owns five teams and all five qualified for NASCAR’s Chase for the Championship – was told of the plans second-hand, and his management group spent a large part of last week preparing the five-page document they placed around the garage area at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“We were taken by complete surprise by their remarks last weekend,” said Geoff Smith, president of Roush Racing and the author of the document.

•Busch series driver Clint Bowyer got his big promotion when Richard Childress Racing promoted him to the Nextel Cup series to drive the No. 07 Chevrolet.

The 26-year-old Bowyer will take over for Dave Blaney at the start of next season and will attempt to complete both a full Cup and Busch schedule. The busy schedule might not be his biggest challenge, though. Bowyer will have to have a strong relationship with RCR driver Kevin Harvick to ensure his rookie Cup season will be a success.

Alonso now eyes team title

Renault’s Fernando Alonso turned in a nearly flawless qualifying lap in Shanghai, China, putting him in position to add the team title to his driver championship entering the season-ending Chinese Grand Prix.

First, he’ll have to fend off a surging Kimi Raikkonen, the Formula One runner-up hoping to capture the team title for McLaren.

Alonso won the driver title two races ago, becoming Formula One’s youngest champion at 24. The Spaniard earned his sixth pole position of 2005 and the ninth of his career. With teammate Giancarlo Fisichella qualifying second, Renault will dominate the front row of the starting grid for the first time this season.