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Owner expected a win from one of two drivers

Monday, May 26, 2003

By Chris Dolack, Special to the Post-Gazette

INDIANAPOLIS -- Chip Ganassi has high expectations when it comes to the Indianapolis 500 -- first-place expectations.

Shortly after arriving at Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday morning to begin a drawn-out day of racing, Fox Chapel's Ganassi discounted the idea that something other than a victory would be the result for either of his two drivers. It's tough to argue with him because, after all, he has won four championships and did win this race in 2000 with Juan Montoya behind the wheel.

When the checkered flag waved, though, it was Team Penske's Gil de Ferran in front. He held off teammate Helio Castroneves and fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan in the closest 1-2-3 finish in Indianapolis 500 history. It was the third consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory for Penske and the first for de Ferran. Castroneves had been aiming for his third title in a row.

Ganassi driver Tomas Scheckter had the best view of the milestone finish in front of a packed speedway. After leading a race-high 63 laps, Scheckter lacked the power to get around Kanaan and settled for fourth place. It was the second consecutive year Scheckter, 22, has led the most laps at Indianapolis, but he has yet to lead the most important one.

"We didn't have enough for them at the end," Ganassi said. "We didn't have enough for them with 15 laps to go. We didn't have enough for them with 10 to go. We didn't have enough for them with five to go. We just didn't have enough for them.

"The track changed. We didn't seem to be able to run those quicker laps at the end. [Scheckter] still came home fourth. It's not the end of the world or anything, but we were hoping for something better."

So was Scheckter, who joined Ganassi this season after a turbulent year in a car owned by Eddie Cheever, the 1998 Indianapolis 500 winner.

"When I was in the lead, we had a great car," said Scheckter, a South Africa native and the son of 1979 Formula One champion Jody Scheckter. "It was difficult to pass if you were behind someone. The field here is so close and competitive that any one of us could have won it at the end. Obviously, it would have been great to win, but I'm happy with our day."

Ganassi's other driver, rookie Scott Dixon of New Zealand, might have had the best car in the field but a fuel problem forced the team to routinely pit earlier than others. Dixon, 22, started from the fourth position and did manage to lead 15 laps, but an embarrassing spin under caution with eight laps to go -- in front of the main grandstand -- dropped him from contention. He was credited with a 17th-place finish.

"If we didn't have that [fuel] problem, I think that we could have walked away with it," said Dixon, who won at Homestead-Miami Speedway earlier in this IRL IndyCar Series season. "We had a great car, and our lap times were faster than the leader on most of the laps. Unfortunately, when we would get closer to the leader, we would have to come in early to pit.

"The spin toward the end of the race was my fault. This whole month was a huge experience for me. I never knew that it was this big. The atmosphere is awesome and I can't wait to get back here next year."

Although the results were disappointing, Ganassi had little time to dwell on what might have been. The second portion of his marathon day awaited him at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., where his three-car NASCAR Winston Cup team of Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears competed in the Coca-Cola 600 last night. Marlin finished seventh in the rain-shortened event, McMurray 25th and Mears 35th.

"It's an interesting twist that not many car owners can do, but I'm more interested in my teams and the people that are out there doing the hard work," he said. "Those people deserve the credit, not me."

Chris Dolack is the senior writer at Auto Racing Digest magazine. He can be reached at cdolack@chrisdolack.com.