Franchitti stretches fuel for win and championship

Autoracing Betting Lines

09/10/2007 - Joliet, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dario Franchitti made his fuel last one corner further than Scott Dixon and the difference won the No.27 Andretti Green Racing driver the race and the 2007 IndyCar Series title. It was Franchitti's first IndyCar championship.

Franchitti captured Sunday's Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway officially crossing the finish line 1.8439 seconds ahead of Dixon, the only other car on the lead lap. The victory was Franchitti's fourth of the season and seventh of his IndyCar career.

"Some great strategy from my boy," said Franchitti. "The whole Andretti Green team, they are the best in the world."

Just three drivers took the green flag with a chance to win the drivers championship. Pole winner Franchitti, 2003 IndyCar Series champion Dixon and Andretti Green Racing driver Tony Kanaan. Kanaan was a long shot, being behind by 39 points, but Dixon was just three points behind Franchitti at the start of the race.

Early on Sam Hornish Jr., who qualified second, went to the lead with his Penske teammate Helio Castroneves just behind. Before lap 20, Kanaan suffered a tire puncture, which put him one lap down and out of the championship picture. Which left two - Franchitti and Dixon.

Dixon was challenging Franchitti, who was having understeer problems and got around him for fourth place as the field passed the 25-lap mark. The bad day for AGR got worse as Marco Andretti spun on lap 34 and slammed the wall - his day was over with an apparent suspension failure. He was taken to the local hospital for examination.

Kanaan stayed out and returned to the lead lap, though he was all the way back in 19th place.

The race went back to green on lap 44 with the two Penske drivers still showing the way. Dixon was third and Franchitti sixth. The top six drivers, which consisted of two drivers each from Penske, Ganassi and AGR began to pull away from the rest of the field as they passed the 70-lap mark.

Kanaan didn't get the second caution flag he needed to stay on the lead lap and when he pitted for fuel he went down a lap for the second time.

Danica Patrick, one of the top-six, began to lose touch with the leaders, falling two seconds back, after 85 laps and now Franchitti had no teammates to help him.

Green flag pit stops began and Dixon's was a 7.1-second stop with no problems. Franchitti didn't come in until two laps later and his stop of 7.7 seconds was also clean.

At the halfway point, it was still all Penske with Castroneves leading Hornish Jr. Dixon was third and Franchitti fifth. If it stayed that way to the checkered flag, Dixon would edge Franchitti by two points.

Eighty laps to go and the top-five drivers were all within one second of each other. Hornish Jr. exchanged positions with Castroneves, but that was the only change after the mid-point.

Another round of green flag pit stops and in the middle of Vitor Meira spun into the outside wall in turn four to bring out the second caution flag. All the cars had pitted except for Franchitti. He pitted on lap 140 and returned to the track in second place, behind Dixon. Also on lap 140 Kanaan was officially eliminated because he could not lead the most laps and the lowest Dixon or Franchitti could finish was 17th.

After the SAFER barrier was repaired, the race went back to green on lap 152 with Dixon and Franchitti sitting one-two and Patrick in third place.

With all the caution-flag laps was it possible for Franchitti, the last to pit for fuel, to reach lap 200 without stopping again?

On lap 155 Sam Hornish. Jr. slid past Patrick and a backmarker into third place and began to challenge Franchitti for second place. Hornish took the bottom side and got around Franchitti for second place. Meanwhile Franchitti began to fade, falling behind Patrick to fourth.

Hornish Jr. continued his charge on the inside and got underneath Dixon for the lead on lap 160. But Dixon didn't have to win the race to win the championship, only beat Franchitti by three points (Dixon would win a tiebreaker by virtue of four wins to Franchitti's three).

The top-eight cars were all within one second so the race and the championship was still up for grabs.

Twenty laps to go and just five cars were within one second of Hornish Jr. with Dixon still second and Franchitti in fifth. Franchitti got around Castroneves on lap 184 and Hornish Jr. made the turn down pit lane for fuel.

It left Dixon with the lead and Franchitti in third place. But could Dixon make it all the way?

Then teamwork started to play in the championship as Dan Wheldon, who was second, slid around Dixon to try and help him make better fuel mileage. But that didn't last long because on lap 193 Wheldon suddenly slowed, he was out of fuel.

There were six laps left when Patrick spun on pit lane bringing out the caution flag. It would mean the race would come down the final restart and last couple of laps.

Two laps to go and the green flag dropped. Franchitti immediately went to the outside and he and Dixon were side-by-side. But Dixon fought him off as they saw the white flag.

Franchitti had one last shot and as they went into turn four Franchitti went to the outside again. This time he flew around Dixon who suddenly slowed, he was out of fuel.

"I was drafting him, trying to get the slingshot and just as I pulled out I saw him slow down," said Franchitti. "I almost hit the back of him. We shot up the track and that was it."

"It wasn't our day," said Dixon. "Our car was clearly the quicker car all day, but the No.27 car was getting better fuel mileage. It's a shame it had to come down to a fuel mileage race."

Franchitti still had enough fuel to get to the checkered flag and took the win and the championship.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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