Charlie Kimball's maiden IZOD IndyCar Series victory in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio was the fifth in a row for Chip Ganassi Racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and fourth in a row this season.
The streak is impressive, too, in that it's been accomplished on a 2.5-mile superspeedway (Pocono Raceway), temporary street course (Toronto, doubleheader) and a 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course (Mid-Ohio) by Scott Dixon and Kimball.
"When you're consistently running close to the top five you'll get podiums," Kimball said. "When you're (on the podium) every now and again, then you're going to pick up a win. And we have sort of taken that next step, not just me as a driver, but us as a team. I think we came into the weekend ready to win, and when the situation arose, we took advantage of that."
The team's record for consecutive victories is six from May 26 to July 19 during the 1998 CART season by Jimmy Vasser and Alex Zanardi, who went on to win seven races and the championship. Earlier that season, Zanardi won at Long Beach (starting 11th) and Vasser followed with a victory at Nazareth (starting fifth) three weeks later.
The '98 streak:
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Gateway
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Milwaukee
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Belle Isle
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Portland
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Cleveland
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Toronto
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S F
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S F
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S F
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S F
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S F
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S F
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Vasser
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2 4
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5 1
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7 6
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4 8
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1 7
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6 3
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Zanardi
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11 1
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9 8
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2 1
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5 1
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3 1
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2 1
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Of note: Franchitti led CART during the '98 season with five pole starts and posted three victories. Next up is Sonoma Raceway, where both Dixon (2007) and Franchitti (2009) have won.
The last team with a four-race winning streak was Team Penske to start the 2012 season (Helio Castroneves at St. Petersburg followed by Will Power at Barber, Long Beach and Sao Paulo).
The Indy car record is seven by Ansted-Thompson Racing in 1964 (A.J. Foyt winning the first seven races during his USAC championship year) and matched in 1994 by Marlboro Team Penske (Emerson Fittipaldi starting it at Phoenix, followed by three consecutive victories by Al Unser Jr., a victory at Belle Isle by Paul Tracy and two more wins by Unser).
At Mid-Ohio, Dixon missed on being the first IZOD IndyCar Series driver to win four in a row. The last to do it was Sebastien Bourdais to start the 2006 Champ Car season. The record is seven in a row by Foyt (Phoenix on March 22 to Springfield on Aug. 22) during that '64 season in which he won a record 10 races (matched by Al Unser in 1972).
Notables from Mid-Ohio
With Honda teams posting a podium sweep, they are tied with Chevrolet in the manufacturer standings (105 points) with five races left. Both manufacturers have seven victories.
"A lot of the feedback from car to car and team to team has been very similar in what we've wanted, and the Honda guys have really answered a lot of questions for us," Franchitti said. "We are still pushing; and we still want more, and I think we have seen it. When we make a step, Chevy makes a step and that's what this competition is.
"I think that's one of the reason that Honda and Chevy are around in the sport."
The three rounds of qualifying for the 90-lap race marked the first time that the three Chip Ganassi Racing entries advanced to the Firestone Fast Six for the same race. Dixon qualified third, Kimball was fifth and Franchitti started sixth.
On the track during off weeks
Oriol Servia, driving the No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car, joined Team Penske's Castroneves and Power and KV Racing Technology's Tony Kanaan and Simona De Silvestro in testing Aug. 7 at Sebring International Raceway.
Multiple teams will test Aug. 13 at Sonoma Raceway. An Open Test is scheduled for the 2.385-mile, 12-turn road course Aug. 21 in advance of the Aug. 23-25 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma.
Event at Andretti Winery benefits youth programs
The Michael Andretti Foundation is partnering with Speedway Children's Charities, the charitable arm of Sonoma Raceway, for the 2013 Grand Prix Salute on Aug. 23 at Andretti Winery.
The ninth annual event will benefit The Boys & Girls Clubs of Napa Valley, Hanna Boys Center and Valley of the Moon Teen Center. CLICK HERE for details and reserve seats.