Dan Wheldon crushed his competition at the 2007 IndyCar Series season opener by notching his third straight victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday evening by 6.4 seconds over team-mate Scott Dixon. 2006 IndyCar Series champ Sam Hornish, Jr., was a very distant third in one of the least competitive IndyCar Series races in recent memory.

“It was fun out there,” said Wheldon, who has constantly expressed his bitterness toward finishing second in the 2006 championship and appears determined to win it all in 2007. “The car was just fun to drive and as you know fast. Everything kind of went my way tonight.”

That is an understatement. Starting from the pole, Wheldon led 179 of the 200 laps, turned the fastest lap of the race (214.438mph), led on lap 130 when Firestone paid a $10,000 bonus to the leader, and he put all but the top five finishers at least a lap down.

Not nearly as happy was Dixon, who despite having the same Ganassi Racing equipment as Wheldon was a full straightaway behind when the checkered flag fell.

“He was quick, there was no doubt it,” said Dixon. “I know our cars are very similar in set-up, so I don't know if it was driving style or what - his car was fast.”

Hornish was impressed, “Dan was really good tonight and we just weren't fast enough (even though) the car handled well.”

Wheldon is not ready to get complacent because he knows Hornish and Castroneves will be back.

“As a team, we've got to keep pushing. Roger Penske has a very strong organization and he is not going to take this lightly.”

After a six month layoff, several IndyCar Series teams and drivers seemed a little rusty, leading to some major set-up problems and driver errors. The Andretti Green Racing team was a composite example of these issues, with Marco Andretti's car so bad he twice radioed his crew that he was “scared to death.”

Andretti would only complete 53 laps, even after stopping several times for major mechanical adjustments. Team-mate Tony Kanaan came home fifth but he said, “I wasn't having a good time out there. We took a big risk and to be able to catch those guys in the future that's the way it's going to have to be. I definitely know what not to do next time in the set-up.”

Dario Franchitti was seventh for AGR, though he too was less than happy. “Very difficult night. I started off and I felt like we were in good shape, I moved my way to the front...(but) as soon as there was a car in front of us we just didn't have any grip.”

Rounding out the unhappy AGR quartet was Danica Patrick, who spun and made light contact with the pit wall while trying to slow at the entrance to pit lane.

“I'm just so disappointed,” said Danica who initially was so mad at herself that she refused both television and radio interviews after the incident which did not bring out a yellow. “I don't make mistakes like that and I can't believe it happened. I guess the law of averages should tell me that's possible. When you're pushing 100 percent out there all the time, it is bound to catch up with you.”

Danica had started the race slowly and got dropped to the tail of the field when she punted a tire left out by Franchitti's crew. Midway through the race she had gotten her car to handle much better and passed her way to seventh position before wrecking on lap 154.

While the AGR crew was having a day to forget, several other teams started the season with good runs. Vision Racing was much improved with Tomas Scheckter fighting toward the front most of the race until he faded to ninth. His team-mate Ed Carpenter completed the race in sixth position, just one spot out of tying his career best.

Unfortunately, the third Vision car of AJ Foyt, IV was taken out in a crash on lap 93, after he had run in or near the top ten. Rahal Letterman Racing's Jeff Simmons spun in turn four, collecting both Foyt, IV and Matsuura.

“I don't know, the car came around real quick,” said Simmons.

Also appearing to have closed the gap on everyone but Wheldon was the Dreyer and Reinbold Racing team of Buddy Rice and Sarah Fisher. Granted, only Scott Sharp finished behind them of the cars that were running at the end, but both drivers were fighting competitively for positions, something that even former Indy 500 champ Buddy Lazier was unable to do in the 2006 version of DRR.

“That wasn't exactly what we were looking for, but we got into the top 10,” said Rice. “Had we not had that one bad we would have been right there. Otherwise for the weekend it was a good start for everybody. Sarah had a good finish and it's a great way for us all to start the season off. Basically last year we were last in owner points and now we are in the middle. We just need to keep moving up.”

Darren Manning's debut with Foyt Racing was going fairly well, as he was running mid pack for much of the event, until pushing into the turn two wall on lap 158 bending the right side suspension. Thanks to many other drivers in the 20 car field having problems, he still managed a 13th place finish.

The next IndyCar Series event is Sunday, April 1 on the St. Petersburg, Florida street circuit, Wheldon's hometown in the US, and an event he won in 2005.

Homestead-Miami results

1. (1) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $129,800
2. (6) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $90,200
3. (2) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $75,400
4. (10) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $62,700
5. (4) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running $55,300
6. (14) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running $48,600
7. (3) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running $47,200
8. (11) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running $46,000
9. (7) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running $46,000
10. (12) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running $44,600
11. (8) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 195, Running $43,200
12. (19) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Honda, 194, Running $41,900
13. (15) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 158, Mechanical $40,700
14. (13) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 154, Contact $39,100
15. (17) Marty Roth, Dallara-Honda, 119, Handling $37,900
16. (16) Kosuke Matsuura, Dallara-Honda, 92, Contact $38,600
17. (20) Jeff Simmons, Dallara-Honda, 90, Contact $35,200
18. (9) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 90, Contact $35,200
19. (18) Alex Barron, Dallara-Honda, 86, Handling $33,800
20. (5) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 53, Mechanical $32,600

Race Statistics

Winner's average speed: 164.825 mph
Time of race: 1:48:06.8893
Margin of victory: 6.4993 seconds
Cautions: 3 caution flags for 32 laps
Lead changes: 5 among 4 drivers

Lap leaders: Wheldon 1-51, Kanaan 52-54, Matsuura 55-57, Wheldon 58-104, Dixon 105-119, Wheldon 120-200.

Point standings: Wheldon 53, Dixon 40, Hornish 35, Meira 32, Kanaan 30, Carpenter 28, Franchitti 26, Scheckter 24, Castroneves 22, Rice 20.

ORS / CAPSIS International