MODERATOR: We have the drivers of Target Chip Ganassi Racing, the defending IndyCar(R) Series champion. He had a great run at Indianapolis last year before a late-race incident took him out of the running; New Zealand's Scott Dixon. That's the kindest way I can say it, Scott. That's the kindest way I can say it. And his new teammate this year, and please keep in mind Darren has had an interesting designation. He is the newcomer to the IndyCar Series, he is a veteran open-wheel driver, he is not a rookie in the IndyCar Series; he is a rookie at the Indianapolis 500. So, there you go. Darren Manning from North Yorkshire in England is the second driver the Target Chip Ganassi racing this year, and both of these guys had excellent outings on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. Scott wound up finishing second behind Tony Kanaan, and Darren, who brought it home in fifth place after a sixth-place finish after Homestead Miami Speedway. Good start for Darren as an initial season in the IndyCar Series. Series champion, you had a great car here last year. I know that winning this race is one of your goals.

SCOTT DIXON: Yeah, I think it's probably everybody's goal is to win the Indianapolis 500. As you said, last year, I think we had a pretty good month in general. We just had a rough race with running out of fuel, down to 12 gallons, and we had run out of gas. We ended up having to push it a bit. Then I sort of messed up toward the end. I think we are looking forward to this year. I think the emphasis of the team is going to be on it this year because it's so early in the year, compared to the championship, that's what we're focusing on right at the moment. So looking forward to it.

MODERATOR: Darren, are you getting set for your first Indy 500?

DARREN MANNING: Yeah, it's obviously one of the biggest races or the biggest in motorsports in the world, in Europe, Formula One. It's a big one that I'm going to be able to tick off my list. Yeah, I'm happy to be in with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, with Toyota and everything. As Scott said, they were running really strong there all last month, and in the past, obviously. So it's experience for me to draw on, it's going to be great and just be able to stand a chance of winning the thing is going to be even better. So, you know, just take taking my time the first few races, and hopefully it will come to - looking forward all the time now, so hopefully it will accumulate winning thinking.

MODERATOR: There's not much denying that Chip Ganassi has a great eye for talent. In fact, if you look at the drivers from Target Chip Ganassi over last decade or more, there are going to be one or two things: Either a series champion or an Indy 500 champion, and in some cases both. It's a pleasure to have Chip Ganassi joining us by phone. Chip, where are you today?

GANASSI: Actually I'm in Naples, Florida, it's Spring Break, with my wife and daughter.

MODERATOR: Hope it's not as warm there as it was in Phoenix.

GANASSI: It's about the same.

MODERATOR: We have a full room here. We have heard opening comments from Scott and from Darren, why don't we ask you about your thoughts and about preparations coming back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with these two drivers and another assault on the 500.

GANASSI: First of all, I think it's kind of a harbinger of spring to be talking about going to Indianapolis and all that goes along with it. You know, like Darren said, he's been taking easy the first few races and quite frankly, these first couple of races, you know historically they have been a preparation for Indy. They are certainly big races in their own right. But there's no denying that everybody has the big one in mind right now. And that's coming up in May. So, you know, we are all - we obviously certainly want to do well in Indy, the first few in our eyes are certainly focused on Indy. When you go back every year, you feel - you feel as if some years you have a better shot than others coming from my point of view, and you know, I thought we had a really good shot last year and we were - we were - we beat ourselves, if you will. You know, that's really all there is. That's the only people that I think can beat us this year is ourselves. We have as strong a team as we've ever had coming into Indianapolis. And therefore, look forward to everything that goes with that.

Q: Does it bug you BMW wants to steal all of your good drivers?

GANASSI: Not really. That just tells you the level of drivers that are coming through our operation. I don't - I don't look at that as - I don't look at that as a plus or a minus. I mean, it's part of the business. And, you know, while I'm sorry if drivers move on to their careers, I'll be last one to hold them back, believe me. If they feel they have better opportunities somewhere else, I would encourage them. In fact, I'm here to help them.

Q: You are were probably a little young remember this, but we had Nigel Mansell was here, the word he used to describe this place was "daunting." Do you have that feeling when you come in here, just looking at the long straights and magic grandstands; do you feel a little daunted when you feel this place?

MANNING: Well, yeah, obviously it's a pretty special place and not many tracks of this size or nature. Big stadium kind of event, you know, with 500,000 people. At the moment, it's just another racetrack that I'm going to try and conquer. But I'm sure come racing day or the month of May, the whole buildup, it's one of the longest races in history. You've got the whole month of May instead of just a normal three- or two-day race weekend. It's going to be a different challenge for me, and I'll be taking comments from Scott and Chip and the whole team. I've got 70 guys back at the shop to draw on their experience. Yeah, but I'm sure come race weekend, it will be, you know, a pretty daunting place, definitely.

Q: St. George (flag) - should we look forward to seeing many of those now that you're here?

MANNING: I hope so, for many years to come. Yeah, I'm hoping to make this place my home. Obviously, I have a long future here with Chip and the whole Target team. You know, it's the place where I want to be. I've been racing over in Europe for a long time and, you know, Formula One is a very - this is an opportunity. It's a chance to run with a top-line team, then I make take it, but hopefully you'll see St. George on my helmet for a long time to come over here.

Q: Scott, have you given any thought to an urgency to win this one as possibly your last chance?

DIXON: (Laughing) Wow, he's not gone yet. I think there's a lot of hope, everybody is sort of saying that I'm going, there's nothing said at all, this is just a test and things like that. I think there's always an urgency on trying to win this race. I think any chance you can you get to do it, as Chip says, there's years that you can see when the team that you're with, or for himself that he owns, has a great opportunity in winning this race. And I think this year, as we did last year, we have a great opportunity. We just need to make sure we can gain from it. And I hope every year that I can compete will be a year I try to win it.

Q: Michael (Andretti) believes that you had the car to beat here at Indy despite fact that when you went out you were running, what was it, sixth, I guess before that restart in, your mind, did you have a car that was going to be able to overtake the five in front of you?

DIXON: I think it was the first couple - we had a pit stop and topped off with fuel again, and we pretty much, I think jumped away from most of the field. It was either Tony (Kanaan) or somebody that was trying to chase us down but generally we had a really good car and then until we found our fuel gone, the day pretty much went south. But by the time of that last pit stop, it was kind of amazing to me that we managed to stay there, and I think that was because of the speed of the car that we had. I think we did have a good opportunity if we didn't have problems, and maybe I wouldn't have been as frustrated as I was.

Q: You have two experienced Indy-car drivers running for you in the Grand-Am series. Are there any prospects or potential of you fielding a third car at the Speedway for either Max (Papis) or Scott (Pruett)?

GANASSI: There's no plan to do that right now unless something falls out of the sky and hits me over the head. I wouldn't plan on seeing either one of those guys here.

Q: You're our team owner, which is kind of a play on words: You own an Indy-car team, two cars, you have a NASCAR team, a Grand-Am team, an owner of a baseball team. How do you split your time between all of those activities?

GANASSI: Well, first of all, it's very important to know I'm not involved with the baseball team anymore. I'm still a season ticket-holder, but I divested of that interest over the winter. To get back to how I decide which race to go to, you know, it's pretty simple. I mean, you know this past weekend I had - we had some Target executives that were going to be in Phoenix. My choice was to go to Phoenix with Target executives and go to Darlington, South Carolina. Really was not a big choice for me, if you can imagine. I just went to Phoenix. Really, with so many NEXTEL Cup races, if I go to all of the Indy-car races, it splits my time about half and half, at least that's how it worked last year. This year when you sprinkle in 12 or 15 Grand-Am events, interestingly, those are - some are on weekends with NASCAR on the same weekend. On a Saturday race, we have the next race coming up is Saturday before Easter, which is an off weekend for IndyCar and Cup, as well. So it's pretty easy to make the decisions when it comes time to decide where to go and where not to go. The next conflict is Motegi or Martinsville. Again that's not much of a decision. A lot of times we have involvements, such as with Toyota that obviously we'll be in Motegi.

Q: Scott, your probably the only New Zealander who did not appear in "Lord of the Rings," don't know how you managed that. (Laughter). Secondly you've had a run of second-place finishes recently. Is it harder to have a second-place finish knowing that you're this close to being able to win this race versus a Homestead-type finish?

DIXON: It does get frustrating the last five races I've had four seconds. I don't know, second, it's great points and good for the championships. I think if you finish second most of the time, you're going to win a championship. It is frustrating sometimes and how you see some races play out where you think you possibly could have won that race, but such is racing. Some people have better cars on the day. Our time will come. I think it's great that we are able to be at that end of the field every race pretty much we compete in and every qualifying we compete in. I think it's inevitable that we are going to come out with a win here shortly.

GANASSI: If I can add to that, you know, I spent a lot of time with a guy named Joe Montana. And he said some of the best passes he ever threw, the ball never left his hand. I think you can parallel that to, in my view, of Scott Dixon in that, you know, second is better than crashing out and passing for the lead. That takes a true champion to understand that he's got to - if his car is no better than second place on a given day, you know, I think Scott is the kind of guy that knows that and doesn't want to take - would much rather have a second place than up against the fence, you know, passing for the lead. Especially in the IRL series, I mean, it rewards consistent finishes. That's very, very important in this series if you look at the point structure.

Q: Joe Montana was at one time an investor in the team. Is he still a part?

GANASSI: No. His kids are growing up now, and they are all 15 to 20 years old, and they are involved in horses and what-have-you. He's still a close friend. We talk every few months. He's not formally involved with the team any longer.

Q: Last year when you were running in CART, how keen of an interest did you pay to this event? Was it a situation where you kind of followed what was going on and kind of thought, you know, "Wow, I wish I was there?"

MANNING: Yeah, for sure, being based over here obviously with the CART racing and stuff like that, I was living here in Indianapolis like I still am. You know, the IRL is a big part of this town. It's one of the two premier categories in this country and in the world, probably second only to Formula One. I was following it avidly and every team's progress and drivers. I've got friends over here, as well. So in the 500, I was out in grandstand at Turn 3 with my teammate, with some of the guys from Walker Racing, I was on scouting Scott's radio and everything listening to - I can't repeat that. (Laughter).

Q: Did you have a premonition that you would be a teammate in the coming year?

MANNING: No, Scott for a time being. It was Scott Sharp that - inaudible - they have some great language on his radio. I couldn't understand a word what they were saying or anything like that. I don't know where they come from, somewhere due south. (Laughter).

Q: Chip, you have brought some strong lineups to this Speedway in the past, where does it rank with Dixon and Manning? How good is this Target Chip Ganassi Racing Team compared to years past?

GANASSI: Well, like I said, you know, I feel going into this year, we have a strong of a team as we've ever had coming into May. You know, obviously, you look back at maybe - the one thing, Darren is going to have a little bit of a learning curve, but I think he's shown the first few races with us, or the first couple of races he's been with us, that he is a good listener and a good learner. So I don't feel that is a hindrance at all or a handicap, if you will. I feel Scott is certainly as talented a race driver as - what's that guy's name we had in 2000 there - (laughter). When it comes to what can be done, when it comes to qualifying for a race or when it comes to being in an open-wheel, that's another thing Scott does well. It takes a different mindset to be in a qualifying mode versus in a racing mode, and he is one of the few drivers that we've been fortunate to have that, you know, he can make that transition on Saturday night, if you will, from somebody who is qualifying a car to racing it, because I think it takes two different mindsets.

Q: More and more we look at new newcomers who are coming to the race. Where did that concern suddenly dissipate from the mind of the investment that you all had to make and the concern that you had?

GANASSI: I think there's a couple of reasons. First and foremost, I think younger people coming into the sport is something that you can pretty much look for the most part across the board in sports in general. You know, I think with the - I know you'll think this is crazy sounding, but I think is t was really the advent of video games and these kids are - they have grown up now on video games and their hand-eye coordination is much more - much more refined than it was for someone like myself who had never saw a video game till I was 16 or 17 years old. So I think all athletes across the board, whether it's football, baseball, basketball, you have younger and younger talent coming in. So let's start with that premise. I think when it started at Indianapolis, it was really - or in Indy-car racing, if you will, it was, you know - it was shown that - when did it start? I think it started a long time ago. Really, I think it started in the early 80s, really, when people like Josele Garza and myself and Michael (Andretti) and Al, Al (Unser) Junior, that was on the front end of it. You know, these drivers are in many more races at an earlier age than they were, say, when I came up, or Michael or Al. You had guys that had been in - quarter midgets, go-karts, small formula cars. They have been in the 200, 300 races before they ever even see Indianapolis, sometimes maybe even more. So you're seeing that today where they get a younger start in the sport; whereas I was never in a race car of any sort till I was 16 or 17 years old. These guys are getting started a lot sooner. There are other training grounds that these guys are starting at 5 and 6 years old.

Q: First, Darren, more and more we've had four or five English guys in the IRL, are more and more of the young English drivers looking toward America? And Scott, the same for you with what you've done this past year, how have you influenced the young drivers over in New Zealand?

MANNING: Firstly with the European and British drivers, Formula One is such a tough nut to crack into. It's so political. When I drove - I've been test-driving for - and for me, all of the car teams and some IRL teams, Chip, Michael Ganassi, they all wanted to speak to me or they all spoke to me. I knocked on the doors, and they all let me in, and they all welcomed me with open arms and all recognized, leading some laps, finishing on a lead lap and finished the race in that first oval race. Rockingham was not a bad job. Unfortunately in Formula One, if you don't do that, you don't get past the receptionist, and they kind of say, well, you're only ninth-best or whatever, you didn't win. Just look at my friend, Justin Wilson, I think he's in town at the moment. He's kind of a stalwart in Formula One, just not in the right place at the right time. It looks like over here, you know, your talent in the machinery that you've got is appreciated a lot more. Maybe Chip has got a comment on that, as well. You know, as a driver, you just want to be up there winning races and showing your talent. Sometimes you don't get that chance in the right machinery, and Formula One is pretty much like that. So it's tough. There's quite a lot more opportunity to shine, and as a driver, if you're not doing your job over here, I want you to be telling me and telling me my job is on the line; and if I'm doing a good job, I want to be keeping my drive. It doesn't look - seem to be that way in Formula One.

DIXON: In New Zealand, there's always been a lot of talent down there. The biggest problem is it's so small, and there's really not much money down there. That's the biggest thing to break through, is I think the dissention in America, smaller categories. The IPS (Menards Infiniti Pro Series() is there, but they are struggling for cars and things like that. You know, it's kind of hard to pick guys out of it I think. But definitely a lot more interest in New Zealand as well as guys, I think a couple this year starting in Formula 2000. I think for me coming over here, the same investment group is starting to help out some of the younger drivers in New Zealand. I see another guy in Formula 3 or Europe from New Zealand. I think there's a lot of hype. After the championship, there's been a lot of guys coming through. It's going to be interesting, and it will be good to see some fellow Kiwis up here, for sure.

Q: We know after you won IndyCar Series championship, your reception, you were pretty much received as a hero back home, which certainly you are. But if you won the Indy 500, what would that mean to your fellow New Zealanders?

DIXON: That would be huge, as well. I think there have only been a couple that have ever qualified for the Indianapolis 500. So it's few and far between. But we'll try and do it. You know, the Indianapolis 500, as everyone knows is the biggest race in the world. Everybody in New Zealand knows, especially the motor racing community down there, probably half of them are going to be at the race, but it should be pretty good. (Laughter).

Q: As you were growing up, what part of their careers and the legends about them are what brought you into racing?

DIXON: I think, you know, there's definitely a lot of history in New Zealand with Bruce McLaren and Chris (Amon) and people like that. There was, you know, sort of a run at times. It was definitely big hype. You know, there's a lot of people. I remember people coming out in New Zealand, people like Kenny Smith and things like that, trying to guide me. We were racing against those people. It was very interesting. You know, to see how they sort of did it. The biggest problem was it was so much different back then, and you could not really relate to it too much. You know, you can throw a rock up at a car and race back then. It was great to hear that and sort of hear stories of how they did it. As I say, relating and things like that was totally different. It's good history. It's such a big gap, need to try and bring that together.

Q: Chip mentioned video games. Did you guys grow up on video games? Do you play now and are new any good (Laughter)?

MANNING: Well, yeah I've got my PlayStation and Xbox and things like that. I don't play any racing. I play my golf, I play my football games - soccer games, not football.

DIXON: I'm more on the racing games.

MANNING: I really get into golf.

Q: It's rumored that Mr. Manning can poke one out there about 380 down the middle of the fairway.

MANNING: We'll see tomorrow.

Q: Chip, regarding you have a full plate already, what got you into sports car racing, and what's your assessment so far of what's happened, particularly the instruments and comments on Homestead?

GANASSI: Let's start with the outcome at Homestead. First of all, you know, I think it was obvious that, you know, that (Jan) Magnussen and Papis were interestingly, I think most of all, I find it interesting that that evening, Magnussen had stayed at Papis' house, and that's where he stayed for the following week after the Homestead race. They were pretty good friends, I guess. You know, I think it was a situation where Max had a deteriorating car, and it was not handling as it was in the beginning of the stint, and he was passed by the 02 car, which was a team car, also, just previously to that before it drove off. You know, Magnussen had his team come in, and he started bumping his way by Max, and I guess Max took offense to that style of passing and they were since reprimanded. I guess I'm an old-timer or something. I mean, I don't think there's any need to use your car as a weapon in that series. I think there are some, obviously, in NASCAR, you can rub on somebody, but I still think there is a fine line between rubbing on somebody and using your car as a weapon. I think that that incident at Homestead relegated itself to the cars being weapons, as opposed to rubbing on somebody. What was the rest of the question?

Q: Just because you already had a full plate, what got you involved or wanting to go into motor cars?

GANASSI: Just, you know, I had started - when I started in the racing business, it was in sports cars. You know, I guess I always had a - you always have a soft spot in your heart for road racing these days between IRL and NASCAR, you know, there's not enough road racing for a flea. I guess you just have a soft spot in your heart to do some left and right turns again, and being as that's where I got my career started. So I've always had an interest in sports car racing, and, you know, I talked to both the Le Mans family and the Panoz Group about getting involved in their series and told them I was looking for an opportunity to get involved. One came along. I think it's a good series. I think it's got a lot of future. You know, me personally, I would like to see those, that, Grand-Am would be a great - if you put Grand-Am and IRL on a weekend, I think it would be a great weekend show at a lot of events.

Q: Is there any interest at all in NASCAR in either one of your countries?

MANNING: Well, in the U.K., it's getting a lot more popular. The new series, NASCAR series over there, which is pretty similar to, I think - but they run at Rockingham and Lausitzring in Germany. They really built the grandstands and things. Obviously, the main racing over there in Europe is mainly Formula One. Yeah, I think a lot of people are watching on the TV, not really much press about the NASCAR too much really, though.

DIXON: Similar in New Zealand. Probably would be fourth on the list, I think in racing down there. They don't get too much of it, only SKY TV and satellite, things like that. I think IRL or Formula One is definitely the big one down there.

Q: Both of you had a much better second race this season than the first race. Talk a little bit about that.

MANNING: Yeah, well for me Homestead was a big learning curve. Obviously, the first -- I've got limited oval experience through CART and IRL now, and Homestead was a very different race to anything I've ever driven before, big pack running, high banking, lots of slipstreaming and lots of drafting and passing. I think, you know, I learned 200 things, something new on every lap, and I took that into my race at Phoenix. We qualified a lot better. The car was quite a lot stronger there. Obviously, we were on the third row. Scott and I both probably thought we could have done a little better. With the conditions changing, it was pretty tough to guesstimate. The race I was really strong. My car was proper. I was able to work up on people, but it was so easy to defend, even guys were locked down that I wasn't terribly happy about. The guys that you were trying to pass - they have got very long straights down there. They could just block you a little bit, and you would have to make a real serious move to try and pass them. It's not a stage in my seat to be doing that, and, you know, I could have probably risked a couple of moves and got up a couple of spots, but at the same point I would be risking and taking myself and somebody else off. In a championship, 19 points off the lead at the moment, and it's all because of that philosophy. I'll be - coming last few races, I'll be taking those.

DIXON: Yeah, obviously, Homestead I guess, we had a pretty good car. I think it was more disappointing for myself and had a great shot at winning. I think it was going to be the Penske cars and us pretty much. These things happen. Phoenix, I was very disappointed with qualifying just because we had a lot of problems in the session previous. Tried to get a balance. As Darren said, I think we both could have done a little better there. As far as the race went, the car was fairly decent. It was kind of hard to pass, just sort of get within two car lengths, and it was very difficult. I think if they didn't have a yellow there at the end, we would have a lot more - could have been more - we're happy enough. I think it's good points for us. Just need to keep working on that, I guess.

MODERATOR: Thank you for taking some time to be with us today. Look forward to seeing you in Motegi and here at the Speedway in May.

GANASSI: Looking forward to it, boys. Good to talk to you and looking forward to May myself.