2006 Peak Antifreeze Indy 300
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Race 14 of 14 in the 2006 IndyCar season
| |||
| Date | September 10, 2006 | ||
| Official name | Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean | ||
| Location | Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi / 2.414 km | ||
| Distance | 200 laps 300.000 mi / 482.803 km | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske) | ||
| Time | 25.4134 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske) | ||
| Time | 25.2500 (on lap 88 of 200) | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Dan Wheldon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) | ||
| Second | Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) | ||
| Third | Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske) | ||
The 2006 Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 was an IndyCar Series motor race held on September 10, 2006, in Joliet, Illinois at Chicagoland Speedway. It was the fourteenth and final round of the 2006 IndyCar Series and the sixth running of the event. Dan Wheldon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing won the 200-lap race. Wheldon's teammate Scott Dixon finished second and Marlboro Team Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr. finished third.
Wheldon, Dixon, Hornish Jr., and Hélio Castroneves all entered the race with a mathematical chance of winning the Drivers' Championship. Hornish Jr. won the pole position by recording the fastest lap of qualifying, although he was immediately passed by Dixon at the beginning of the race. Wheldon took the lead on the second lap and dominated most of the race while Dixon persistently trailed him in second and battled alongside him several times. With four laps remaining, Dixon nearly collided into Wheldon and briefly backed off, allowing Hornish Jr. to take second place. Dixon passed Hornish Jr. two laps later but Wheldon again defended his position for the final two laps to take the win. There were two cautions and twenty lead changes between four drivers during the race.
Wheldon's win was his second of the 2006 season and eleventh of his IndyCar career. The season ended with Hornish Jr. and Wheldon tied for first place in the championship standings, but the championship was awarded to Hornish Jr. by virtue of earning more wins in the season than Wheldon. Castroneves dropped to third, two points behind Hornish Jr. and Wheldon, while Dixon and Vítor Meira remained in fourth and fifth, respectively.