Dixon eyes Richmond repeat

Dixon's best result so far this season came at Phoenix International Raceway, where he finished second to Andretti Green's Tony Kanaan. The Kiwi lies sixth in the IndyCar Series point standings, just behind his Chip Ganassi team-mate, Darren Manning.

The team and the other Toyota and Chevrolet runners are optimistic that Honda will not be able to utilise the horsepower advantage it currently enjoys. At 0.75 miles, Richmond is the shortest track on the IRL schedule.

"I'm looking forward to going back to Richmond," Dixon said. "These shorter tracks are going to be a good chance for us to win, and hopefully we can make the most of the race, as we did last year. It's exciting to go back there, especially since we were so dominant there last year. We'll see how we fare. Toyota had a good test there with all of us guys and we should be right on top of it."

Manning has only run eight open-wheel oval races in his career, none of them on a bullring like the one at Richmond. He got to sample the circuit during an engine manufacturer test day.

"We tested there for Toyota for a couple of days and put in like 350 laps around the track," he said. "It's been resurfaced, and with the banking on that little track, it makes it something really individual. It's unlike any other short track that I've done. If you have a little bit of a problem there, you can go backwards very quickly, but if you have a good car, you can go forward. It should be really exciting."

The pole position lap for Saturday night's 250-lap contest is expected to be clocked at less than 16 seconds.