Well done, Dan

Dan Wheldon, fresh from a dominant performance in claiming the opening race of the IRL season, has dampened down expectations of the title flowing automatically to the Briton.

Wheldon ran in the lead of the Toyota 300 for the vast majority of laps run, with no other driver making much impression on his lead. Some commentators have suggested that Wheldon will have an easy task in taking the championship, but he told speedtv.com: "It's a long, long way to go, and it's a very competitive series. This is going to be the most competitive championship in the world - between drivers, between teams, between engine manufacturers. I think we're going to give everyone a good show.

"I'm proud to have those comments made, but I'm just focused on the lead-in to the Indianapolis 500 and the Indy 500 itself. We'll worry about the rest of that later. I've got to be honest: My passion is the Indianapolis 500. The championship is great and all, but my focus is that - I'd love to be drinking the milk. I just hope I can maintain this momentum into the Indy 500. This is a good way to start the season."

Wheldon took the flag almost four seconds ahead of the following group, which comprised second to fifth and was split by a tenth of a second. "I got a little bit of a push and he just pulled away,"Sam Hornish (second) said of Wheldon. "I thought if I could stay with him until the last lap, I might have a chance. I really doubt it. He was super strong, and I knew he wasn't going to give up the bottom line.”

Tony Kanaan looked to have held up Hornish, Helio Castroneves and Vitor Meira, but argued afterwards that this wasn't the case: "I wasn't weaving,"Kanaan said. "I was trying as hard as I could. When we were going down to the line, I kept my line. Sam got a run on me. I don't think it was anything weird.”

"He was just protecting his own position,"team boss Michael Andretti agreed. "Dan had a perfect car anyway.”