Dan Wheldon Fontana qualifying

Dan Wheldon is aiming to end his successful 2001 season on a high today when he races for the last time this year in the twelfth and final round of the CART Dayton Indy Lights Championship on the California Speedway at Fontana.

In yesterday's qualifying session, 23-year old Wheldon set the fifth fastest time in his Gemstar Communications PacWest Racing Lola-Buick (39.541 seconds) around the 2.029-mile oval circuit --just .443 of a second behind poleman and Championship winner Townsend Bell.

Englishman Dan Wheldon is currently in a strong third place in the Indy Lights Championship with 133 points and is in a close second place in both the Indy Lights 'Rookie of the Year' and the Indy Lights 'Oval Track' Championship standings.

Wheldon is keen to win the Rookie of the Year title for a third consecutive year. In 1999 he took the title when he won the US F2000 Championship and last year he was the top Rookie when he contested the CART Toyota Atlantic Championship.

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