AVONDALE, Ariz. - Dan Wheldon joked that the Copper World Indy 200 at Phoenix International Raceway should be removed from the IRL IndyCar® Series schedule because Tony Kanaan likes the track maybe too much.

Kanaan, who won the 200-lap race March 21 for the second consecutive year, of course would never support such a change.

“So far, it’s the only possibility I have to win, so I would say no, keep it on,” said Kanaan, who led 191 laps en route to the victory over Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon by 0.5344 of a second. “I love this place.”

The give and take between Andretti Green Racing teammates is a part of their routine. Abbott and Costello they’re not. But along with the two other drivers who make up the Andretti Green Racing stable, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta, they are quickly developing a bond based on support, respect and humor.

Wheldon, the youngest of the group, is the brunt of many practical jokes. One pulled on him the night before the race he said "is best kept private. It's ugly."

Their fraternity-like high jinks have drawn comparisons to the movie “Animal House.”

“I never thought of it that way. But, yeah, I would say in a lot of ways,” team co-owner Michael Andretti said. “I know we have fun just like they did in ‘Animal House.’ Every now and then the principal has to come over and talk to us. I guess that would be Brian. Not Bryan Herta, but (IRL senior vice president of racing operations) Brian Barnhart.”

Their banter is saved for off the track. On the 1-mile oval on March 21, Franchitti was involved in a late-race crash that knocked him out of a chance to finish in the top five.

As Kanaan drove past the scene in Turn 4, he was looking to see if Franchitti was out of the car.

"I saw him walking out of the car; he was OK. After that, I kept myself calm."

Kanaan was otherwise calm and business-like in the record heat. He got past pole sitter Wheldon in Turn 3 of the first lap and was rarely seriously challenged in the second half of the race.

Kanaan said he just ran his own pace, and tried not to look into his mirrors at Dixon. His car was working well, so it would take a great effort to get past him.

“I think I came here confident that I knew I could do the job because I did it before,” said Kanaan, who joined Wheldon on the front row in qualifying. “I just said, ‘Hey, if he’s going to pass me, he’s going to have to find a way to do it.’ ”