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INDYCAR: Briscoe a Winner at Last in Milwaukee
Written by: Jeff Olson
SPEEDtv.com   http://www.speedtv.com
06/01/2008
West Allis, Wis.
 
A sigh of relief: Briscoe's first win is Penske Racing's 300th. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

Ryan Briscoe narrowly avoided a crash with two laps remaining and went on to win the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 on Sunday at The Milwaukee Mile, his first victory in the IndyCar Series and the 300th overall win in the history of Penske Racing.

Briscoe was leading Scott Dixon when Marco Andretti’s car slid up the track in Turn 1 and clipped Ed Carpenter’s car, which spun and hit the wall. As Briscoe and Dixon approached the crash, Vitor Meira’s car stuck Andretti’s car and became airborne. Briscoe braked suddenly and missed the wreck, then idled around the track to win under caution.

“If I would have gotten caught up in that, I would have been under the bus crying right now, that‘s for sure,” Briscoe said with a laugh afterward.

The victory also came on the 30th anniversary of Rick Mears' first Indy car victory for Roger Penske’s team. Briscoe, Mears’ latest pupil as an advisor for Team Penske, credited his mentor with the win.

“He’s the best observer I’ve ever talked to,“ Briscoe said. “He watched me in practice and talked about lines and traffic and things to keep my eye on. I really put a lot of that to use today, especially in the closing stages with Scott. Anything that Rick Mears says is invaluable. This one goes to him.”

Briscoe and Dixon were engaged in a cat-and-mouse duel during the final laps when they came up on two cars spinning and one flying on the 223rd lap of the 225-lap race. Briscoe and his No. 6 Team Penske Dallara-Honda narrowly avoided the trouble, missing Andretti’s car by a few feet.

“A million things went through my mind,” Briscoe said. “Just before that, I was pretty comfortable. I knew how to keep Dixon behind me, and I was like, ‘Let’s
just bring this thing home.’ Then, all of a sudden, I’m seeing smoke in front of me and cars flying. I was like, ‘This is not what I need.’”
Meira flies over Andretti as Briscoe escapes unscathed. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

Andretti said he lost control and pushed into Carpenter. “I just carried too much speed into the corner,” said Andretti, who apologized to Carpenter afterward. “I lost the front end of the car and went up into him.”

Meira, who was following behind Andretti and Carpenter, had nowhere to go when they spun. His car struck Andretti’s car and flew over its cockpit, landing on all fours against the wall on the exit of Turn 2.

“Getting airborne wasn't that bad,” Meira said. “It's landing that causes all the problems."

Following Dixon to the finish line were Tony Kanaan in third, Dan Wheldon in fourth and Helio Castroneves in fifth. Oriol Servia, who was lapped early in the race, came back to finish sixth. Justin Wilson, E.J. Viso, Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice rounded out the top 10.

Dixon maintained his series points lead over Castroneves with the runner-up finish. The series will resume Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway with Dixon holding a 28-point lead.

Briscoe’s maiden victory in Indy cars came as a reprieve for the previous week, when his car slid into Patrick’s in the pits. The ensuing attention put focus on the slow start to Briscoe’s young tenure with Team Penske, including three crashes in the first five races.

“What we needed to do was keep the guy’s confidence up,” Penske said. “That’s the main thing. We’ve got a good race driver, but you have to get to that point where you’re over the hill (with the first win). Then you’ve got the confidence.”

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