INDYCAR: Helio Takes Texas win

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Helio Takes Texas win

2009 Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves bounced back from a poor showing at Milwaukee to win the 550K race at Texas while teammate Ryan Briscoe is 2nd two weeks in a row.

Robin Miller | Posted June 07, 2009 Fort Worth, TX

His teammate led the most laps but Helio Castroneves led on the lap that mattered the most, taking his second win from the last three races. (Getty)

Ryan Briscoe dominated Saturday night's Bombardier 550K but teammate Helio Castroneves pulled into victory lane.

A race that saw Briscoe lead 160 of 228 laps and build up a 12-second advantage at one point came down to the final pit stop of the evening.

Castroneves, whose pit box was located in the last space at pit out, came in second on Lap 175 but got out first and led the final 53 laps to complete a Penske perfect performance.

"I have to say this victory belongs to team No. 3 because they kept making my car better all night and then they gave me a fantastic pit stop at the end," said the three-time Indy 50 winner following his third triumph at Texas Speedway.

"Ryan had a great car all night but once I got out ahead of him I drove wide open the last 50 laps. What a night."

Despite his race-long prowess, Briscoe had nothing for Castroneves after losing the top spot.

"Those last 50 laps were like a dagger in my heart," said the Aussie who also finished second at Milwaukee a week ago. "To lead the whole race and have the quickest car out there and not win, man that was so frustrating.

"And my guys gave me a great pit stop on our last one it's just that Helio is right next to the blend line and he didn't have to go very far to beat me out. Pit out definitely has a bit of an advantage."

Starting second, Briscoe blasted past pole-sitter Dario Franchitti on Lap 11 and pulled away from the competition at almost a second a lap until a suspicious debris caution waved on Lap 150.

"I didn't see any debris," said Briscoe, who moved into the point lead after six of the 17 stops on the IndyCar circuit.

Scott Dixon, who finished third, said he felt sorry for his mate from Down Under.

"Man, nobody had anything for Ryan tonight and it's a shame he didn't get the win but my car was decent, at best, and I couldn't touch him," said the two-time IndyCar champion. "The Target team needs to step it up a little for these Penske cars on these flatout ovals."

Team Penske has made a strong push during the last six weeks to inch ahead of Target Chip Ganassi. (Getty)

Marco Andretti passed Dario Franchitti (who ran out of fuel) on the last lap to take fourth, while Danica Patrick finished sixth.

It was a relatively clean race, other than a second-lap crash that eliminated Graham Rahal. E.J. Viso and Milka Duno. And A.J. Foyt IV suffered a suspension failure and hit the inside wall on Lap 173. All four drivers walked away.

Heading to the short oval at Iowa in tow weeks, Briscoe owns a three-point advantage over Dixon, with Franchitti 11 points behind and Castroneves within 13.

1. (4) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
2. (2) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
3. (3) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
4. (8) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
5. (1) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
6. (5) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
7. (7) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
8. (16) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
9. (10) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
10. (6) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 227, Running
11. (9) Robert Doornbos, Dallara-Honda, 227, Running
12. (15) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 226, Running
13. (18) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 226, Running
14. (13) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
15. (17) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
16. (23) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 225, Running
17. (14) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 222, Running
18. (24) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Honda, 210, Running
19. (19) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 185, Running
20. (22) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 170, Contact
21. (11) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 153, Mechanical
22. (12) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 1, Contact
23. (20) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 1, Contact
24. (21) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 1, Contact

Race Statistics

Winner's average speed: 172.677 mph
Time of race: 1:55:16.1670
Margin of victory: 0.3904 of a second
Cautions: 3 caution flags for 26 laps
Lead changes: 7 lead changes among 4 drivers
Lap leaders: Franchitti 1-10, Briscoe 11-56, Castroneves 57-58, Carpenter 59, Briscoe 60-111, Castroneves 112-113, Briscoe 114-175, Castroneves 176-228.

Point standings: Briscoe 199, Dixon 196, Franchitti 188, Castroneves 186, Patrick 167, Wheldon 152, Kanaan 146, Andretti 141, Rahal 126, Hunter-Reay 116.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Miller

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