Just last week Briscoe led Dixon across the line in Milwaukee for his maiden IndyCar Series race win, while Dixon’s Bombardier Learjet 550k win is his first at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Indy 500 winner took his third 2008 chequered flag under caution after the cars driven by Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact while battling for second place with five laps remaining. He now leads Castroneves in the standings by 35 points.
Briscoe's Team Penske team-mate Helio Castroneves finished second, Dan Wheldon, who started 11th in his backup car, finished fourth and Tony Kanaan improved eight positions to finish fifth.
Dixon and Briscoe’s fellow ‘Down Under’ driver, Queenslander Will Power, finished 13th, after qualifying eighth and running strongly in the early stages - holding his ground against the experienced IndyCar Series drivers and teams in the top 10.
Australian fans can catch a re-run of the Bombardier Learjet 550k action at the Texas Motor Speedway live by tuning into ESPN at 7.00pm Australian Eastern Standard Time today.
Next up is the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway on June 22 (US) as the unified series continues on a schedule that is the most diverse in world motorsports.
The 2008 schedule will take the teams and drivers to short ovals, superspeedways, and road and street courses including the Gold Coast Indy 300 which is regarded as a ‘crown jewel’ in international motorsport.
With 96 hours of non-stop excitement over October 23-26 as the Gold Coast comes alive to the sound of the IndyCars burning up the track and Australia’s own V8 Supercars scorching around one of the most famous beach-side cities in the world, the event is the hottest ticket in town.
Tickets are now on sale for the Gold Coast Indy 300 with ticket options to suit everyone's needs. Four day Grandstand passes are available for those who prefer to watch the racing from the comfort of their own reserved seat or for those who prefer to wander around and soak up the atmosphere then a four day, weekend or single day General Admission pass might be more their style. For more information on ticket options go to indy.com.au. For information on Corporate Hospitality packages please call our Sales Team on (07) 5588 6800.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY…
Scott Dixon - #9 Target Chip Ganassi Honda/Dallara/Firestone
"I can't believe it. It's great for the team and great for Target. We just want to win this championship. I'm sorry to see it end under caution, but it's a great way to get some points for this championship,” said Dixon.
“Dan (Wheldon) did a great job coming from the back, and I saw him looming there for a little while. I don't know what to say. We finally won at Texas, and I'm pretty happy about that."
(About accident between Andretti and Hunter-Reay): "I kind of caught it a little bit in my mirror. I saw it was getting a bit crowded back there. It gets a bit desperate in the last few laps. If it had played out to a fuel-strategy race, it would have been a nice, clean finish, but when you have eight laps to go and 20 guys going for second or first spot, you're going to have something happen,” said Dixon. “It's unfortunate that it happened, but good for us."
Helio Castroneves - #3 Team Penske Racing Honda/Dallara/Firestone
(About drive-through penalty) “For the car that I had, it was supposed to be a win,” said Castroneves.
“I’m upset about that; I let those guys down. Team Penske did an incredible job of putting me back on the lead lap and to finish second is great for the conditions.”
Ryan Briscoe - #6 Team Penske Racing Honda/Dallara/Firestone
“I don’t know what I was thinking at the start when I missed my box. We went to the back but came through the field,” said Briscoe.
“The car was a missile. We had to change (front) wings and the car never felt quite as good in the second half of the race as the first, but it was a great recovery for the team and great for the points in the championship.
“(On being a lap down) The more time I spend with Team Penske you just never give up. We’ve been a lap down many times, even in the American Le Mans Series. But with Roger (Penske) on the box, he works like magic and we seem to always get that lap back and get in contention.”
Will Power - #8 Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia Honda/Dallara/Firestone
“It was a good run,” said Power.
“We learned a lot about the Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia car and I finished a mile and a half oval.
“It was a crazy race I had to dodge a couple of bullets when people went in the wall, but it was good fun and KV Racing Technology is getting the hang of these ovals, so that’s the main thing.”
RESULTS: IndyCar Series Bombardier Learjet 550K
Results Saturday of the Bombardier Learjet 550k IndyCar Series event at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
2. (2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
3. (3) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
4. (11) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
5. (13) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
6. (4) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 228, Running
7. (9) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 227, Running
8. (25) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 227, Running
9. (12) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 227, Running
10. (5) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 227, Running
11. (18) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 227, Running
12. (15) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 226, Running
13. (8) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 226, Running
14. (28) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 226, Running
15. (26) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 226, Running
16. (7) John Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 226, Running
17. (27) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 226, Runn! ing
18. (22) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 223, Running
19. (14) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 222, Contact
20. (10) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 222, Contact
21. (24) Mario Dominguez, Dallara-Honda, 222, Running
22. (19) Marty Roth, Dallara-Honda, 221, Running
23. (20) Enrique Bernoldi, Dallara-Honda, 210, Contact
24. (21) Jaime Camara, Dallara-Honda, 210, Running
25. (6) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 56, Contact
26. (16) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 47, Contact
27. (23) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 39, Contact
28. (17) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 19, Mechanical
RACE STATISTICS
- Winner's average speed: 159.740 mph
- Time of race: 2:04:36.3153
- Margin of victory: Under caution
- Cautions: 8 caution flags for 52 laps
- Lead changes: 21 changes among 6 drivers
- Lap leaders: Castroneves 1-12, Junqueira 13-17, Castr! oneves18-41, Junqueira 42-46, Castroneves 47-66, Dixon 67, Castroneves 68-69, Dixon 70, Castroneves 71-72, Dixon 73, Castroneves 74-97, M. Andretti 98-100, Castroneves 101, Dixon102, Briscoe 103-108, M. Andretti 109-115, Dixon 116-153, Briscoe 154-159, Dixon 160-168, Meira 169-206, Andretti 207-221, Dixon 222-228.
- Point standings: Dixon 284, Castroneves 249, Wheldon 217, Kanaan 204, Briscoe 169, Patrick 164, Mutoh 159, M. Andretti154, Carpenter 154, Servia 150.
BOMBARDIER LEARJET 550K POST-RACE NOTES
- This is Scott Dixon's third win of the season and the 13th win of his career. He also won at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May. It is his first win at Texas Motor Speedway.
- This is Target Chip Ganassi Racing's fourth win of the season. It previously won at Homestead-Miami and Indianapolis with Dixon and at Kansas with Dan Wheldon. This the team's second win at Texas. It also won with Jeff Ward in 2002.
- Helio Castroneves finished second, his eighth consecutive top-five finish. He is the only driver to finish in the top-five in every race this season.
IndyCar Series Points Standings – Post Race Seven – Top Ten
1 Scott Dixon 284 points
2 Helio Castroneves 249
3 Dan Wheldon 217
4 Tony Kanaan 204
5 Ryan Briscoe 169
6 Danica Patrick 164
7 Hideki Mutoh 159
8 Marco Andretti 154
9 Ed Carpenter 154
10 Oriol Servia 150
Bombardier Rookie of the Year Points Standings – Post Race Seven
1 Hideki Mutoh 159 points
2 Will Power 147
3 EJ Viso 133
4 Graham Rahal 127
5 Enrique Bernoldi 125
6 Justin Wilson 117
7 Mario Moraes 89
8 Mario Dominguez 57
9 Jaime Camara 46
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