Scott Dixon has solidified his lead in the IndyCar Series championship
today by winning the Rexall Edmonton Indy by 5.9327 seconds over Helio
Castroneves.
The
victory at Edmonton City Centre Airport is the Brisbane-born Kiwi’s
fifth victory of the season and sees him extend his championship lead
to 65 points over Castronves, who took his sixth runner-up finish of
2008.
Justin Wilson, the winner at Edmonton in 2006, finished third, and
Canadian Paul Tracy, the 1995 Gold Coast Indy 300 winner who was making
his first series start of the season, improved 11 positions to finish
fourth in a impressive drive.
Oriol Servia finished fifth, pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe of Sydney was
sixth after leading early and Wheldon seventh. Briscoe’s ‘Down Under’
counterpart Will Power, who enjoyed the technical consultation of
veteran Canadian racer and former team-mate Alex Tagliani during
today’s race, was 22nd after encountering mechanical issues early in
the race.
Heading into a pit stop on Lap 51, Dixon radioed his crew to give
him an extra push out of pit lane. That push got him out of the pits
first and helped Dixon take the lead on Lap 62 when the field cycled
through pit stops.
From that point, Dixon was dogged by Castroneves, maintaining a
lead of less than a second until Castroneves missed the braking point
heading into Turn 1 on Lap 86. The mistake by the two-time Indianapolis
500 winner allowed Dixon to stretch his lead to five seconds and cruise
to victory over the final five laps.
The victory sees Dixon become the fourth driver in IndyCar Series
history to win five races in a season, one shy of the series record set
by Dan Wheldon in 2005.
From here the IndyCar series heads to the Meijer Indy 300 August 9
at Kentucky Speedway 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 (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, first):
"It's fantastic. I think at this point in the championship battle it's a must-have for Team Target,” said Dixon.
“Helio (Castroneves) has been very strong in the last two races.
He's been trying to chase us down, but we were able to make a small
gain on him this weekend.
“At this point, I think a 65-point lead is pretty strong. We just
have to keep on it for the next four races. We need to be consistent
and continue to earn points. This win was definitely a turn for us in
the championship."
Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Team Penske, second):
"When you're behind another driver, you're just short on tires. I
was doing everything I could just to keep up,” said Castroneves.
“I was pushing and trying to put pressure on (Scott) Dixon with
every lap, but he never made a mistake. I'm just going to keep working
hard because it isn't over for Team Penske yet."
Justin Wilson (No. 02 McDonald's Racing Team, third):
"Under the circumstances, we're very happy with today, and it's great to put the McDonald's car in the top three,” said Wilson.
“We've had the capability of doing that on many occasions but
something has always gone wrong. Today's race was very eventful, but we
were able to stay clean out there.
“We knew when to back off and we knew when to push, and that's why we're here.
(What did you say to Paul Tracy when you got out of the car?): "I
talked to him and told him, 'Not bad for an old guy.' It was good
racing. I've always enjoyed racing with Paul. I know a lot of people
have had problems with him, but I've always enjoyed it because he races
hard, but fair. I don't mind going wheel to wheel with him."
Paul Tracy (No. 22 Subway/Vision, fourth):
"I could hear the pit, but they couldn't hear me. I just did
everything that they said. We couldn't make any changes to the car, so
what I had I had to stick with,” said Tracy.
“We did a couple of hand signals for tire pressure up or down under
yellow, so I couldn't really optimize the car. At the end, I had to
save a lot of fuel to make it to the end.
“I'm just super-excited for the team. They prepared this car in
about a week and a half, and I gave it a first-class effort for the
sponsor. With a little more practice and me not sitting on the couch
for the last six months, maybe we could do better."
Ryan Briscoe (No. 6 Team Penske, sixth):
"It was a bit of a frustrating day because I think we had a
podium-finishing car. Early in the race Helio (Castroneves) was a bit
faster and got by me, and then it was just between the two Team Penske
cars,” said Briscoe.
“The fuel strategy came into play a bit, and by mid-race we ended
up getting shuffled back in the pack because a lot of the slower guys
stayed out. Then on a restart, (Dan) Wheldon went three-wide with (Ed)
Carpenter, and they came sliding down and put me into a spin.
“That was really unfortunate because up until that point I was
having a real solid race. Once again, Roger (Penske) worked his
strategy and we were able to make up some spots, pass some cars and end
up with a sixth-place finish.
“I guess, all things considered, sixth place was a good result. We
picked up some points and were able to solidify fifth place in the
championship."
Will Power (No. 8 Aussie Vineyards-Team Australia):
"I am just really disappointed. The Aussie Vineyards-Team Australia
car was really quick, we were getting good fuel mileage and then there
was a mechanical failure,” said Power.
“The KVRT crew did a great job getting me back in the race, but
being so many laps behind we were really in it to try and get as many
points as possible."
RESULTS: Rexall Edmonton Indy at Edmonton City Centre Airport
Results of the Rexall Edmonton Indy IndyCar Series event at the
1.973-mile Edmonton City Centre Airport, with order of finish, starting
position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and
reason out (if any):
1. (4) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
2. (2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
3. (6) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
4. (15) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
5. (3) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
6. (1) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
7. (9) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
8. (13) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
9. (27) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
10. (18) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
11. (22) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
12. (17) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
13. (23) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
14. (7) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 91, Running
15. (20) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
16. (11) Enrique Bernoldi, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
17. (12) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 90, Run!
ning
18. (14) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 88, Running
19. (16) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
20. (10) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
21. (25) Marty Roth, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running
22. (5) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 72, Running
23. (26) Jaime Camara, Dallara-Honda, 68, Mechanical
24. (19) Mario Dominguez, Dallara-Honda, 51, Mechanical
25. (24) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 48, Contact
26. (8) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 44, Contact
27. (21) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 27, Contact
RACE STATISTICS:
Winner's average speed: 96.967 mph
Time of race: 1:51:05.7039
Margin of victory: 5.9237 seconds
Cautions: 4 caution flags for 19 laps
Lead changes: 9 among 6 drivers
Lap leaders: Briscoe 1-3, Castroneves 4-21, Andretti 22-29, Kanaan
30, Andretti 31-33, Castroneves 34-50, Kanaan 51-56, Foyt IV 57-59,
Kanaan 60-61, Dixon 62-91.
Point standings: Dixon 505, Castroneves 440, Wheldon 390, Kanaan
387, Briscoe 324, Patrick 296, Mutoh 286, Servia 280, Andretti 276,
Hunter-Reay 276.
INDYCAR SERIES POINTS STANDINGS – POST RACE 13 – TOP TEN
1. Scott Dixon - 505 points
2. Helio Castroneves - 440
3. Dan Wheldon - 390
4. Tony Kanaan - 387
5. Ryan Briscoe - 324
6. Danica Patrick - 296
7. Hideki Mutoh - 286
8. Oriol Servia - 280
9. Ryan Hunter-Reay - 276
10. Marco Andretti - 276
11. Will Power - 257
BOMBARDIER ROOKIE OF THE YEAR POINTS STANDINGS – POST RACE 13
1. Hideki Mutoh - 286 points
2. Will Power - 257
3. Justin Wilson - 237
4. Graham Rahal - 225
5. E.J. Viso - 217
6. Enrique Bernoldi - 196
7. Mario Moraes - 184
8. Jaime Camara - 126
9. Mario Dominguez - 98
REXALL EDMONTON INDY POST-RACE NOTES:
- This is Scott Dixon's fifth victory of the season. He is the
fourth driver in IndyCar Series history to win five races in a season.
Dan Wheldon won six in 2005, Sam Hornish Jr. won five in 2002, and Tony
Kanaan won five in 2007.
- This is Dixon's 11th top-five finish of the season.
- This is the seventh win of the season for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. The team has won 23 IndyCar Series races overall.
- Helio Castroneves finished second for the sixth time this season. It is his 11th top-five finish of the season.
- Justin Wilson finished a career-best third. His previous best was seventh at Milwaukee and Richmond.
- Paul Tracy finished fourth in his first IndyCar Series race of the season.
- Oriol Servia tied his career-best with a fifth-place finish. He also finished fifth at Richmond and Mid-Ohio.
- Tony Kanaan improved a race-high 18 positions to finish ninth
after starting 27th. Kanaan, Dixon and Castroneves are the only drivers
with 11 top-10 finishes this season.
- Darren Manning finished 10th, his fourth consecutive top-10 finish.
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