© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
by Dan Peters
DIXON…MAKE THAT CASTRONEVES WINS PEAK
ANTIFREEZE 300 IN PHOTO FINISH
DIXON HOLDS ON TO
CLAIM SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP
by Dan Peters
Helio Castroneves charged from the 28th starting position to first,
winning a photo finish in the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy
300 at Chicagoland Speedway, the second closest finish in Series
History.
Dixon entered Victory Lane as Series Champion and race winner. But as
in bingo, hold all your cards.
Close FINISH.................................
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
by Mark Rotor
A review of photos from the Indy Racing League’s state-of-the-art
high-speed camera revealed that Castroneves had edged Dixon by .0033 of
a second, about 12 inches. The margin of victory was the second-closest
in IndyCar Series history.
It wasn’t enough to keep Scott Dixon from winning his second IndyCar
Series championship.
Castroneves started 28th due to a penalty during qualifying and
raced his way through the field to take the lead on Lap 78. He led
80 laps total and was in first as the leaders pitted on Lap 185 with
15 laps to go. Series points leader Scott Dixon won the race off pit
lane and led the next 14 laps as Castroneves pulled alongside for the
final two laps. As the two took the checkered flag side-by-side, it
took a review of photographs by IndyCar Series officials to determine
that Castroneves had edged Dixon.
The IndyCar Series Timing & Scoring photo system takes a picture
every ten-thousandth of a second. IndyCar Series officials have
confirmed that the transponder on Scott Dixon’s No. 9 Target Chip
Ganassi Racing car had been improperly installed, resulting in Dixon
being shown in the top spot on the Indy Racing League’s T&S system
rather than race winner Helio Castroneves.
“The improperly installed transponder clearly affected the data we were
receiving from Dixon’s car,” said Jon Koskey, the Indy Racing League’s
director of timing and scoring. “With the signal going the wrong
direction, it could have bounced off of any number of things and made
it difficult for the antenna to pick up an accurate signal. Because
there’s always the possibility of electronic equipment failing and the
possibility of human error, we have multiple systems in
place to insure the accuracy of the data.”
Immediately following the conclusion of Sunday’s PEAK Antifreeze &
Motor Oil 300, the camera operator informed race stewards that the
photos showed Castroneves’ car in the lead. Brian Barnhart, president
of competition and operations for the Indy Racing League, reviewed the
photos and confirmed Castroneves the winner.
“We’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in this system since
2001 to make sure our timing systems are accurate and provide the
officiating staff with the information necessary to make good judgment
calls such as this,” Barnhart said. “The primary system includes three
parts comprised of a radio transponder mounted in
the same location on each car, multiple detection loop antennas buried
under the track and timing decoder units that decipher the transponder
signals as it crosses the antenna. We back up that
system with the start/finish line camera and secondary electronic
systems.
“We use the high-speed camera to review the finishing order of
every car at every race. It’s not always that close between the top two
cars, but we have close finishes further back in the field all of the
time
Castroneves celebrated his second victory of the season and the second
time he’s finished runner-up in the championship in his career. (About
learning he won the race) “I found out when I was walking to the podium
to receive the second-place finish. I actually thought I really won it,
but sometimes when you’re going 215 mph it’s hard for me to see in the
blink of an eye. But what a great effort by Team Penske. Ryan (Briscoe)
helped me out tremendously. We put ourselves in that situation today.
And I’m sure next year is going to be a lot of fun as well, so I can’t
wait for 2009.” (About coming from last to first) “We tried to keep
everything that happened behind and keep racing. I had no doubt that
we’d have a good car. It was a big task but, like I said, we believed,
we did everything possible.
But unfortunately Scott (Dixon) was right there, too. I have to
congratulate Team Ganassi, but what a great finish, what a wild
race. It was kind of a little close, but I’m extremely happy for the
way it came out here.”
Dixon maintained a 17-point lead in the championship to become
the second driver to win multiple championships in the IndyCar Series.
Dixon also won in 2003. “We were trying to work out where we needed to
be, and I think I got a little complacent in the middle there. Some of
those guys are so quick, some people we didn’t expect to be racing
with. We got shuffled back in line a little bit, but what a great day.
I still can’t believe it.” (About whether or not this trumps his
championship in 2003) “Yeah, I think it does. We had to go through the
cycles. In ’03 we really knew what we won, but today was so emotional
for the team. Everyone at Team Target worked together to make it
happen. My hat’s off to them.” (About tough years in his career) “Yeah,
it was so tough in those years. I think we tried to forget about them,
but I think those years have made the team what it is today. I think
those yea rs were tough,
but you’ve got to have those years to make sure that you come
back and work hard. I’ve got to thank Chip (Ganassi) for keeping
me around. It was a revolving door there for awhile. I’ve got to thank
my teammate, Dan (Wheldon). He was a great help today.”
Wheldon will be leaving Ganassi to head back to Panther Racing in 2009.
He gave Dixon hugs in victory lane, but snuck back in holding a finger
at his face telling everyone to be quiet. He then gave Dixon
a “Victory Pie” in the face. Dixon never saw it coming.
Pole sitter Ryan Briscoe finished third. “It was awesome. It was some
really great racing there, going three-wide for a while with (Dan)
Wheldon and Helio (Castroneves). It was just a really good day and a
good way to end the season. We’ve had a lot of progress this year, so
this was an accomplishment going into 2009. I did my best to help Helio
(Castroneves). I thought he might have had it. I was under that rear
wing as close as I could get, so hopefully that helped him out.”
Hideki Mutoh won Bombardier Learjet Rookie of the Year honors by six
points over Justin Wilson despite finishing 22nd. “I wish we were able
to finish the 2008 season with a good finish, but I am
very thankful to all the Formula Dream team for working so hard
and getting No. 27 car back out on the track today. I won the
Bombardier Rookie of the Year, but it hasn’t hit me yet. I am
happy, but it’s really hard to celebrate it after such a disappointing
race.”
The 2008 IndyCar Series season continues with a non-points paying
race Oct. 26 at Surfers Paradise, Australia. The Nikon Indy 300
will be telecast live in High Definition at 10:30 p.m. (EDT) Oct. 25 by
ESPN Classic and will re-air at 11 p.m. Oct. 26 on ESPN2. The race will
air live on the IMS Radio Network. A Spanish-language telecast of the
race will be carried by ESPNDeportes. The IMS Radio Network broadcast
also is carried on XM Satellite Radio
and www.indycar.com.
The 2008 Firestone Indy Lights season has concluded.
INDYCAR SERIES POST-RACE NOTES:
·
Scott Dixon wins his second IndyCar Series championship by 17 points
over Helio Castroneves.
·
Dixon is the second driver to win multiple championships. Sam Hornish
Jr. won three.
·
More details on Dixon’s season are listed below.
·
Helio Castroneves is the first driver to win a race from the 28th
starting position. Buddy Lazier won from 26th at Phoenix in 2000.
·
More details on Castroneves’ season are listed below.
·
The margin of victory is the second-closest in IndyCar Series history.
The closest finish is .0024 of a second at Chicagoland in 2002 when Sam
Hornish Jr. defeated
Al Unser Jr. The 10 closest finishes are listed below.
·
Hideki Mutoh wins the Bombardier Learjet Rookie of the Year honors with
a six-point advantage over Justin Wilson.
·
Ryan Briscoe finished third, his fifth top-five finish of the season.
·
Tony Kanaan finished fourth, his 11th top-five finish of
the season.
·
Will Power finished fifth, his best finish of the season on
an oval.
·
Darren Manning finished seventh, his seventh top-10
finish of the season.
·
Milka Duno led five laps, her first laps led in the IndyCar Series.
IndyCar Series
driver Vitor Meira could be making his final start with Panther Racing
following the announcement this week that Dan Wheldon has been signed
to drive the
No. 4 car for the team in 2009.
VITOR MEIRA: “I feel like it’s important for the fans to know what I
think about everything that has happened this last week. I didn’t want
to leave Panther and the No. 4 car because I know how good this team is
going to be next year. I feel like I’m a big part of the foundation of
this team in the new generation of the IndyCar Series. I’m sad to
leave, and I don’t agree with all the decisions that have been made,
but that doesn’t change the way I feel about Panther Racing, and I’ll
always have a lot of respect for them. I feel like I’m personal friends
with every member of this team. That will never change. I’m also happy
to have had the experience with all the sponsors who have supported me,
especially Delphi for the two
years of support and trust. The National Guard, as an institution,
and the soldiers as individuals, changed me personally and the way
I look at everything. One of the key words in the National Guard is
‘honor’, and I’m honored to get to know every member of the National
Guard and I always will be, even if I don’t drive their car
in the future. I will always know, no matter what, that wherever I
am the Guardsmen are Always Ready and Always There. I look forward to
continuing my career in the IndyCar Series, and will
share any updates as they come available.”
SCOTT DIXON, THE SERIES CHAMPION:
Scott Dixon held first place in the standings in 2008 for all but three
races. After winning the season opener at Homestead-Miami, Dixon fell
to second with a 22nd-place finish at St. Petersburg. He rebounded to
first with his win at Indianapolis.
Dixon averaged 38.0 points per race, just shy of the 40 points awarded
for finishing second.
Since the start of the 2006 season, Dixon has 42 top-10 finishes in
48 races. In those 48 races, Dixon has 12 victories, 36 top-five
finishes and has led 1,405 laps.
Beginning with the race at Richmond in June 2007, Dixon has 21 top-five
finishes in 26 races. In those 26 races, Dixon has 10 victories, 23
top-10 finishes and has led 1,089 laps.
Dixon is the second driver to win multiple IndyCar Series
championships. He also won in 2003. A look at Dixon’s finishes in 2008
and 2003:
HELIO CASTRONEVES A SEASON TO REMEMBER:
Helio Castroneves turned in one of the most consistent seasons in
IndyCar Series history, recording a record-tying 15 top-five finishes,
including a record-setting eight second-place finishes.
Castroneves led all drivers with 15 top-five finishes and 17 races
running at the finish.
Castroneves held first place in the standings for three weeks before
relinquishing the position to Scott Dixon at the Indianapolis 500 in
May. After that, Castroneves held second place the final 13 weeks
of the season.
Castroneves averaged 37.0 points per race, better than the 35 points
awarded for third place.
Helio Castroneves in the Record Book
Seasons
with a win: Tied Scott Sharp’s record of eight.
Consecutive seasons with a win: Set
new record with eight.
Career wins from pole: Set new
record with seven.
Consecutive seasons with win from
pole: Tied record of three
others with three.
Consecutive starts: Moved into
second with 112.
Career poles: Extended his record to
26.
Career top-10 finishes: Set new
record with 88.
Career top-five finishes: Tied with
Tony Kanaan for all-time
lead with 66.
Career races led: Set new record
with 71.
Career second-place finishes: Set
new record with 20.
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