© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
by Dan Peters
BRISCOE REBOUNDS FROM INDY ...EARNS FIRST
CAREER WIN. 300TH WIN
FOR ROGER PENSKE
by
Dan Peters
Ryan Briscoe was able to hold-off a hard charging Dixon on the
legendary 1-mile oval at Milwaukee to earn his first career victory in
the IndyCar Series and the 300th victory in motorsports for team owner
Roger Penske.
Briscoe started 11th in the 26-car field. He doggedly made his way
through the field, finally passing Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon
for the lead on Lap 177.
Briscoe briefly gave up the lead on Lap 194 when he was the first car
to cycle through a final round of green-flag pit stops. By the time
everyone had made a stop, Briscoe was back in the lead for good on Lap
207. He took the checkered on Lap 225 under caution after pole sitter
Marco Andretti and Ed Carpenter made contact on Lap 223 in an accident
that also collected Indy 500 runner-up Vitor Meira. It was Meira's
second wreck of the weekend, his first was also in turn 2 during
Saturday's Pole qualifying.
Ryan Briscoe
looking to pass....................
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
by Dan Peters
Winner_Ryan_Briscoe_Passing_Tony_Kanaan.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
by Mark Rotor
Brisco was
beaming with a huge smile in victory lane. "It feels so good to win, my
first IndyCar (Series) win, and it feels so good to do it here in
Milwaukee," said Briscoe. "I'm really happy. Ever since Indianapolis,
we had that get-together in pit lane, and it was really unfortunate. I
was having a really good race and looking at a top-five (finish). We
just had to put it behind us and move on to this race.
It's a long
championship, and it's just great. We were focused on this race. We
knew we had a good car off of last year's results of Helio
(Castroneves) and (Sam) Hornish (Jr.). Just stayed focused in the race.
It's great to win my first race for Team Penske."
Danica Patrick's fans found no
victory today.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
by Mark Rotor
"Really, it shows the amount of work that has been done by so
many people on the team, so many good drivers, so many good pit crews,
all the way back," Penske said. "When we think about winning the first
Trans-Am and Indianapolis, and you just go on and think of the drivers
that have been with us. It's pretty exciting. And to see Ryan be able
to race clean with the 9 car with Dixon, it's a great day."
Scott Dixon, who led 147 laps, finished second "It was a pretty
good day for Team Target. We were dominant early on, and the car was
really good early on in the stint. I think where we struggled was
towards the end of the stint. It didn't seem to be a problem early on,
because the other guys were falling off, too. Briscoe, you got to give
him credit. He drove the wheels off that thing. He could really take
advantage of the high line when I tried a couple of times and nearly
ended up in the fence. It was the most fun I've had in a long time, to
be honest. It was a hell of a race towards the end. I'm just glad it
didn't come down to traffic being the deciding factor, and it almost
was with Briscoe almost being taken out by those guys crashing. It was
a tough race. I'm a little disappointed we didn't come up with the win,
but it's fantastic points for the championship."
Tony Kanaan was third. Dan Wheldon was fourth and Helio
Castroneves fifth.
"Definitely, (Ryan Briscoe's) car was much quicker than mine. It's good
to see that he's coming. Now it's going to get better and better. This
place is amazing; there are so many things happening. I broke the
curse. Every time we were here, I've never been able to finish. Finally
I've been able to finish, and fifth place is good enough for points.
Not good enough for a win, but we'll keep working hard." Said
Castroneves.
Dixon retains the IndyCar Series points lead with a 234-206 advantage
over Castroneves as the series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the
June 7 Bombardier Learjet 550k.
Ryan
Briscoe and Mr. Penske Celebrate in Milwaukee
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
by Dan Peters
The Day
Belonged to Mr. Ryan Briscoe
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
by Mark Rotor
INDYCAR SERIES POST-RACE NOTES:
*
This is Ryan Briscoe's first career victory in the IndyCar Series. His
previous best finish was third at Watkins Glen in 2006.
* This is Team
Penske's 26th victory in the IndyCar Series and its first this season.
The team's last victory came at Texas last June.
* This is Roger
Penske's 300th victory in motorsports.
* Scott Dixon
finished second, his fifth top-three finish of the season. Dixon led
147 laps today and has led 508 of the last 825 laps. He has led 100 or
more laps in four consecutive races.
* Tony Kanaan
finished third, his fourth top-five finish this season. This is his
worst finish at Milwaukee in five races.
* Dan Wheldon
finished fourth, his fourth top-five finish of
the season.
* Helio
Castroneves finished fifth. He is the only driver to record top-five
finishes in every race this season.
* Oriol Servia
finished sixth, his best finish in the IndyCar Series. His previous
best finish was seventh at St. Petersburg.
* Justin Wilson finished seventh,
his best finish in the IndyCar Series. His previous best finish was
ninth at St. Petersburg and Kansas.
* E.J. Viso
finished eighth, his best finish on an oval. His previous best finish
on an oval was 14th at Kansas.
#17 Local Favorite Bobby Wilson
passes #22 Donoso and wins Milwaukee 100 Indy Lights (Pro) Race
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
by Dan Peters
Local driver Wilson wins Fast
paced Indy Lights Race.
Earlier in the day, Bobby Wilson, a native of nearby Oconomowoc, Wis.,
led 88 of 100 laps to win the Milwaukee 100 Firestone Indy Lights race.
Wilson became the third driver to win in three seasons. It was the
first victory for Team E.
"The Team E guys put together a great car this weekend. Our first win
together couldn't have happened at a better place than The Milwaukee
Mile. I'm just ecstatic for the team. They did such a good job and put
together a good car. It was like a walk in the park for me. I just kept
the tires under me the whole time and drove to victory."
#22 Pablo
Donoso leads the early stages of the Milwaukee 100 Indy
Lights (Pro) Race
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.
by Dan Peters
Jeff Simmons finished second, and Raphael Matos finished third. Richard
Antinucci remains the series points leader 193-192 over Dillon
Battistini after the two finished 16th and 14th, respectively.
"We had a good car, especially on the long run. I had to work the tools
to keep me good. We were quick. We had a shot of it there at the end.
When our tires were cold, I was really, really loose. That hurt us on
the first couple laps. We just came up a little bit short. I'm really
happy. The guys on Team Moore Racing-Xtreme Coil Drilling do a great
job. We just came up about 12 feet short."
FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS POST-RACE NOTES:
*
Bobby Wilson earns his third career victory in Firestone Indy Lights.
It is his first win on an oval. His previous wins came at Watkins Glen
in 2006 and the Indianapolis road course in 2007.
* Wilson is the third driver to
record victories in three seasons, joining Wade Cunningham and Jeff
Simmons. Wilson and Cunningham are the only drivers to record wins in
three consecutive seasons.
* Wilson led 88
laps today, more than the 39 laps he had led in his previous 36
Firestone Indy Lights starts.
* This is the
first Firestone Indy Lights victory for first-year team Team E.
* Jeff Simmons
finished second, his best finish since St. Petersburg 1 in 2006.
* Raphael Matos
finished third, his best finish on an oval. His previous best was
eighth at Homestead-Miami.
* James Davison
finished a career-best sixth. His previous best was 11th at Kansas.
* Pablo Donoso
finished a career-best eighth. His previous best was 12th at Kansas.
Milwaukee Notables.....
A Rahal and an Andretti have started on the front row in 13 Indy car
races. The first time that Bobby Rahal started on the front row with an
Andretti was July 1, 1984 at the Meadowlands. Bobby started
second to Mario Andretti that day. Bobby sat on the front row with
Mario on seven other occasions. Only once was Bobby on the pole and
Mario second. That was at Michigan in September 1985. Bobby also sat on
the front row five times with Michael Andretti. Rahal only started on
the pole one of those times - at New Hampshire in 1992.
The No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car driven by Tony Kanaan is carrying the
Direct Supply logo on its front wing this weekend as a sign of goodwill
toward Sarah Fisher.
Direct Supply is a major sponsor of Sarah Fisher Racing. Kanaan and
Fisher, in her first year as an owner/driver, were involved in an
accident during the Indianapolis 500 that ended an emotional month for
Fisher.
Direct Supply is based in Milwaukee, and CEO Bob Hillis was at The
Milwaukee Mile today. He thanked Kanaan and Andretti Green Racing
co-owner Kevin Savoree for their support.
Andretti Green Racing also has given an underwing to Sarah Fisher
Racing.
Briscoe leads his first lap on an oval. He has previously led laps at
St. Petersburg in April and Infineon in 2005.
The 2008 IndyCar Series season continues with the Bombardier Learjet
550k on June 7 at Texas Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live
in High Definition at 10 p.m. (EDT) by 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 continues with the Jeld-Wen 100 June 21 at Iowa
Speedway. The Milwaukee 100 will be telecast at 1 p.m. EDT June 5.
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