Ryan Briscoe's Team Didn't Loose a Second........
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. by Dan Peters

It's Briscoe… In another thriller at Chicagoland Speedway, Fourth Closest In IndyCar History!

Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009 - Ryan Briscoe edged Scott Dixon by 0.0077 of a second to win the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.

In what looked like a NASCAR style restrictor plate race, the Indy Car races here at Chicagoland Speedway have taken a decidedly NASCAR look with tight wheel-to-wheel racing and on the edge nerves for both driver and fans alike. Even race winner Briscoe commented on how close and tense his night was.

The victory, the third of the season for Briscoe, was the fourth-closest finish in IndyCar Series history and helped the Team Penske driver increase his championship points lead to 25 over Dario Franchitti, who finished fourth in the 200-lap race on the 1.5-mile oval. Dixon, who was runner-up at Chicagoland Speedway for the fourth year in a row, is 33 points back with two races remaining.

"We've got to stay focused. The Target cars are going to be there in Motegi and Homestead, so we just have to stay focused. We've had good cars on all the mile-and-half ovals this year. We've just got to keep it together. We had a couple of mistakes tonight but were able to come back. We've just have to try to avoid those situations." Said Briscoe.

Roger Penske a Tough Boss, and Happy with Another Win.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. by Dan Peters

Briscoe’s Team mate Helio Castroneves was in the hunt until late in the race when he made contact with the wall in turn 4.

"We had a great race night until that incident. The Team Penske car was running very strong, but then we had an issue with our front suspension and I ended up in the wall. It's unfortunate because we could've battled for the win there at the end. The good news is that I'm ok and now we just have to move on to Japan. Congratulations to my teammate, Ryan. He ran a fantastic race and he made some good headway in the Championship."

Scott Dixon was again a brides mate here, still looking for a way to win.

"We've all seen this movie several times. Unfortunately at Chicago, we just keep finishing second. The whole night, I think we drove a better race. The guys on the team did a fantastic job. The pit stops were flawless.  We launched out there a few times but we just didn't have the speed. Our mile-and-half dominance that we seemed to have last year on the Target team has just really been affected. We need to play catch up with Penske. They clearly are a lot faster than us. That's all I had. Great job by Ryan (Briscoe)."

Third place finisher Mario Moraes had a career day.

"It's amazing. The team did a great job in the pits. Our mechanics did a great job and we had really great pit stops. The team has been working really hard for this all season and I'm really pleased with a third place finish."

Another great surprise was Graham Rahal… he was right there at the end and mixed it up with the leaders in the closing laps.

"Honestly, when I went up high, I thought we were going to get it (win) finally because the car had so much momentum. The McDonald's car felt good all night, and it's no doubt we will win one soon. I was just trying to get us an opportunity, and we got it.  I pulled out of the draft, went up high and (the momentum) just died.  Unfortunately, we just didn't have enough speed. When you go up that high, the distance your taking there is massive, and unfortunately, we just didn't have enough speed. Before this race was the most nervous I've ever been. I was watching people darn near hitting each other on the back straight last night in the warmup, so I knew it would be a crazy race. It was action-packed from start to finish. The idea was to get up front and just try to stay there.  If we could stay there, we were going to be with guys that know what they're doing.  The McDonald's guys worked hard tonight. I told them we needed good stops, and the second to last stop was what really put us in this position. It was great what we did tonight.

PEAK ANTIFREEZE & MOTOR OIL INDY 300 POST-RACE NOTES:

This is Ryan Briscoe third win of the season and fifth win of his IndyCar Series career. His most recent win was at Kentucky earlier this month.

This is Team Penske's 35^th win in the IndyCar Series - the most of any entrant in IndyCar Series history.

Scott Dixon finished second, his eighth podium finish and his 10^th top-five finish of the season. Dixon has finished second at Chicagoland Speedway five teams, including the last four races (2006-2009).

Mario Moraes finished third, his career-best finish in the IndyCar Series 

The 25 point differential between 1^st and 2^nd place is the fourth closest in IndyCar Series history with two races remaining. Four points separated Dixon and Franchitti in 2007, Hornish led Castroneves by seven in 2006, Castroneves led Dixon by 12 in 2007 and Castroneves led de Ferran by 1 point in 2002 with two races remaining on the schedule.

The 33 point differential between 1^st and 3^rd place is the fourth closest in IndyCar Series history with two races remaining. In 2006 Hornish led 3^rd place Wheldon by 24 points, Castroneves led Kanaan by 14 points in 2003 and Castroneves led Hornish by 8 points in 2002 with two races remaining.

The top three drivers in points are the only drivers still mathematically eligible for the 2009 IndyCar Series championship with two races remaining.

The driver leading the championship point race with two races remaining went on to win the title five times since 2001:

Season    Point leader/two races remainingEventual Champion

2008           Dixon                                                        Dixon

2007           Dixon                                                        Franchitti

2006           Hornish                                                    Hornish

2005           Wheldon                                                 Wheldon

2004           Kanaan                                                     Kanaan

2003           Castroneves                                            Dixon

2002           Castroneves                                            Hornish

2001           Hornish                                                    Hornish

Danica Patrick Having FUN ???
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. by Dan Peters

PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300

JOLIET, Ill. - Results Saturday of the PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 IndyCar Series event at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (1) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

2. (6) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

3. (8) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

4. (3) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

5. (5) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

6. (12) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

7. (9) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

8. (14) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

9. (17) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

10. (15) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

11. (7) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

12. (10) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

13. (4) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running

14. (19) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running

15. (18) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running

16. (16) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running

17. (20) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running

18. (22) Robert Doornbos, Dallara-Honda, 197, Running

19. (23) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Honda, 195, Running

20. (2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 184, Contact

21. (21) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 155, Mechanical

22. (11) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 95, Mechanical

23. (13) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 90, Contact

Race Statistics

 Winner's average speed: 177.826 mph

 Time of race: 1:42:34.3051

 Margin of victory: 0.0077 of a second

 Cautions: 3 caution flags for 23 laps

 Lead changes: 18 among 6 drivers

 Lap leaders: Briscoe 1-46, Dixon 47-55, Briscoe 56-59, Dixon 60, Briscoe 61-74, Castroneves 75-95, Dixon 96-102, Castroneves 103, Dixon 104-106, Castroneves 107, Dixon 108-112, Scheckter 113-116, Kanaan 117-123, Franchitti 124-157, Briscoe 158-160, Dixon 161-195, Briscoe 196-197, Dixon 198, Briscoe 199-200.

Point standings: Briscoe 550, Franchitti 525, Dixon 517, Castroneves 383, Patrick 353, Andretti 342, Kanaan 335, Rahal 331, Wheldon 318, Wilson 316.

It Might Be a Light Race but the Bumper Cars Got Heavy
 in the Turns.
© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. by Dan Peters

Daniel Herrington claimed his first Firestone Indy Lights victory, winning the Chicagoland 100 by 0.0613 of a second over James Davison.

"Finally. We've had a rough couple of races in the middle of the season. At the beginning of the year, Bryan (Herta) told us we would win a race. We didn't think it would be this late in the season before we won a race. It sure is nice to get that win. Said Harrington.

A Team sweep of the top two spots… James Davison finished second.

"I'm definitely happy to finish second to my teammate, Daniel. With this race, if you can work together with somebody, especially your teammate, you can control your result a little more.  Just thinking of the points, it's always better to take what you can get."

A Good Start

BRYAN HERTA "It's unbelievable. It feels great. Actually, it feels just like winning as a driver. I'm so excited about Daniel (Herrington) getting his first win and getting him in victory lane. The way it worked, it was exactly how our program is set up between Vision Racing and BHA (Bryan Herta Autosport), a technical partnership working together.  Out on the track, those guys worked so well together.  James (Davison) helped us out a lot. It's just a great result and a great feeling."

ANDREW PRENDEVILLE Third place finisher "We had a good run and we had a good car. It was pretty chaotic out there. At the beginning of the race, we held back and waited for everyone else to screw up. That happened and we had a really strong car. I'm happy to be on the podium."

J.R Hildebrand finished fifth, clinching the second consecutive Firestone Firehawk Cup Championship for Andretti Green Racing/AFS Racing.

"It was a total mess out. You think starting at the back at this kind of wouldn't be so bad. You'd get a big drafting pack, but when the entire field is three- and four-wide, there's nowhere to go. We worked our way to the field and got to the front. It's just a dream come true. I came into this year with Andretti Green Racing knowing I had every opportunity to make this happen. It feels great to bring it home to the boys and bring everything back together after the last few years. Hopefully, we can take this (championship) and move forward for next year."

© Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc. by Dan Peters

A Good

CHICAGOLAND 100 POST-RACE NOTES

This is Daniel Herrington's first Firestone Indy Lights win.

This is the first win for Bryan Herta Autosport

James Davison finished second, his second runner-up finish and his seventh top-five finish.

Andrew Prendeville finished third, his best finish of the season.

Chicagoland 100

JOLIET, Ill. - Results Saturday of the Chicagoland 100 Firestone Indy Lights event at the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason out (if any) and money earned:

1. (9) Daniel Herrington, 67, Running $30,000

2. (6) James Davison, 67, Running $22,500

3. (14) Andrew Prendeville, 67, Running $19,000

4. (3) Wade Cunningham, 67, Running $16,000

5. (13) J.R. Hildebrand, 67, Running $15,000

6. (2) Sebastian Saavedra, 67, Running $14,500

7. (11) Charlie Kimball, 67, Running $14,000

8. (8) Martin Plowman, 67, Running $13,500

9. (5) Pippa Mann, 64, Running $13,000

10. (16) Rodrigo Barbosa, 61, Running $12,500

11. (12) Richard Philippe, 34, Mechanical $14,500

12. (7) James Hinchcliffe, 32, Contact $11,500

13. (4) Mike Potekhen, 31, Contact $11,000

14. (15) Ana Beatriz, 31, Contact $12,000

15. (1) Brandon Wagner, 20, Handling $12,000

16. (10) Mario Romancini, 12, Mechanical $7,500

 Race Statistics

Winner's average speed: 138.490 mph

Time of race: 44:07.3016

Margin of victory: 0.0613 of a second

Cautions: 2 caution flags for 14 laps

Lead changes: 5 among 4 drivers

Lap leaders: Cunningham 1-16, Davison 17, Cunningham 18-23, Potekhen 24, Cunningham 25-41, Herrington 42-67.

Point standings: Hildebrand 503, Davison 416, Saavedra 411, Cunningham 388, Hinchcliffe 379, Herrington 365, Romancini 342, Beatriz 320, Prendeville 293, Kimball 293.

Gomez Deal Near?

Logan Gomez, who set a Guinness World Record for closest finish of an automobile race when he won the Chicagoland 100 in 2007, is working with Brandon Wagner this weekend. Gomez, who lives in nearby Crown Point, Ind., has tested and worked on setup for Davey Hamilton/Kingdom Racing this season and is trying to put together a deal to race at the season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"I'm talking to a couple of teams, and I'm hopeful I can get something put together for Miami."

INDYCAR Race Notes……

ELFF Racing has enlisted the help of Paul Diatlovich's PDM Racing crew this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway for the No. 55 car of Rodrigo Barbosa. PDM Racing scored wins for Winner Circle Group at the St. Petersburg doubleheader earlier this season and has not competed since Indianapolis in May.

Richard Philippe's car is carrying a decal with get well wishes for his older brother Nelson Philippe and Will Power.  Both IndyCar Series drivers are at home recuperating from their injuries suffered last weekend at Infineon Raceway.

Luczo Dragon Racing co-owner Steve Luczo, who presented driver Raphael Matos with a cake to celebrate his 28th birthday on Aug. 28, gave the driver his birthday gift earlier today. Luczo gave Matos an autographed U.S. Postal Team cycling jersey signed by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, who is one of Matos' heroes.

Penske Racing driver Will Power was released from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa, Calif. on Thursday afternoon. Power flew back to Indianapolis, where he is resting at his home.

Power will undergo further examination by IndyCar Series orthopedic specialist, Dr. Terry Trammell, on Monday to determine the next course of treatment and recovery.

 Power suffered a concussion and compression fractures of his second and fourth lumbar vertebrae during a practice incident at Infineon Raceway last Saturday.

 "It feels great to be home," said Power. "I'm looking forward to seeing Dr. Trammell next week and continuing my recovery. I'm feeling better and stronger every day and I really have to say thanks for all the good wishes and support over the last week. We've heard from so many people in the IndyCar community and the fans have been great - they really helped keep my spirits up. I especially want to thank Roger Penske, Tim Cindric and the Penske Racing team for all they've done. It means so much to be part of this team and I wish I could be with them in Chicago this weekend."

Next Up….

The 2009 IndyCar Series season continues Sept. 19 with the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 10:30 p.m. (EDT) Sept. 18 by VERSUS. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com.  The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season continues with the Homestead-Miami 100 on Oct. 9 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race will be telecast by Live by VERSUS at 6 p.m. (EDT). VERSUS' coverage of the Chicagoland 100 will be telecast at 6 p.m. (EDT) on Aug. 31.

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