Iowa Corn Indy 250
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Iowa Corn Indy 250
Newton, Iowa - Jun 21 — Race Report Circuit:Iowa Speedway (0.89-mile oval) Newton IA
2008 Winner: Dan Wheldon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) 139.007 mph average
Weather: Partly cloudy, warm, humid, 86 degrees F
Race Results:
Fn. St. Driver Team Chassis Laps Average Speed/Notes 1 4 Dario Franchitti Target Chip Ganassi Honda Dallara 250 134.371 mph average, led 68 laps 2 2 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske Honda Dallara 250 -5.6132 seconds, led 85 laps 3 11 Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara 250 -10.9769 seconds 4 6 Dan Wheldon Panther Racing Honda Dallara 250 -17.5807 seconds, led 1 lap 5 3 Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Honda Dallara 249 Running, led 8 laps 6 16 Tomas Scheckter Dreyer & Reinbold Honda Dallara 249 Running 7 1 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Honda Dallara 249 Running, led 16 laps 8 19 Mike Conway-R Dreyer & Reinbold Honda Dallara 249 Running 9 5 Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara 249 Running, led 24 laps 10 13 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Honda Dallara 248 Running 11 9 Graham Rahal Newman Haas Lanigan Honda Dallara 245 Running 12 8 Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara 244 Running 13 20 Jaques Lazier Curb/Agajanian/3G Honda Dallara 237 Running 14 7 Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara 108 Did not finish -crash, led 48 laps 15 14 Robert Doornbos-R Newman Haas Lanigan Honda Dallara 58 Did not finish -contact 16 12 Raphael Matos-R Luczo Dragon Racing Honda Dallara 53 Did not finish -crash 17 15 Mario Moraes KV Racing Technology Honda Dallara 52 Did not finish -crash 18 10 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Honda Dallara 33 Did not finish -crash 19 17 Ryan Hunter-Reay A.J. Foyt Racing Honda Dallara 2 Did not finish -contact 20 18 E.J. Viso HVM Racing Honda Dallara 0 Did not finish -crash
After taking a year?s sabbatical in stock-car racing, Dario Franchitti returned to Iowa Speedway in triumph at Sunday?s Iowa Corn Indy 250, repeating his win from 2007 in today?s 250-lap contest and closing to within three points of IndyCar Series championship leader, and second-place finisher, Ryan Briscoe.
As in 2007, Franchitti contented himself with running near the front for the first two-thirds of the race, then asserted himself following the last run of pit stops, carving through traffic to distance himself from Briscoe and establish a comfortable -- by IndyCar standards -- five-second margin of victory.
The win was the 20th for Franchitti in North American open-wheel racing, 10 each in IndyCar and CART competition, and all with Honda power. He continues to be Honda?s most successful driver in Indy-style racing, with Alex Zanardi next on the Honda all-time list with 15 victories.
The 20 drivers in this weekend?s field ran a total of 5,044 miles in practice, qualifying and racing this weekend without a single engine-related failure for the Honda HI9R Indy V-8.
For Briscoe, it was his third consecutive second-place finish of the season which, coupled with his win at the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, keeps him at the top of the drivers? championship point standings after seven races.
Hideki Mutoh led the Andretti Green Racing team today with a third-place finish, following a second-place run here last year in his rookie IndyCar season. Like Franchitti, Mutoh?s Honda Dallara was particularly strong on restarts and he picked up several positions in this fashion in his march up to third from his 11th-place starting position.
Much of the excitement in the early laps came from veteran Tomas Scheckter, making his second start of the season for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Using a high line to great effect after starting 16th, Scheckter passed six cars in the opening lap and eventually ran as high as second place until handling issues and a slow pit stop in the closing laps dropped him to a sixth-place finish.
Today?s race in Iowa started a stretch of four consecutive racing weekends for IndyCar drivers and teams. Next week, the series wraps up the ?short track? portion of the 2009 season with its second Saturday night race of the year, the June 27 SunTrust Indy Challenge at Virginia?s Richmond International Raceway.
Ryan Briscoe (#6 Team Penske Honda) Started 2nd, finished 2nd, his third consecutive 2nd place IndyCar Series result: ?It was an exciting day. The car was a bit of a handful at the start, but once we made some changes at the first pit stop it was really good the rest of the race. Dario [Franchitti] was perhaps a bit stronger on cold tires, I didn?t have as much for him early in a stint, and he was very quick in traffic. That probably was the difference. My guys did a great job in the pits, but I probably left a bit on the table coming in on that last stop. But we?ll take a second place [result] and the points for most laps led and head off to [the next race at] Richmond.?
Hideki Mutoh (#27 Andretti Green Racing Honda) started 11th, finished 3rd, his best result of 2009 and second consecutive podium finish in Iowa: ?Iowa Speedway has been very good to me! We finished second here last year and now I get my first podium finish of the season here today. I was able to stay out of trouble and keep gaining track position during the race. My car was very good, especially on restarts, where I was able to make several passes on the track. My guys did a fantastic job in the pits and that got us a few more positions. It was a very good day for us.?
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2008 Winner: Dan Wheldon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) 139.007 mph average
Weather: Partly cloudy, warm, humid, 86 degrees F
Race Results:
Fn. St. Driver Team Chassis Laps Average Speed/Notes 1 4 Dario Franchitti Target Chip Ganassi Honda Dallara 250 134.371 mph average, led 68 laps 2 2 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske Honda Dallara 250 -5.6132 seconds, led 85 laps 3 11 Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara 250 -10.9769 seconds 4 6 Dan Wheldon Panther Racing Honda Dallara 250 -17.5807 seconds, led 1 lap 5 3 Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Honda Dallara 249 Running, led 8 laps 6 16 Tomas Scheckter Dreyer & Reinbold Honda Dallara 249 Running 7 1 Helio Castroneves Team Penske Honda Dallara 249 Running, led 16 laps 8 19 Mike Conway-R Dreyer & Reinbold Honda Dallara 249 Running 9 5 Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara 249 Running, led 24 laps 10 13 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing Honda Dallara 248 Running 11 9 Graham Rahal Newman Haas Lanigan Honda Dallara 245 Running 12 8 Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara 244 Running 13 20 Jaques Lazier Curb/Agajanian/3G Honda Dallara 237 Running 14 7 Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing Honda Dallara 108 Did not finish -crash, led 48 laps 15 14 Robert Doornbos-R Newman Haas Lanigan Honda Dallara 58 Did not finish -contact 16 12 Raphael Matos-R Luczo Dragon Racing Honda Dallara 53 Did not finish -crash 17 15 Mario Moraes KV Racing Technology Honda Dallara 52 Did not finish -crash 18 10 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Honda Dallara 33 Did not finish -crash 19 17 Ryan Hunter-Reay A.J. Foyt Racing Honda Dallara 2 Did not finish -contact 20 18 E.J. Viso HVM Racing Honda Dallara 0 Did not finish -crash
R - IndyCar Series Rookie
Dario Undefeated In Iowa
After taking a year?s sabbatical in stock-car racing, Dario Franchitti returned to Iowa Speedway in triumph at Sunday?s Iowa Corn Indy 250, repeating his win from 2007 in today?s 250-lap contest and closing to within three points of IndyCar Series championship leader, and second-place finisher, Ryan Briscoe.
As in 2007, Franchitti contented himself with running near the front for the first two-thirds of the race, then asserted himself following the last run of pit stops, carving through traffic to distance himself from Briscoe and establish a comfortable -- by IndyCar standards -- five-second margin of victory.
The win was the 20th for Franchitti in North American open-wheel racing, 10 each in IndyCar and CART competition, and all with Honda power. He continues to be Honda?s most successful driver in Indy-style racing, with Alex Zanardi next on the Honda all-time list with 15 victories.
The 20 drivers in this weekend?s field ran a total of 5,044 miles in practice, qualifying and racing this weekend without a single engine-related failure for the Honda HI9R Indy V-8.
For Briscoe, it was his third consecutive second-place finish of the season which, coupled with his win at the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, keeps him at the top of the drivers? championship point standings after seven races.
Hideki Mutoh led the Andretti Green Racing team today with a third-place finish, following a second-place run here last year in his rookie IndyCar season. Like Franchitti, Mutoh?s Honda Dallara was particularly strong on restarts and he picked up several positions in this fashion in his march up to third from his 11th-place starting position.
Much of the excitement in the early laps came from veteran Tomas Scheckter, making his second start of the season for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Using a high line to great effect after starting 16th, Scheckter passed six cars in the opening lap and eventually ran as high as second place until handling issues and a slow pit stop in the closing laps dropped him to a sixth-place finish.
Today?s race in Iowa started a stretch of four consecutive racing weekends for IndyCar drivers and teams. Next week, the series wraps up the ?short track? portion of the 2009 season with its second Saturday night race of the year, the June 27 SunTrust Indy Challenge at Virginia?s Richmond International Raceway.
IndyCar Series Standings (after 7 of 17 races):
1 Ryan Briscoe 241 points (1 win) 7 Tony Kanaan 162 2 Dario Franchitti 238 (2 wins) 8 Marco Andretti 159 3 Scott Dixon 226 (2 wins) 9 Graham Rahal 145 4 Helio Castroneves 212 (2 wins) 10 Hideki Mutoh 142 5 Danica Patrick 189 11 Ryan Hunter-Reay 128 6 Dan Wheldon 184 12 Ed Carpenter 126 Dario Franchitti (#10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) Started 4th, finished 1st, 2nd win of 2009, record-extending 20th career Honda-powered open-wheel victory in CART and IndyCar Series competition: ?It?s all a bit of a blur at the moment. This was a very, very physical race with the speeds we run here and the humidity today. Our pit stops were awsome, and really helped us with track position today. We also worked hard on a certain part of the setup. One of the tricks we learned here [winning in] 2007 was how to keep your car fast here throughout a run, especially early on cold tires. We also made a few small changes on our final pit stop that really helped us get through lapped traffic in the final stint and that really helped over the final 50 laps. My dad?s [George Franchitti] not here today -- and he doesn?t miss too many races -- so I just want to say ?Happy Father?s Day?. This is for him. I wouldn?t be here without my dad?s support.?Ryan Briscoe (#6 Team Penske Honda) Started 2nd, finished 2nd, his third consecutive 2nd place IndyCar Series result: ?It was an exciting day. The car was a bit of a handful at the start, but once we made some changes at the first pit stop it was really good the rest of the race. Dario [Franchitti] was perhaps a bit stronger on cold tires, I didn?t have as much for him early in a stint, and he was very quick in traffic. That probably was the difference. My guys did a great job in the pits, but I probably left a bit on the table coming in on that last stop. But we?ll take a second place [result] and the points for most laps led and head off to [the next race at] Richmond.?
Hideki Mutoh (#27 Andretti Green Racing Honda) started 11th, finished 3rd, his best result of 2009 and second consecutive podium finish in Iowa: ?Iowa Speedway has been very good to me! We finished second here last year and now I get my first podium finish of the season here today. I was able to stay out of trouble and keep gaining track position during the race. My car was very good, especially on restarts, where I was able to make several passes on the track. My guys did a fantastic job in the pits and that got us a few more positions. It was a very good day for us.?
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