IRL TEXAS RACE RESULTS **SPOILER**

Scott Dixon passed Marco Andretti for the lead with six laps remaining, then idled to victory under caution after Andretti crashed with Ryan Hunter-Reay with five laps remaining in the Bombardier Learjet 550k.

The victory was Dixon's third of the season and sixth podium finish in seven races this season, increasing his IndyCar Series lead over runner-up Helio Castroneves to 35 points.

Dixon trailed Andretti on a restart with nine laps remaining in the 228-lap race but passed him for the lead with six laps left.

A lap later, as Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay battled for second, their cars crashed hard and hit the wall. Hunter-Reay was OK, but Andretti sustained minor injuries to his right foot. X-rays were negative, but Andretti was limping noticeably after the race.

Following Dixon and Castroneves to the finish line was Ryan Briscoe, who lost a lap earlier in the race when he missed his pit box and was penalized, and Dixon's teammate, Dan Wheldon, who finished fourth despite an ankle injury to his right foot sustained Friday during practice.

The win was anticlimactic proof that Dixon and his Target Chip Ganassi Racing team are the class of the series so far this year. He has led 633 of 1,327 laps in the first seven races, and, with Wheldon‘s win at Kansas, Ganassi's team has won four of the first seven races of 2008.

"We're riding a wave at the moment," Dixon said. "We're just trying to keep it going. From the middle part of last year until now, we've won a serious amount of races.

"Over the winter, these guys spent a lot of time making these cars super fast. You've got to put this down to the many people back at the shop who have worked on these cars non-stop."

But the guy behind the wheel deserves a fair share of the credit, too. Dixon was flawless again Saturday, keeping the No. 9 Ganassi Honda/Dallara in or near the lead for most of the race, leading 58 laps and making the move when he needed it most.

"At the end, he left it wide open," Dixon said of Andretti's move up the track that gave Dixon space to move underneath. "I don't know what he was doing. Marco's car was good on the high line, so maybe he couldn't sit on the bottom. If it was me, I wouldn't have given up that much room.

Tony Kanaan finished fifth, Hideki Mutoh was sixth, and Vitor Meira, who led a stint until he was forced to pit with 21 laps remaining, finished seventh. Buddy Rice, Ed Carpenter and Danica Patrick rounded out the top 10.

The key moment of the race forced a second consecutive race to end under caution and left one driver hobbling and another fuming. After Dixon passed Andretti for the lead, Ryan Hunter-Reay began to pressure Andretti for position.

As Hunter-Reay moved inside Andretti in the entry to Turn 3 with five laps remaining, Hunter-Reay was forced down onto the apron and lost control, sending both cars into the wall.

"He came down on me," Hunter-Reay said. "I went low to try to avoid him and got down on the white line. That upset both cars and took us out. ... This was going to be our breakout night and we didn't get it.

"I can't tell you how disappointed I am. We did what we had to do out there tonight, and it was going to be our night. Unbelievable."

Andretti was seen favouring his right foot as he walked. It was the second time in six days that an IndyCar race ended under caution because of a crash involving Andretti.

At Milwaukee on Sunday, Andretti apologized after his car slid into Ed Carpenter's and caused a three-car crash that led to Briscoe winning under caution. This time, Andretti wasn't apologizing.

"There are some guys you can run close with and some guys you can't," Andretti said. "He clearly hit the white line, and that is that. We ran well today, but to me, that doesn't matter. We need to bring home results. It's very disappointing."

The crash was a break for Castroneves, who moved up two positions and saved some ground in his championship battle with Dixon and rescuing himself from an early pit speed penalty.

"We had a great car, a winning car," Castroneves said. "I'm upset because I feel like we had a great chance, but that's just the moment right now. Second place is a great finish. It's great points, and that's what we need to focus on."

Briscoe also kept pace in the championship, holding fifth place with a podium finish that, a few laps before, wouldn't have been expected. Briscoe missed his pit box on his first stop, pulling into Dan Wheldon's stall instead.

The ensuing drive-through penalty under green dropped the No. 6 Team Penske Honda/Dallara a lap behind the leaders, but Briscoe and his team battled back with the help of a wave-around.

"It was tough, let me tell you, but it was also fun coming through the field," Briscoe said. "It's always a little frustrating to get yourself into those situations. We really shouldn't have had to been in that situation to have to go to the back and then work your way back up.

"We might have had a car that could have won. It definitely wasn't a picture-perfect race."

Meira also was strong through the prime-time laps of the race, holding the No. 4 Panther Racing Honda/Dallara steadily in the lead from the 169th lap to the 207th after he stayed on track while the leaders pitted. Eventually, he was forced to surrender the lead with 21 laps remaining, only to watch the caution flag fly six laps later.

"Everybody saw how good we were once we got to the front," Meira said. "I was pulling away. This is another good race for us and another step forward. The confidence level at Panther is really, really high right now."

The race tied the Texas record for cautions in an IndyCar race - eight for 52 laps. The yellow-flag ending also renewed the debate about the series going to green-white checkered restarts to prevent races from ending under caution.

"I saw some of the fans walking out before the checkered fell," said Ganassi, an advocate of a green-white-checkered rule. "It's just disappointing. They come to see a show and they deserve to see a good finish.

"They deserve to see an exciting finish. I understand the differences between IndyCars and NASCAR and why some people think you can't do it here, but I think we need to sit down and figure out a way to do it so it's fair for everybody."

The series takes a week off before resuming June 22 at Iowa Speedway, kicking off a stretch of six races over six consecutive weekends.

Pos Driver Team Laps
1. Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi 228
2. Helio Castroneves Penske 228
3. Ryan Briscoe Penske 228
4. Dan Wheldon Chip Ganassi 228
5. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green 228
6. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 228
7. Vitor Meira Panther 227
8. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold 227
9. Ed Carpenter Vision 227
10. Danica Patrick Andretti Green 227
11. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan 227
12. AJ Foyt IV Vision 226
13. Will Power KV 226
14. EJ Viso HVM 226
15. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne 226
16. John Andretti Roth 226
17. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold 226
18. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne 223
19. Marco Andretti Andretti Green 222
20. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman 222
21. Mario Dominguez PCM 222
22. Marty Roth Roth 221
23. Enrique Bernoldi Conquest 210
24. Jaime Camara Conquest 210
25. Tomas Scheckter Luczo Dragon 56
26. Oriol Servia KV 47
27. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan 39
28. Darren Manning Foyt 19

 

So in other words, Danica yet again finishes behind her rookie Japanese pay-driver teammate and, but for Marco's late crash, would have finished fourth out of four AGR drivers...again.

 

I forgot that every IRL thread is required to devolve into a critique of Danica Patrick's abilities and worthiness of driving in the IRL with...MEN!

Well, here's something she hasn't done the last two races, and that is crash out. I was glad to see this race being run on Saturday evening, since I was stuck at home and nothing else was on. Pretty entertaining. Seeing that Marco was running high on the track a lot, I place a fair amount of blame on him for the late-race incident with RHR. He came down on Reay to block and forced him onto the track transition. I don't think Marco is catching enough heat for his driving--if his name wasn't Andretti he'd really be under the magnifying glass. Two races in a row where he was directly involved in contact, and the Indy 500 where he cut off his teammate Kanaan, leading to Tony's crashing out. The Danica-hating thing is old and tired, and she's outdriving a lot of other drivers. So if you're really about calling out drivers who deserve to be critiqued, then please pick out some drivers who actually deserve your wrath. Otherwise, keep the negative comments in your own "Danica Sucks" thread and let anyone wishing to actually discuss an IRL race to do so.

 

Marco is about to get blacklisted by the other drivers. He can't keep driving irresponsibly. I had a lot of respect for him when I saw him dominate at Indy a few years ago in a feeder series (Indy Lights/ Toyota Atlantic?) But his recklessness is getting old. IRL doesn't need an intimidator.

 

I agree with Gilles that Marco is enjoying the benefit of his last name. I personally think he was brought to IRL too early.

However my criticism of Danica is still spot-on

 

Still don't like Manica at all but I must say that she is driving better than Marco. Must be nice to not ever have to worry about losing your ride.

 

it's getting old seeing Marco either causing these accidents, or being apart of them. Interesting how he said in the interview "there are some guys you can't run next to" Well guess what Marco, you're one of them!

 

Senna3xWC- How come you don't rip on Briscoe, here's a GUY in THE top team who is sucking and not taking blame for his stupidity.
He has only 1 win, like Danica, which was won under yellow. I think he deserves your wrath. And don't forget to carry on with the Massa bashing.
(Look, I brought up Massa in an IRL thread, he he he)

 

Rumor has it that Briscoe's seat at Penske is under threat. I don't know if he will be back next year.

 

There have been rumors that Kanaan will join Penske, for some time now. I can see TK getting tired of baby sitting his less than talented teammates.

 

Yet somehow she manages to be 6th in the points, ahead of 22 others including those teammates you mentioned in Mutoh and Andretti. Of the 5 drivers she is behind, only one of which is her teammate in Kanaan.

The guy who's rumored to be tipped for that Penske ride.

 

Ain't THAT the truth !

And Marco is beginning to look a lot like Tomas Schekter - crashes more than he finishes.

 

Three guys that crash more than they finish (or so it seems): Marco, Schekter and this Briscoe guy.

The only guy in all of racing that has crashed more than these guys is Andrea DeCesaris...

 

Penske's probably gonna be Kanaan and Castroneves next year, would be good to see, both fairly quick drivers who almost always finish.

 

I thought the exact same thing.

 

+1 Well done post and says about all that needs to be said.

 

I hadn't heard this one yet, but it would make me a VERY HAPPY fan of TK. I finally got around to watching the race last night. At one point, TK told his spotter that if Marco wants to make it 3 wide on a restart again, "he's going to the wall."

As others state, I think TK has had his fill of baby sitting an immature, overly aggressive, daddy's boy. If Marco wasn't the bosses son, he'd be waist deep in trouble for all the carnage he keeps leaving on the track. Sure seems to be an annual theme with him tearing up cars, having multiple DNF's and it somehow always manages to be someone else's fault, and never his.

Marco, time to seriously look in a mirror. YOU are the hazard out there. Grow up before you kill someone.

 

RHR ran a hell of a race, to me he stole the show , until the idiot Marco cut him off. Marco should have the same fate as Hamilton ,the othere idiot who hit Kimi . RHR caught my attention when he finish 6th at INDY 500 have to keep my eye open for him I think he is going to be a good driver.