(from autosport) Ryan Briscoe fended off championship leader Scott Dixon to score his first IndyCar Series race win at the Milwaukee Mile. Penske driver Briscoe worked his way into contention in the second half of the race after falling as low as 14th early on. With 70 laps to go, Briscoe was up to third place, then overtook teammate Helio Castroneves and then Dixon in quick succession to hit the front on lap 176. After briefly losing ground to Briscoe, Dixon closed right back in and put the Penske driver under enormous pressure through the traffic in the closing laps, briefly drawing alongside on the outside on lap 220 of 225. But when a full course yellow came out with three laps to go following a dramatic multi-car incident, Briscoe was able to clinch his maiden win and put last week's controversial Indianapolis pit lane crash with Danica Patrick behind him. The victory was the 300th in the history of Roger Penske's race team. "It's been 30 years since Roger's first IndyCar win," Briscoe said. "I can't tell you how important it is to me to get my first IndyCar victory for him in this race." Andretti Green's Tony Kanaan passed Dixon's teammate Dan Wheldon for third in the final laps, with Castroneves completing the top five. The late yellow was prompted when Marco Andretti's car slid up the track in Turn 1 and clipped Ed Carpenter's car, which spun and hit the wall. As Briscoe and Dixon narrowly avoided the crash, Vitor Meira struck Andretti's Dallara and became airborne. All three drivers escaped injury, while Briscoe braked suddenly and missed the wreck, then idled around the track to win under caution. Andretti had led the first 38 laps of the race from pole, before his AGR car's handling faded and he tumbled down the order. The only other major incident prior to the late crash was Graham Rahal's impact with the wall on lap 130. Newman/Haas/Lanigan's rookie had been running a strong third before understeering into the barriers in traffic. Oriol Servia charged back through the field to take sixth for KV Racing despite having to pit for a new front wing on lap one, with fellow 'transition' drivers Justin Wilson (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) and EJ Viso (HVM) also putting in strong runs to seventh and eighth. Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice completed the top ten. Full report to follow Pos Driver Team Time 1. Ryan Briscoe Penske 225 laps 2. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 0.0487 3. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green + 1.8413 4. Dan Wheldon Ganassi + 2.9314 5. Helio Castroneves Penske + 4.6704 6. Oriol Servia KV + 14.2217 7. Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 1 lap 8. EJ Viso HVM + 1 lap 9. Danica Patrick Andretti Green + 1 lap 10. Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold + 1 lap 11. Townsend Bell Dreyer & Reinbold + 1 lap 12. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green + 1 lap 13. Darren Manning Foyt + 2 laps 14. Will Power KV + 2 laps 15. Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman + 2 laps 16. Enrique Bernoldi Conquest + 3 laps 17. AJ Foyt IV Vision + 3 laps 18. Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne + 3 laps 19. John Andretti Roth + 3 laps 20. Ed Carpenter Vision + 4 laps 21. Marco Andretti Andretti Green + 4 laps 22. Vitor Meira Panther + 5 laps 23. Mario Moraes Dale Coyne + 7 laps 24. Jaime Camara Conquest + 7 laps 25. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 96 laps 26. Mario Dominguez Pacific Coast +118 laps
Young Andretti and Rahal have the advantage to tear equipment up that some others may not benifit from. Since they were front row, I say they are learning. Something about this Viso guy. Caught the ovals very quickly. I wish I would have taken more pics of him. I say he will be back. Image Unavailable, Please Login
+1 The problem I have with Marco is he seems to continue making Rookie mistakes...except he's not a rookie. However, even though he is young, he's shown he can be very fast and run up front with the big boys. I think he'll continue to improve. Rahal's both young and a rookie so it's hard for me to have a solid opinion on him. His driving has shown he has the potential to be very competitive, (even though he's crashed out of the last couple of races). My only concern with him is his attitude. Did you catch his interview explaining his accident? Maybe it was just me but it sure seemed like he was blaming everyone but himself. If I remember correctly he even was blaming the race stewards?? Very "Alonso-esque" if you know what I mean. Hopefully I just misunderstood his attitude. I'm looking forward to him doing well. I sure was a big fan of his Dad. Nice pic of EJ by the way.
It's good to see Townsend Bell doing well, I really enjoyed his F1 commentary for Speed when Hobbs was out.
Yes. He had caught him and Brisco was nervous. Bobbled a few times. Yikes, he's in my mirrors. Dixon was stalking. Just didn't want to pass him too soon.
Anyone else worry about his "maturity" level? I beleive he has what it takes, but someone needs to channel that skill. He takes too big-of-risks, puts others in danger. All me...me...me...me and if something goes wrong, then its them...them...them... Yes, I understand racing is an aggressive sport, but slow down to go fast, right? If you can't cross the finish, you can't win. I REALLY want to be an Andretti fan, but sometimes I feel I'm not getting the complete package with Marco. I'll keep cheering for him, but I'm ready to see a more mature, consistent driver that puts all the skills together every race. +1 Now how cool was it to have an Andretti and Rahal on front row again? Bobby is doing everything he can to help Graham and the son seems intelligent enough to grab it all and apply it. I'm not picking up on the attitude you mentioned, but has me wanting to go back and rewatch the race interview now to see if I pick up on anything. I still have it, although missed the first 4 laps. At Indy, he was very friendly to the fans. I like that. He was on one sice of gasoline alley signing and his dad was on the other signing. Pretty cool sight.
For Marco to fulfill his potential he needs to leave his father's team. The safety net and comfort zone is too big and cushy--it's similar to American Racing vs. European Racing in a microcosm. They provide him with top machinery, but deep down inside his being he knows he's the bosses kid, and whether he's aware of that fact or not, it affects his growth.
Ding...Ding...Ding...We have a winner! Odds of it happening are slim to none. Look at what happened at Indy between Marco and TK. No repercussions against Marco for being careless. I know AJ4 is not his grandpa, but he does seem to be doing "better" since he got away from AJ. I think you are on to something here with Marco...kick him out the door and let him fend for himself for awhile.
Wasn't Michael famous for using the endplates of his front wings to carve up the tires of the cars in front of him? At least Marco isn't doing THAT, but he DOES seem to have the attitude that people should move aside for him, even if they are racing for position.
Good point, but who would willing take Marco? I certainly can't see Penske or Ganassi doing it, and NHL won't because of Graham, and RLR won't because of Graham again, so is he supposed to bring money to somewhere like D&R and flounder at the back? Another problem, is that he's in his 3rd year already, so moving to a lesser team will only hurt him at this point. This should have occurred in his rookie year.
You can hear him on the scanners with his spotters telling them the driver in front needs to get out of his way (Let me pass) or they have to help him with a tow. That's silly. Its a RACE Marco, not a parade for your benefit. Help you? Like you helped TK? Safer to stay away from you.
This was the only race I have been to at the Mile where I walked away thinking it was a great race. Briscoe vs. Dixon was very tight and would have been interesting had it stayed green. The track was big (for Milwaukee standards), the racing tight and not many yellows, definitely got my money's worth!
Agreed! Very cool! As I said before, I could have misunderstood Graham's attitude in his interview. I bet that was a nice site to see.
