Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon was in second position on Sunday and eyeing Darren Manning for the lead with 10 laps to go when the Kiwi spun warming up his tires and collected Ryan Briscoe. That ended Dixon's hopes of extending his streak of three straight wins at Watkins Glen. However, by finishing with an 11th place result, Dixon extended his IndyCar Series championship lead from 43 to 48 over Helio Castroneves.
Castroneves started a career-low 26th in the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen because of a steering malfunction that prevented him from completing a qualification lap in the No. 3 Team Penske car. His weekend didn't improve much. The championship contender came home 16th.
Dan Wheldon was sideswiped on the opening lap, forced into the grass and then onto pit lane with right rear suspension damage. The No.10 team worked to get Wheldon’s car back on track to pick up as many points as possible before finishing 24th. Wheldon is now 59 points back in third.
Up next is Nashville Superspeedway Saturday, July 12th (8:00 p.m. EDT, ESPN) where Dixon is the defending winner of the event.
Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s (TCGR) Scott Dixon started from pole, led 58 of 228 laps and claimed his third win of the season at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night. The race ended under caution after Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact while battling behind Dixon for second place with five laps remaining. Dixon was a contender from the drop of the green flag in the No.9 Target car, running in the top-three for the majority of the event. Flawless pit work again was the theme for the Target team as Dixon was able to stay out front and survive eight caution periods for 52 laps. The turning point of the race came when he passed Andretti on lap 222 – just before Andretti and Hunter-Reay tangled and brought the race to its conclusion under the yellow flag.
Results from Texas
1. Scott Dixon, No.9 Target Honda Dallara 2. Helio Castroneves, No.3 Honda Dallara 3. Ryan Briscoe, No.6 Honda Dallara 4. Dan Wheldon, No.10 Target Honda Dallara
Terry Blount of ESPN thinks...the IndyCar Series needs to take a hint from NASCAR on this one and think about a green-white-checkered overtime finish.
"I was thinking about that," said Helio Castroneves, who finished second. "I definitely had the car to make something happen. But we can't compare ourselves to what NASCAR does. It would be a mess."
If ever a driver was due for luck, it was Ryan Briscoe. Over the last two weeks, he hasn't hesitated cashing in. After an early season of bad breaks, culminating at the Indianapolis 500 with his now infamous contact with Danica Patrick while exiting the pits (which knocked them both out of the race), Briscoe was in desperate need of something positive to happen. His racing fate changed June 1 at The Milwaukee Mile when he won his first-ever IndyCar Series race. Briscoe finishes third in Fort Worth.
Dixon's teammate Dan Wheldon rebounded from a practice accident in the No.10 Polaroid car, made up seven positions on a sore ankle and finished fourth. Wheldon’s weekend started with a practice crash on Friday which sent him into the turn four wall and eliminated the No.10 team’s primary car. The team rallied to prepare the backup car for qualifying and Wheldon came from the infield care center to qualify the car 11th. Wheldon had moved up to fourth by just lap 11 but had to restart near the rear of the field after Briscoe stopped in his pit stall under yellow. Briscoe would serve a penalty for the incident and Wheldon managed to rebound up through the field to finish fourth.
As the 2008 season wears on, Mike Wallace and the GEICO Racing team just keep getting better. Sitting in the middle of a series of good runs over the last few weeks, the GEICO team looked to improve upon past finishes and chase their first win of the season as they descended upon Nashville Superspeedway. A steamy, hot Tennessee afternoon was the setting for the Federated Auto Parts 300. As temperatures hovered around the 100-degree mark and the afternoon sun beat down on pit road, Mike Wallace and the GEICO Racing team prepared to get busy with recording yet another top finish. Early in the race Wallace and the Gecko arrived in the Top 5 where they rested before finding themselves in the lead.
The GEICO pit crew would provide superior support during pit stops and assist in keeping the #7 GEICO Camry up front. Wallace recorded his best finish in two years, winding up 6th in Music City. The finish was his 5th Top 10 of the 2008 season.
“We had a great weekend and the results show the progress that we’re making as a race team,” Wallace said. “Everyone’s real positive and we’re all working hard and it’s showing each week. 4th and 5th in practice, qualified 9th and finished 6th. It’s a nice weekend for GEICO, Sport Clips and Smith Transport. It’s also a nice weekend for the Germain Racing team because we’re all seeing the hard work payoff. Bruce Cook (crew chief) and the guys are doing a great job and I feel confident that we’ll be back up front in Kentucky next week.”
This week, the Germain Racing team heads to Sparta, Kentucky, which is located just south of Cincinnati, Ohio. Mike Wallace and the GEICO team are coming off of two consecutive Top 10’s and they hope to add a win to their resume when they arrive in the Bluegrass State.
The Meijer 300 is on Saturday, June 14th, and it will be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 8:00 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
Concord, NC (June 4, 2008) – As the first half of the NASCAR season begins to wind down, Mike Wallace and the GEICO Racing team find themselves in a good place. The driver is sitting 9th in the point standings and is coming off a string of good runs, which most recently included his 8th place finish at Dover last weekend.
Sure, it would be easy to point out that Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry finished 25th at Darlington and 22nd at Charlotte, however it would not be indicative of his actual performance. In Darlington, he was sitting in position to record a Top 5 finish before a melee under a green, white, checker finish found the GEICO Camry more resembling a pinball than a race car. Charlotte would be more of the same story. While the finishes were less than desirable, Wallace ran both of those races solidly around the Top 10, even in the Top 5 at Darlington, before disappointment set in on the final laps.
“We’ve worked really hard to run well every week and put ourselves in position to win races, and I feel as though we’ve been successful at that,” Wallace said from his North Carolina home. “This Germain Racing team has worked really hard week in and week out to prepare the #7 GEICO Camry and I think you can see that it’s really paying off. We’re showing what the driver and team can do and we will continue to do it until we’re all standing in Victory Lane.”
Next up for the Gecko? Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday Night. 7:00 p.m. Eastern, on ESPN2.
Heading into Richmond sitting 9th in points, Mike Wallace was looking to make up ground on the Top 5 with a good finish on Friday night. On Lap 171, Wallace would approach the Top 10 and run in the 11th position before recording a 13th place finish under the lights at Richmond International Raceway. The 13th place finish would help Wallace remain in the 9th position in the point standings, but stretch his lead to 120 points over David Stremme in the 10th position.
“It was a good points night for us, but we were hoping to get a win for GEICO in their backyard,” Wallace said. “We’ll head to Darlington next week and hope to continue to make up ground in the points race. Our goal is to finish in the Top 5 in points and win races and we will continue to pursue those things until they happen.”
This week, the Germain Racing team heads to Darlington, South Carolina, for another Friday night race under the lights. This time it will happen on a newly-paved 1.366-mile race track. The Diamond Hill Plywood 200 is on Friday, May 9th, and it will be televised live on ESPN2beginning at 7:00 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
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