Ryan Briscoe © RIS/Larry Clarino
Tell Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe that tonight was a full moon, and he’ll believe you.
In fact, he probably figures it has been a full moon for two consecutive races.
For the second week in a row, Briscoe had the field covered for the vast majority of laps, only to watch another car take the checkers a few tenths of a second ahead of him. Last week in Milwaukee it was Target’s Scott Dixon. Tonight it was Team Penske teammate, Helio Castroneves, who took the win in the Bombardier Learjet 550 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The race began like it may be a crash fest. Before the first lap was over, Graham Rahall found himself in a very loose race car. As he entered the back stretch on lap 2, he lost the car and collected E.J. Viso and Milka Duno. All three cars were heavily damaged, but all drivers were released from the infield care center with no serious injuries.
The race went green again on lap 10, and Briscoe quickly passed pole sitter Dario Franchitti the next lap. The race stayed green until lap 150 and Briscoe just checked out on the entire field through two rounds of green pit stops. When the field went yellow on lap 150, Briscoe had a 10-second lead on second place Marco Andretti.
A caution for debris in turn four closed the field up, and this time the field stayed closer.
Then, on lap 172, A.J. Foyt IV suffered a suspension failure and hit the wall in turn two. This led to the final round of pit stops, and the Indy-winning pit crew of Castroneves got off of pit road just feet ahead of Briscoe on lap 175.
From there, Briscoe was never able to seriously challenge Castroneves for the remaining 53 laps, and the Penske cars finished the race, one-two, in lock step, with Scott Dixon in third. Castroneves crossed the stripe about four-tenths of a second ahead of his teammate.
And he was very quick to give credit where credit was due.
“It was an incredible day for Team Penske. All the credit goes to Ryan Briscoe and his team. They push us and we push them, and together we’re pushing towards the top. Finishing first and second at Texas isn’t easy.”
That didn’t mean there was no action – or controversy - during the final laps outside of the Castroneves-Briscoe-Dixon top three. For most of the final 53 laps, the next five cars fought for positions fiercely, leading at least one driver to show his temper.
Marco Andretti © RIS/Larry Clarino
For almost 20 laps, Andretti Green teammates Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti diced for position behind the lead, leading Andretti to make some harsh, angry comments about his popular teammate’s driving style. “The toughest people out there passing me are my teammates, and I don’t get that. I think three out of four of us get what the camaraderie of Andretti Green Racing is.”
Patrick responded by saying her car “just wasn’t handling too well” as Andretti was trying to pass her.
Following his Indy win, this was Castroneves’ second win of 2009. Just as his Indy win was his third win at the Brickyard, this was Castroneves third win at Texas.
After leading 164 laps of the 228 lap race, Briscoe was understandably upset with the outcome. “I just didn’t have enough for Helio in the final laps,” said Briscoe. “The last 20 laps were some of the most frustrating I’ve ever driven. To lead the whole race and have the quickest car out there, I just couldn’t pass Helio.”
The second place finish, however, was good enough to allow Briscoe to walk out of The Great American Speedway with the series points lead.
Four drivers shared lap leader duties during the evening. In addition to Briscoe, Castroneves and Franchitti, Ed Carpenter also led a lap during the first round of green flag pit stops. There was a total of three caution flags for 26 total laps.
The race was run in just 1 hour, 55 minutes and 16.2 seconds at an average speed of 172.667 mph. The fastest lap of the race belonged to Ryan Briscoe on lap 60 at 213.908 mph.
Texas Winner Heilo Castroneves in the #3 Penske Dallara © RIS/Larry Clarino
