Ryan Briscoe didn’t immediately know if he had won the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300. How could the Team Penske driver when he was visor to visor with Scott Dixon approaching the Chicagoland Speedway finish line in a blur of red and white?
It wasn’t until hearing Roger Penske’s excited congratulations on the radio that he could exhale.
Briscoe’s margin wound up being 0.0077 of a second (less than the blink of an eye) - the fourth-closest finish in IndyCar Series history - or 28½ inches with his 211.362 mph final lap on the 1.5-mile oval. It was the fifth runner-up finish at Chicagoland Speedway—the fourth in a row—for Dixon. IndyCar
Briscoe, who was seriously injured in a 2005 accident at the same track, claimed his first victory here and third of the season.
“The final stages with Scott were really exciting and I didn’t think I was going to have enough [to catch] him,” Briscoe said. “As soon as I was able to get beside him it slowed both of our cars down a lot and evened things out. That gave me the chance to beat him across the line.
“It wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked. But I had a very good car, it was fast, it was consistent.”
Driving for Team Penske, Briscoe averaged 215.82 m.p.h. as he battled back into contention after losing time on a slow early pit stop. Chicago Breaking News - Tribune
IndyCar Series: Motor Oil Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway - Race Results
With the victory, Briscoe holds a 25-point lead over fourth-place finisher Dario Franchitti, as two races remain in the season.
“To win the championship, we’re going to have to win races,” Briscoe said. “I was doing all I could to get to Scott tonight, because I don’t want him getting wins. He’s had enough this year.”
Briscoe earned two bonus points for leading the most laps with 71.
Mario Moraes finished a career-best third, while Graham Rahal took the fifth position.
Ed Carpenter, Oriol Servia, Tomas Scheckter, rookie Raphael Matos and Justin Wilson completed the top-10.
Danica Patrick was 12th.
Helio Castroneves became mathematically eliminated from this year’s title after a disappointing 20th-place finish. Castroneves, the 2009 Indianapolis 500 champion, crashed into the wall with 16 laps to go after his right front suspension broke. The Brazilian encountered a similar incident last week at Sonoma, CA, where he finished 18th. MiamiHerald.com
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