As Helio Castroneves celebrated Saturday night’s IndyCar Series victory at Texas Motor Speedway, others fumed.
Ryan Briscoe, who didn’t appreciate losing the Bombardier Learjet 550 because of pit box positioning.
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Scott Dixon, who doesn’t like the series’ all-too-equal equipment package.
Marco Andretti, who was furious with Andretti Green Racing teammate Danica Patrick.
Briscoe lost the lead on the second stop, at lap 176, because Castroneves, who had the pit box closest to the exit because his car has more season points, beat Briscoe to the blend line.
“It wasn’t anything we did,” an irritated Briscoe said. “He had the better position.”
Dixon said IndyCar Series officials have “gone too far” with aerodynamic restrictions intended to level the playing field among the teams with varying budgets. The most recent change was standardizing the length of the cars at 122 inches.
“When you go up close to people you’re matched up in speed with, there’s no such thing as racing,” Dixon said after finishing third. “It’s kind of follow the leader.”
Andretti found a way to make the high groove work, charging from eighth to second before the “debris” caution. He was sixth on the final restart but struggled to overhaul Patrick, his Andretti Green Racing teammate, in a battle for fifth place.
“The toughest people out there (challenging) me are my teammates, and I don’t get that,” he said later. “I think three out of four of us get what the camaraderie of Andretti Green Racing is.”
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