Watching Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves’ fence-climbing celebration at Texas Motor Speedway, Ryan Briscoe was momentarily caught between a smile and snicker. After all, he led 160 of the 228 laps of the Bombardier Learjet 550k and appeared to be rolling to his second victory of the season.
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Briscoe was the runner-up - for the second race in a row—pipped by Castroneves on a Lap 175 pit stop and unable to overtake the Indianapolis 500 champion down the stretch on the 1.5-mile, high-banked tri-oval.
“The last 20 laps were some of the most frustrating I’ve ever driven,” said Briscoe, who started on the front row for the third consecutive race. “To lead the whole race and have the quickest car out there, I just couldn’t pass Helio. The high line was slower.”
“At least we came in second. We got (two) points for leading the most laps. The important thing is we’re racing for the wins. We’ll get our wins.”
Through six of 17 rounds, the second-year Team Penske driver is almost halfway to the IndyCar Series laps led record (899 of 2,860) set by Scott Dixon in 2008. Briscoe has led in five different races for a total of 424 laps, including the 160 at Texas and 154 at The Milwaukee Mile the past two weeks. He’s the only driver to complete every lap of every race, and has been running at the finish in the past 12 bridging two seasons.
Coupled with four top-five finishes, such consistency leads to being a series championship contender. The Texas result vaulted Briscoe into the points lead by three over Dixon - a little consolation for not taking the checkers. Dario Franchitti, the pole sitter at Texas who finished fourth, is third in the standings (-11), while Castroneves is 13 points back (despite missing the season opener) and Danica Patrick is 32 points behind.
“That’s what it’s all about, the championship,” said Briscoe, who’s the points leader for the first time in his career. “It’s just when you’re so close to winning it it feels a bit bitter. But it’s good to be points leader right now. We just need to keep moving forward as we’ve been doing.”
The Texas event completed a run of five racing/qualifying/practice weekends in eight weeks. After this weekend off, the series kicks off a stretch of four weekend races on a diverse set of racetracks - the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway on June 21, the 0.75-mile Richmond International Raceway on June 27, the 3.34-mile Watkins Glen International road course on July 5 and the inaugural Honda Toronto Indy on the 1.721-mile temporary street circuit July 12.
Dixon, the reigning series champion who’s won at Kansas and Milwaukee, recorded his third podium finish in the past four races with a third place under the lights at Texas. His Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Franchitti, posted a third consecutive top-five finish and fourth overall. Castroneves won for the third time at Texas and 16th time in his IndyCar Series career - three behind all-time leader Sam Hornish Jr. Patrick just missed notching her fifth consecutive top 5, being overtaken on Lap 222 by Andretti Green Racing teammate Marco Andretti and finishing sixth.
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“It’s tight, and I think it will be that way for the rest of the season,” Briscoe said. “It’s about who can win more races and make the fewest mistakes.”
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