Ryan Briscoe made a mistake in Saturday’s IndyCar Series race in Japan, and Ganassi Racing capitalized.
The combination of events—Briscoe damaging his car on pit road in the middle of the Indy Japan 300 and Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti going on to finish first and second—sets up one of the most intriguing final races in series history.
Briscoe was positioned to be the leader heading to Homestead, having caught a break as he was on pit road when a caution came out for Mike Conway’s crash on lap 106 of 200. Even a routine stop would have kept the Australian in the lead, but he lost control of his Team Penske car exiting his pit box. Briscoe slid to the inside wall at his left, and the slight contact damaged his left front suspension. He also collected a timing cone, which he carried around the track under caution.
Briscoe had to make a lengthy pit stop for repairs, reducing him to 18th place in a 23-car field.
“Yeah, it was pretty frustrating,” Briscoe told reporters after the race. “With the accident leaving the pits, it was a huge opportunity to get the race lead.
“I just gassed it too much leaving my box and the car spun,” he said. “I hit the wall.”
“The good thing is that it’s only eight points (of a deficit),” he said. “I feel real good going into Homestead. We’ve been strong on all the 1’1/2(-mile tracks) this year.”
Team Penske has won at three of the five such tracks this season, with Briscoe capturing two.
“It looks like it is going to be a pretty tough battle to see who can win the race,” Briscoe said.
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