In what was a thrilling shootout at Texas Motor Speedway, National Guard Panther Racing driver Dan Wheldon captured a ninth-place result on the exciting 1.5-mile oval. It was the team’s fourth Top Ten finish this season in the first seven races of the IZOD IndyCar Series season.
After starting in 15th, Wheldon advanced a total of eight positions in the first 12 laps of the race – moving past several drivers including Tony Kanaan, Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti on his way to seventh position in the field. Following two caution periods for separate incidents, Wheldon reached as high as sixth on the grid by Lap 75 as he and Kanaan battled inches apart on the Texas high-banks.
The team was holding strong inside the Top Ten following a restart on Lap 138 when competitors got bottled up on the backstretch, shuffling Wheldon all the way back to the 16th position. From there, he slowing began picking off competitors one-by-one as he climbed back into contention. He moved passed E.J. Viso and Vitor Meira in the last ten laps to capture eighth-place.
Wheldon is now 10th in the IZOD IndyCar Series point standings, five points behind Marco Andretti in ninth and 15 points behind Tony Kanaan and Justin Wilson, who are tied for seventh position in the championship.
Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe won the race with Andretti Autosport teammates Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti completing the top three at Texas.
Dan Wheldon, No. 4 National Guard Dallara Honda
“Certainly it was a hard-fought race. As always the National Guard Panther Racing team worked very hard and between myself and the team today we never gave up. It’s one of those nights where we looked really good and then I struggled amongst some other cars and dropped back, and then when it spaced out I was able to come right back through the field. It’s not a bad result, but not the one we wanted.”
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