Ryan Briscoe held off Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon and barely slipped through a late-race crash to win Sunday’s IndyCar Series race at the Milwaukee Mile.
A week after an embarrassing pit lane accident that took out fan favorite Danica Patrick at Indy, Briscoe redeemed himself with his first victory for Team Penske.
“It’s huge,” the Australian said. “It feels so good to get the win. The car was just magic today. We just came through the field.”
The Australian was working hard late in IndyCar race at the Milwaukee Mile to hold off Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon and, all of sudden, the track ahead was enveloped in smoke and all he could do was hit the brakes hard and hope.
“A million things went through my mind when I saw all that smoke,” Briscoe said. “With a couple of laps to go, I knew how to keep Dixon behind me. I think I’d have been in tears if I didn’t get through.”
It was just four laps from the end of the ABC Supply A.J. Foyt 225 when pole-winner Marco Andretti and Ed Carpenter collided, sending both into the wall. Vitor Meira, who had crashed in qualifying on Saturday, then drove over Andretti’s car and slammed into the concrete barrier, with Briscoe close enough to see the underside of Meira’s car.
“I think it was less than a foot,” Briscoe said.
Dixon, who led a race-high 147 laps to Briscoe’s 36, was also happy to get through the accident without damage and was pleased with his runner-up finish.
“Briscoe, you’ve got to give him credit,” the New Zealander said. “He drove the wheels off that thing. He could really take advantage of the high line when I tried a couple of times and nearly ended up in the fence. It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time, to be honest. It was a hell of a race toward the end.”
All the top cars made it through the melee without damage, but the race ended under caution with two-time defending race winner Tony Kanaan third, followed by Dan Wheldon and Briscoe’s teammate Helio Castroneves.
“For sure, to . . . get this win, it means a lot for many reasons,” said Briscoe.
“My history at Milwaukee hasn’t been pleasant, and for sure I wouldn’t have been able to run so strong in the race without the help and advice of Rick Mears. On the anniversary of his first-ever Indy-car win, this is definitely extremely special.”
Briscoe became the 15th Indy-car driver to win for Team Penske, the second of them after the four-time Indy winner Mears (June 1978) to collect his first at the Mile.
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