Helio Castroneves became the IRL IndyCar TM Series points leader when he won the Firestone Indy 225 Aug. 24 at Nazareth Speedway.
Castroneves, driver of the No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone, led the final 173 laps of the 225-lap event and beat two-time IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr. by .1697 of a second. Bryan Herta, driver of the No. 27 Archipelego/Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firesotne, finished third.
I was able to put everything together, obviously, to be able to manage well until the end of the race Castroneves saidIt was very good. m extremely happy for the team, especially here in the backyard of Team Penske. I could not disappoint my guys
Penske Racing is based in Reading, Pa., about an hour from Nazareth Speedway. The hometown race proved good for the team as Castroneves and his Marlboro Team Penske teammate Gil de Ferran are now first and second in the point standings, respectively.
Castroneves, who earned two bonus points for leading the most laps, has 429 points, while de Ferran, who finished fourth in the race, has 404.
This is one of the most difficult races I've had de Ferran saidWe were really having problems with the car being loose. I was just kind of hanging in there, and suddenly we benefited from the misfortune of (Scott) Dixon and Tony (Kanaan), but that is the way it goes sometimes
The misfortune for Dixon and Kanaan came early in the race. Dixon started from the MBNA Pole and led the first 52 laps before a halfshaft problem caused him to lose 41 laps in the pits. Dixon returned to the track on Lap 96 but stop on Lap 197 when he could not gain any more positions. He finished 16th and fell from third to fourth in the point standings with 387 points.
It just doesn't seem like we are meant to win the championship Dixon saidWe have led so many races and been fastest and then had silly little problems. Team Target and Toyota have done a great job all year. All we can do is try to win some races
Kanaan entered the race on top of the point standings with an eight-point lead over Castroneves, but on Lap 120, the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone of Tomas Scheckter touched the right rear of Kanaas No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone in Turn 2. Both cars made contact with the outside retaining wall in Turn 2 ending their day. Both drivers were uninjured. Kanaan finished 18th, while Scheckter finished 19th.
People are trying to get a better exit by slamming on the brakes as they enter the corner Scheckter saidI had nowhere to go Kanaan fell to third in the point standings and now has 397 points, 32 behind leader Castroneves.
Is a tough break, because we really need the points Kanaan saidWhen you race close to each other, sometimes that happens Kanaan saidI really dot know what happened, because somebody hit me from behind. Helio (Castroneves) was trying to pass Kenny (Brack), and we all slowed down to try and get into the corner. It looks like Tomas (Scheckter) didt see me and hit me from the back
Despite finishing second in the race, Hornish lost ground in the points race. He remains in fifth place but is 81 points behind Castroneves. We he entered the race, he was 77 points behind previous leader Kanaan.
Even though we didn't gain any points on the actual leader Hornish said gained a lot on second, third and fourth place in the points. That's what we're here to do: collect those Hornish, who won on Aug. 17 at Kentucky, said he had a chance to win two consecutive races.
I had a good run on him (Castroneves) twice, where I actually got beside him and knew I was going to get the job done Hornish saidThe yellow flag came out one of those times; the other one we were in lap traffic. I didn't want to push anything. I know scoring points is the biggest thing. You have to use your brains a little bit here. If I wanted to push it, I probably could have maybe made it. One of the things that Brian (Barnhart, senior vice president of operations for the IRL) says in the driver's meeting is if you don't think you have a 90% chance of making it, better not try to go and do it. I tried to use a little bit of discretion there
Castroneve victory, his second of the season and fifth of his IndyCar Series career, was the 10th of the season for Toyota and the brand clinched the 2003 IRL IndyCar Series Manufactures Championship.
In the final practice session Aug. 23, Sarah Fisher was involved in an accident in Turn 2. On Aug. 24, Fisher was released from Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pa., said Dr. Henry Bock, director of medical services for the Indy Racing League. Fisher has a severe back contusion and will be evaluated on a day-to-day basis to determine when she will be cleared to drive.
The IRL IndyCar Series will continue Sept. 7 at Chicagoland Speedway with the Delphi Indy 300. Nine drivers are still eligible for the championship. The race will be broadcast live at 1 p.m. (EDT) by ABC-TV and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.
