By Dave Lewandowski
The Marlboro Team Penske driver has won three of the six races to take a 22-point lead over consistent Scott Dixon as the season closes in on the halfway point June 24 with the SunTrust Indy Challenge presented by XM Satellite Radio. Dixon's Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, reigning series champion Dan Wheldon, is third (195). Indianapolis 500 champion Sam Hornish Jr., seeking his third IndyCar Series title, is one point behind and Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan is fifth (164).
The sixth- through 13-place drivers are separated by 38 points, so Castroneves is wise not to be over-confident. On June 10, he benefited from a couple of pit stop miscues late in the Bombardier Learjet 500k and beat Dixon to the illuminated finish line by 0.2402 of a second.
'It is too early to think about championship,' said Castroneves, who scored his 11th IndyCar Series victory and second at Texas Motor Speedway. 'I don't think even half time of the championship. Not only that, I don't think the gap still is large enough. Scott and Wheldon and Sam, they are still pretty much right there.
'Right now, we just need to keep finishing ahead of those guys.'
Dixon (Watkins Glen International), Wheldon (season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway) and Hornish have won the other races. Both Wheldon, who led a race-high 171 laps, and Hornish, the pole sitter, appeared to be poised to contend for the victory on the final laps. But both experienced miscues on their final fuel stops, which cost them track position on the 1.5-mile oval.
'This is not an individual sport; it's about team effort,' said Castroneves, who has led in every race this season. 'Without a good car, you can't win a race. Without a good driver, you can't win a race. Having key moments like today, you're not going to be able to win championships.
'It's unfortunate for whatever happened to those guys, but it is just proof that this series is getting tight and tight as the competition goes by. People making fewer mistakes, definitely the guy is going to benefit from that.
'Today, we benefited from it.'
