Franchitti grabs Toronto Pole; Saavedra gets Indy Lights win.

Apologies for missing the Watkins Glen race. I spent the fourth at the lake, and spent as much time as possible away from my computer. Congrats to Justin Wilson and Dale Coyne on a great victory!

Sabastian Saavedra won the Indy Lights race today. He led 40 of the 50 laps, and started on the pole. Teammate J.R. Hildebrand finished second, and widened his points lead to 51 points. James Davison recorded the fastest lap with a speed of 95.886 mph. They run about 5-10 miles per hour slower than the IndyCars. Ana Beatriz started 7th and finished 13th to drop to 8th in the standings. Not what she was looking for here.

News early at the Knockout Qualifying in Toronto is Andretti Green Racing's failure to put a driver in the second round. The only driver in the four contenders for the championship in the Firestone Fast Six is Franchitti. Here is the results from the second round of qualifying, 7 through 12 is set for the grid. The top six go for the pole in a few minutes:

Firestone Fast Six:

Alex Tagliani (what?! you almost weren't in the field!)

Graham Rahal (c'mon kid, more performances like this!)

Dario Franchitti (duh!)

Mike Conway (you are the oddest driver in the series, horrible to great to horrible to great)

Justin Wilson (keeps the momentum going!)

Will Power (Too bad you don't have a full-time ride, I want to see more of you)

7. Robert Doornbos

8. Scott Dixon (You're human, maybe?)

9. Raphael Matos

10. Helio Castroneves (Wow!)

11. Ryan Briscoe (Yuck!)

12. Ryan Hunter-Reay (thatta kid RHR!)

.......

Franchitti has won the Peak Performance Pole Award with a speed of 103.532 mph. This will be his third start in P1 in the last five races. The championship point he receives puts him in sole position of second place going into Sunday.

Will Power will start second. Rahal third... Wilson (4), Tagliani(5) and Conway (6).

Should be a really interesting race! Can AGR come from the back to the front? What kind of strategy will they use? Penske starting back in row 5 and 6, can they make a move on the Target drivers in the championship? Or is this where Dixon and Dario make the statement that its a two man championship race? Tagliani, Power, Conway, Doornbos, Matos... will be up front early.. how will they handle the spotlight? Should also be fun to follow Paul Tracy around in the Canada car.

My picks: Justin Wilson makes it back to back for Dale Coyne... Dario and Graham battle for second all day, with Franchitti taking second... Will Power finishes fourth... Biggest mover tomorrow? Look for Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick both to slip into the top 10.

Dixon Ties Hornish's Win Record

 RICHMOND, VA ~ With his 19th career victory Saturday night, Scott Dixon pulled even with Sam Hornish Jr's career IndyCar Series win record.  One would expect Dixon to overtake the mark, and claim his 20th win sooner than later.  Dixon owned the second half of the Richmond race and cruised to the #9 car's third win of the season.  During a midway pitstop, Scotty D took the lead from his teammate, Dario Franchitti, and never looked back.  The win puts him into second place in the standings, only one point shy of Franchitti, who took second Saturday.  Graham Rahal was third.

                                                          Franchitti, Dixon and Rahal on the podium at Richmond.

  

Team Target Chip Ganassi claimed the 1-2 finish, and had a huge points day over rival Team Penske.  Both Penske racers found the wall and failed to finish.  Ryan Briscoe completed only 26 laps before sliding high and into the wall.  Helio Castroneves imitated his teammate on lap 246.  They finished 19th and 17th, respectively, the first DNF of the season for both.

Andretti Green Racing ran strong, considering less than stellar starting positions.  Hideki Mutoh led his first ever IndyCar Series laps, logging a total of 74 out front.  Mutoh finished fourth, following up a solid third at Iowa last week.  Danica Patrick ran strong all night, and appeared in position for a podium finish before Castroneves' late crash allowed the leaders to avoid a green flag pit stop.  She finished behind Mutoh in fifth.

Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti finished sixth and seventh, respectively.  The AGR drivers claimed solid points at Richmond, however still have to figure out how to compete with the Target and Penske teams.  This momentum will have to carry over to the road courses, starting with Watkins Glen next.

Overall, the SunTrust Indy Challenge was the subject of criticism for being a dull, processional race.  The night turned into a track position and fuel milage competition.

Incentives Vary at Andretti Green Racing.

Andretti Green Racing (AGR) is the most decorated in IndyCar Series history.  The only four-driver team has 34 series wins and three championships since 2003.  However, with the added load of drivers comes chemistry and competition issues.  AGR has been plagued with driver issues and cooperation problems in the past few years.  When Dario Franchitti left for NASCAR after a 2007 championship, the team replaced him with Hideki Mutoh.  This opened the door for a new team ace, which has the drivers at AGR looking more like rivals than teammates.

Each driver seems to dance to their own tune.  Tony Kanaan has been with the team since 2003, so naturally he would be the team leader and have the highest expectations.  He already has 13 wins, and a series championship.  AGR should be supporting him as the team's leader and the respect seems to be there.  However, Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti have their own set of expectations.  If AGR wants a championship now, Tony has to deliver until Danica and Marco aren't distracted by outside motives.

TK and Team 7-Eleven enjoyed a championship in '04.

Danica is in her contract year, and she is milking it for all she can.  While she is doing more interviews and has more commercials than ever before - she seems to be more focused as well.  Going into Richmond she is fifth in points, and only a win away from being a serious

contender.  The fire is burning in #7, and while a jump to NASCAR is unlikely, there seems to

be a certain team with a "Target" on their back that would love to find her a seat next year.

Marco's troubles are hard to explain.  A year ago he was going through a string of run-ins with the barrier, ending in too many DNF's.  This year, he can't seem to consistently run with the class of the league.  His car is often fast enough, and his skills are obviously there, but the results are not.  For Andretti to tap his potential, he is going to have to find the drive to be the best within him.  Sometimes, it appears he is happy to just be "Marco," and expects success to happen because he is an Andretti.

Just how good Mutoh is has yet to be determined.  The 2008 Rookie of the Year is a steady ride for AGR.  He doesn't threaten to contend for wins, but you don't see the young driver in the wall or tangled with other drivers either.  With the wealth of racing knowledge around him, Mutoh could find the winner's circle sooner than later.

Andretti Green still has time this year to turn the season around and contend for a championship, but it has to start this weekend at Richmond.  Kanaan, Marco and Danica need to start beating the Penske and Target drivers.  They can start by ending the inter-team feuds, and start going out to the track hungry.

Practice Update: Franchitti, Matos fastest

Dario Franchitti turned in the fastest practice speed of 166.135.  Raphael Matos recorded a speed of 165.816, second fastest, surprising when you consider this is his first run on Richmond's oval.  Scott Dixon was third.  No surprise that Target Chip Ganassi's drivers are running fast and strong today.

Rounding out the top-10, in order:  Castroneves, Scheckter, Viso, Wheldon, Mutoh, Briscoe and Marco.  

Problems continue for Tony Kanaan as he only ran 13 laps before a fuel leak problem sent the 7-Eleven team back to the garage.  His fastest speed was clocked at 162.137.  TK has already said this weekend is very important.  In midst of his worst season in years, Kanaan sits seventh in points and needs a momentum boost here.

The qualifying order has been released; Mario Moraes will lead things off, followed by Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti.  Helio Castroneves will go 10th, and Danica Patrick will anchor the field (20th).  The qualifying will air on VERSUS tonight at 5pm CST.  

Richmond Preview

The field for the SunTrust Indy Challenge was announced today, and it will look identical to Iowa's field.  The green flag for the IRL's ninth race around Richmond's 3/4 mile track is set to drop this Saturday night, 7 pm on VERSUS.

Tony Kanaan won last year's event.  Helio Castroneves has ran in seven of the eight races, with one win (2005).  Dario Franchitti followed up his win at Iowa in 2007 with a victory at Richmond the following week.  Two other entrants have won here:  Scott Dixon ('03), and Dan Wheldon ('04).

Points leader Ryan Briscoe has two starts at Richmond, with a best finish of 15th.  Danica Patrick has finished top-10 in 3 of her 4 appearances, with her best being 6th.  Tomas Scheckter has experience successful runs here, with two top-5's in six starts (best, 4th).

Look to see if Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing will continue to compete at a higher level than the others.  Michael Andretti and his hungry Andretti Green Racing drivers, Kanaan, Danica and Marco Andretti, need to re-gain momentum after a dismal showing at Iowa.  

Can Dreyer & Reinbold's Scheckter and Mike Conway parlay season-bests on another short oval?  Will E.J. Viso finish his first race of the year?

The race is set for 300 laps (225 miles).  Check back Thursday for updates on the practice sessions and a look into how the cars are setup for the Richmond International Speedway.

The traditional twilight scene at Richmond, VA.

Franchitti Wins at Iowa

The third running of the Iowa Corn Indy 250 brought a re-peat winner in two ways on Sunday.  Dario Franchitti took the checkers at the Iowa Speedway for the second time in his career.  He won the inaugural race there in 2007.  Also, Target Chip Ganassi's #10 entry won for the second season in a row, as Dan Wheldon got the job done for the team last season.

                         

IOWA RESULTS

1.  Dario Franchitti

- Loves this track.  Two wins in two races (missed last years), and holds the track's speed record at 182.031 mph (set in '07).  Dario was also this year's fastest in practice at 182.031 mph, which gets him around the 7/8 mile oval in 17.6805 seconds.  He's fast.

2.  Ryan Briscoe

-  As frustrating as a third second-place finish in a row can be, he continues his perch atop the standings after seven races.  Briscoe led the most laps (85), but gave his lead up to Dario during the last installment of pit stops.

3.  Hideki Mutoh

-  Turned in the fastest lap of the day, reaching 178.673 on lap 32.  Mutoh now has back-to-back top three finishes at Iowa, the best two races of his career.  He was all smiles as he got out of his blue and red Formula Dream car Sunday afternoon.

4.  Dan Wheldon

-  Run was solid from start to finish, including a stint in the lead (laps 106-113).  The National Guard Panther Racing team has to love having Wheldon in the seat.  He sits sixth in the points after Sunday.

5.  Scott Dixon

-  If it wasn't for qualifying being cancelled due to weepers, Dixon could have contended for his third pole at Iowa.  If that happened, Helio wouldn't have flatten his tire 18 laps into this one after being passed by #9.  Dixon held it together for the 30 points.

6.  Tomas Scheckter

-  His #23 Mona Vie car was one of the best on race day.  Starting 16th, he flew around six cars on the high side during the first lap!  Tomas showed he can race with the best of them, when he isn't in the wall.

7.  Helio Castroneves

-  A disappointing day for Helio as he started on the Peak pole and dropped back to finishing a lap down.

8.  Mike Conway

-  The Dad's Root Beer car delivered for Father's Day.  The rookie kept it steady for his best IndyCar Series finish of his career, and turned in the largest move of the day (19th to 8th).

9.  Danica Patrick

-  Lead for the first time this year, yet snapped the string of five consecutive top-6's. Despite debris causing a flat tire on the first lap, and a near disaster with Conway and Rahal, her run was fast and competitive.

10.  Ed Carpenter

-  The sole Vision Racing entry has a mediocre car.  Started 13th, finished in the middle, and now sits 12th in the standings.  

11.  Graham Rahal

-  Was forced high early, and brushed the Turn 3 wall.  Was forced to pit, and never recovered, he finished five laps down.  His season is slipping, with only one top-10 in the last three races.

12.  Marco Andretti

-  Crashed in practice, and had to make too many adjustments during the race.  Hard to recover from that on a short oval.  He'll be back in the top-10 at Richmond.

13.  Jaques Lazier

-  Was slow, and in the way all day.  Last of the cars in "Running" status.

14.  Tony Kanaan

-  Oh, TK!  His third crash in turn 2 at Iowa in three races there.  Led for 48 laps early, yet after a green flag pit stop for fresh (cold) Firestones, he spun around and hit the wall ending his day early, AGAIN.

15.  Robert Doornbos

-  Got sideways on Turn 4 of Lap 1 and tangled up with Hunter-Reay.  The Newman/Haas/Lanigan team was able to get him back on the track, but retired later due to handling.

16.  Raphael Matos

17.  Mario Moraes

-  Matos took Moraes with him into the Turn 2 barrier on Lap 55.

18.  Justin Wilson

-  Became another victim to Turn 2 on Lap 34.

19.  Ryan Hunter-Reay

-  Too much damage from his collision with Doornbos ended his debut in the ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing #14 car on the first lap.

20.  E.J. Viso

-  In a separate incident at the same time in the same spot, Viso failed to complete the first lap Sunday.  He is now 0-for-7 in 2009.  That is "Races Finished for Races Started".  Viso's seat has to be getting hot.