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.