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.

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.