Once again, after having dominated most of the Iowa race, Ryan Briscoe was denied victory in the closing stages of the race; this time around by Dario Franchitti who earned his second victory of 2009.
Like it had happened before, Briscoe had to settle for second place after being jumped by Franchitti at the final stops while Andretti Green’ Hideki Mutoh took third, Dan Wheldon (Panther) fourth and Franchitti’s team-mate Scott Dixon wound up fifth. The first half of the race was marked by a lot of on-track incidents as EJ Viso spun into the wall and Robert Doornbos slid into Ryan Hunter-Reay on the opening lap. Early on, Scott Dixon attacked the leading Penske pair, passing Briscoe for second and then taking first from pole sitter Helio Castroneves on lap 16 but while the Brazilian tried to fight back contact was made between his front wing and Dixon's rear tyre, causing minor damage to both and prompting a yellow to clear the debris. That’s when Briscoe stayed out and assumed the lead until lap 35 and the third yellow - caused by Justin Wilson (Dale Coyne Racing) spinning into the Turn 2 wall after which it was Danica Patrick's turn to hit the front. After another series of accidents involving Luczo Dragon's Raphael Matos and KV's Mario Moraes crashing in avoidance, Tony Kanaan emerged up front until he crashed himself and was taking out of contention. On the final restart, Franchitti jumped Briscoe but the Australian stayed on his tail and followed for 15 laps before sweeping back ahead around the outside. Incredibly, though, Briscoe would find victory snatched away in the closing stages for the third straight race, as Franchitti ran two laps further when they made their final stops under green, and emerged a second ahead of Briscoe. Iowa Corn 250 – Results Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1h39m47.9077s 2. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 5.0132s 3. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green + 10.9769s 4. Dan Wheldon Panther + 17.5807s 5. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 1 lap 6. Tomas Scheckter Dreyer & Reinbold + 1 lap 7. Etc…. IndyCar Standings- After Iowa Pos Driver Points 1. Ryan Briscoe 241 2. Dario Franchitti 238 3. Scott Dixon 226 4. Helio Castroneves 212 5. Danica Patrick 189 Photos: IndyCar
Recent Articles
|
Racing Multimedia
Recommendations |