Richmond Race Report
source: Red Bull Cheever Racing Alex Barron: #51 Dallara/Toyota/Firestone Patrick Carpentier: #83 Dallara/Toyota/Firestone Red Bull Cheever Racing continued its success at Richmond International Raceway today for the SunTrust Indy Challenge. Both Patrick Carpentier and Alex Barron qualified well on Saturday beginning the race in fourth and ninth (respectively), and both improved their starting positions by turning in third and sixth-place finishes. The result is the best for both drivers and the team so far this season. While Carpentier stayed with the lead pack the entire race, nothing comes easy at the .75-mile Richmond short oval. Cars spun right in front of him three times, but he was able to steer clear of the action. For the first half of the race, he was battling with Dan Wheldon, never falling below fifth position after lap 133 of the 250-lap race. He then moved into third on lap 200 after passing Scott Sharp. His battle for position then turned to the #2 car of Tomas Enge late in the race with the two jockeying back and forth for third position. They battled side by side with just 20 laps to go when Enge was black flagged for blocking and was forced to pit lane for a drive by. This put Carpentier solidly in third, and gave him his best finish of his young IndyCar Series career. "We ran well and qualified well. I didn't know if this was going to happen, but we kept working and working during the race. There were a lot of close calls out there, which caught up a few guys, but I love it. That's racing here. Toyota and Dallara really helped us at the test last week, and the Red Bull team gave me a really good car. It was fun in traffic...inside, outside. What an exciting race. When you're in the front, it's a different universe. I was so happy in the car, I was laughing. Wheel to wheel racing is what I like. We've (the team) been having some ups and downs, but we're going to have more of these. I love this league. That's why I'm here," Carpentier said.
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