INDYCAR: Wilson wins Detroit Indy Grand Prix

DETROIT, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008 – Justin Wilson didn’t let a steering problem ruin his day. The IndyCar Series rookie turned only two laps in the morning warm-up due to the problem, but went on to lead the final 15 laps of the Detroit Indy Grand Prix presented by Firestone in the afternoon to claim his first IndyCar Series victory.

Wilson started fourth and moved into second on Lap 60. After a restart on Lap 69, Wilson put pressure on Helio Castroneves, who led a race-high 53 laps. Wilson made two attempts to pass on Lap 72, but was rebuffed by Castroneves who went low and then back high. Race officials penalized Castroneves one position for blocking, and Wilson took the lead on Lap 73.

Castroneves, who finished second for a record eighth time this season, gained 13 points on series points leader Scott Dixon to climb within 30 points of Dixon heading into the Sept. 7 championship season finale at Chicagoland Speedway.

Dixon led the first 18 laps after starting on the pole but shuffled back to 18th after his first pit stop and could never get back higher than his final position of fifth.

Tony Kanaan finished third and Oriol Servia finished fourth. Bruno Junqueira improved 17 positions from his 24th-place starting position to finish seventh.

Wilson, who won four times during his career in the Champ Car World Series, was the ninth different race winner in the IndyCar Series, tying a record set in four other seasons.

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For the first time this season, the pits of Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon are split. Dixon is the in the pit stall closest to pit out while Wheldon is in the fourth pit. The two are separated by the pits for the two Team Penske cars.

MIKE HULL (Team managing director, Target Chip Ganassi Racing): “It’s the first time for us this year. The IRL has a rule about how the pits are selected. They’re selected based on owner’s points. You have the option on whether you want to average your positions or split your positions during the year. We chose to split at the beginning of the year. We did it because we knew if we had one guy in the championship at the end of the year we wanted to be as far downstream as we could be, whatever position that was. It’s OK because the people that we race with are all clean in the pits. We don’t have a problem with them. The only thing it probably affects is the communication between the two timing stands.”

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INDYCAR SERIES POST-RACE NOTES:

*       Justin Wilson earns his first IndyCar Series victory. Wilson won four races in Champ Car. His last victory was Sept. 2, 2007 at Assen, Netherlands.
*       Wilson’s previous best finish this season third at Edmonton.
*       This is the second IndyCar Series victory for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. The team also won with Graham Rahal at St. Petersburg in April.
*       Wilson is the ninth driver to win this season, tying the record for most drivers to win in a season (1996/97, 2002, 2003 and 2005).
*       Helio Castroneves finished second for the record eighth time this season. He clinched the three bonus points for most laps led during the race.
*       Castroneves made his 111th consecutive start, passing Sam Hornish Jr. for the second-longest streak all time. Scott Sharp holds the record with 138 consecutive starts.
*       Tony Kanaan finished third, his seventh podium finish of the season.
*       Oriol Servia finished fourth, his fourth top-five finish of the season.
*       Scott Dixon finished fifth, his 13th top-five finish of the season.
*       Dixon led 18 laps and has led 885 laps this season. He needs to lead five more laps to break Tony Kanaan’s record for laps led in a season set in 2004.
*       Bruno Junqueira improved 17 positions during the race to finish seventh, his second top-10 finish of the season.
*       Will Power finished eighth, his fourth top-10 finish of the season.

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INDYCAR SERIES POST-RACE QUOTES:

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 02 McDonald’s Racing Team, first): “It was a long tough day, but we managed to stay clean, and we got great strategy and good pit stops. The McDonald’s team was doing a fantastic job. I was so desperate to get a victory this year, my first one in IndyCar (Series) and my first one with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. This means a lot. It’s the most important win of my career.” (About competition with Castroneves): “Helio was racing hard. The first yellow, I was right behind him and that’s how it goes. It was just hard racing. The second time I got a good run out of (Turn 12) and started to overlap, and I had the inside for the next corner. Before we got halfway down the straight, he started to come across and I had to lift or we both were going to crash. I was a little upset at the time, but I was relieved w hen the officials put it right.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, second): “We finished second for the eighth time, but the point is we’re still in the hunt for the championship, and Team Penske is going to try everything we can to win it.” (About penalty): “Consistency is the only thing I ask for. I’ve been in this series since 2002, and we never had a situation like this. We always have a warning, and then if you do it again, then you’re going to be penalized. All of the sudden, I didn’t get any warning. It was, ‘Move over, or you’re going to be black flagged.’ It was uncalled for. I know that (Brian Barnhart) is trying to put pressure on and make everyone disciplined, but two races to go for the championship, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.”

TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven, third): “I have a bad flu, but starting eighth and finishing third is not bad. We’re in a battle for third place in the championship, and Dan (Wheldon) didn’t finish. It was a good result for us, and for the championship it makes it exciting, not just for first and second, but third and fourth as well.”

ORIOL SERVIA (No. 5 KV Racing Technology, fourth): “I am happy with fourth, but when you are so close to a podium it just feels like it is not enough. The KV Racing Technology car was good, especially towards the end of the race. At the beginning, we were just not fast enough. The KVRT crew did a great job this weekend, and we are getting there, still fighting with the top three teams, and eventually we will get them.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, fifth): “I don't think it was much of a race, to be honest. It was pretty pitiful. The car was clearly quicker than anybody's. We were saving a ton of fuel up front and sort of having a merry old day, and that changed pretty quickly. We left with a half tank after that caution. I think I was probably the only person or maybe a couple of others. It's just a hard situation when you're in that point when nobody else pits and you have a lot of slower guys that pitted early on and have a lot of fuel and you have to try to pass them. That was pretty much the race. From that point on, we were just trying to pull up there.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 17 Rahal Letterman Racing Team Ethanol, sixth): “We needed a drama-free race day and we got punted again, but we were able to rebound and salvage something good out of it. It was a good day in the points, and we had to have that today. It takes discipline to be racing and saving fuel, and sometimes it’s not the most enjoyable way to spend a day, but we really helped ourselves in the points by doing it.”

BRUNO JUNQUEIRA (No. 18 Z-Line Designs, seventh): “I’m very pleased with our results today. We didn’t have the fastest car out there, but we did what we could with it. We worked our way up with lots of passes and took every chance we could on the track. I’m very happy with our results, especially after what happened yesterday. The team worked all night repairing the car, so it’s nice to be able to repay them with a good result.”

WILL POWER (No. 8 Aussie Vineyards-Team Australia, eighth): “I think the Aussie Vineyards–Team Australia crew did a great job. The car was really quick, but I was just unable to pass (Ryan) Hunter-Reay. I tried in Turn 7, got a run on him, then backed out at the last moment, which I shouldn’t have done and lost the front wing. The guys did a great job in the pits getting me back out. I think at best we could have finished fifth or sixth, so it cost me a couple of spots, but still it was a great day, and I was happy to have a good fun race. I enjoyed it a lot.”

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, ninth): “We had a little miscommunication on our first pit stop. We probably should've stayed out on the first yellow, but we came in instead. After that point, I spent the entire race running with slower traffic; in fact I don't think I got one clear lap during the whole race. We tried to recover and get creative with our pit strategy. I think Team Penske did a good job getting us back into the top 10. It would've been nice to be able to have run up front with the faster traffic, but at least we were able to bring it home in ninth. The best news from today is that we were able to clinch fifth place in the championship. I'm proud of my guys, and I think that's the mark of a successful season.”

A.J. FOYT IV (No. 2 Lilly Diabetes/Vision Racing, 10th): “We had a good strategy, a good car and a good result. Everything worked pretty well for us today. We really needed a day like this where everything went our way for a change. We haven't had too many of those this year. It's great for the team, but it's great for this Lilly Diabetes crew. They've worked hard, and we needed a bit of a boost, and we got that with a good result today. It's nice to have finished twice now in the top 10. The difference this year is we had an even better car. The result also helps lift everyone up to get ready to head for Chicago where we're hoping for a really good result.”

BRIAN BARNHART (President Operations and Competition, Indy Racing League): “We talk about blocking every week in the drivers’ meeting and tell them what they can and can’t do and what the code of conduct is on the racetrack. (Helio Castroneves) clearly moved his car to impede the progress of a following car (Justin Wilson) and moved his car in response to the actions and the line taken by a following car. That’s what I tell them in the drivers’ meeting every week. We made the same decision early in the race with the (Darren) Manning and (Bruno) Junqueira cars, and unfortunately you have to call it like you see it. I think Helio and everyone associated knows that it’s not what’s expected and not what’s accepted of how we race out there. We want to race clean and fair and we need to call them like we see them.” (Did the championship figure into the call?): “You can’t officiate based on points or who’s involved or what position they hold. You have to do it out of fairness and competition.”

From John Griffin, Indy Racing League