Dixon Jumps Dario, Helio Continues to Climb
7/27/2009
South Florida resident and three time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves finished second at Edmonton to maintain his fourth-place position just 71 points behind Scott Dixon in the IndyCar Series Championship standings. Last year's race winner Scott Dixon broke up a Team Penske podium sweep by finishing third ahead of Helio’s teammate Ryan Briscoe. The Top 5 in the series Championship points standings include reigning series champion and 2008 Homestead-Miami Speedway winner Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves and Danica Patrick. The IndyCar Series Championship will be crowned at HMS Oct. 10.
Dixon, however, moved into the Championship points lead ahead of Dario Franchitti, who finished fifth, one spot ahead of Canada's Paul Tracy.
Power, Briscoe and Castroneves held their qualifying positions through the first third of the race when they hit the pits for the first time.
Miami resident Raphael Matos spun coming into the first corner of the first lap. Will Power came out of the pits with the lead but Dixon moved up to second. Briscoe, in third place, passed him in short order, leaving Castroneves back in fourth.
That's when stuff started to happen. Castroneves made the move of the day diving under Dixon to finish second, while Dixon managed to at least prevent Team Penske from sweeping the podium.
"When Will came on board, we never had a doubt that he would be a top race contender and it's great that his win keeps Championship points from our opponents," Castroneves said. "It was a well-deserved win. Penske Racing did an incredible job."
A scary situation developed during what was supposed to be a routine Lap 34 pit stop when the fueling hose remained open after the stop, splashing 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol onto the side of the car and on Key Biscayne driver Tony Kanaan. The fuel ignited, with Kanaan scrambling to extricate himself from the car as Team Penske and Panther Racing crew members doused the car to retard the flames.
Dixon holds a 380-377 lead over Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Franchitti as the series heads to Kentucky Speedway. Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe is third in the IndyCar Series Championship points standings. It was the eighth Top 5 finish of the season -- and seventh in a row -- for Dixon.
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