Backstretch Motorsports

LEXINGTON, Ohio, Sunday, July 20, 2008 - Ryan Briscoe earned his second IndyCar Series victory of the season, and Helio Castroneves finished second in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance to earn Team Penske a sweep.

The teammates started in reverse order on the front row for the 85-lap race on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit. Castroneves led the first five laps on rain tires, but relinquished the lead to Vitor Meira on Lap 6 after the Panther Racing driver pitted earlier to change to racing slicks.

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LEXINGTON, Ohio, Saturday, July 19, 2008 - Helio Castroneves put himself in the perfect position to chip away at the 63-point deficit in the IndyCar Series championship point standings. The series all-time leader in poles added No. 25 to his career tally during PEAK Motor Oil Pole Qualifying for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance.

Castroneves advanced through the first two qualifying elimination rounds to the Firestone Fast Six for the 13th time in 14 IndyCar Series road/street races. In that session, he lapped the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit in 1 minute, 7.2480 seconds, 120.878 mph to earn his second consecutive pole of the season and his second consecutive pole at Mid-Ohio.

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GLADEVILLE, Tenn., Saturday, July 12, 2008 - Scott Dixon didn’t have the best car Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway, but he did have the best strategy. Dixon elected to stay out on a late caution to take the lead, and took the win in the rain-shortened Firestone Indy 200.

Dixon grabbed the lead on Lap 149 and had enough fuel to stay in the top spot until rain ended the race with 29 laps left, giving him his third consecutive victory at the Nashville Superspeedway and his fourth this season.

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LEBANON, Tenn., Friday, July 11, 2008 - Helio Castroneves won his 24th career IndyCar Series pole at Nashville Superspeedway, extending his series record to seven consecutive seasons with a pole.

Castroneves, who ranks second in points, turned four laps on the 1.33-mile, concrete oval in 1 minute, 31.5320 seconds, 204.519 mph to win his first pole since last September at Belle Isle. The all-time pole leader won it for the first time in seven starts at Nashville.

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WATKINS GLEN, N.Y., Sunday, July 6, 2008 - Ryan Hunter-Reay claimed his first IndyCar Series victory, winning the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen by 2.4009 seconds over Darren Manning.

In a race where favorites Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Ryan Briscoe of Team Penske looked like the drivers to beat, the underdogs from Rahal Letterman Racing and A.J. Foyt Racing prevailed.

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WATKINS GLEN, N.Y., Saturday, July 5, 2008 - Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe survived three rounds of knockout qualifications to win his first PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award in the IndyCar Series since 2005.

Briscoe survived the unique qualifying format narrows the field from 26 to 12 to six. In the Firestone Fast Six session, Briscoe surpassed Justin Wilson in the final minute of the 10-minute session with a lap at 1 minute, 29.3456 seconds, 135.787 mph.

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Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen : Dixon eyes record-setting fourth consecutive win at The Glen

Four-time winner?

Scott Dixon will attempt to win his fourth consecutive race at Watkins Glen. If he wins, Dixon will become the first IndyCar Series driver to win four consecutive races at one track. Dan Wheldon entered the 2008 season as the only other driver to win three consecutive races at one track (Homestead-Miami). Wheldon finished third in his bid to four-peat earlier this season. Dixon has won after starting fourth twice and second once. Can Dixon make history with a fourth consecutive win at The Glen?

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RICHMOND, Va., Saturday, June 28, 2008 - Tony Kanaan claimed his first victory of the 2008 IndyCar Series season, winning the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway by 4.7691 seconds over Helio Castroneves.

Kanaan, starting from the pole, led 166 of the 300 laps to claim his 13th career victory and his first since Belle Isle in September 2007.

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(Ed. note — This interview was conducted prior to qualifying at Richmond )

THE MODERATOR: Danica Patrick, why don’t you go ahead and talk about you came here last week to test. And that was something that you really haven’t had an opportunity to do a lot of this year, you’d said. So it was hopefully giving you an advantage here maybe this weekend.

DANICA PATRICK: Yeah, you know, when we did the little availability at lunch, I hadn’t been on track yet. And so it was very productive day from our standpoint. Any time you get a chance to practice on tracks that you’re going to race on, you just — you always make strides and you always figure things out.

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RICHMOND, Va., Friday, June 27, 2008 - Tony Kanaan won the PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award presented by Advance Auto Parts for Saturday’s SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway.

The Andretti Green Racing driver recorded a four-lap qualifying effort of 1 minute, 4.3333 seconds, 167.876 mph in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven machine. The pole is Kanaan’s second of the season and the 10th of his IndyCar Series career.

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