Backstretch Motorsports

JOLIET, Ill., Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008 - Ryan Briscoe returned to Chicagoland Speedway in style, winning the pole for the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 in his first visit to the 1.5-mile oval since a spectacular crash at the circuit in 2005.

Briscoe recorded a four-lap qualifying effort of 1 minute, 41.4190 mph, 215.818 mph as the last driver to go out, stealing the pole out of the hands of IndyCar Series points leader Scott Dixon, who had set the mark at 1:41.5435, 215.553 mph 15 drivers earlier.

Dixon will start on the outside of Row 1 and will have a large advantage in his bid for a second career championship after his rival Helio Castroneves was penalized for driving under the white line. Castroneves will start at the back of the 28-car field.

Dixon holds a 30-point lead and can clinch the title by finishing eighth or better.

Andretti Green Racing teammates Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti qualified, third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Also on Sept. 6, Firestone Indy Lights points leader Raphael Matos won the pole for the SunRichGourmet.com 100. Matos leads Richard Antinucci by four points, the closest margin entering the final race in series history. Antinucci will start ninth.

Ana Beatriz qualified second, her third front row start of the season.

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SWE POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:

· This is Raphael Matos’ fifth pole of the season and the sixth of his career. Matos also had the pole on the 1.5-mile ovals at Homestead-Miami and Kentucky. He finished eighth and sixth, respectively, in those races.

· Matos also won poles on the road/street courses at St. Petersburg and Mid-Ohio.

· Matos earns one point for winning the pole and has a four-point lead over Richard Antinucci entering the race.

· Ana Beatriz qualified second, tying her best qualifying efforts at Nashville and Kentucky.

· Arie Luyendyk Jr. qualified third for his sixth top-five start of the season.

· Matos, Beatriz and Luyendyk also qualified 1-2-3 at Kentucky in August, the most recent oval race.

· Mike Potekhen qualified a season-best fourth. His previous best start of the season was 12th at Infineon. His career-best start was third at Indianapolis in 2007.

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FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS POST-QUALIFYING QUOTES:

RAPHAEL MATOS (No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, qualified first): “It’s another point that we definitely needed. We have a four-point lead now, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow. We’re 67 laps away from the title. There’s a lot of work and hard racing tomorrow.” (Does the pole put pressure on your title rival) “I feel great about my car. I feel great about the opportunity. We’ve been good all year long. We’ve had some ups and down this season, but we’ve found good momentum. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into tomorrow.”

ANA BEATRIZ (No. 20 Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, second): “It’s my first time here at Chicagoland, and we were really focused this morning on race setup. After the second practice, we focused on qualifying. I think my Healthy Choice Sam Schmidt crew did a really good job. I think it was a very good run. I was really wishing I could stay in the top three, so the second position is pretty good. (Raphael) Matos went really, really fast. I don’t know what he did, but I’m very confident for the race tomorrow.”

RICHARD ANTINUCCI (No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, ninth): “I thought we had a little more (in the car). In testing in the morning, we ended up pretty well in qualifying trim, but the race is what counts and that’s what we spent most of our time doing. Tomorrow is when it’s all decided. Rafa (Matos) got an extra point today, we just need to go out tomorrow and win the damned thing.” (What’s your strategy): “It’s attack. I need to move as far ahead as I can. There’s not much to lose. We have to go for the win.”

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2007 IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti met with members of the media at Chicagoland Speedway to discuss his return to the IndyCar Series with Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 2009.

DARIO FRANCHITTI: (About when he thought about returning) “The first time it was in my head was some point during the month of May.” (About any concerns) “I think the trepidation is you want to make sure you can still do the job. You want to get in the car and get the job done. There’s always that thought that you believe you can do it but there’s always that nagging doubt. I want to be as good or better than when I left.” (About possibly racing in Australia) “I think there is definitely a possibility of that. The idea would be sensible. If I can get a couple of days testing first just to get used to things again. It would definitely be helpful.” (About his deal with TCGR) “It was pretty quick. We tossed the idea around for awhile. Over the Detroit weekend, Chip (Ganassi) said to me, ‘So do you want to do this or what?’ and I said, ‘Yeah.’ The deal was done in a half an hour. It wasn’t a long drawn out negotiation. He (Chip Ganassi) broached the subject a couple of months ago. He said that when the #40 (Sprint) Cup car shut down, ‘This guy can drive anywhere he wants in my organization.’ People kind of thought, ‘Yeah, yeah, whatever, Chip.’ But he was serious about it.” (About Scott Dixon’s season) “He was a hell of a driver last year, and I think he’s an even better driver this year. I think the team has done a better job, too, but I think he has even improved. He’s making less mistakes. He’s improved in certain areas where he maybe wasn’t very strong before. He’s a hell of an opponent. As a teammate, I’m going to find out some of his secrets, which will be pretty interesting. These tracks have a certain amount of unknown about them, and it’s going to be a hell of a race tomorrow. I hope he (Scott Dixon) wins it. I’m obviously pulling for Scott.”

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PEAK MOTOR OIL POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:

· Ryan Briscoe wins his third pole of the season. He also won the pole at Watkins Glen and Edmonton.

· This is Briscoe’s fourth career pole and his first on an oval. His other pole came at Infineon in 2005.

· This is the 41st pole for Team Penske and its third at Chicagoland. Helio Castroneves won the pole in 2004 and Sam Hornish Jr. won it in 2006.

· Scott Dixon qualified second. He will start on the front row for the ninth time this season. This is his 15th consecutive top-10 start, longest current streak in the IndyCar Series.

· Danica Patrick qualified third, her fourth top-three start of the season.

· Helio Castroneves qualified fourth, however his time was disallowed for driving under the white line several times during his attempt. He will start 28th.

· Tomas Scheckter qualified seventh, his third top-10 start of the season in six races.

· Marty Roth qualified ninth, his third top-10 start of the season. His best start of the season was seventh at Kansas.

· Will Power qualified 10th, his sixth top-10 start of the season.

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PEAK MOTOR OIL POLE QUALIFYING QUOTES:

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, first): “What a way to try to finish up this season. It’s nice to win a pole on an oval. The car was great right off the truck this weekend. We just have to try to keep (Scott) Dixon behind us. I was really hoping I’d have the speed for the pole. It looks like everyone has slowed up since practice, but I was hoping I could maintain some of that speed, and that’s exactly what we were able to do. It’s a great feeling to get the pole here in Chicago.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, second): “I was actually surprised that (the time) held that long. (Tony) Kanaan was definitely looking very quick this morning, as were a couple of other people. We knew (Ryan) Briscoe was super fast. It cooled off a little bit - I don’t know if that helped or hurt it, but I knew Briscoe was going to be the guy to beat and unfortunately, he went last.” (About race setup) “We didn’t really change much for our qualifying setup. I felt pretty comfortable in race trim when we were in traffic. I don’t think that’s going to be much of a problem tomorrow. It’s going to be strategy and staying out of trouble.”

DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Motorola, third): “I am happy with our starting position. Sure I wish that we would’ve gotten the pole, but the Motorola car will start on the second row. Hopefully we can keep the car up front and finish the season with a solid finish.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske): “It’s good that Ryan (Briscoe) is right up there. If I can’t lead the most laps, we’re going to try to do everything we can to make sure Ryan leads the most laps. We’ve got to win, so hopefully that’s the way it will come out in the end. Everybody knows our plan; there’s not much to hide. We’re going to go full throttle and we’re going to go for the win and do what we need to do to beat Scott (Dixon). It will be fun, guys, it’s going to be fun.”

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The 2008 IndyCar Series season continues with the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 Sept. 7 at Chicagoland Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network. A Spanish-language telecast of the race will be carried by ESPNDeportes. The IMS Radio Network broadcast also is carried on XM Satellite Radio and www.indycar.com. The 2008 Firestone Indy Lights season concludes Sept. 7 with the SunRichGourmet.com 100 at Chicagoland Speedway. The race will air live at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 7 on ESPN2.