Backstretch Motorsports

INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, May 24, 2009) - An emotional Helio Castroneves choked back tears in Victory Lane after becoming the first foreign-born three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500.

The affable Brazilian performed his signature fence climb along the front straightaway after taking the checkered flag in his third race since returning to the IndyCar Series following an acquittal in federal court on charges of tax evasion. [read more...]

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Saturday, April 25, 2009) - Graham Rahal won his second career pole position and his first on an oval, edging teammate Robert Doornbos by three-tenths of a second as Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing swept the front row for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Earlier this month, Rahal became the youngest pole winner in major open-wheel racing history at the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Fla. Two races later, the 20-year-old is on the pole for the first time on an oval. He qualified second at Milwaukee last year. [read more...]

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Sunday, April 19, 2009) - Dario Franchitti drove a strong race and benefitted from two well-timed pit stops to win the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The victory was the ninth of Franchitti’s career and the 25th for Target Chip Ganassi Racing.

Franchitti started second but lost two spots in the first turn of the 85-lap race. He moved back up to second on Lap 15 before pitting on Lap 16. The stop for tires and fuel proved to be fortuitous as contact by Mike Conway brought out a full-course caution two laps later. As the rest of the field cycled through pit stops, Franchitti took the lead on Lap 32. [read more...]

Michael Andretti to call races for Danica Patrick: Andretti Green Racing team co-owner Michael Andretti will take over the role of strategist for driver Danica Patrick on the team’s No. 7 entry for the 2009 IndyCar Series season.

Andretti won 42 times during his professional driving career and has helped guide Andretti Green to three IndyCar Series championships and two Indianapolis 500 wins in just six seasons of operation.

[read more...]

Montagny, Kanaan, Andretti Set for Petit Le Mans; Montagny, Kanaan to Drive at Laguna Seca

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (September 12, 2008) - Andretti Green Racing (AGR) announced today that IndyCar Series drivers Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti will join Franck Montagny in the #26 XM Radio Acura for the 11th running of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Kanaan will also join Montagny for the final race of the season at Laguna Seca.

[read more...]

Hideki Mutoh came into the 2008 IndyCar Series season with the goal of winning Bombardier Learjet Rookie of the Year honors. A 24th-place finish in the season’s first race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March and the fact that many of the nine rookies in the field had considerable experience in high-powered, open-wheel race cars didn’t lend itself to an easy task.

Mutoh persevered, however, and clinched top rookie honors in the season finale Sept. 7 at Chicagoland Speedway, edging Justin Wilson by six points and Will Power by 15.

[read more...]

Andretti Green Racing fulfilled the promise and potential it showed all season with its first overall victory in the American Le Mans Series on Saturday. James Rossiter and Franck Montagny won the Detroit Sports Car Challenge as Acura swept the overall podium for the first time in its two-year stint in the Series. Audi’s Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner clinched the LMP1 driver championship when the race-winning Audi R10 TDI of Emanuele Pirro and Marcel Fässler was excluded after it failed to meet the required minimum weight in post-race technical inspection.

The day was about Acura, however. The manufacturer also posted its second overall race victory and took the lead in the LMP2 manufacturer championship by four points over Porsche.

[read more...]

Will the fourth time be the charm for Lucas Luhr? Audi’s German factory driver certainly hopes so. Luhr earned his fourth career pole position at Road America on Friday and was the fastest overall qualifier for the Generac 500 presented by Time Warner Cable. His lap of 1:46.935 (136.277 mph) gave him a 0.41-second margin over Andretti Green Racing’s Franck Montagny.

Luhr will drive in Saturday’s four-hour race with Marco Werner with the duo having won three overall races and the last five LMP1 rounds. They comfortably lead the class championship by 58 points over Audi teammate Emanuele Pirro. Luhr hasn’t won from pole position at Road America after three previous fast qualifiers.

[read more...]

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.

[read more...]

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.

[read more...]