THE LINE
Monday, June 22, 2009 at 12:17PM June 24, 2009
Dario Franchitti, Andretti Green Racing. Dario Franchitti (No. 10 TCGR TOM TOM Dallara/Honda/ Firestone) won the Iowa Corn Indy 250 by 5.0132 seconds over Ryan Briscoe (No. 6 Team Penske D/H/F) before an estimated crowd of 40,000 at the Iowa Speedway last Sunday. Hideki Mutoh (No. 27 Andretti Green Racing Formula Dream D/H/F) finished third. It was Dario's 10th career win in the IRL and his second victory of the season. It was the 28th IndyCar Series victory for Target Chip Ganassi Racing and fourth win of the season for the team. Dario's win moved him within three points of Briscoe, who remains the IndyCar Series points leader. "I like driving here," Dario said afterwards. "We tested at Iowa last Wednesday. The Target guys did a really, really good job coming up with a setup, and they were awesome in the pits. I just went out, did my job and hung on, made some good moves in traffic and here we are. More than anywhere, today is a team win because those pit stops moved us up in track position." Next up for the IndyCar Series is the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway on June 27. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 8 p.m. (EDT) by VERSUS. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com.
(Ron McQueeney/IRL)
Dario Franchitti, Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
(Jim Haines/IRL)
Ana Beatriz (No. 20 Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt Motorsports) won the Miller Lite 100 at Iowa Speedway last Saturday night, her second career Firestone Indy Lights victory. She remains the only female driver to win in Firestone Indy Lights. Wade Cunningham (No. 11 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports) finished second, and James Hinchcliffe (No. 7 Hinchtown/Sam Schmidt Motorsports) came home third, making it a 1-2-3 sweep for Sam Schmidt Motorsports, the first time in Firestone Indy Lights history that teammates have finished 1-2-3. It was also the 28th Indy Lights win for the team. "It is a great effort for the team. It was a brand new car they had to build up the last few weeks. This made up for all those hours," Schmidt said. The Miller Lite 100 from Iowa will be telecast at 4 p.m. on June 22 by VERSUS. Next up for the 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season will be with the Toronto 100 on July 11 at the Streets of Toronto weekend. The race will be telecast at 11 p.m. on July 13.
(Grand-Am)
Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas (No. 01 Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates TELMEX Lexus Riley) won Saturday's EMCO Gears Classic presented by KeyBank at Mid-Ohio. It was their second win in the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. The Ricardo Zonta/Nic Jönsson No. 76 Krohn Aviation Ford Lola was second, and Alex Gurney/Jon Fogarty (No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley) finished third. "My hat's off to Ricardo Zonta," Pruett said after scoring his 22nd Rolex Series victory, following up the team's triumph in the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen. "We were both driving like it was qualifying. It was an unbelievable event. It was crazy, because we were trying to race as fast as we can, carving our way through traffic and trying not to hit anyone. It's a good thing we had a fast car that ran well all day long. But it was a real nail-biter at the end."
(Grand-Am)
Leh Keen and Dirk Werner (No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3) got their third win of 2009 in the Acxiom GT class at Mid-Ohio. After a post-qualifying inspection threw out Leh Keen's pole-winning run, the duo came back to lead 45 laps to capture the victory. The Robin Liddell/Andrew Davis No. 57 BryanMark Financial/Stevenson Automotive Pontiac GXP.R finished 2.839 seconds behind Werner at the end of the race in second place. The Paul Edwards/Kelly Collins No. 07 Drinkin' Mate Pontiac GXP.R finished third. Next up for Grand-Am will be the July 4 Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
Max, Bernie, etc. Publisher's Note: Really guys? Are you that hell-bent on assuaging your considerable egos that you'll willingly destroy F1 in the process? Did you not learn anything from the CART/IRL fiasco? Frankly, a growing number of racing enthusiasts in this country are sick and tired of your shenanigans and wish you'd all go away - for good. You chased the huge dollar signs in Asia and the Middle East and threw the U.S. and Canadian Grand Prix races under the bus, clearly indicating you could give a shit about it - or the race fans in both countries - one way or the other. You're even willing to hold the British Grand Prix hostage until you extract exactly what you want, at the one place where people actually willingly pay to go see a F1 race in the first place! And then you have the temerity to get all self-righteous about the "sport" and complain how the disgruntled manufacturers are going to destroy it? This is the biggest bunch of Bush League Bullshit we've heard about in a long, long time. You wankers even start to make the France family look like seasoned visionaries. Now that's pathetic. - PMD. UPDATE: True to form, a mysterious and unexpected agreement was announced today between the FIA and FOTA. We would still like it very much if they'd all just go away at this point, however. Please. - PMD
Publisher's Note: We thought AE readers would enjoy these select photos from the 24 Hours of Le Mans provided by photo ace Richard Prince, including shots of the winning Peugeot 908. Good stuff! - PMD
(Photos courtesy of Richard Prince)
As part of the pre-race show, early morning vintage racing action entertains the crowd at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" hosted by Autoline Detroit's John McElroy, with Peter De Lorenzo and auto industry PR veteran Jason Vines this Thursday evening, June 25, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv. By the way, if you'd like to subscribe to the Autoline After Hours podcasts, click on the following links:
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