Castroneves Romps At Infineon Raceway

By Joe Jennings
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: August 24, 2008

Sonoma, Calif. – Helio Castroneves overpowered the 27-car field at Infineon Raceway to win the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County, the 15th IndyCar Series race in 2008.

The flashy Brazilian won for the first time in 2008 after achieving seven second place finishes. His last victory came at St. Petersburg a year ago, a span of 30 starts. Making his 110th consecutive start, he won for the 13th time in his career and for the seventh time from the pole.

The victory was the 28th IndyCar Series win for Team Penske, and its ninth 1-2 finish on the IndyCar circuit. The brilliant team has chalked up 53 permanent road/street course win out of its 137 career wins.

Starting from the pole, Castroneves charged to the front at the drop of the green flag and held command during 51 of the 80-laps around the picturesque 12-turn road course in the heart of Northern California’s wine country. His average speed for the one hour and 50 minute race was 100.254 miles per hour.

Not only did Castroneves win for the first time in 2008, he moved within 43 points of Scott Dixon with two races remaining on the calendar. Going into the race, Dixon held a commanding 78 point advantage. In an uncharacteristically poor finish, Dixon came home 12th.

“It was a great day for Team Penske,” said Castroneves, who celebrated by jumping into a group of hearty Brazilians fans near the finish line. “The Penske guys gave me a superb car and I pushed it to the limit. There was nothing left out there.

“We saved fuel at the beginning and I knew Ryan Briscoe was behind me and we maintained a conservative pace. In the middle of the race, it was difficult to pass and we had to be patient. At the end, I was told to push and I took it to the limit.”

Said Tim Cindric, president of Penske Performance, “It was a difficult week for us, and the results show the determination and depth of our team. It wasn’t as easy as I wanted it to be.”

Castroneves said he never inquired about Dixon’s status during the race as he was concentrating on the task at hand. Regarding the run for the championship, he added, “It is a fantastic opportunity as Detroit is the place I won at last year. We know we can be fast there, and we will take good chances, but not crazy ones. We want to win another race to cut into his lead, and I know we can do it.”

Teammate Briscoe ran on a different fuel strategy, one that he hoped would carry him to victory. “There were no team orders not to pass Helio (Castroneves),” he stated. “I just never got into a situation where I could pass him. It was a good move for the team to put us on different strategies. Even though I didn’t win, I am happy for Helio (Castroneves). Not getting a win all year and getting all of those seconds was killing him. He had the quickest car out there today.”

Briscoe led 19 laps and finished five seconds behind his teammate.

A frustrated Tony Kanaan ran third in one of four Andretti Green Racing entries. “It was a boring fuel-mileage race,” he stated. “I don’t have fun racing like that, but we will take third place. I race to have fun and today that didn’t happen.”

Dan Wheldon ran strong throughout the race and came home in fourth place in the Target Chip Ganassi Racing car. “Chip (Ganassi) came into the team meeting today and he gave us the order that we were going to do something very alternative, and we did. It just kind of played out perfectly for me. Most of the day there was a clear track, so it worked out.”

Danica Patrick also ran with the leaders much of the race and she finished fifth for her best result on a street or road course this year. “We started ninth, and to get a top-five finish at a course that is very difficult to pass at is great.”

E. J. Viso, who led nine laps, finished sixth with Vitor Meira seventh.

Newman/Haas/Lanigan teammates Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson were eighth and ninth, respectively, and Mario Moraes cruised to tenth place.
Buddy Rice took 11th and he was trailed by Dixon.

“We just did absolutely nothing right,” Dixon said with dejection. “I don’t know why we stayed out when the car in front of us is three seconds slower, and we couldn’t make up any track position.”

Concerning the point race, he added, “We lost a ton of points and we got the bad end of the stick today. Hopefully, we’ll turn it around next time. I guess we just need to shrug it off and come back strong next week.”

Car owner Ganassi gave a vote of confidence to his driver, “If Helio wins the next two races, I think we just have to place fourth, so we should be able to do that. We are okay.”

One caution flag slowed the race for two laps. Twenty-four of the 27 starters were running at the end and two went off the course on the last lap.