SONOMA, Calif.. - Helio Castroneves snapped the longest winless streak of his career to move closer to his first IndyCar Series championship at Infineon Raceway on Sunday.
Castroneves, who hadn't won since April 2007 - a span of 30 races, took the checkered flag in the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County at Infineon Raceway to claim a victory in a record-setting eighth consecutive season, and his first in the Sonoma Valley. The 13th win of his IndyCar Series career allowed Castroneves to shave 35 points from his deficit in the championship standings. He trails Scott Dixon, who finished 12th, by 43 points with two races remaining.
"People kept telling me that the door (to victory lane) would finally open, and today we broke through it," said Castroneves. "The door was really stuck, but what an incredible effort by Team Penske. I can't thank them enough. I'm really excited about today, because the car was extremely fast. For me, it was really fun pushing and pushing every lap for the entire race. That's what it's all about, and that's what made us win."
Castroneves led 51 of 80 laps after starting from the pole and beat his teammate, Ryan Briscoe, to the finish line by 5.2926 seconds. The 1-2 finish by Team Penske was especially meaningful to the team, which saw its two primary cars damaged by fire earlier in the week.
"It's unbelievable. To start the week off the way we did, with the fire and everything, and then dominate with a one-two qualifying and race result, it's definitely the strongest we've been all year," said Briscoe. "I'm so happy for Helio (Castroneves). Not getting a win all year and getting all of those seconds was killing him. So I'm really happy for him to win the race. He was the quickest car out there today. It's just great for the team. Big congrats to Team Penske."
Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan finished third, Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Dan Wheldon was fourth and AGR's Danica Patrick was fifth.
Also on Sunday, Pablo Donoso earned his first career Firestone Indy Lights victory, winning the Valley of the Moon 100 by 2.0601 seconds over Logan Gomez. Raphael Matos finished sixth, extending his points lead to three over Richard Antinucci, who finished seventh. The season finale is Sept. 7 at Chicagoland Speedway
"This is great. I'm pretty happy, and I love this track. I won here in 2005 (in Star Mazda), so now I've repeated in 2008," said Donoso. "Team Moore Racing gave me a beautiful car. I did the job. I finished first. But it's just not me, it's the team, my family, my manager. This is for all the people who supported me in Chile."
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PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County
SONOMA, Calif. - Results Sunday of the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County IndyCar Series event Aug. 24 at the 2.303-mile Infineon Raceway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
2. (2) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
3. (4) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
4. (16) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
5. (9) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
6. (14) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
7. (18) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
8. (15) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
9. (7) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
10. (12) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
11. (22) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
12. (5) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
13. (20) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
14. (10) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
15. (6) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
16. (11) Mario Dominguez, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
17. (13) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
18. (8) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 80, Running
19. (19) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 79, Running
20. (24) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 79, Running
21. (27) Enrique Bernoldi, Dallara-Honda, 79, Running
22. (21) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 79, Running
23. (23) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 78, Off Course
24. (26) Jaime Camara, Dallara-Honda, 78, Running
25. (3) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 77, Off Course
26. (25) Marty Roth, Dallara-Honda, 76, Running
27. (17) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 56, Mechanical
Race Statistics:
Winner's average speed: 100.254 mph
Time of race: 1:50:15.8282
Margin of victory: 5.2926 seconds
Cautions: 1 caution flags for 2 laps
Lead changes: 8 among 4 drivers
Lap leaders: Castroneves 1-16, Briscoe 17-27, Viso 28-35, Castroneves 36-44, Briscoe 45-52, Kanaan 53, Castroneves 54-57, Viso 58, Castroneves 59-80.
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