Wikipedia

2008 IndyCar Series

(Redirected from 2008 in IRL)

The 2008 IndyCar Series was the 13th season of the IndyCar Series. It was the 97th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing. On February 26, 2008, the managements of Indy Racing League and Champ Car came to an agreement to become a single entity, ending a twelve-year split and resulting in the cancellation of the 2008 Champ Car World Series.[1][2]

2008 IndyCar season
IndyCar Series
Season
Races19
Start dateMarch 29
End dateOctober 26
Awards
Drivers' championNew Zealand Scott Dixon
Rookie of the YearJapan Hideki Mutoh
Indianapolis 500 winnerNew Zealand Scott Dixon
← 2007 (ICS)
2007 (CCWS)
2009 →
Scott Dixon (left) won his second Drivers' Championship while Hélio Castroneves (right) finished second in the championship.

The first race was held on March 29 at the Homestead–Miami Speedway. The premier event was the 92nd Indianapolis 500 on May 25. All races were televised on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPN Classic. All IndyCar Series broadcasts continued to use the Side-By-Side format in their first year of HD broadcasts. Races were also broadcast on the IMS Radio Network and XM for the radios.

Scott Dixon driving for Chip Ganassi Racing won the first unified title in 13 years after completing the IndyCar–Indy 500 double. Dixon took six victories over the course of the season but had to fend off a consistent championship challenge from Hélio Castroneves until the final round at Chicagoland Speedway.

Series news

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Unification with Champ Car

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On January 23, 2008, Robin Miller reported that Tony George had offered to Champ Car management a proposal that included free cars and engine leases to Champ Car teams willing to run the entire 2008 IndyCar Series schedule in exchange for adding Champ Car's dates at Long Beach, Toronto, Edmonton, Mexico City, and Australia to the IndyCar Series schedule, effectively reuniting American open wheel racing.[3] The offer was initially made in November 2007.[3] On February 10, 2008, Tony George, along with IRL representatives Terry Angstadt and Brian Barnhart, plus former Honda executive Robert Clarke, traveled to Japan to discuss moving the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi.[4] Moving that race, or postponing it, would be required in order to accommodate the Long Beach Grand Prix, which is scheduled for the same weekend.[4] Optimism following the meeting was high.[5]

On February 19, 2008, Robin Miller reported on SPEED[1] and Curt Cavin blogged on IndyStar.com[6] that the managements of Indy Racing League and Champ Car have come to an agreement to become one entity. The move would effectively end a 12-year split and reunite American Open Wheel racing. Meanwhile, Brian Barnhart announced that Tony George is negotiating the unification, and an inventory of available IndyCar chassis and equipment for the Champ Car teams is underway.[7] On February 22, Cavin initially reported that no deal had been reached between the IRL and CCWS in a lengthy dinner meeting between George and CCWS president Kevin Kalkhoven the previous evening. Later in the day, however, it was reported that the merger deal had been completed, confirmed by George, and that it would be formally announced at a press conference the following week.[8]

Rule changes

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  • Semi-automatic paddle shifters became mandatory for full time series entrants, while remaining optional for Indianapolis 500-only entries.[9]
  • Cars were fitted with a "Zylon" synthetic-fiber intrusion barrier.[9]
  • For the oval track events, qualifying changed from single-lap to two-lap average speed, similar to that used at Indianapolis in most years since 1920.[10]
  • Fuel mixture adjustment control was reinstated.[10]
  • Due to the added cars brought by unification, the road and street course qualifying procedure was altered to a knockout qualifying format (similar to Formula One), beginning with a pair of preliminary sessions, each composed of half of the field, the six fastest drivers from each preliminary session going to a third session and the six fastest drivers from that session competing for the pole in the Firestone Fast Six.[11]

Revenue sharing

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In an effort to enhance full-time participation, the IndyCar Series announced a revenue sharing plan entitled IndyCar TEAM (Team Enhancement and Allocation Matrix) for 2008.[12]

  • Teams would receive a minimum of US$1.2 million for each car competing in the full schedule.
  • Race purses were eliminated for all events except for the Indianapolis 500.
  • The top five finishers in each race were eligible for special cash bonuses.
  • The total purse for the 2008 Indianapolis 500 increased with the winner receiving US$2.5 million, 33rd place paying no less than $270,000. Indy-only entries were eligible for the $270,000 minimum along with the full-season entries. The entire race purse totalled at least US$13.4 million, not including contingency awards.[13] In 2007, race winner Dario Franchitti received $1,645,233, and last place Roberto Moreno won $224,805.[14]
  • The season champion won $1 million, as they had in earlier seasons. Second through fifth in the season championship were eligible for cash bonuses.

Testing

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The following open tests were held:

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  • PEAK Motor Oil was the official engine oil product of the Indy Racing League for some IndyCar teams, except Team Penske with Mobil 1, Andretti Green Racing with Castrol, A. J. Foyt Racing with Elf and Chip Ganassi Racing with Havoline.[15]
  • DirecTV was the IndyCar Series presenting sponsor.[16]
  • Coca-Cola was the official soft drink sponsor of the IndyCar Series through 2010.[17]
  • Raybestos was the preferred competition brake friction through 2009, and sponsor the Raybestos Road and Street Course Challenge, awarding $5,000 to the winner of each road/street course race and $25,000 to the driver with the highest average finish on road and street courses at the end of the season.[18]
  • Izod has signed a multi-year deal to be the official clothing supplier of the IndyCar Series[19]

2008 IndyCar Series schedule

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The original 16 race schedule, which was released on September 16, 2007, became a 19 race schedule (18 championship and 1 Non-Championship) on February 26, 2008. Some of the Champ Car races at Exhibition Place, Reliant Park, and Road America were added years later.

Rnd Date Race Name Track Location
1 March 29 XM Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami  O  Homestead-Miami Speedway   Homestead, Florida
2 April 6 Honda IndyCar Grand Prix at St. Petersburg  S  Streets of St. Petersburg   St. Petersburg, Florida
3 A April 20 Indy Japan 300 (see below)  O  Twin Ring Motegi   Motegi, Tochigi
B April 20 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (see below)  S  Streets of Long Beach   Long Beach, California
4 April 27 RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300  O  Kansas Speedway   Kansas City, Kansas
5 May 25 92nd Indianapolis 500  O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway   Speedway, Indiana
6 June 1 ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt 225  O  The Milwaukee Mile   West Allis, Wisconsin
7 June 7 Bombardier Learjet IndyCar 550k at Texas  O  Texas Motor Speedway   Fort Worth, Texas
8 June 22 Ethanol IndyCar 250 at Iowa presented by Midwest Corn Growers  O  Iowa Speedway   Newton, Iowa
9 June 28 SunTrust Indy Challenge  O  Richmond International Raceway   Richmond, Virginia
10 July 6 Camping World IndyCar Grand Prix at The Glen  R  Watkins Glen International   Watkins Glen, New York
11 July 12 Firestone IndyCar 200 at Nashville  O  Nashville Superspeedway   Lebanon, Tennessee
12 July 20 Honda IndyCar Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course   Lexington, Ohio
13 July 26 Rexall Edmonton Indy  S  Edmonton City Centre Airport Speedway   Edmonton, Alberta
14 August 9 Meijer Indy 300  O  Kentucky Speedway   Sparta, Kentucky
15 August 24 Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County  R  Infineon Raceway   Sonoma, California
16 August 31 Detroit Indy Grand Prix presented by Firestone  S  The Raceway on Belle Isle Park   Detroit, Michigan
17 September 7 Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300  O  Chicagoland Speedway   Joliet, Illinois
NC October 26 Nikon Indy 300  S  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit   Surfers Paradise, Queensland

 O  Oval speedway
 R  Road course
 S  Street circuit
NC Non-championship race

3B – The race at Long Beach was the last event sanctioned by Champ Car World Series. Points were awarded for the 2008 IndyCar Series championship to those drivers and teams which moved to the IndyCar Series under the open wheel racing unification agreement between the owners of CCWS and the IRL.

Schedule development

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Schedule details

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  • The original official 16-race schedule was announced September 19, 2007.[34] On February 26, 2008, it was announced that former Champ Car events at Long Beach, Edmonton, and Australia would be added to the 2008 schedule.[35]
  • An unresolvable scheduling conflict occurred between Motegi and Long Beach. Existing IndyCar teams competed in the Indy Japan 300, while some of the former Champ Car teams raced at Long Beach using their 2007 Panoz DP01 chassis. Both races counted toward the 2008 title.
  • The Indy Japan 300 was scheduled for 12:00 a.m. EDT, but was delayed to 10:00 p.m. EDT. Persistent "weepers" due to earlier rain delayed the race a day in Japan.
  • The Edmonton race was moved to Saturday instead of Sunday to avoid clash with the NASCAR Allstate 400 at the Brickyard; the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has an agreement not to hold IRL races directly against the NASCAR race at their circuit.
  • The Richmond race was extended by 50 laps, 37.5 miles (60.4 km), turning it from a 250-lap race to 300 laps.

Confirmed entries

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Team Chassis Engine Tire No. Drivers Rounds
  Vision Racing Dallara Honda F 2   A. J. Foyt IV All
20   Ed Carpenter All
22   Davey Hamilton 5
  Paul Tracy 13
  Team Penske Dallara Honda F 3   Hélio Castroneves All
6   Ryan Briscoe All
  Panther Racing Dallara Honda F 4   Vítor Meira All
  Dan Wheldon Surfers Paradise only
  KV Racing Technology Dallara Honda F 5   Oriol Servià All
8   Will Power (R) All
  Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda F 7   Danica Patrick All
11   Tony Kanaan All
26   Marco Andretti All
27   Hideki Mutoh (R) All
  Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara Honda F 9   Scott Dixon All
10   Dan Wheldon All
  Dario Franchitti Surfers Paradise only
  Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Dallara Honda F 02   Justin Wilson (R) All
06   Graham Rahal (R) All
  Luczo Dragon Racing Dallara Honda F 12   Tomas Scheckter 4–5, 7, 15–17
  A. J. Foyt Racing Dallara Honda F 14   Darren Manning All
  Vítor Meira Surfers Paradise only
41   Jeff Simmons 5
  Franck Perera (R) 17
  Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara Honda F 15   Buddy Rice All
23   Milka Duno 1, 4–5, 7–8, 10–12, 14, 16–17
  Townsend Bell 2–3, 6, 9, 13, 15
99 5
  Rahal Letterman Racing Dallara Honda F 16   Alex Lloyd (R) 5
17   Ryan Hunter-Reay All
  Dale Coyne Racing Dallara Honda F 18   Bruno Junqueira All
19   Mario Moraes (R) All
  Roth Racing Dallara Honda F 24   Jay Howard (R) 1–4, 10
  John Andretti 5–9
25   Marty Roth 1–9, 11–17
  HVM Racing Dallara Honda F 33   E. J. Viso (R) 1–10, 12–17
  Conquest Racing Dallara Honda F 34   Franck Perera (R) 1–3
  Jaime Camara (R) 4–17
36   Enrique Bernoldi (R) 1–15
  Alex Tagliani 16–17
  Rubicon Race Team Dallara Honda F 44   Max Papis 5
  Sarah Fisher Racing Dallara Honda F 67   Sarah Fisher 5, 14, 17
  CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports/Wellman Racing Dallara Honda F 77   Roger Yasukawa 3
98 5[36]
  American Dream Motorsports Panoz Honda F 88   Phil Giebler (R) 5
  Hemelgarn Johnson Racing Dallara Honda F 91   Buddy Lazier 5
  Pacific Coast Motorsports Dallara Honda F 96   Mario Domínguez (R) 3, 5–7, 10, 12–13, 15
Long Beach only entries[37]
  Forsythe/Pettit Racing Panoz Cosworth B 3   Paul Tracy
7   Franck Montagny (R)
37   David Martínez (R) [38]
  Minardi Team USA/HVM Racing 4   Nelson Philippe (R)
14   Roberto Moreno
  Rocketsports 9   Antônio Pizzonia (R)
10   Juho Annala (R)
  KV Racing Technology 12   Jimmy Vasser [39]
  Walker Racing 15   Alex Tagliani
  Pacific Coast Motorsports 29   Alex Figge (R)
  • On March 5, the IRL announced that former Champ Car teams would be paired with current IndyCar teams to aid their transition.[40]

Driver and team news

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Race summaries

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Round 1: GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300

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Main article: 2008 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300

After qualifying, the Vision Racing qualifying times of Ed Carpenter and A. J. Foyt IV (2nd and 3rd) were disallowed, and forced to move to the rear of the field. After a crash during qualifying, Dan Wheldon was forced to a back-up car at the rear of the field as well.

At the start, Scott Dixon beat Danica Patrick into the first turn. Dixon went on to lead most of the way through lap 71. After a series of pit stops, Marco Andretti moved into the lead. On lap 127, Milka Duno spun in turn two, and collected Ryan Briscoe, who was running sixth. Later, Tony Kanaan moved back into the lead until the final round of pit stops. By pitting out-of-sequence Danica Patrick unlapped herself, and moved up to second place. The position was short-lived, as she was forced to pit for fuel before the end of the race. With seven laps to go, E. J. Viso spun directly in front the leader Kanaan, and clipped his right-front suspension. Kanaan attempted to limp around and hold on to the victory if the race finished under caution. With four laps to go, the green came out, and Kanaan was forced to pull out of the way. Scott Dixon got by, and held on for the victory.

Despite starting at the rear of the field, Dan Wheldon charged to the front, managed to lead 9 laps, and came home third. In addition, both Vision cars rebounded to finish in the top 10.

2008 was the last season that the series season opener held in an oval track to date until 2020.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 1 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 200 1:44:03.5914 67
2 4 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing 200 +0.5828 85
3 22 10   Dan Wheldon Chip Ganassi Racing 200 +1.4278 9
4 5 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 200 +8.0340 4
5 24 20   Ed Carpenter Vision Racing 199 +1 lap 0
Race average speed: 171.248 mph (275.597 km/h)
Lead changes: 12 between 5 drivers
Cautions: 3 for 24 laps

Round 2: Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

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Main article: 2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Heavy rain in the morning soaked the track, and left considerable standing water. The race was started under 10 laps of caution as the track dried. At the start, Tony Kanaan assumed the lead, but soon was passed by Justin Wilson. The early part of the race saw several spins by several cars, including Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti and Mario Moraes.

On the 37th lap after a restart, rookie Graham Rahal was hit from behind by Will Power while running 3rd. He was able to continue. Several cautions slowed the race, including a crash by Ryan Briscoe, and a multi-car incident involving Vítor Meira, Franck Perera, and Townsend Bell. On the restart that followed, Rahal-Letterman Racing driver Ryan Hunter-Reay led Graham Rahal. Rahal got the jump and took the lead into the first turn. With time running out before the two-hout time limit, the race was poised to end before the scheduled distance. On the final restart, just under 4 minutes of racing remained. Rahal held off a charging Hélio Castroneves and won his first race.

At 19 years, 93 days old, Rahal became the youngest driver ever to win an Indy-style race, as well as the youngest winner in IndyCar Series history.[59] He broke Marco Andretti's record from 2006.[59] He also became the fourth driver to win an IndyCar Series race in his first start, joining Buzz Calkins, Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Dixon.[59]

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 9 06   Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 83 2:00:43.5562 19
2 4 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 83 +3.5192 0
3 1 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 83 +5.5134 15
4 15 33   E. J. Viso HVM Racing 83 +8.8575 12
5 18 36   Enrique Bernoldi Conquest Racing 83 +9.6360 3
Race average speed: 74.251 mph (119.495 km/h)
Lead changes: 7 between 8 drivers
Cautions: 6 for 29 laps

Round 3A: Indy Japan 300

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Main article: 2008 Indy Japan 300
  • Sunday April 20–11:00 a.m. JST / Saturday April 19, 10,:00 p.m. EDT; postponed from Saturday April 19–1:00 p.m. JST / 12:00 a.m. EDT due to weepers (water seeping up onto the track from previous heavy rains).
  • Twin Ring Motegi – Motegi, Japan (1.52-mile oval)
  • Distance: 200 laps / 304 miles (489 km)
  • Race weather: 54 °F (12 °C), Mostly cloudy
  • Television: ESPN Classic, ESPN2 (Marty Reid, Scott Goodyear, Jack Arute 1)
  • Nielsen ratings: 0.27 (rainout); 0.19 (live); 0.33 (re-air)
  • Attendance: TBA
  • Pole position winner: No. 3 Hélio Castroneves (qualifying rained out; lineup set by IndyCar points standings)

At the start, Marco Andretti lost control in turn one due to cold tires and crashed out of the race. Meanwhile, Hélio Castroneves took the lead, and led the first 92 laps. On the 48th lap, Ed Carpenter and Danica Patrick pitted, but moments later the caution came out when Hideki Mutoh crashed. The pits became closed, and the remainder of the leaders had to wait to make their respective pit stops. After the field was shuffled, Castroneves still maintained the lead.

On the 92nd lap, Vítor Meira brushed the wall. In the pits, Vision Racing teammates Carpenter and A. J. Foyt IV made contact in their pit stalls. Scott Dixon exited the pits first, and took over the lead.

On lap 142, Roger Yasukawa stalled on the mainstretch with a brake failure. The ensuing caution period set up an exciting finish due to fuel strategy,[citation needed] as most teams were getting 51 laps on a single tank of fuel. The top seven leaders all pitted together, with Dixon coming out in the lead once again. On lap 148, Castroneves, Patrick, and Carpenter all returned to the pits to top off their tanks, in hopes of going the distance without one last pit stop, hoping that the race would go green to the finish.

Shortly after the restart on lap 149, Patrick dropped back to seventh place (last car on the lead lap) in a fuel conservation strategy to have enough fuel to challenge the leader at the end of the race. With the race remaining green, during the final ten laps, most of the leaders, not having enough fuel to get to the end, ducked off the track for "splash-and-go" pit stops for fuel. Despite topping off his tank earlier, Ed Carpenter, getting poorer fuel economy than the rest of the lead-lap cars, was forced to pit for fuel. Castroneves inherited the lead with less than 5 laps to go, with Patrick charging in second place. Castroneves slowed his pace to conserve fuel, and Patrick took the lead with 2 laps to go. Patrick held on to win, and became the first female to win a race in the history of top-level American open wheel racing.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 6 7   Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing 200 1:51:02.6739 3
2 1 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 200 +5.8594 94
3 2 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 200 +10.0559 101
4 5 10   Dan Wheldon Chip Ganassi Racing 200 +13.1116 2
5 3 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 200 +16.0731 0
Race average speed: 164.258 mph (264.348 km/h)
Lead changes: 5 between 4 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 29 laps

Round 3B: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

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Main article: 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

The final race of the Champ Car era took place less than a day after the checkered flag fell at the Indy Japan 300. Teams which raced in ChampCars in 2007 stayed in North America for the 34th annual Long Beach Grand Prix, while teams which planned to compete in the IndyCar Series before the merger raced at Motegi.

The contingent of former Champ Car teams produced a 20-car field, all using the turbocharged Cosworth/Panoz DP01 for the final time. From a standing start (the first such at Long Beach since 1983; Champ Car had used the start from June 2007), Will Power got the jump from fourth position to take the lead into turn one. Power led 81 of the 83 laps, relinquishing the top position only during pit stops.

All participants entering other IndyCar races earned points towards the 2008 IndyCar Series championship. All the teams raced together again a week later at Kansas Speedway, and for the remainder of the schedule together.

The race was run under Champ Car rules, which included the standing start, option tire, two-day qualifying format, ran on time (1hr 45 mins) rather than a set number of laps.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 4 8   Will Power KV Racing 83 1:45:25.415 81
2 6 7   Franck Montagny Forsythe/Pettit Racing 83 +5.094 0
3 10 96   Mario Domínguez Pacific Coast Motorsports 83 +15.516 0
4 8 36   Enrique Bernoldi Conquest Racing 83 +25.677 0
5 12 5   Oriol Servia KV Racing 83 +26.276 0
Race average speed: 92.964 mph (149.611 km/h)
Lead changes: 3 between 3 drivers
Cautions: 3 for 9 laps

Round 4: RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300

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Main article: 2008 RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300

At the start, Scott Dixon took the lead from the pole position. Meanwhile, Enrique Bernoldi spun and headed to the pits. On lap 23, Will Power crashed in turn 2. While the field pitted under the caution, Justin Wilson stayed out and took the lead.

Dixon took the lead back on the restart, and maintained the lead through the next series of pit stops. On lap 98, the caution came out again for a crash involving E. J. Viso and Tomas Scheckter. After another long green flag segment, Buddy Rice brought out the yellow on lap 153 with a heavy crash in turn 2. In the pits, Danica Patrick retired from the race with a broken wheel hub. Meanwhile, Scott Dixon, who had dominated most of the race, was shuffled back to seventh place.

The race resumed after a long yellow with Dan Wheldon leading. Wheldon pulled away and led the final 49 laps to record his first IndyCar Series victory since April 2007.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 2 10   Dan Wheldon Chip Ganassi Racing 200 1:52:49.9806 49
2 11 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 200 +2.1778 0
3 1 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 200 +4.3922 145
4 8 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 200 +9.2889 1
5 14 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing 200 +9.2986 0
Race average speed: 161.774 mph (260.350 km/h)
Lead changes: 5 between 4 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 41 laps

Round 5: Indianapolis 500

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Main article: 2008 Indianapolis 500

Polesitter Scott Dixon led 115 laps, including the last 29, to win his first Indy 500. Several cars, including Tony Kanaan, Graham Rahal, Jeff Simmons and Justin Wilson were involved in crashes. With 29 laps to go Danica Patrick was eliminated when Ryan Briscoe clipped her car exiting the pits, damaging both. They were fined $100,000 and placed on probation for their actions.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 1 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 200 3:28:57.6792 115
2 8 4   Vítor Meira Panther Racing 200 +1.7498 12
3 7 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing 200 +2.3127 15
4 4 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 200 +6.2619 0
5 10 20   Ed Carpenter Vision Racing 200 +6.5505 2
Race average speed: 143.567 mph (231.049 km/h)
Lead changes: 18 between 9 drivers
Cautions: 8 for 69 laps

Round 6: ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt 225

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Main article: 2008 ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225

Marco Andretti took the lead from the pole position, and led the first 40 laps. He was chased early by Scott Dixon and teammate Tony Kanaan. Graham Rahal, who started on the outside of the front row, shuffled back, but remained in the top 5 for the first half of the race.

The first half was mostly green, with only a minor caution involving Oriol Servia and another for debris. Later in the first fuel segment, Andretti's handling started to suffer, and Scott Dixon took over the lead. Hélio Castroneves took over second, and Andretti fell back as deep as tenth.

On lap 130, Graham Rahal went high in turn three to pass Darren Manning. He got into the marbles, and brushed along the wall in turn four. After holding the lead for 136 laps, Dixon was finally challenged by Ryan Briscoe. Briscoe took over the lead on lap 177, and held it until a green flag pit stop on lap 194. After a sequence of pit stops, Castroneves, Andretti and Wheldon all cycled near the front. When all pit stops were complete, Briscoe held a half-second lead over Dixon. The two battled for the lead over the final 21 laps.

With less than three laps to go, Marco Andretti dove underneath Ed Carpenter in turn one. The cars touched, and both cars spun into the wall. Vítor Meira became caught up in the smoke, and rode up over Andretti, becoming airborne. He landed upright, and all drivers were uninjured. The race finished under caution with Ryan Briscoe picking up his first career IndyCar victory, and 300th overall win for the Mooresville, North Carolina-based Penske Racing in all motorsports series.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 11 6   Ryan Briscoe Penske Racing 225 1:42:41.7387 36
2 3 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 225 +0.0487 147
3 6 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 225 +1.8413 0
4 7 10   Dan Wheldon Chip Ganassi Racing 225 +2.9314 0
5 5 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 225 4.6704 2
Race average speed: 133.428 mph (214.732 km/h)
Lead changes: 5 between 4 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 29 laps

Round 7: Bombardier Learjet 550

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Main article: 2008 Bombardier Learjet 550

In the first half, three single-car incidents involving Mario Domínguez, Justin Wilson, and Oriol Servia slowed the race. The lead changed hands between Hélio Castroneves, Bruno Junqueira, and Scott Dixon for the first 100 laps.

Two sequences of green flag pit stops occurred under a long stretch of green flag conditions. A caution for debris came out on lap 165, sending the leaders to the pits once more. Vítor Meira stayed out to take over the lead.

With 21 laps to go, Meira was forced to pit for fuel, giving up the lead to Marco Andretti. Moments later, Enrique Bernoldi crashed in turn four. Andretti led the field back to green on lap 219.

With six laps to go, Scott Dixon slipped by Andretti to take the lead. On the next lap, down the backstretch, third place Ryan Hunter-Reay dove below Andretti heading into turn three. Hunter-Reay pinched his left wheels onto the apron, lost control, and touched wheels with Andretti. Both cars spun and crashed hard into the wall. The race finished under caution with Dixon the winner, and Hélio Castroneves slipping by the accident to finish second.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 1 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 228 2:04:36.3153 58
2 2 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 228 +0.0479 85
3 3 6   Ryan Briscoe Penske Racing 228 +0.6173 12
4 7 10   Dan Wheldon Chip Ganassi Racing 228 +3.3000 0
5 6 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 228 +4.3124 0
Race average speed: 159.740 mph (257.077 km/h)
Lead changes: 21 between 6 drivers
Cautions: 8 for 52 laps

Round 8: Iowa Corn Indy 250

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Main article: 2008 Iowa Corn Indy 250

At the green flag, Hélio Castroneves took the lead in turn 1 from polesitter Scott Dixon. Tony Kanaan quickly moved up to second position. Over the next 10–15 laps, Castroneves and Kanaan battled back-and-forth for the lead, side-by-side on many laps. Kanaan finally muscled the lead away on lap 16, and gained a lead of roughly one second.

On lap 39, Ed Carpenter brushed the outside wall in turn 2. The leaders pit, and Kanaan exited the pits as the leader. On lap 51, the green came back out, and a lap later, Castroneves got by Kanaan for the lead. Jaime Camara brought out the yellow on lap 106 when his car lost power and stopped on the course. After another sequence of pit stops, Tony Kanaan led Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti. On the restart, Wheldon lost control and slid up the track, falling to 8th place.

On lap 157 Mario Moraes spun into the pit apron, bringing out a caution, and the leaders pitted. John Andretti's pitcrew had trouble engaging the fuel hose, and he dropped back the end of the running order. Prior to this he had been running in 7th place, one of the highest positions ever for a Roth Racing car.

Castroneves regained the lead on lap 170, and held it until another yellow came out on lap 188 for a spin by Enrique Bernoldi. Most of the leaders pitted, but Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, and Danica Patrick stayed out to lead the field. On the restart Mario Moraes spun for the second time of the day, and prolonged the yellow until lap 202. On lap 212, Tony Kanaan (running third) suddenly lost control and crashed in turn 1.

On the lap 227 restart, Marco Andretti and Scott Dixon passed Danica Patrick to take third and fourth place respectively. Over the final 15 laps, Mutoh and Andretti battled for second, with Mutoh holding off Andretti's challenge. Dan Wheldon went on to win, and Chip Ganassi Racing donated their race winnings from both cars to Iowa flood relief. After getting by Danica Patrick late in the race, A. J. Foyt IV finished in the top 5, while John Andretti just missed the top 10, working his way back to 11th.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 3 10   Dan Wheldon Chip Ganassi Racing 250 1:30:50.3110 61
2 7 27   Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green Racing 250 +0.1430 0
3 8 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing 250 +0.9028 26
4 1 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 250 +1.2726 0
5 18 2   A. J. Foyt IV Vision Racing 250 +1.3564 0
Race average speed: 136.007 mph (218.882 km/h)
Lead changes: 9 between 4 drivers
Cautions: 6 for 57 laps

Round 9: SunTrust Indy Challenge

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Main article: 2008 SunTrust Indy Challenge

At the start, Ryan Hunter-Reay spun just before the start/finish line, which brought the yellow out immediately. The first 7 laps were run under yellow with Tony Kanaan leading from the pole position. On lap 8, the green came out, but only one lap was completed before the next yellow. Will Power was driving below Hélio Castroneves, lost control, and crashed in turn 4. The race finally got going on lap 21, when the green came out once again.

On lap 31, A. J. Foyt IV touched wheels with John Andretti, and Foyt crashed in the wall in turn 2. His Vision Racing teammate Ed Carpenter ran over debris from the crash, and both cars were sidelined. During the caution, a handful of cars pitted, including Danica Patrick and rookie Jaime Camara, but most of the leaders stayed on the track.

Kanaan continued to lead when debris brought out the caution again on lap 67. All of the leaders pitted, while Camara and Patrick stayed out and took the first two spots. On the restart, Camara led the field, but Buddy Rice spun and tagged the wall on the frontstretch. The field checked up, and Darren Manning, Ryan Briscoe and Bruno Junqueira were involved in a separate crash.

Camara led at the next restart, while Kanaan, Patrick, and Castroneves went 3-wide for second. Behind them in turn 2, John Andretti and Vítor Meira tangled, and crashed hard in the wall. Patrick returned to the pits, and topped off with fuel. Camara continued to lead, and impressively held off Kanaan on the restart. On lap 116, Marco Andretti caught up to Camara, and took the lead for the first time.

Graham Rahal crashed on lap 133 in turn 4. Many of the leaders pitted, but Andretti stayed out to lead. Another restart saw only three green laps, as yet another crash occurred, this time involving Ryan Hunter-Reay and Mario Moraes. Around this time, some teams anticipated that rain might end the race early.

Marco Andretti gave up the lead on lap 204 when he made his final pit stop. That put Tony Kanaan back into the lead. On lap 217, after a brilliant run in the top five, Jaime Camara lost control and crashed on the frontstretch. The yellow trapped Andretti a lap down, and kept Kanaan in the lead after the final sequence of pits stops. The rain held off, and Kanaan led the rest of the way for his first victory of the season.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 1 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 300 2:04:05.5111 166
2 18 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 300 +4.7691 0
3 4 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 300 +6.6504 0
4 6 10   Dan Wheldon Chip Ganassi Racing 300 +7.7270 0
5 10 5   Oriol Servia KV Racing 300 +10.7701 0
Race average speed: 108.790 mph (175.081 km/h)
Lead changes: 3 between 3 drivers
Cautions: 9 for 102 laps

Round 10: Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix

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Main article: 2008 Camping World Indy Grand Prix at the Glen


Polesitter Ryan Briscoe led from the start, but Scott Dixon, who qualified fourth, quickly passed Justin Wilson and Ryan Hunter-Reay to move into second for most of the first half of the race. Dixon was unable to pass Briscoe, but posed a serious challenge and posted comparable lap times.

The start of the race was relatively attrition-free, except for incidents involving two championship contenders. Dan Wheldon made contact with Darren Manning on the first lap, leading to suspension damage for Wheldon. On lap 6 Hélio Castroneves, who had started last after being unable to post a time in qualifying due to a broken throttle, snapping his streak of three consecutive poles at Watkins Glen, had a gearbox problem and stopped just shy of pit lane. With few other drivers dropping out in the first 40 laps, Dixon was poised to massively increase his points lead.

After a brief interlude when Vítor Meira led during a pit stop cycle, Briscoe and Dixon returned to the top two positions and thoroughly dominated the race, leading third-place Hunter-Reay by over 20 seconds. However, Meira and E. J. Viso made contact in turn 8 and the ensuing caution period allowed the other lead-lap cars to catch up to Briscoe and Dixon. All drivers pitted on this caution period except Manning, who stayed out of the pits in an attempt to stretch his fuel mileage. Dixon beat Briscoe and Hunter-Reay out of the pits, but Manning took the lead.

A brief green-flag period on lap 44 ended when Enrique Bernoldi crashed in turn 1, and then the race took a rather unusual turn, with two wrecks occurring under the caution period, before the race returned to green. A restart was waved off when A. J. Foyt IV and Milka Duno crashed in turn 9. Once that was cleaned up, and the IRL officials attempted to restart the race again, Dixon, who was swerving his tires to clean them, unexpectedly spun out and collected Briscoe. Hunter-Reay, who avoided the wreck, suddenly found himself second to Manning.

On lap 51, the race returned to green, with Manning ahead of Hunter-Reay. Hunter-Reay, who had no need to conserve fuel, newer tires, and a stronger car, easily dispatched of Manning in a short green-flag period before another caution came out for Jaime Camara's crash in turn 6. This was the final caution of the race, and Hunter-Reay won easily, claiming his first win in IndyCar, his first American open wheel win since 2004, and the Rahal Letterman Racing team's first win since 2004, with Buddy Rice. Manning did not come close to running out of fuel with all the cautions and finished second, his best career finish. With Castroneves, Wheldon, and Dixon's trouble, Tony Kanaan, who finished third, was the big gainer in the points standings, but Dixon still held a lead of 48 points on Castroneves, and 51 on Wheldon.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 3 17   Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman Racing 60 1:54:01.1795 9
2 8 14   Darren Manning A. J. Foyt Racing 60 +2.4009 10
3 6 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 60 +4.1054 0
4 17 15   Buddy Rice Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 60 +4.8111 0
5 7 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing 60 +5.3132 0
Race average speed: 106.403 mph (171.239 km/h)
Lead changes: 5 between 4 drivers
Cautions: 6 for 14 laps

Round 11: Firestone Indy 200

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Main article: 2008 Firestone Indy 200

Pole winner Hélio Castroneves led at the start, with Danica Patrick second. On lap 3, Marco Andretti's car wiggled in turn 2, made contact with Ryan Briscoe, and both cars crashed into the outside wall. After the caution, Castroneves continued to lead, and Patrick held on to second.

On lap 45, Patrick attempted to take the lead, but Castroneves was able to hold the position. The move shuffled Patrick back to fifth position. After the first sequence of pit stops, the lead changed hands between Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan. Kanaan held the lead through the next caution, when Ryan Hunter-Reay crashed in turn 3 on lap 100. All of the leaders pitted under the yellow on lap 102.

On lap 139, Kanaan continued to lead when a light rain brought out the caution. On lap 149, Kanaan, Vítor Meira, Patrick, Castroneves, and others, pitted for tires and fuel. Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon, however, stayed out and moved into the lead. When the rain stopped, the race went back to green on lap 152.

Scott Dixon led Dan Wheldon as the race passed the 160 lap mark (40 laps to go). With fuel running low, both cars gambled on the rain resuming. On lap 166, rain began to fall, with Dixon the leader. Heavy rain put out the red flag after lap 171. Fifteen minutes later, the race was called, and Scott Dixon was declared the winner.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 5 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 171 1:30:04.6499 53
2 6 10   Dan Wheldon Chip Ganassi Racing 171 +1.0680 0
3 1 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 171 +4.1054 54
4 7 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 171 +6.4612 59
5 2 7   Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing 171 +7.8301 0
Race average speed: 148.072 mph (238.299 km/h)
Lead changes: 5 between 4 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 37 laps

Round 12: Honda 200

edit
Main article: 2008 Honda 200
Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 2 6   Ryan Briscoe Penske Racing 85 2:01:22.8496 43
2 1 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 85 +7.2640 5
3 6 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 85 +7.6967 0
4 12 8   Will Power KV Racing 85 +12.7569 3
5 8 5   Oriol Servia KV Racing 85 +13.4713 0
Race average speed: 94.873 mph (152.683 km/h)
Lead changes: 7 between 7 drivers
Cautions: 5 for 19 laps

Round 13: Rexall Edmonton Indy

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Main article: 2008 Rexall Edmonton Indy
Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 4 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 91 1:51:05.7039 30
2 2 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 91 +5.9237 35
3 6 02   Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 91 +13.4009 0
4 15 22   Paul Tracy Vision Racing 91 +28.1462 0
5 3 5   Oriol Servia KV Racing 91 +28.7132 0
Race average speed: 96.967 mph (156.053 km/h)
Lead changes: 9 between 6 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 19 laps

Round 14: Meijer Indy 300

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Main article: 2008 Meijer Indy 300

This race had a shuffling finish, with Dixon, Andretti and Meira each leading at least one lap in the dying stages before pitting for splash-and-go stops. Castroneves inherited the lead, stayed out as his team assumed he would have enough fuel to finish, and was still leading when the white flag came out. But on the final corner, Castroneves ran out of fuel and Dixon flew past to take his sixth win of the season.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 1 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 200 1:36:42.3467 151
2 6 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 200 +0.5532 5
3 9 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing 200 +0.5707 38
4 2 4   Vítor Meira Panther Racing 200 +0.9102 5
5 3 10   Dan Wheldon Chip Ganassi Racing 200 +2.1472 0
Race average speed: 183.650 mph (295.556 km/h)
Lead changes: 10 between 5 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 19 laps

Round 15: Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy Grand Prix

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Main article: 2008 Peak Antifreeze Indy Grand Prix

After so many second places, this was the race Castroneves had been waiting for, with a smooth, dominant drive to claim his long-awaited first win of the season and close the gap on Dixon in the title race.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 1 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 80 1:50:15.8282 51
2 2 6   Ryan Briscoe Penske Racing 80 +5.2926 19
3 4 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 80 +16.6032 1
4 16 10   Dan Wheldon Chip Ganassi Racing 80 +17.7720 0
5 9 7   Danica Patrick Andretti Green Racing 80 +25.8458 0
Race average speed: 100.254 mph (161.343 km/h)
Lead changes: 8 between 4 drivers
Cautions: 1 for 2 laps

Round 16: Detroit Indy Grand Prix

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Main article: 2008 Detroit Indy Grand Prix

The finish to this race was not without controversy. Late in the race, Castroneves led Wilson by less than a second, and Castroneves appeared to make an illegal block, causing IRL officials to penalize him, allowing Wilson to move past and take the win by more than 4 seconds.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 4 02   Justin Wilson Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 87 2:00:10.7618 15
2 2 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 87 +4.4058 53
3 8 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 87 +17.6815 0
4 3 5   Oriol Servia KV Racing 87 +26.5468 0
5 1 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 87 +27.7185 18
Race average speed: 89.911 mph (144.698 km/h)
Lead changes: 4 between 4 drivers
Cautions: 4 for 11 laps

Round 17: Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300

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Main article: 2008 Peak Antifreeze Indy 300
The final points race saw Hélio Castroneves winning his second round of the season, having started dead last after being demoted to the rear of the grid due to him illegally moving his car below the white line during qualifications. His drive from 28th to first was the farthest back a driver has won an IndyCar Series race from. The Brazilian held off the newly crowned champion Scott Dixon by 0.0033 seconds or 12+1⁄8 inches (310 mm), in the second closest finish in the twelve-year history of the series.[75] The race was originally given to Dixon by what would have been a closest winning margin of 0.0010 seconds, but the result was changed following a review. Hideki Mutoh claimed rookie of the year after he finished 22nd and Justin Wilson could finish no higher than 11th.
Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 28 3   Hélio Castroneves Penske Racing 200 2:01:04.5907 79
2 2 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 200 +0.0033 15
3 1 6   Ryan Briscoe Penske Racing 200 +0.0811 41
4 4 11   Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 200 +0.6128 47
5 10 8   Will Power KV Racing 200 +1.3613 0
Race average speed: 150.649 mph (242.446 km/h)
Lead changes: 22 between 6 drivers
Cautions: 7 for 53 laps

Nikon Indy 300

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Main article: 2008 Nikon Indy 300

Justin Wilson pitted on the warm-up lap, with the gearbox sticking in third, but joined the start from the back. Will Power immediately dominated the start, pulling a two-second lead on the first lap. Scott Dixon started second but after being forced to cut the first chicane was relegated behind Ryan Briscoe by officialdom.

Mario Moraes and Vítor Meira clashed at the second chicane with Meira spinning without hitting anyone. A few lap later Moraes caused the first safety car, clipping the turn 2 chicane, breaking the right rear corner of the car. Townsend Bell was eliminated after a clash with Hélio Castroneves which wrecked Bell's steering. Later the same lap Castroneves had a right rear puncture caused by Danica Patrick's front wing while passing the Andretti Green Racing driver.

Lap 17 saw the end of Power's dominance of the meeting as he crashed at the Bartercard chicane, which put Briscoe into the lead ahead of Dixon. Briscoe pitted for fuel immediately upon catching the tailmarker, Patrick, but Dixon waited another lap and was held up behind Patrick. At the same time Graham Rahal touched the rear of Ed Carpenter, spinning the Vision Racing car around, almost blocking the track. The emerging safety car almost hit Dixon as he completed his stop.

Behind the safety car Patrick stopped and stalled, almost hitting the stationary car of Carpenter. Dario Franchitti clipped the tyre bundle on the inside of the same chicane and spun and stalled bringing out the safety car. After the restart Tony Kanaan had the right rear suspension break without apparent reason.

After the second round of pitstops the battle for third between Alex Tagliani and Ryan Hunter-Reay was interrupted by Franchitti as a poor pitstop and a poor pit position for Conquest Racing saw Tagliani drop several position behind E. J. Viso. Viso later would twice have to give up spots for cutting chicanes, first to Tagliani, then Castroneves. Lap 48 saw Jaime Camara go straight on and stalled the car attempting to recover.

In the races closing stages Dixon closed in on Briscoe, the two remaining local drivers lapping significantly faster than the rest of the field. Carpenter hit the wall at turn 3 on the last lap but it did not affect the lead battle and Briscoe won his home race ahead of Dixon and Hunter-Reay finished third.

Top five finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
1 3 6   Ryan Briscoe Penske Racing 60 1:45:50.3868 39
2 2 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 60 +0.5019 1
3 5 17   Ryan Hunter-Reay Rahal Letterman Racing 60 +9.1179 9
4 7 36   Alex Tagliani Conquest Racing 60 +19.9844 1
5 15 5   Oriol Servia KV Racing 60 +20.4376 0
Race average speed: 95.068 mph (152.997 km/h)
Lead changes: 7 between 6 drivers
Cautions: 3 for 6 laps

Season Summary

edit

Race results

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NC Non-championship race

Rnd Race Pole position Fastest lap Most Laps Led Winner Winning team Report
1 Homestead   Scott Dixon   Ryan Briscoe   Marco Andretti   Scott Dixon   Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
2 St. Petersburg   Tony Kanaan   Tony Kanaan   Graham Rahal   Graham Rahal   Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Report
3A Motegi   Hélio Castroneves   Hélio Castroneves   Scott Dixon   Danica Patrick   Andretti Green Racing Report
3B Long Beach   Justin Wilson   Antônio Pizzonia   Will Power   Will Power   KV Racing Report
4 Kansas   Scott Dixon   Scott Dixon   Scott Dixon   Dan Wheldon   Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
5 Indianapolis   Scott Dixon   Marco Andretti   Scott Dixon   Scott Dixon   Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
6 Milwaukee   Marco Andretti   Scott Dixon   Scott Dixon   Ryan Briscoe   Team Penske Report
7 Fort Worth   Scott Dixon   Dan Wheldon   Hélio Castroneves   Scott Dixon   Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
8 Iowa   Scott Dixon   Ryan Briscoe   Hélio Castroneves   Dan Wheldon   Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
9 Richmond   Tony Kanaan   Tony Kanaan   Tony Kanaan   Tony Kanaan   Andretti Green Racing Report
10 Watkins Glen   Ryan Briscoe   Ryan Briscoe   Ryan Briscoe   Ryan Hunter-Reay   Rahal Letterman Racing Report
11 Nashville   Hélio Castroneves   Tony Kanaan   Tony Kanaan   Scott Dixon   Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
12 Mid-Ohio   Hélio Castroneves   Ryan Briscoe   Ryan Briscoe   Ryan Briscoe   Team Penske Report
13 Edmonton   Ryan Briscoe   Will Power   Hélio Castroneves   Scott Dixon   Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
14 Kentucky   Scott Dixon   Ed Carpenter   Scott Dixon   Scott Dixon   Target Chip Ganassi Racing Report
15 Sonoma   Hélio Castroneves   Hélio Castroneves   Hélio Castroneves   Hélio Castroneves   Team Penske Report
16 Detroit   Scott Dixon   Justin Wilson   Hélio Castroneves   Justin Wilson   Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Report
17 Chicagoland   Ryan Briscoe   Hélio Castroneves   Hélio Castroneves   Hélio Castroneves   Team Penske Report
NC Surfers Paradise   Will Power   Dario Franchitti   Ryan Briscoe   Ryan Briscoe   Team Penske Report

Final driver standings

edit
Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems
Pos Driver HMS STP MOT1 LBH1 KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO EDM KTY SNM DET CHI Pts SUR2
1   Scott Dixon 1 22 3* 3* 1* 2* 1 4 3 11 1 3 1 1* 12 5 2 646 2
2   Hélio Castroneves 4 2 2 4 4 5 2* 14* 2 16 3 2 2* 2 1* 2* 1* 629 7
3   Tony Kanaan 8 3 5 2 29 3 5 18 1* 3 4* 7 9 8 3 3 4 513 21
4   Dan Wheldon 3 12 4 1 12 4 4 1 4 24 2 17 7 5 4 20 6 492 11
5   Ryan Briscoe 19 23 9 7 23 1 3 7 15 12* 23 1* 6 7 2 9 3 447 1*
6   Danica Patrick 6 10 1 19 22 9 10 6 6 14 5 12 18 11 5 16 10 379 18
7   Marco Andretti 2* 25 18 5 3 21 19 3 9 5 24 25 17 3 14 18 8 363 13
8   Ryan Hunter-Reay 7 17 7 18 6 15 20 8 16 1 19 10 8 9 18 6 9 360 3
9   Oriol Servià 12 7 5 11 11 6 26 16 5 23 16 5 5 12 15 4 17 358 5
10   Hideki Mutoh  RY  24 6 11 6 7 12 6 2 13 9 14 9 27 18 13 11 22 346 8
11   Justin Wilson  R  15 9 19 9 27 7 27 12 7 25 18 11 3 24 9 1 11 340 12
12   Will Power  R  25 8 1* 27 13 14 13 9 25 15 11 4 22 26 25 8 5 331 22
13   Vítor Meira 10 19 16 22 2 22 7 15 20 22 6 6 19 4 7 17 27 324 14
14   Darren Manning 13 13 8 24 9 13 28 21 12 2 9 8 10 19 22 12 7 323
15   Ed Carpenter 5 18 6 10 5 20 9 23 11 17 8 15 13 6 23 14 28 320 20
16   Buddy Rice 11 15 12 20 8 10 8 22 22 4 7 20 11 10 11 19 25 306 10
17   Graham Rahal  R  Wth 1* 13 12 33 25 11 10 18 8 12 16 26 25 8 13 19 288 9
18   E. J. Viso  R  17 4 9 14 26 8 14 13 10 10 22 15 13 6 24 23 286 6
19   A. J. Foyt IV 9 11 15 8 21 17 12 5 24 19 22 18 12 20 20 10 13 280 17
20   Bruno Junqueira 23 24 12 15 20 18 15 Wth 23 6 15 13 14 14 17 7 20 256 15
21   Mario Moraes  R  16 16 20 17 18 23 18 19 17 7 10 24 20 17 10 15 21 244 24
22   Enrique Bernoldi  R  18 5 4 25 15 16 23 17 26 21 20 26 16 22 21 Wth 220
23   Jaime Camara  R  21 31 24 24 20 14 18 21 14 23 16 24 25 18 174 19
24   Marty Roth 21 DNS 17 26 32 Wth 22 Wth 19 13 21 21 23 26 Wth 16 166
25   Milka Duno 20 16 19 17 24 20 17 23 21 23 14 140
26   Townsend Bell 21 10 10 11 8 25 19 117 23
27   Mario Domínguez  R  3 DNQ 26 21 13 19 24 16 112
28   Jay Howard  R  22 14 13 13 Wth 26 72
29   Franck Perera  R  14 20 6 15 71
30   John Andretti 16 19 16 11 21 71
31   Tomas Scheckter 23 24 25 27 21 26 66
32   Alex Tagliani 7 22 12 56 4
33   Paul Tracy 11 4 51
34   Sarah Fisher 30 15 24 37
35   Roger Yasukawa 14 DNQ 16
36   Davey Hamilton 14 16
37   Buddy Lazier 17 13
38   Alex Lloyd  R  25 10
39   Jeff Simmons 28 10
40   Franck Montagny 3  R  2 0
41   David Martínez 3  R  8 0
42   Jimmy Vasser 3 10 0
43   Alex Figge 3  R  14 0
44   Nelson Philippe 3  R  15 0
45   Antônio Pizzonia 3  R  16 0
46   Roberto Moreno 3 17 0
47   Juho Annala 3  R  18 0
—   Dario Franchitti 0 16
—   Phil Giebler  R  DNQ 0
—   Max Papis DNQ 0
Pos Driver HMS STP MOT1 LBH1 KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO EDM KTY SNM DET CHI Pts SUR2
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th & 5th place
Light Blue 6th–10th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 10)
Purple Did not finish
(Ret)
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing
In-Line Notation
Bold Pole position
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
(3 points)
DNS Any driver who qualifies
but does not start (DNS),
earns half the points
had they taken part.
Note 1 Races run on same day
(Motegi / IndyCar)
(Long Beach / Champ Car)
Note 2 Non-championship round
(no points awarded)
Note 3 no points awarded
(Long Beach participants did not
enter other 2008 IndyCar races)
 RY  Rookie of the Year
 R  Rookie
  • Ties in points broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc., and then by number of pole positions, followed by number of times qualified 2nd, etc.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "REPORT: Champ Car/IndyCar Deal Done". SpeedTV.com. February 19, 2008. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  2. ^ "Champ Car and IRL confirm merger". Autosport.com. February 22, 2008. Archived from the original on February 27, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2008.
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  5. ^ "Official optimistic IRL-Champ Car merger talks will continue". IndyStar.com. February 12, 2008. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
  6. ^ "Official optimistic IRL-Champ Car merger talks will continue". IndyStar.com. February 19, 2008. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  7. ^ Cavin, Curt (February 19, 2008). "Champ owner sees few teams in IRL". IndyStar.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2008. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
  8. ^ "Champ Car leader leaves Indy without deal". IndyStar.com. February 22, 2008. Archived from the original on February 25, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2008.
  9. ^ a b c "Indy-Car Upgrades Planned For 2008, '09". AutoWeek.com. September 7, 2007. Archived from the original on February 12, 2008. Retrieved September 17, 2007.
  10. ^ a b "IRL officials hoping rules changes tighten competition in '08". ESPN. January 16, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  11. ^ Ryan, Nate. Growth forcing IRL to alter qualifying format, USA Today, April 1, 2008
  12. ^ "IndyCar TEAM Press Conference Transcript". IndyCar.com. October 2, 2007. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2007.
  13. ^ "Indianapolis 500 Purse, Winner's Payout To Soar In 2008". Indy500.com. October 2, 2007. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2007.
  14. ^ "OFFICIAL: BOX SCORE: 91st Indianapolis 500-Mile Race" (PDF). IndyCar.com. May 27, 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 9, 2007. Retrieved September 12, 2007.
  15. ^ "Oct. 30: On topics too numerous to list". IndyStar.com. October 30, 2007. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  16. ^ "George's team penalized". IndyStar.com. March 29, 2008. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved March 30, 2008.
  17. ^ "The Coke side ..." IndyCar.com. April 1, 2008. Retrieved April 1, 2008.
  18. ^ "Raybestos to sponsor challenge". IndyCar.com. April 4, 2008. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
  19. ^ "INDYCAR: Watkins Glen Notebook – Saturday". speedtv.com. July 5, 2008. Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
  20. ^ "Grand Prix extends 2 years". St. Pete Times. May 1, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2007.
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