By David Phillips“I knew Ryan didn’t have (the options) and we did,” said Wilson. “ As soon as the yellow came out we didn’t need to save fuel, we could run flat out to the end. The option tires seemed to be coming in a bit quicker. It heats up faster, so I was able to open a nice gap and make my life a lot easier the last five laps.”
Briscoe held on to second from Dixon while Helio Castroneves was fourth ahead of Marco Andretti, who recovered from an early barging match with EJ Viso. Mike Conway took advantage of a perfectly timed first pit stop to move into second behind Wilson in the middle stages of the race. Although he later lost spots on his final stop, Conway came home sixth for his best finish of the season.
Paul Tracy crashed out of the race while running 11th and Dario Franchitti finished fifteenth after spinning into a sand trap on Lap 23. Franchitti’s poor finish, coupled with Dixon’s third place vault the Kiwi into the IndyCar Series points lead while the Scot and Briscoe are now tied for second spot.
RESULTS: Pos Driver Team Gap
1. Justin Wilson Coyne
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 4.9906s
3. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 5.1632s
4. Helio Castroneves Penske + 7.0755s
5. Marco Andretti Andretti Green + 8.5595s
6. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold + 9.3646s
7. EJ Viso HVM + 11.3804s
8. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green + 13.0020s
9. Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 13.2633s
10. Dan Wheldon Panther + 18.0412s
11. Danica Patrick Andretti Green + 18.5656s
12. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon + 18.9342s
13. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 23.0413s
14. Mario Moraes KV + 23.3821s
15. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 1 lap
16. Ed Carpenter Vision + 1 lap
17. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold + 2 laps
18. Richard Antinucci 3G + 13 laps
Retirements:
Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green 51 laps
Paul Tracy KV 29 laps
Ryan Hunter-Reay Foyt 0 laps