INDYCAR (INDIANAPOLIS) - DIXON CLAIMS MOTOROLA INDY 300 AT INFINEON

Scott Dixon took the IndyCar Series points lead, passing Dario Franchitti with seven laps to go and holding off Helio Castroneves to win the Motorola Indy 300 Presented by Jackson Rancheria Casino and Hotel at Infineon Raceway. Franchitti, after making contact with the race-leading No. 26 NYSE car of his teammate, Marco Andretti, in Turn 2, remained on the 2.26-mile, 12-turn circuit with a damaged front wing, hoping to salvage a top-five finish. He did, but for the first time since early June relinquished the points lead. Scott Dixon overtook Franchitti in Turn 3 on the restart and then held off Team Penske's Helio Castroneves to win the Motorola Indy 300 by 0.5449 of a second (the closest margin in three years of IndyCar Series road/street racing). Franchitti soldiered on to third place, but the swing allowed Dixon to take a four-point lead into the penultimate race of the season. Tony Kanaan finished fourth and Sam Hornish Jr. fifth. Also on Aug. 26, Richard Antinucci claimed his second road course win in the last three starts, advancing six positions to win the Valley of the Moon 100 Indy Pro Series event. Antinucci overtook leader Ryan Justice at the top of Turn 11 on Lap 19 for the first-year driver's second victory in nine road/street course events. Andrew Prendeville in the No. 5 RLR/Andersen Racing car finished third and Logan Gomez, driving the No. 23 Isilon Systems/Flacondos.net/SSM car, was fourth. *** DAY 3 NOTEBOOK:

Giebler keeps good company: Playa Del Racing driver Phil Giebler, the 91st Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year, was only too happy to introduce his girlfriend, Nicole Rash, after the Valley of the Moon 100. She is the reigning Miss Indiana. “We met at the Indianapolis 500,” said Rash, a Plymouth, Ind., native. “My sisters-in-law sponsored his car and I came down for practices and qualifying and found out we had a lot in common. We hit it off.”

VALLEY OF THE MOON 100 POST-RACE NOTES: • This is Richard Antinucci’s second win of the season and the second win of his Indy Pro Series career. He previously won at Mid-Ohio. • This is Cheever Racing’s second win in the Indy Pro Series. It previously won at Mid-Ohio with Antinucci. • Ryan Justice finished second, his career-best Indy Pro Series finish. He led his first laps in the Indy Pro Series today. • Andrew Prendeville finished third, his career-best Indy Pro Series finish

VALLEY OF THE MOON 100 POST-RACE QUOTES: RICHARD ANTINUCCI (No. 51 Cheever Racing, winner Valley of the Moon 100): “Two out of the last three road course races, we’ve got to be proud of that. I got to thank the time we worked overnight and looked at the data. My engineer was so good and all the crew. I have to thank my uncle Eddie (Cheever) for giving me this chance. We had the best car out there today. In such a short span, five race weekends, we have the best road course car out there. I’m confident in saying that because I don’t think I did anything special.” (About passing in Turn 11): “We changed the gear last night, so we had better acceleration. That was one of the reasons I lost out on the start yesterday. We had a bit more torque, so I knew I could brake earlier and still get by.”

EDDIE CHEEVER (Owner, Cheever Racing): “(Richard) is a very talented driver. He’s old enough to know he has to build a group around him and he’s done that. Every race he’s gone to, he’s gotten better and better. Everyone asks me if I’ve given him advice. He’s one of those drivers you don’t have to give any advice. Very impressive and I’m very proud. I think he has all the ability to make the jump, and one day he’ll be in the Indy 500.”

RYAN JUSTICE (No. 38 Lifelock/Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, finished second): “(Antinucci) was definitely quicker where he needed to be, and that’s how he got past. Strategy-wise, I didn’t want to let the third-place car catch us if I tried to battle (Antinucci) too long. I just let him go and tried to stay with him as best as I could. The crew did a fantastic job getting my car ready for today, helping me to find some speed, try and hold on to as many positions as we could.”

ANDREW PRENDEVILLE (No. 5 RLR/Andersen Racing, finished third): “It was a good run. We're very happy with our first podium. The team's worked extremely hard this year. Usually some frustrating results, but this time we came on the podium. We're hoping to keep this moving into Chicago and the momentum into the off-season.”

LOGAN GOMEZ (No. 23 Isilon Systems/Flacondos.net/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, finished fourth): “I’m pretty happy with the race, especially since it was my first time at this track. We started the weekend 15th in practice, qualified ninth and in the first race we finished sixth. We progressed more and more and we finished fourth today.” (About racing at Infineon Raceway): “It’s a great facility. I’m happy to be here. The weather’s been great and I couldn’t ask for much more except some better finishes. Next year, we’ll be the car to beat.”

STEPHEN SIMPSON (No. 24 Kenn Hardley Racing, finished fifth): “We started the race an hour earlier, so the track was a little cooler. I thought the conditions would be better. The track was about the same. I was hoping for a top-three finish, so I’m a little disappointed, but it was still a good weekend. We had some engine problems yesterday that we had to fix, so we couldn’t try some of the things we wanted to. But it was a good weekend for us and a great series to run in.”

MOTOROLA INDY 300 POST-RACE NOTES: • This is Scott Dixon’s fourth win of the season and the 10th win of his IndyCar Series career. His last win came at Mid-Ohio in July. • This is Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s 16th win in the IndyCar Series. • Scott Dixon took the point lead for the first time since he led the points at the Indianapolis 500 in May. Dario Franchitti led the points from Milwaukee, nine races ago. • Helio Castroneves finished second, his best finish since winning at St. Petersburg in April and his fifth top-five finish of the season. • Dario Franchitti finished third, his 12th top-five finish of the season.

MOTOROLA INDY 300 POST-RACE QUOTES:

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, winner Motorola Indy 300): “This is exactly what we needed. It was a tough day and a tough weekend to be honest. We’re still having problem with the Dallara car. It’s the first year we’ve used it (on road courses) and it’s been tough, especially in qualifying where we qualified fifth. AGR played it tough today. We had to deal with TK (Tony Kanaan) holding us up a lot and trying to build a gap for Dario (Franchitti). It’s fantastic for us with the points and it’s another race win this year is what we wanted.” (About passing Franchitti for the lead): “What goes around comes around. They were playing tactics and it seemed ironic that both of their cars got in an accident. It ended up ruining (Dario’s) day. I think our car was better on restarts, so we may have had the upper hand there. I don’t think his front wing would have mattered in that. But it doesn’t matter now. We won the race. That’s what matters.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished second): “My car was really good towards the end. In the middle of the race, when Scott (Dixon) and I were leaving the pits, he was able to find a little bit of my track and we touched wheels. I was like, 'Hey, I have nothing to lose buddy.' He was racing hard and forcing it. I was like, 'You know what, I'm going for it if I have an opportunity.' I would not put a stupid move on him. That's not what I want to do. I tried everything I could, but he did a good job. I guess that was a payback from St. Pete for him.”

DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 27 Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished third): “Scott (Dixon) and I almost had the same situation, but I think that Scott was a little further forward so I was able to wait a bit. With Marco (Andretti) he came out at the wrong point. Tony (Kanaan) and I had a similar situation on the stop before that and Tony opened up the door and gave me the room. I really want to look at it and talk to Marco. We're teammates. We look after each other and that shouldn't happen. I'm going to talk with him, look at the video and we'll see from there.”

TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished fourth): “I had to protect Dario as much as I could over the final few laps. The guy has done a lot for me over the years and I was thinking about the team. Motor racing is a very selfish sport but I’m proud of what I did today in the Team 7-Eleven car. It wasn’t going to change anything for me to be second, third or fourth. I want this team to win the championship and I’m pretty sure Dario will. It’s a little setback but we’ve still got two races to go.”

SAM HORNISH JR. (No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished fifth): “We couldn't get the setup quite where we wanted it this weekend, and we started the race a little loose. We went off the course early on and dropped down a few spots. I really have to hand it to Roger (Penske). He called a great strategy to get us back up near the front. To be able to finish in the top-five after where we were halfway through the race is great. Team Penske worked hard all weekend and now we head to Belle Isle on the strength of a solid performance here in Sonoma."

TOMAS SCHECKTER (No. 2 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished eighth): “The race was OK. It’s the best race I’ve had here, and I’m pleased with a top-10 finish. The guys gave me good stops and a good car, and we just made the best of it. We need to stay in the top-10 and challenge for top-five finishes in the final two events as we keep an eye on the points situation, so we will take the good run we had today and focus on the races coming up.”

DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished sixth): “We had a pretty fast car, but races like this are all about track position. We lost so much time in the pits, and there is just no need for that. It just seemed like there was something on every pit stop. You can’t win races when you have problems on every stop. There are things that we all need to improve on when it comes to our pit stops, but the stall -- I barely got it going the second time, so that is something that needs to be looked into on the car.”

VITOR MEIRA (No. 4 Delphi Panther Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished ninth): “I think we finished where we should have been. That's the car we had and where we are now as a team on the road courses. The track was slippery, but it was much better after our second stint. The car was loose early, but it got better. We were sometimes as fast as the leading group so I think we have the speed we need in the Delphi car. Again I think we need to keep our heads down and keep trying."

KOSUKE MATSUURA (No. 55 Panasonic Panther Dallara/Honda/Firestone, finished 10th): “I've been having lots of oversteer since the first practice session, but the engineers were able to solve that problem for today. We didn't have many yellows today, so it made me realize how important the qualifying position is. I was able to set some fast time in the race, so I think we are making good progress on road courses. I think it was a very productive weekend for us and I am looking forward to the next race.” *** The next IndyCar Series event is the Detroit Indy Grand Prix presented by Firestone at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 2 at the Raceway at Belle Isle. The race will be televised live by ABC and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network. The next Indy Pro Series event is the Chicagoland 100 on Sept. 9 at Chicagoland Speedway.