BRISCOE, CASTRONEVES SWEEP TOP SPOTS AT MID-OHIO

LEXINGTON, Ohio, Sunday, July 20, 2008 – Ryan Briscoe earned his second IndyCar Series victory of the season, and Helio Castroneves finished second in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by Westfield Insurance to earn Team Penske a sweep.

The teammates started in reverse order on the front row for the 85-lap race on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit. Castroneves led the first five laps on rain tires, but relinquished the lead to Vitor Meira on Lap 6 after the Panther Racing driver pitted earlier to change to racing slicks.

Briscoe led 18 laps in the middle of the race and came out at the head of the pack as the competitors cycled through green flag pit stops from Laps 56-60. Briscoe built as much as a nine-second lead in the final laps, claiming the victory by 7.2640 seconds.

The result marked the second consecutive weekend that teammates have finished 1-2 in the IndyCar Series. Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon finished 1-2 July 12 at Nashville.

Dixon, last year’s winner at Mid-Ohio, finished third. His lead over Castroneves in the championship was cut five points to 58.

KV Racing Technology teammates Will Power and Oriol Servia finished fourth and fifth, respectively, while Vitor Meira, Tony Kanaan, Darren Manning, Hideki Mutoh and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top 10.

Also on July 20, James Davison won a bizarre Firestone Indy Lights race that had three different drivers lead the final three laps.

A wet course due to heavy rain immediately before the race led to numerous cars going off course throughout the 20-lap race.

Pole sitter Jonny Reid led the first 16 laps before he was passed by Mitch Cunningham. Cunningham led Laps 17-18 but spun off course with two laps to go. Reid was the leader when the white flag flew, but mistakenly headed to pit lane before taking the checkered. Davison, who started seventh, was the beneficiary and claimed his first career victory.

Wade Cunningham finished second, and Pablo Donoso finished third. Richard Antinucci finished 14th and took a one-point lead in the championship over Raphael Matos, who finished 18th.

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Graham Rahal had a two-part idea a few weeks ago to honor film legend, philanthropist and IndyCar Series team co-owner Paul Newman for the race at Mid-Ohio with a special helmet paint scheme.

The artwork – depicting movie posters of many of Newman’s most famous feature films, including “The Sting,” “The Hustler,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “The Long, Hot Summer” and the infamous “Slap Shot” – was created by helmet designer Troy Lee.

Rahal said he’s pleased with the outcome of murals “you’ll never see again.”

The second part is to offer the helmet for auction on eBay, with proceeds donated to the Hole in the Wall Camps that Newman created and supports through the Newman’s Own line of food products.

GRAHAM RAHAL: “My mom is involved in the Hole in the Wall Camps. We can auction it off and see how much it goes for.”

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FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS POST-RACE NOTES:

* This is James Davison’s first career victory in Firestone Indy Lights. His previous best finish was sixth at Milwaukee. * This is the 26th victory for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. * This is the third consecutive victory for Sam Schmidt Motorsports this season, all with different drivers. Richard Antinucci won Watkins Glen 2 and Ana Beatriz won at Nashville. * Wade Cunningham finished second, his best finish of the season. His previous best was third at Indianapolis. This is his best finish since second at Mid-Ohio last year with AFS Racing. * Pablo Donoso finished third, his career best. Previously, he had three fifths this season. * Cyndie Allemann finished a career-best fourth. Her previous best was eighth at St. Petersburg 1. * Ana Beatriz finished fifth, her seventh top-five finish of the season. * Jonny Reid finished ninth. * Mitch Cunningham finished 12th. * Richard Antinucci finished 14th, taking a one-point lead over Raphael Matos in the championship. * Raphael Matos finished 18th.

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FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS POST-RACE QUOTES:

JAMES DAVISON (No. 11 Lifelock/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, first): “I was thinking, ‘Has he made a mistake? I’m pretty sure we haven’t taken the checkered flag, and we need to take it.’ I asked, ‘Have I just won this thing?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah, you’re showing P1 on the timing.’ I had a very similar race to everyone. It was very chaotic. I went off down at Turn 4 at the end of the straight and went all the way down to the bottom of the gravel trap and somehow didn’t get beached. I dropped back to about 15th and I just said to my engineer, ‘Look, I’m just going to drive this thing, keep it on the track, and lay it on the line if I have to.’ You know, Jonny (Reid) took me out from second place at Nashville accidentally. If that's his way of saying, sorry, sort of helping me out, turning this season around that I've had, you know. We've been very strong at times, but literally zero luck. I mean, here we are. It's great.”

WADE CUNNINGHAM (No. 24 Natural Spring Alliance Motorsports, second): “I inherited a couple of positions today. I threw a lot away at the beginning. The conditions were very, very difficult. It was great coming back through the field. We had a very reasonable car, especially once the track started drying. We had more of a dry setup, only with the wets on it. I was fortunate to get to watch my brother’s (Mitch Cunningham) race because he was always about five positions in front. I watched him take the lead, and I was really happy for him. I didn’t see him spin off, and I didn’t see where he ended. I assumed he was far into the lead, but unfortunately he wasn’t. So he made that mistake and then Jonny (Reid) obviously just pulled into the pits thinking it was checkered flag. So I’m not sure which mistake was worse, Mitch’s or Jonny’s. Unfortunately neither of them were able to pick up a result. But for us, we&rs quo;re happy to pick up second. It was probably the slickest track I’ve ever driven on. Obviously the sealer they put on the concrete to keep the integrity of the track together is just terrible in the rain. But it was just a case of keeping ahead and going forward and trying not to make to many mistakes.”

PABLO DONOSO (No. 22 TMR-Cristal-Xtreme Coil Drilling, third): “The team gave me a really good car when things were really wet. We were a bit loose, and I hit Cyndie (Allemann) pretty hard in the back, which made it worse. I don't know what happened then. She was waiting for me for one lap and put me in the grass. It was a crazy race. I don't know what Jonny Reid did, but I'm happy for our team. It's our first podium finish, and I'm happy for James Davison. He deserved this win.”

CYNDIE ALLEMANN (No. 18 American Spirit, fourth): “The main thing to do was keep it on the track and avoid all the accidents. What was really difficult was so much spray on the backstraight that you couldn’t see where you had to brake, especially in the first half of the race. I’m happy because we’ve had so many problems the past few races. For my mind, it is good.”

ANA BEATRIZ (No. 20 Healthy Choice/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, fifth): “Everybody is fighting for the championship, so this is pretty good.”

RICHARD ANTINUCCI (No. 7 Lucas Oil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports): “I should have won it five times today, but I finished 14th. It’s just one of those crappy days. It was hard. There was a lot of movement all over the place. I spun off then recovered three places immediately, and then the yellow came out. Then, I went wide, went off, recovered, and gained back another three places. I got put off by (Pablo) Donoso the last time we were put off the track. A lapped car didn’t see us and crashed into us, which was pretty pathetic. As for the rest of the championship, we’re still in good shape. We’re going to go out and attack every race in the LUCAS OIL/LifeLock car.”

JONNY REID (No. 9 Integra): “I am really disappointed. I just came into the pits; there is really no excuse for it. Basically, the yellow came out so I thought the race was over and it was the done. I have never had a race finish under yellow like that before, and it just caught me off. I wasn’t thinking. My radio wasn’t working, and I didn’t have any communication with the team, and that wasn’t helping. It wasn’t working the whole race. It got water in it after the torrential downpour. And what confused me as well was that the safety car came on in the back straight and then came off the track again, and I slowed down. I switched into first gear and started following it and I pulled off. I didn’t really know what to do, and I thought the other drivers were going to follow me and they didn’t. So I lost, and it is a huge disappointment. I feel a little bit embarrassed about it, but what can I do? It is going t o just make me more hungry for a win in the future.”

RAPHAEL MATOS (No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc.): “It was very difficult out there today. I couldn’t see anything at the start. I lost a couple of spots because I just couldn’t see anything. Unfortunately I spun out and got hit by Bobby Wilson, and it broke the rear suspension on the AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing car.”

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INDYCAR SERIES POST-RACE NOTES:

* This is Ryan Briscoe’s second career victory and second victory this season. He also won at Milwaukee. * Helio Castroneves finished second, his 10th top-five finish of the season. * This is the 27th time that teammates have finished 1-2 and the second consecutive race that teammates have finished 1-2. Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon finished 1-2 for Target Chip Ganassi Racing last weekend at Nashville. * This is the eighth time Team Penske teammates have finished 1-2. The last time was at Phoenix in 2005 when Sam Hornish Jr. won and Helio Castroneves finished second. * Scott Dixon finished third, his 10th top-five finish of the season. * Will Power finished a career-best fourth. His previous best was eighth at St. Petersburg. * Oriol Servia tied his career-best finish with a fifth. He also was fifth at Richmond. * Vitor Meira finished sixth for the second consecutive race. * Darren Manning finished eighth, his third consecutive top-10 finish. * Jaime Camara tied his career-best finish with a 14th. He also was 14th at Richmond.

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INDYCAR SERIES POST-RACE QUOTES:

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, first): “What a weekend for Team Penske. It really couldn’t be better. It just feels so good to get this win. It’s been a rough couple of weeks in the lead up to here, and this one’s sweet for sure. What a comeback. It’s all strategy from Roger Penske himself. I don’t know if it’s momentum, because the two races in the lead up to this one weren’t so good, but hopefully we’ll keep some momentum from here.”

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, second): “The yellow came in the right place. Ryan drove a heck of a race. I was just trying to do everything I can, and unfortunately I got held up in traffic. We just didn’t have enough, so it’s a shame, but second is good.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, third): “It was a good day for us. We started sixth. I knew we still had a car to win. Everything was really crazy today. We didn’t get into any rhythm. Everybody knew how it was going to play out and who was doing what, and then we had a bad pit stop when we tried to jump Helio (Castroneves) there, and that put us back a little ways. So it’s frustrating, but still I think we only lost maybe five points in the championship.”

WILL POWER (No. 8 Aussie Vineyards-Team Australia, fourth): “I am really happy for the KVRT Aussie Vineyards team. This was a track I had never been to and we started well behind the eight-ball. We got the car better and better all weekend, made the right choice on tires early on in the race and had a good race strategy. We had the pace to ride at the front and we did. I am just really happy that we got good championship points here, and hopefully we can do that again next weekend in Edmonton.”

ORIOL SERVIA (No. 5 KV Racing Technology, fifth): “I am just really happy for the KV Racing Technology team. You saw where we started and how we progressed through the weekend from 20th to eighth yesterday. We had a car that could win today. We could have chosen a crazy strategy and maybe been a hero, but having a car that could contend at the front was a smarter thing to do, was more logical, maybe more conservative but definitely the right thing to do as we need those championship points. I am hoping next weekend at Edmonton I can bring the same if not better result to the team.”

VITOR MEIRA (No. 4 Delphi National Guard, sixth): “John Barnes made a great pit call, and we came into the pits after taking the green on the first lap to go to dry tires. That’s the second time this season we’ve done that, and both times we shot to the front. This time it put us in the lead of the race. The car was good. It was picking up some push as the race went on, and I was sliding a lot at the end, but I was able to keep (Tony) Kanaan behind me at the end. We would have been a position or two better, but coming out of the pits on my last stop I had contact with one of the Ganassi cars, and that let (Oriol) Servia get past me. The finish was OK, and after our luck we needed to keep finishing races. Again, we were in a position to win, and that’s going to go our way soon.”

TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven, seventh): “It was not a good race for this team. We need to regroup, because we’re definitely not doing a good job right now. We’ve got to keep our heads and work through our issues to get better.”

DARREN MANNING (No. 14 ABC Supply Co./AJ Foyt Racing, eighth): “It was a good race for us considering where we started. We discussed pitting straightaway before the race because I don't mind being on the wet with slicks. We made the right decision, coming out second. Our first stop was a tad slow, and we lost three spots, but overall the ABC Supply crew did a great job for me today. Towards the end when everyone's fuel load got down, I was a bit off-pace, and (Tony) Kanaan got me when I had to burp the throttle because it pushed a bit, but it's another top-10 for us. It gives us good momentum going into Edmonton.”

HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 27 Formula Dream, ninth): “The Formula Dream car was good at the beginning of the race. In fact, I think we had one of the fastest cars in the first stint. But, the last stint we developed too much of an understeer condition, and we just couldn't pass anyone. Our strategy for the race did not work out the way we needed. It was a tough day. I hope we can have a better result next week.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 17 Rahal Letterman Racing Team Ethanol, 10th): “These guys called some great pit strategy, and we caught one yellow right at a time that helped us. The Firestone tires really held up when we needed them to, and it’s great to come away with a top-10 finish after the start we had to the day. We couldn’t afford to leave many more points on the table. We stayed in the top 10 in points, and we’ll go after it again next week.”

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The 2008 IndyCar Series season continues with the Rexall Edmonton Indy July 26 at Edmonton City Centre Airport. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 5 p.m. (EDT) by ESPN. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network. A Spanish-language telecast of the race will be carried by ESPNDeportes. The IMS Radio Network broadcast also is carried on XM Satellite Radio and www.indycar.com. The 2008 Firestone Indy Lights season continues with the Kentucky 100 on Aug. 9. The race will air at 2 p.m. Aug. 14 on ESPN2. The Mid-Ohio 100 doubleheader airs at 2 p.m. (EDT) July 24 on ESPN2 and live on www.indycar.com.