Dixon, Franchitti Take One-Two at Richmond IndyCar Race

Scott Dixon celebrates victory during the IRL Indycar Series SunTrust Indy Challenge on June 27, 2009 at the Richmond International Speedway. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Dario Franchitti leaves the starting line with Scott Dixon right behind him at the IRL Indycar Series SunTrust Indy Challenge at the Richmond International Speedway. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

McDonald’s/Newman-Haas-Lanigan driver Graham Rahal took third, his best finish ever on an oval

Andretti Green Racing swept positions four through seven, losing the top spots only due to some unfortunate luck with yellow flags.

The race was ultimately won in the pits, as Dixon, Franchitti, and Rahal all pitted under yellow on lap 250. Dixon’s crew had calculated exactly how much fuel Dixon needed to finish and exactly how many seconds it would take to pump, and sent their driver out just ahead of Franchitti and Rahal. Dixon never relinquished the lead, eventually bringing his car home three-tenths of a second ahead of his teammate.

Challenging Short Oval

Richmond International Raceway is a short—very short—banked D-shaped oval (14 degrees of banking in the turns, 8 degrees on the straights,) .75 miles around. Indy cars lap the track in under seventeen seconds—Scott Dixon took the pole with a lap of  16.0561 seconds at 168.160 mph. Cars generate 4.5–5gs of lateral acceleration, and because the track is so short, the cars are turning almost constantly (87% of the lap, at Richmond.

Passing on a very short oval is very challenging. The passing driver has to start almost a lap early, building speed for a run at the car ahead. The trailing car loses aerodynamic downforce and thus front grip when it hits the slipstream of the car ahead; the passing driver has to get as close as possible, going as fast as possible, and then drop inside or climb outside to pass, depending on where the car works better and which line the leading car is taking. If the pass is successful, the passing car needs to move in front to prevent a repass; if not the passing car has to slow, and loses almost an entire lap building speed for another attempt.

Team Competition: Target-Chip Ganassi vs. Andretti Green Racing

Dario Franchitti started from the pole and led the first 26 laps. (Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)

Hideki Mutoh led an IRL IndyCar race for the first time at Richmond. (Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)

Defending Richmond winner Tony Kanaan finished sixth this year. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

The Target-Chip Ganassi cars of Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon started one-two and ran that way for the first twenty-six laps. Jacques Lazier lost control of his car entering Turn One on the very first lap, putting himself out of the race and bringing out the first full-course caution. When racing resumed, the Target-Ganassi drivers held the lead.

On lap 26 Penske driver Ryan Briscoe lost control accelerating out of Turn Two, hitting the wall, ruining the car, and bringing out another full-course caution. Apparently, he hit the gas too hard coming off the high banking. Briscoe had been the series’s points leader, so his retirement meant that someone new would take the championship lead.

Hideki Mutoh took over the lead when the leaders pitted, with Danica Patrick right behind him. The Andretti Green Racing drivers: Mutoh, Patrick, Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan, chose a race strategy of pitting out of cycle with the leaders, hoping to gain track position and then, when the leaders had to pit under green, retaking the lead.

Franchitti and Dixon pitted for tires and rejoined the race in third and fourth; Dario Franchitti wasted no time in passing Danica, but Mutoh managed to hold onto first place.

Mutoh and Patrick both were on old tires, and due to come into the pits. Andretti Green Racing’s other two drivers, Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti were in seventh and tenth, giving AGR four cars in the top ten.

On lap 102 Mutoh had to pit for tires and fuel, giving the lead back to Franchitti. On lap 110, Patrick came in for fuel, tires, and a front wing adjustment, letting Dixon back into second. The order at lap 130 was Franchitti Dixon Catroneves, Kanaan, and Graham Rahal.

Danica Patrick brought the Boost Mobile AGR car home in fifth; with a bit better luck, she would have had second. (Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)

Helio Castroneves ran near the front until he crashed exiting Turn One. (Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)

Scott Dixon, (C), Dario Franchitti (L) and third placed Graham Rahal (R) celeberate their finishes. (Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)

Luck Beats Strategy

On lap 135, race leader Dario Franchitti came in under green for tires and fuel as did Graham Rahal and Tony Kanaan. This would have given a huge advantage to the Andretti Green team, but no such luck. Just as Franchitti was about to enter the pits, Mike Conway lost it coming out of the pits and hit the wall, bringing out a full-course yellow.

Franchitti (and right behind him, Graham Rahal) aborted at the last moment, heading off the pit entrance and back on. This gave Franchitti, Briscoe and also Graham Rahal almost a lap lead on the pack. Franchitti had to come in for a splash of fuel, costing him first place, and he and Dixon then came in for fuel and tires.

On lap 154 the race went back to green, with Scott Dixon in the lead, followed by Target-Chip Ganassi teammate Dario Franchitti in second, and Graham Rahal in third, followed by Hideki Mutoh and Danica Patrick.

Mutoh came in on lap 214 for tires and fuel, trying to stay off-cycle with the leaders. Mutoh hoped to finish the race without another stop. On 225, Danica Patrick came into the pits. She easily had enough fuel to finish the race.

The Target cars got another lucky break as Helio Castroneves lost control on lap 247. Helio lost control in almost exactly the same way his teammate Briscoe crashed: his back end stepped out coming off of the high banking onto the straight.

The leaders—Dixon, Franchitti, and Rahal—were all nearing the end of their fuel and, had they pitted under green, would have surrendered the lead to the four AGR cars, Mutoh, Patrick, Kanaan, and Andretti, who were in line behind them. With Helio’s accident and the resulting caution, the race came down to which of the top three could get into, and out of, the pits fastest.

Dixon’s crew won the pit lane battle, sending the defending series champion out just ahead of his teammate Franchitti. Rahal held onto third, and the four AGR cars were in fourth through seventh, cut down by fuel strategy and racing luck.

Championship Race Tight

Dario Franchitti’s win, coupled with Ryan Briscoe’s crash, gave Franchitti a one-point lead in the championship over teammate and defending champion Scott Dixon.

Briscoe dropped from first to third; the rest of the top ten held their positions.

With eight races finished, the top four drivers are within a win of first place, should the others fail to finish. The top three spots are up for grabs, and even if Target-Chip Ganassi continues its dominance, the winner could be either driver.

IndyCar goes back to the road courses for its next few races. The next event will be the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen, at the historic Watkins Glen circuit in upstate New York, on July 5. Please visit the Watkins Glen International Web site for ticket information.