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Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, IRL

Join me Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET as I chat with IZOD IndyCar Series star driver Ryan Briscoe a few hours before the IndyCar finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday night.

The native of Australia is one of three Penske Racing drivers and has one victory this year at Texas Motor Speedway. He's currently ranked fifth in points.

We'll be talking about his season and his hopes for next year and he'll be taking your questions, so we hope you'll join us Saturday afternoon at 2:30.

 

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Filed under: IRL

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) -- He might be Australian, but Ryan Briscoe is as quick with an American pop culture reference as he is on the racetrack.

Asked what his secret was to going fast on 1.5-mile oval tracks in the IndyCar series, Briscoe pulled out a famous Tom Cruise line from the 1980s jet fighter-jock movie "Top Gun."

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," he joked.

Briscoe won the pole position for the IndyCar series race at Chicagoland Speedway, turning a lap average of 216.346 mph in Friday's qualifying session for Saturday night's race.

"The car today was just spot on," Briscoe said. "You never want to be too overconfident, but I was thinking after that run, I was like, 'Man, that's got to be hard to beat.' "

It's the third straight pole position start at Chicagoland for Briscoe, the defending race winner.

 

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Filed under: IRL, Danica Patrick

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) -- Tony Kanaan overtook Helio Castroneves with 10 laps left and held on to win the Iowa 250 Sunday.

It was the first win since 2008 for Kanaan, who last took the checkered flag in Richmond two years ago. Kanaan had crashed in each of his first three starts at Iowa, but he zipped past Castroneves on lap 240 and cruised to victory by over four seconds.

"I've had three years to think about why I didn't finish. When I came here people kept reminding me of that," said Kanaan, who led for 62 laps. "I never finished, and then I finished. I finished first, so know we have a different story."

Castroneves finished second and E.J. Viso was a career-best third. Penske teammates Ryan Briscoe and pole winner Will Power rounded out the top five.

Danica Patrick finished 10th. Dario Franchitti, a two-time winner in Iowa, had mechanical issues with 50 laps left and finished 18th.

Kanaan started the race 15th, but he moved up quickly and took the lead about halfway through the race. Franchitti took the lead away from Kanaan with a quick pit stop 70 laps from the finish, but his quest for a third win in three starts at Iowa fell apart soon thereafter.

Castroneves moved past Franchitti for the lead, and Franchitti soon went back to pit row when his gear box got stuck. That left the race up to Kanaan and Franchitti, and Kanaan easily moved past Castroneves to pick up his 14th career IndyCar Series win.

 

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Filed under: IRL, Danica Patrick

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Ryan Briscoe pushed the push-to-pass button and quickly got back in front of Danica Patrick. All the way to Victory Lane at Texas.

Briscoe pulled away in the closing laps after briefly losing the lead to Patrick and won the IndyCar Series race at the high-banked, 1 1/2 -mile track Saturday night, winning there a year after dominating only to finish second.

Patrick was second Saturday night, 1.4 seconds behind Briscoe, followed by teammate Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti.

"This is unbelievable," Briscoe said in victory lane. "We made a lot of changes going into the race today and I have to thank the guys for giving me a car that was just so good in traffic all day long.

"I needed that," Briscoe said of the victory. "It was pretty miserable coming off Indy the way we did (with a crash). This win definitely means a lot."

 

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Filed under: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IRL, Indianapolis 500

INDIANAPOLIS -- Team Penske has three drivers competing in Sunday's Indianapolis 500, Helio Castroneves, Will Power, and Ryan Briscoe, and all three rank in the top ten in the Izod IndyCar points standings. Briscoe met the media on Thursday and FanHouse TV was there.

Click below to watch:

 

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP)-A shift to the ovals meant a shift in power in the IndyCar Series.

One of the last drivers of the day, Australian Ryan Briscoe was the fastest qualifier at Kansas Speedway on Friday, ending Will Power's bid for a record-tying fourth consecutive pole.

Power has been the driver to beat on the IndyCar Series this season, winning two of four races, earning three consecutive poles.

Watching from across the garage, Ryan Briscoe was stewing, waiting for his chance to snatch the spotlight away from his Team Penske teammate.

The Australian took away at least some of the sting with the fastest qualifying speed -- a four-lap average of 212.145 mph and will start on the front row Saturday with defending champion Scott Dixon in the 300-mile race on the 1 1/2 -mile oval.

Defending series champion Dario Franchitti will start on the second row with Hideki Mutoh, who moved up after Dan Wheldon's time was disallowed for driving under the white line. Heavy rain and hail washed out the early practice session and pushed back the second, leaving drivers an hour of prep time before qualifying.

 

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Filed under: IRL

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Will Power held off Justin Wilson and his Team Penske teammate, Ryan Briscoe, to win Monday's Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and extend what's been a near perfect IZOD IndyCar Series season for the 29-year old Australian.

Power led every practice session during the weekend, won the pole position and then ran a steady and smart race in the No. 12 Verizon-sponsored Honda to answer his season-opening win in Brazil two weeks ago and become the series' first back-to-back winner since 2008.

He's the first driver since Sam Hornish (2001) to win the first two races of the season.

There were sunny skies and a respectable crowd considering the race was delayed a day because of severe thunderstorms and frequent lightning on Sunday. And the show didn't disappoint.

The race had a record number of leaders (10) and the closing laps featured a passing display rarely seen on tight street courses like this 1.8-mile circuit along the St. Petersburg waterfront.

Power nearly gave up the lead when he brushed the wall with 5 laps remaining, but Wilson still crossed the finish line .8 seconds behind.

Reigning series champion Dario Franchitti had a great drive. He spun on the opening lap and fought his way back to a fifth-place finish. Danica Patrick finished seventh after starting way back in the pack.

 

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Filed under: IRL

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Qualifying for the IndyCar season-opener on the streets of Sao Paulo was postponed Saturday because the main straight lacked enough grip to make racing safe.

Drivers ran practice sessions on Saturday, giving officials time to try to improve track conditions overnight. Qualifying was rescheduled for Sunday morning ahead of the race.

Drivers complained that the temporary circuit for the inaugural Sao Paulo Indy 300 has severe bumps and was dangerous on the slick front straightaway.

The straight goes through a Sambadrome, a stadium-like venue that stretches for about a third of a mile and is the only part of the track with concrete instead of asphalt. It is where the traditional Carnival parades take place every year.

 

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Filed under: IRL, Danica Patrick

The joke goes -- in several variations -- that if former Professional Bull Riders CEO Randy Bernard can hang on more than 8-seconds in his new job as CEO of theIZOD IndyCar Series, he will have some serious potential.

He grabbed the IndyCar reins officially March 1 and gets his first true ride this weekend as the series opens Sunday in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Loaded with Brazilian drivers, sponsored by many Brazilian companies in a country that adores auto racing, it's fair to say the IndyCar series will get a larger and warmer reception in Sao Paulo this weekend than at many other stops on its expanded 17-race schedule.

And that goes to the heart of Bernard's greatest and most pressing challenge: Promotion! Promotion! Promotion!

Now unified as the country's premier open-wheel circuit, the IZOD IndyCar Series has exciting racing, close finishes and the top championship dramas of any major racing series.

But it's the best racing show people aren't watching enough of.

 

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by FanHouse Newswire

Filed under: IRL

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- Dario Franchitti's return to IndyCar racing couldn't have gone better. He's the IRL champion once again.

Franchitti successfully emerged from one of the closest points races in series history Saturday, winning the season-ending Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the first caution-free IRL race ever.

The 2007 champion -- who skipped 2008 to explore NASCAR -- held off Target Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon and Penske Racing's Ryan Briscoe.

So on the 10th day of the 10th month of the year, Franchitti's No. 10 car reigned supreme over the IRL.

"I can't believe it," Franchitti said. "It all worked out."

Franchitti Makes Triumphant Return, Captures IndyCar Title Again originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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