Ryan Briscoe has led the most laps by wide margins the past three races and what has he to show for it? Runner-up in each of those events.
Still, Briscoe leads the championship chase by three points over two-time race winner Dario Franchitti heading into the SunTrust Indy Challenge this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. Such consistency is considerable consolation to the sophomore Team Penske driver.
He’s been the beneficiary of six bonus points by pacing the field in laps led (154 of 225 at Milwaukee, 160 of 228 at Texas and 85 of 250 at Iowa). Not even halfway through the schedule, Briscoe has led 509 laps. The record is 899 by Scott Dixon last year.
Click it: Complete standings | Ticket and track info for SunTrust Indy Challenge
“I don’t think we’re doing anything wrong,” said Briscoe, who finished second to Franchitti in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer on June 21. “We’re doing an extraordinary job as a whole team. It’s going to be like this for the rest of the season. It’s going to be very close. Every race we go to, it’s going to be tough.”
Maybe he can receive additional perspective from teammate Helio Castroneves, who recorded three consecutive second-place finishes in the second half of the 2008 IndyCar Series season to keep the pressure on points front-runner Dixon.
Dixon was 48 points clear of Castroneves pointing to Richmond last year. Castroneves finished second to Tony Kanaan and Dixon was third in the race under the lights on the 0.75-mile racetrack. Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Team Penske car, reeled off a string of seven (of eight) races in which he didn’t finish lower than third (including two victories). The championship was decided in the season finale.
As Briscoe forecasts, he’s expecting a similar scenario. Dixon is 12 points off the lead, and the top five (Castroneves is fourth and Danica Patrick is fifth) are separated by 52 points.
“We’re just going to have to keep on our game and keep doing what we’re doing,” said Briscoe, who has finished 15th and 21st in his Richmond visits. “Hopefully, we’ll start with those last few laps instead of the first few laps.”
On the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway, Briscoe relinquished the lead for good when he pitted under green on Lap 195 of 250. Franchitti, driving the No. 10 TomTom entry for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, picked up the point as cars cycled through their final servicing and stretched his advantage in the closing laps.
“I had a great battle at the end there with Dario,” said Briscoe, who won the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough for him at the end. I was hoping with the lapped traffic we were coming up on at the end I was going to be able to catch him like the previous stint and get around him, but he actually got the luckier draw with the traffic and was able to extend the lead.
“So it was tough. But I knew where the (contenders) were and it was a pretty good day to come in second and extend the points lead.”
