|
 |
|
|
|
|
Looking Back: 2008 IndyCar Season Finale At Chicagoland - An Instant ClassicBy Anne Proffit
Sunday’s Indy Racing League IndyCar Series finale on the 1.5-mile Chicagoland Speedway oval left anyone who watched it wanting more. From the beginning this contest was exciting with a veritable freight train at the start, very little spacing out in the middle and the kind of finish any race fan could want.
By virtue of consistency – not to mention a record-tying six victories over the course of the regular season (with the exhibition at Surfers Paradise yet to come), Scott Dixon and his Target Chip Ganassi Racing crew led by Ricky Davis surely deserved to win the title. They set that goal two days after 2007’s letdown and never lost sight of the carrot at the end of the stick as they went about their business.
|
|
|
At the same time, Helio Castroneves and his Rick Rinaman-led group had the type of season one would expect to see at Coney Island. Their ups and downs were roller coaster-like and included everything from Helio’s self-induced errors to the conflagration that caused the team to lose a transporter and two Infineon-prepped racecars, together with tools, pit equipment and even clothing.
The Penske team never gave up and came through to win the final contest by the second closest margin in series history, giving Castroneves two wins for the year – when, leading up to Infineon he had none! Castroneves was helped by an exemplary and selfless teammate in Ryan Briscoe, the cast-off Australian whose talent shines brighter with every turn of the wheel. Remember, this was Briscoe’s first race here since he went up in flames in 2005.
Before we close the book on the 16-race regular season, let’s take another look back at the finale. The nuts and bolts of it have already been discussed to extreme, but the nuances of this race showed us a lot about the development of this series and how well it’s coming of age.
For instance, how about 22 lead changes at the start/finish line among six drivers – including the much maligned Milka Duno, who managed to keep her car at the front for five laps when the balance of the field went to the pits. Yeah, she led under caution, but she led. ‘Nuff said.
But for tired equipment, quite a few drivers might have put up some fine finishes after 200 laps on Sunday. Ed Carpenter was right up there with the lead group until his right-front suspension failed on lap 36; Vitor Meira, too, had problems with the right rear, exiting from eighth place on the 74th lap. Tomas Scheckter ran strong at the start of the contest, as he usually does on the mile-and-a-half ovals but debris placed the South African behind the wall.
Buddy Rice was the victim of a pit-road blocking move by Graham Rahal and had every right to be mad; Sarah Fisher suffered her own suspension problems and crashed out after 116 laps, but had been looking good and biding her time until then.
And then there’s EJ Viso, who has come under fire for his aggressive tendencies all season. He did what he needed to do and what his crew (and likely every one toward the back of the grid) told him to do: latch onto Helio Castroneves and ride to the front. Until his puncture on the 136th lap, Viso raced the leaders. He was part of three-wide running and was in no one’s way.
Young Mario Moraes, driving for Dale Coyne’s team made his local owner proud with forays into the top-10 during the long afternoon. The Brazilian didn’t get up to the front through yellows or strategy; for the most part, he moved forward using the oval skills he’s acquired throughout his first IRL season.
Alex Tagliani worked the rust out pretty darn fast and nearly made the top-10 standings once all 200 laps had been placed in the books. He was, in 12th position, the final driver on the lead lap behind Justin Wilson, who had an uneventful day, not getting in anyone’s day and treating five-month-old daughter Jane Louise to her first “bring your baby to work” day.
Will Power was almost exultant after the race was over. “I have never had so much fun in a race,” the Aussie rookie said. Relating the exceptional work done by his crew in the pits, he forgot to mention he drove a keen and well-thought-out contest. Darren Manning had a good race after being mid-field at the start. He waited until the race was three-fourths complete before “racing my butt off,” giving AJ Foyt a seventh place result.
And kudos to the IRL’s timing and scoring department, for having more than just the usual timing stripes to decide their contests. In a move that began two years ago when TAG Heuer brought its T&S expertise to the League, Jon Koskey used the finish line camera to overturn the timing stripe’s pronouncement of Scott Dixon’s apparent victory.
Instead, the timing camera’s photograph showed that it was, indeed, Helio Castroneves by 12-1/8 inches over Dixon at the stripe, for a margin of victory of 0.0033 seconds, making this heart-stopping finish the second closest in League history, after Sam Hornish Jr.’s 0.0024-second defeat of Al Unser Jr in Texas six years ago.
Castroneves’ good teammate, polesitter Ryan Briscoe certainly helped Spiderman/Twinkletoes make it to Victory Lane. Isn’t that what good teammates do? And Castroneves’ comeback from his ill-measured trips below the white line in qualifying that had him starting 28th and last – while needing a win and most laps led – was one of the more exciting trips anyone’s seen from an Indy car driver, anytime and anywhere.
Scott Dixon will be a great champion this year, certainly a more mature one than the shocked rookie who won it all in 2003 and didn’t know what to do with himself afterwards. This year, he was able to give credit to his beautiful bride Emma and to his folks, Ron and Glenys, for their support.
Dixon is noticeably a smarter man and certainly a more proficient racer than he was five years ago. He’s been through it all since then. It’s said you need to lose big in order to win big, and Dixon surely did that at this very same racetrack at the close of 2007.
To return and become the fourth consecutive driver to win both the vaunted Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar Series title puts Scott Dixon to the top of the American open wheel racing totem pole. That he took this championship in the first year of a newly reunited open wheel arena makes his accomplishments even more exciting. And relevant.
(c) 2008 Anne Proffit
PaddockTalk Perspective
|
|
|
Also in Feature Articles: |
|
| |
|
