News

 RICHMOND, Va. (June 27, 2008) – Team Penske drivers Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves are ready for Saturday’s SunTrust Indy Challenge at the .75-mile Richmond International Raceway, and both are confident they’ll be able to take on the shortest track of the 2008 IndyCar Series season.

Ryan Briscoe will start 11th in the 26-car field after the No. 6 Team Penske Honda/Dallara recorded a four-lap average of 165.643 mph.  "It was quite challenging out there today because the track and weather conditions seemed to be constantly changing,” Briscoe said. “We had to make an educated guess in qualifying after the rain, and my car had a bit of understeer going into Turn 1. However, I was able to work on the car during my run and recover well for the final three laps.”

Helio Castroneves will start 18th in the No. 3 Penske Honda/Dallara after posting a four-lap average of 163.353 mph.  "We tried everything we could today," he said. "We're going to keep working, and the good news is tomorrow is the day that counts. Hopefully we'll be able to turn things around and bring the Team Penske car home near the front."

Briscoe echoed the sentiment, hoping the team will be able to move forward during the 300-lap race.  “We're not at the front of the field, but hopefully we'll be able to move up like we did in Milwaukee and bring home another win,” Briscoe said. “The race is really going to be about how your car handles in traffic, and I think that Team Penske will come through once again in giving me a good car."

Castroneves is currently second in the IndyCar series standings, while Briscoe is sixth.

The SunTrust Indy Challenge will be telecast live from Richmond International Raceway at 8 p.m. EDT on ESPN. The race will also air live on the IMS Radio Network

Qualifying Friday for the SunTrust Indy Challenge IndyCar Series event on the .75-mile Richmond International Raceway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine and speed in mph (average for four laps):
1. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 167.876 mph (1:04.3333 total time for four laps)
2. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 167.795
3. (06) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 167.250
4. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 167.120
5. (15) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 166.804
6. (10) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 166.768
7. (27) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 166.518
8. (2) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 166.126
9. (18) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, 166.032
10. (5) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 165.815
11. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 165.643 (1:05.2005)
12. (24) John Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 165.275
13. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 164.963
14. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 164.396
15. (25) Marty Roth, Dallara-Honda, 164.326
16. (8) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 164.321
17. (4) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 163.849
18. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 163.353 (1:06.1144)
19. (33) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 163.170
20. (19) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 162.566
21. (23) Townsend Bell, Dallara-Honda, 162.517
22. (14) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 160.616
23. (02) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 159.652
24. (34) Jaime Camara, Dallara-Honda, 158.884
25. (17) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, no speed
26. (36) Enrique Bernoldi, Dallara-Honda, no speed