CASTRONEVES WINS AT TEXAS TO TAKE IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POINTS LEAD

CASTRONEVES WINS AT TEXAS TO TAKE IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POINTS LEAD FORT WORTH, Texas (Saturday, June 8, 2013) - Helio Castroneves dominated the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway to take sole possession of first place in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship standings through eight of 19 races. Driving the Chevrolet-powered No. 3 AAA Insurance Team Penske car, Castroneves led 132 of 228 laps on the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval and won by 4.6919 seconds over reigning series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay in the No. 1 DHL car for Andretti Autosport. Castroneves is the seventh different winner in eight races this season, and the first to win four IZOD IndyCar Series races at Texas Motor Speedway. It was his first win on an oval since 2010 at Twin Ring Motegi. "It was just the setup; we did a lot of homework. Awesome job everyone," said Castroneves, who broke a tie with Johnny Rutherford for 12th on the all-time Indy car list with his 28th victory. Castroneves broke a tie with Marco Andretti, who led 57 laps early and placed fifth, to move 22 points clear heading to the Milwaukee IndyFest on June 15 at the Milwaukee Mile. It was the first victory of the season for Team Penske and the sixth different team to hoist a trophy in Victory Circle. "Helio drove a flawless race and a key victory in our season based on where we were in the standings," team owner Roger Penske said. "It probably was the best execution we've had in a long time. Helio now leads the points and that's critical as we are in this stretch of oval races." Tony Kanaan, who started 13th in the No. 11 Sunoco "Turbo" car, finished third and Ed Carpenter posted his best finish of fourth at the track. DAY 2 NOTEBOOK: Competing at Texas Motor Speedway this past weekend, Kanaan was about 100 miles from the ranch where the 2-year-old bulls he co-owns - Downforce and Brazilian Bully - are being trained to potentially do their thing on the Professional Bull Riders circuit. "They're still doing their qualifying laps," Kanaan said.             Their first tests are Back Seat Buckers events that begin in August. The grand sire of Downforce is Little Yellow Jacket, which won PBR World Champion Bull titles for three consecutive years.             Two hours before the Firestone 550, Kanaan was presented a certificate of ownership to "TK500" by the Professional Bull Riders COO Sean Gleason in recognition of his Indy 500 victory. The bull, formerly known as Mud Wasp, is a competitor on the PBR's Built Ford Tough Series.             "I win the Indy 500 and now I have a bull named after me. It doesn't much better than this," Kanaan said. "(TK500) looks mean. Good." *** Texas racing legends A.J Foyt and Johnny Rutherford are at Texas Motor Speedway tonight. Foyt, the owner of A.J. Foyt Racing, will serve as the co-race strategist for #14 Takuma Sato alongside his son Larry Foyt, a graduate of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.Rutherford will drive the Chevrolet Corvette Pace Car during the race. Foyt and Rutherford are the namesakes of the Foyt-Rutherford Trophy which will be presented to tonight's race winner. FIRESTONE 550 RACE SPECIFICS •The race is 228 laps, 342 miles on 1.5-mile quad-oval.             •The pit road speed limit is 60 mph.             •The green flag to start the race will be shown the third time by the start-finish line.             •The E85 ethanol allotment for today's race is 89.5 gallons and the fuel window is approximately 35-45 laps under green-flag conditions.             •Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford, a resident of Fort Worth, Texas, will drive the Chevrolet Corvette Safety Car. •There will be no tow-ins or returns from the garage within the final 20 laps of the race.   FIRESTONE 550 PRE-RACE             At 7:30 p.m., the ambient temperature was 86 degrees with a relative humidity of 39 percent. Skies were fair. The track temperature was 98 degrees, according to Firestone engineers.             At 7:41 p.m., Plaza Towers Elementary School teachers Jennifer Simmonds and Ana "Sam" Canaday gave the command, "Drivers, start your engines." All cars but #6 Saavedra have started and are rolling on the grid. #6 Saavedra joins the grid after team is able to start the car.   FIRESTONE 550 RACE RUNNING             Lap 1: GREEN. #12 Power leads the field into Turn 1. #25 Andretti takes the lead on the exit of Turn 2 and leads the first lap of the race.             Lap 3: #18 Mann slows with reports of spray.             Lap 5: YELLOW. #18 Mann stopped on course between Turns 3-4. Leaders under caution are: #25 Andretti, #1 Hunter-Reay, #12 Power, #5 Viso, #3 Castroneves.             Lap 8: #4 Servia on pit road for fuel. Team also makes front wing adjustment. ***             #25 Marco Andretti is leading for the third time in 2013 and for the second time at Texas Motor Speedway. He led 25 laps in 2008. ***             Lap 14:  GREEN. #25 Andretti leads the field into Turn 1.             Lap 20: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .5801 of a second.             Lap 25: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by .8821 of a second.             Lap 30: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 1.3184 seconds.             Lap 35: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 2.2615 seconds.             Lap 40: #25 Andretti leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 2.6553 seconds. #6 Saavedra and # 15 Rahal on pit road for four tires and fuel.             Lap 43: #1 Hunter-Reay and #77 Pagenaud on pit road for four tires and fuel. #77 Pagenaud also makes front wing adjustment.             Lap 45: #67 Newgarden on pit road for four tires and fuel.  #25 Andretti leads #3 Castroneves by 2.7317.             Lap 48: #11 Kanaan and #83 Kimball on pit lane for four tires and fuel.             Lap 49: #27 Hinchcliffe on pit road for four tires and fuel.             Lap 50: #25 leads #3 Castroneves by 7.0822 #9 Dixon on pit road for four tires and fuel.             Lap 53: Leader #25 Andretti and #3 Castroneves on pit road for four tires and fuel. #9 Dixon slows on the backstretch. Leader is #12 Power.             Lap 54: YELLOW. #9 Dixon is slow on course on the backstretch. Leader is #12 Power.             Lap 58: Leaders on pit road for four tires and fuel. New leader on course is #1 Hunter-Reay.             Lap 63: GREEN. #1 Hunter-Reay leads the field into Turn 1.             Lap 65: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #25 Andretti by .8108 seconds.             Lap 70: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #25 Andretti by 1.3296 seconds.             Lap 75: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #25 Andretti by 1.2854 seconds.             Lap 80: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #25 Andretti by 1.5457 seconds.             Lap 85: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #25 Andretti by .6787 of a second. ***             Ryan Hunter-Reay is leading for the sixth time in 2013 and for the first time ever at Texas Motor Speedway. ***             Lap 90: #1 Hunter-Reay leads #25 Andretti by 2.0520 seconds.             Lap 94: Leader #1 Hunter-Reay on pit lane for four tires and fuel. New leader is #25 Andretti.             Lap 95: #25 Andretti leads #3 Castroneves by .7200 of a second.             Lap 96: #3 Castroneves takes lead from #25 Andretti in Turn 3 as leaders work heavy traffic.             Lap 100: #3 Castroneves leads #25 Andretti by .8523 of a second.             Lap 101: #25 Andretti on pit road for four tires and fuel.             Lap 103: #11 Kanaan and #27 Hinchcliffe on pit road for four tires and fuel             Lap 104: #67 Newgarden on pit road for four tires and fuel.             Lap 105: #16 Jakes on pit road for four tires and fuel.             Lap 106: #3 Castroneves leads #5 Viso by 10.2987 seconds.             Lap 109: #14 Sato on pit road for four tires and fuel.             Lap 113: YELLOW. #4 Servia spins in Turn 2. No contact. Leaders under caution are: #3 Castroneves, #19 Wilson, #5 Viso, #20 Carpenter and #12 Power.             Lap 116: Leaders on pit road for four tires and fuel. New leader is #20 Carpenter, who did not pit. #3 Castroneves wins the race off pit road followed by #12 Power, #19 Wilson and #5 Viso.             Lap 117: Leader #20 Carpenter on pit road for four tires and fuel. New leader is #3 Castroneves.             Lap 122: GREEN. #3 Castroneves leads the field into Turn 1. *** IZOD IndyCar Series officials have penalized #78 De Silvestro with a 30-second stop and hold for a blend out violation. #5 Viso has been penalized with a drive-through for a pit safety violation. *** Lap 130: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 1.1246 seconds. Lap 135: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 1.7457 seconds. Lap 140: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 2.6768 seconds. Lap 145: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 5.0226 seconds.         Lap 150: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 7.2170 seconds. Lap 154: #25 Andretti on pit road for four tires and fuel.     Lap 156: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 9.6416 seconds.                     Lap 160: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 8.3326 seconds. #11 Kanaan on pit lane for four tires and fuel. Pit report: Wheel nut fell off tire. Lap 161: #67 Newgarden also on pit road for four tires and fuel.             Lap 165: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 9.1133 seconds. #14 Sato on pit road for four tires and fuel.             Lap 168: #16 Jakes on pit road for four tires and fuel.                      Lap 170: #3 Castroneves leads #12 Power by 13.5968 seconds.                   Lap 175: Leaders, #3 Castroneves, #1 Hunter-Reay, #12 Power #20 Carpenter and #10 Franchitti on pit road for four tires and fuel. #27 Hinchcliffe also on pit road.             Lap 178: After green flag pit stops, #3 Castroneves leads #11 Kanaan by 4.7492 seconds.             Lap 185: #3 Castroneves leads #11 Kanaan by 7.3362 seconds. *** Update from INDYCAR Medical Director Dr. Michael Oligner: Tyler Rees, Adam Rovazzini and Greg Shuker of the Target Chip Ganassi Racing crew were treated and released from the infield care center after being involved in a mechanical incident with the No. 9 car on pit road on Lap 75. ***             Lap 195: #3 Castroneves leads #11 Kanaan by 7.3225 seconds.             Lap 198: #11 Kanaan on pit road for four tires and fuel. Team also makes a wing adjustment.             Lap 200: #3 Castroneves leads #25 Andretti 8.8467 seconds             Lap 204: #25 Andretti on pit road for four tires and fuel.             Lap 210: #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 7.7226 seconds.             Lap 212: #16 Jakes on pit road for four tires and fuel.             Lap 215: #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 5.0632 seconds.             Lap 220: #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 4.3527 seconds.             Lap 225: #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 5.9123 seconds.             Lap 227: WHITE: #3 Castroneves leads #1 Hunter-Reay by 5.2381 seconds.             Lap 228: CHECKERED: #3 Castroneves wins Firestone 550 by 4.6919 seconds. FIRESTONE 550 POST-RACE QUOTES: HELIO CASTRONEVES (No.3  AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet): "It's been great. I have to thank AAA, the boys did a hell of a job. (Engineer) Jonathan (Diuguid) did a hell of a job and Chevy did a great job because we were not only able to manage our tires and manage our fuel, but it was the setup. We did our homework and thank god it paid off. Texas is awesome. I love this place." SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): "I think it was one of the main shafts from the gears that seemed to break coming out of the pits on that last stop for us.  We found the problem and tried to fix it.  The Target guys did a hell of a job on pit lane trying to figure it all out.  The car was good though. We were maintaining good pace and I think by the time of the end of the race came along we would have been in a good position to contend." DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 Belkin Honda): "We just had way too much understeer in the Belkin car at the start of the race.  It was probably the most I've ever had on an oval and that cost us some positions.  As the run went on the car kind of came to us and each stop the guys made some great changes to the car.  We got the car where it was good and, combined with the strategy, we got up to p6.  The strategy was to run really long on the tires and at times it was pretty hard work.  We just started too far off on the setup, but it was a lot better than last year's car." RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 1 DHL Chevrolet): "That No. 1 DHL Chevy was great. We made the most of it, and we kind of lost it a little bit there when that yellow when came out. Our strategy was such that we needed that yellow not come out. You know we had a good shot at winning it today though. That was just an interesting race. It was hard to even get by some of that traffic. I was searching everywhere for grip; I had so many catches out there that I thought were on the wall. It's going to be tough to go to sleep tonight. TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Sunoco "Turbo" KVRT-SH Racing Chevrolet): "It was pretty good, but we obviously we went off strategy. I'm really happy. We did a great job as a team. It's the first race with the Sunoco Turbo car, so I hope they're happy because I promised them a good race. I think third place as far as the championship goes is pretty strong so we'll take it. CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Honda): "It's a little disappointing for the No. 83 team tonight, because we had a great car and the crew did really great job in the pits.  I have no complaints with where we are we just didn't quite catch the yellows.  We have had a lot of races where strategy and yellows have worked in our advantage, but tonight it just didn't quite work out.  We had a really good car, we just struggled a little bit with stuff out of our control.  That's fine.  We'll focus on the fact that we had a really good car.  There was a stint we went past the car leading and drove away.  I think it bodes well for the future, so I'm looking forward to going to Milwaukee next week since we had a really good test there and we'll go racing." JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): "We had a good result considering everything. I think we got hosed a little bit on some of the yellows and that pushed us back a bit. I think we had a top 5 car, I don't think we had the winning car, but we were pretty good in the mix and I think to secure decent results is satisfying. W definitely want more but I think we learned a lot tonight. MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 25 RC Cola Chevrolet): "It's always easier to be the Monday morning quarterback. I think it worked out for Ryan (Hunter-Reay) - he had a vibration and came in early. He went out, running some quick laps and he didn't catch a yellow. We tried to do the same thing, we caught the yellow and the RC Cola car ended up a lap down. So, it's unfortunate and to top it all off the worst guy in the championship fight against me won, but congrats to him." SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda): "It was an eventful race. It was difficult to master the cars around the track tonight because there was very little grip. I think it made for a very good race though. We had to change our engine before the race so we started in the very back of the field, but we came back and finished 13th. So honestly it was a good day points wise for us. I wish we could have done better, but overall I'll take it because it's a decent day for our championship." ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): "I thought we had a shot for a podium finish (3rd) but Tony (Kanaan) had a lot fresher tires (35 laps) at the end.  We will take fourth tonight and we scored some points for the ECR/Fuzzy's Vodka team.  It was a great night for Chevrolet with a one through five on the scoreboard.  We had a couple of miscues in the pits, one with some debris on the front of the car, and I didn't hear the guys call me in for the stop.  Overall, those didn't hurt us.  It was hard out there tonight.  I was racing more car more than the other drivers at times.  I hope the race was good for the national television audience tonight.  This place is one of the toughest oval on the series now.  The cars are a handful here.  But we'll take the fourth place and move on to Milwaukee next week." E.J. VISO (No. 5 Team Venezuela PDVSA Citgo Chevrolet): "Tough race. I think I got an unfair penalty... we had everything to finish in the top three. I'm not very impressed in how this situation was handled, and I feel they penalize certain people for certain things and not others in certain situations. The penalty happened because I hit one of Ryan (Hunter Reay)'s tires during the pit stop, but I just touched it and he came back out in his original position. For me, they made the wrong call. Decisions can affect the sport as we just saw." JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 GoDaddy Chevrolet): "At the end of the day, I'm pretty pleased with a top 10; it was a tough night. The whole setup with the new tire and downforce configuration made it tough to drive, the GoDaddy guys gave me a good car, but I think we were a little hampered by track position. Clean air was definitely king today, and starting back where we did, we had to fight in the thick of it a lot more. We ended up stopping it a bit early on the first two stops, and we got both those yellows - just really hurt us. We lost a lap and had to earn it back. If we had managed to have the yellows fall at a better time for us, I think maybe we would have been a bit higher. But it's so close, it's so tight, everybody was struggling... we're just happy to bring it home in one piece." GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Midas/Big O Tires Honda): "I never really had a grip on the car. I really, really struggled with the rear of the car on entries and exits and couldn't get a handle on the understeer mid corner.  I'm obviously baffled now with the performance. There are a lot of tracks we've gone to that I can compete at and right now I can't which is frustrating. For the amount of effort that we are putting in, there is no reason this should be the case. We will regroup but the problem is the lack of time between races." JAMES JAKES (No. 16 Acorn Stairlifts Honda): "We had a great car, it's been pretty good all weekend and we made some great changes. We were definitely one of the top five quickest cars so it's just a shame we didn't finish there. We'll bounce back next week. You win and lose as a team and we'll just make sure we put it right next weekend." ORIOL SERVIA (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet): "Definitely not the initial race I wanted representing the National Guard and Panther Racing. I had really high hopes to go for a win, since we're out of the championship anyway. We made a bunch of changes before the race, and I think the car was not way off, but one of the stints we put too much wing in, and at the end of the tires we probably should have come in two or three laps before that because we were already very loose. Then on one of the bumps the rear just went, which was unfortunate. Luckily we saved the car, but the truth is the race was still not lost, because sometimes you can get your laps back at a place like this, but with no more yellows we couldn't make any miracles happen." SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 78 Nuclear Entergy Areva KVRT Chevrolet): "The car was awesome all night and we just kind of got unlucky out there. First of all with the yellow; when it came out we were stuck behind the leader. We fought our way back and then we got a 30-second penalty; I don't really know why. But, at the end of the day, the car was awesome and I think we could have had an awesome finish. We learned a lot. I think for me it was a really good experience. It was just a lot of fun out there racing and passing people. Big thanks to the team; they did an awesome job the whole week. They gave me a really comfortable car out there, so big thanks to them, Chevrolet and Nuclear Clean Air Energy." TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): "It was a hard race on the track with quite a big degradation of the tires. The first 7 laps were good and then gradually you'd lose the balance and grip. It was difficult to get the balance right. Our pit stops were good but we were a little bit out of sequence.  Unfortunately we had a yellow right after we pitted which shuffled us back.  Our track position made it tough to get back to the top  group but we did regain some positions and the ABC Supply boys did a good job.  With the problems we had yesterday, it was a good recovery." JUSTIN WILSON (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "That second to last stint cost us a good finish tonight. It's disappointing because the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda was running in the top five up to that point and we had a very good chance at repeating as race winners.  The team didn't an incredible job giving me a really competitive race car tonight." PIPPA MANN (No. 18 CyclopsGear.com Honda): "I feel bad that we couldn't have had a better showing for the No. 18 Cyclops Gears Honda tonight. I would like to thank Cyclops Gears and Dale Coyne Racing for giving me a chance to race here at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend." IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS: Helio Castroneves       259 Marco Andretti           237 Ryan Hunter-Reay      232 Tony Kanaan               195 Takuma Sato               194 Simon Pagenaud         194 Scott Dixon                 193 Justin Wilson               184 James Hinchcliffe       176 Dario Franchitti           168   IZOD INDYCAR SERIES MANUFACTURER POINT STANDINGS: Chevrolet        63 Honda             57 *** The next IZOD IndyCar Series race is the Milwaukee IndyFest on June 15 at The Milwaukee Mile.  The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 4 p.m. (ET) and broadcast by the IMS Radio Network on Sirius/XM (XM 211 and Sirius 211). The next Firestone Indy Lights race is the Milwaukee 100 on June 15 at The Milwaukee Mile. The race will be televised by NBC Sports Network at 3 p.m. (ET) on June 15

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