UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Dixon wins at Milwaukee

Champ passes Briscoe for the lead

Scott Dixon has won the ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225 at the legendary Milwaukee Mile. The defending champion passed polesitter Ryan Briscoe 25 laps from the end to record his second win of the season. Ganassi team-mate Franchitti finished third.

The Milwaukee race looked to be Briscoe's to win, as the polesitter was in the lead for most of the race. But in the final stint the Penske driver seemed to struggle with his car, while Dixon was patiently lying in wait. When Briscoe then got caught up in lapped traffic, Dixon edged out his rival to hold on to the lead until the checkered flag.

"We just kind of waited patiently in the second and third spot for most of it, trying to save fuel, seeing if we could make a jump there," said Dixon.

"You can't really use traffic. You just got to time it right. You've got to try to look ahead, see where those guys are using their lines, see if he's on the bottom, see if he's on the top, what's going to be the quickest way if you can get around. Luckily for me, my car was fantastic on the high line in (Turns) 1 and 2," Dixon continues. "I got a great run on the high side and it just lined up perfect. From that point on, the car was hooked up."

While Dixon stayed patient, Briscoe rues handling problems to have cost him the race.

"Scott was just a little bit better than me at the end there," Briscoe admits. "He got me in traffic. I was struggling with a little bit of understeer and whenever I'd get on the inside I'd really lose my momentum. He was there all day long and took the opportunity to pass me when I got slowed up.

Behind the two, Dario Franchitti held on to third after having briefly lead the race, with Graham Rahal (Newman/Haas/Lanigan) finishing in his trail. Danica Patrick (AGR), Raphael Matos (Luczo Dragon) and Hideki Mutoh (AGR) were the only other finishers on the lead lap.

For some others, Milwaukee will be a race to quickly forget. Tony Kanaan retired as his car caught fire, while Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and Meira stand-in Paul Tracy (Foyt) blamed a poor handling car for the disappointing result.

Thanks to his second win of the season, Scott Dixon now tops the championship standings with 161 points, four more than Ryan Briscoe and Dario Franchitti. Danica Patrick's consistent top-five finishes put her in fourth place, just ahead of Helio Castroneves.

Full results

1. Scott Dixon Ganassi
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske
3. Dario Franchitti Ganassi
4. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan
5. Danica Patrick Andretti-Green
6. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon
7. Marco Andretti Andretti-Green
8. Hideki Mutoh Andretti-Green
9. Mario Moraes KV
10. Dan Wheldon Panther
11. Helio Castroneves Penske
12. Ryan Hunter-Reay Vision
13. Tomas Scheckter Dreyer & Reinbold
14. Robert Doornbos Newman/Haas/Lanigan
15. Justin Wilson Coyne
16. Ed Carpenter Vision
17. Paul Tracy Foyt
18. E.J. Viso HVM
19. Tony Kanaan Andretti-Green
20. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold

Written: Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:26:49