Helio Gets Even in Richmond
Team Penske's Helio Castroneves said yesterday that Richmond International Raceway owes him a win. Today the circuit paid back
Castroneves, who started from second on the grid, took the lead of the race with 100 laps to go and never looked back. He won the fifth round of the 2005 season in commanding fashion, ahead of Dario Franchitti in second and Patrick Carpentier in third.
Pole sitter Sam Hornish Jr. retired from the race after two-third distance, having crashed into the wall on Turn 4. "It was driver error," Hornish said. "I was trying to push it too hard trying to get around Helio."
Reigning IRL champion Tony Kanaan had a rare streak of 25 race finishes come to an end, retiring for the first time since August 2003, after he made contact with Vitor Meira.
"I knew it was going to happen one day," Kanaan said. "So today was the day. We didn't start the weekend too good, so let's forget about it and go to Kansas."
Championship points leader Dan Wheldon finished in fifth position, with Texas winner Tomas Scheckter in fourth.
Pos Driver Make-Engine Laps 1. Helio Castroneves Dallara-Toyota 250 2. Dario Franchitti Dallara-Honda 250 3. Patrick Carpentier Dallara-Toyota 250 4. Tomas Scheckter Dallara-Chevy 250 5. Dan Wheldon Dallara-Honda 250 6. Alex Barron Dallara-Toyota 250 7. Tomas Enge Dallara-Chevy 249 8. Bryan Herta Dallara-Honda 249 9. Kosuke Matsuura Panoz-Honda 249 10. Danica Patrick Panoz-Honda 247 11. Buddy Rice Panoz-Honda 246 12. Ed Carpenter Dallara-Toyota 246 13. Jimmy Kite Dallara-Toyota 245 14. A.J. Foyt IV Dallara-Toyota 244 15. Darren Manning Panoz-Toyota 240 16. Roger Yasukawa Dallara-Honda 235 17. Scott Sharp Panoz-Honda 201 18. Sam Hornish Jr. Dallara-Toyota 164 19. Tony Kanaan Dallara-Honda 150 20. Vitor Meira Panoz-Honda 145 21. Ryan Briscoe Panoz-Toyota 88 22. Scott Dixon Panoz-Toyota 37
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