Full Throttle

While husband Dario Franchitti spent Saturday night conqureing the [avatar:http://cranialcavity.net/files/irl.png]IRL[/avatar] starting field in the Firestone Indy 200, Ashley Judd spent the evening in New Orleans working on a film. Apparently she wasn’t the only one MIA, as only 25,000 fans turned out to see Franchitti score his third career [avatar:http://cranialcavity.net/files/irl.png]IRL[/avatar] victory.

Franchitti led 74 of the 200 laps, while all three of his Andretti Green Racing teammates retired early with suspension failures. Tony Kanaan, who led 75 laps, was eliminated just after fellow AGR drivers Bryan Herta and IRL points leader Dan Wheldon. They both had right-side suspension failures.

Rookie Danica Patrick led her third race of the season when her crew decided to skip a mid-race pit stop. She inherited the lead on lap 122 and controlled nine circuits before Franchitti regained the lead.

There were three accidents, including a fiery one involving Vitor Meira and Alex Barron. Meira was trying to pass Barron for third place on lap 176 when they made contact in the third turn and their cars burst into flames when they struck the outside wall.

Both escaped injury, but Tomas Enge wasn’t so fortunate earlier in the race. On the 28th lap, his Panther Racing car shot to the first-turn wall. He broke two bones in his back and was listed in fair condition at University Medical Center in Lebanon.

Special Note: This is for the Danica haters out there (you know who you are). The average number of IRL starts before a victory is 33. Only three IRL rookies have won a race in their first seasons on the series, and none since Tomas Scheckter won at Michigan in 2002. For Buzz Calkins and Jim Guthrie, those victories came in the first two years of the league.

1. (4) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 200 laps,
$96,300.
2. (13) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Toyota, 200, $80,150.
3. (17) Patrick Carpentier, Dallara-Toyota, 200, $69,150.
4. (8) Scott Sharp, Panoz-Honda, 200, $54,500.
5. (15) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Toyota, 200, $49,900.

6. (12) Scott Dixon, Panoz-Toyota, 200, $44,200.
7. (2) Danica Patrick, Panoz-Honda, 200, $43,000.
8. (10) Ryan Briscoe, Panoz-Toyota, 200, clutch, $42,000.
9. (3) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Chevrolet, 200, accident, $42,000.
10. (22) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Toyota, 199, $40,800.
11. (21) Roger Yasukawa, Dallara-Honda, 199, accident, $39,600.
12. (20) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Toyota, 199, $38,600.
13. (23) Jimmy Kite, Dallara-Toyota, 195, $37,500.
14. (18) Kosuke Matsuura, Panoz-Honda, 176, accident, $36,200.
15. (19) Alex Barron, Dallara-Toyota, 175, accident, $35,100.
16. (6) Vitor Meira, Panoz-Honda, 175, accident, $34,100.
17. (1) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Chevrolet, 160, mechanical, $32,900.
18. (14) Buddy Rice, Panoz-Honda, 134, half-shaft, $32,900.
19. (7) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 116, accident, $41,700.
20. (9) Darren Manning, Panoz-Toyota, 115, accident, $30,600.
21. (5) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 96, suspension, $30,600.
22. (16) Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda, 75, suspension, $30,600.
23. (11) Tomas Enge, Dallara-Chevrolet, 27, accident, $30,600.

Winner’s average speed: 133.089 mph.
Time of race: 1 hour, 57 minutes, 12.9129 seconds.
Margin of victory: 1.3163 seconds.
Cautions: 5 for 52 laps.
Lead changes: 11 among 7 drivers.
Lap leaders: T. Scheckter 1-3; D. Franchitti 4-31; B. Herta 32-39;
T. Kanaan 40-94; D. Franchitti 95-96 , T. Kanaan 97-116; D. Franchitti
117-122; D. Patrick 123-131; D. Franchitti 132-162; A. Barron 163-168;
P. Carpentier 169-193; D. Franchitti 194-200.

Point Standings: 1, D. Wheldon, 347; 2, T. Kanaan, 274; 3, D. Franchitti,
269; 4, H. Castroneves, 260; 5, S. Hornish Jr., 256; 6, S. Sharp, 230; 7,
V. Meira 219; 8, B. Herta, 210; 9, T. Scheckter, 205; 10, P. Carpentier, 201.