JOLIET, Ill. — Things just got a lot tougher for Helio Castroneves in his quest to overtake Scott Dixon for the IndyCar Series championship.
Castroneves, who has been trying hard to get into Dixon’s head as he chases the New Zealander in their title duel, was penalized after Saturday’s qualifying for driving under the white out-of-bounds line at the bottom of the banked Chicagoland Speedway oval.
“He didn’t just do it once,” IndyCar spokesman John Griffin said. “He did it numerous times.”
That negated a solid fourth-place qualifying effort for Castroneves, whose Team Penske teammate, Ryan Briscoe, knocked Dixon off the pole and into second place in the 28-car field. Now, Castroneves has a much more difficult task in his effort to overcome a 30-point Dixon lead in today’s Peak Indy 300 race, the last points- paying event of the season. The penalty doesn’t change the fact that Castroneves needs to win or finish second to keep his hopes alive, while Dixon can wrap up his second title — and first since 2003 — by finishing eighth or better.
All the Brazilian can do now is try to get to the front and hope Dixon has one of his rare off days.
In the first 16 races this season, Dixon has a record-tying six victories and 13 finishes of fifth or better. But he does have three finishes of 11th or worse, too.
Castroneves was not available to comment on the penalty and, after dashing to the IRL hauler, team president Tim Cindric quickly returned and said: “They (the IRL) didn’t want to talk about it. We have to start from the back.”
Castroneves also was penalized last week at Detroit, where he was ordered to let eventual winner Justin Wilson past after the Brazilian was called for blocking. That cost Castroneves, who went on to finish second.
This latest turn of events probably negated the effectiveness, if any, of Castroneves’ efforts to do a psyche job on Dixon.
Over the past few weeks, each time Castroneves saw Dixon, he would walk up with a big smile, poke him in the shoulder and say, “You feeling the pressure, buddy?”
Hamilton secures Grand Prix pole
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium — McLaren’s championship leader, Lewis Hamilton, clinched the pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of his main challenger, Felipe Massa, on a track that was supposed to favor the Ferrari car.
Hornaday adds to his haul
MADISON, Ill. — Ron Hornaday raced to his fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck victory of the season and record 37th overall, holding off Dennis Setzer by 0.646 of a second in the Camping World 200.
Johnny Benson, the series leader and also a four-time winner this year, was third.
The Associated Press
Today’s races
NASCAR SPRINT CUP
Chevy Rock & Roll 400
Site:Richmond, Va.
TV: ABC, 11 a.m.
Track: Richmond International Raceway (tri-oval, 0.75 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns).
Race distance: 300 miles, 400 laps.
Last race: Jimmie Johnson overpowered the field at Auto Club Speedway, grabbing his third victory of the season.
Next race: Sylvania 300, Sept. 14, Loudon, N.H.
On the Net:
FORMULA ONE
Belgian Grand Prix
Site:Spa-Francorchamps
TV: Speed Channel, 6 a.m.
Track: Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps (road course, 4.329 miles).
Race distance: 190.476 miles, 44 laps.
Last race: Ferrari’s Felipe Massa won the European Grand Prix on Aug. 24 for his fourth F1 victory of the season.
Next race: Italian Grand Prix, Sept. 14, Monza.
On the Net:
INDY RACING LEAGUE
Chicagoland 300
Site:Joliet, Ill.
TV: ABC, 1:30 p.m.
Track: Chicagoland Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 18 degrees banking in turns).
Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.
Last race: Rookie Justin Wilson raced to his first IndyCar Series victory, edging Helio Castroneves in the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. Castroneves led for the majority of the road race on the Belle Isle course.
Next race: Indy 300, Oct. 26, Surfers Paradise, Australia (nonpoints race).
On the Net:
Points standings
NASCAR SPRINT CUP
Driver standings
1. Kyle Busch, 3,755 points
2. Carl Edwards, 3,547
3. Jimmie Johnson, 3,386
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 3,323
5. Jeff Burton, 3,234
6. Greg Biffle, 3,159
7. Kevin Harvick, 3,132
8. Tony Stewart, 3,110
9. Matt Kenseth, 3,081
10. Jeff Gordon, 3,074
11. Denny Hamlin, 3,065
12. Clint Bowyer, 2,989
13. David Ragan, 2,972
14. Kasey Kahne, 2,941
15. Brian Vickers, 2,799
16. Ryan Newman, 2,789
17. Martin Truex Jr., 2,698
18. Jamie McMurray, 2,583
19. Kurt Busch, 2,488
20. Elliott Sadler, 2,425
FORMULA ONE
Driver standings
1. Lewis Hamilton, 70
2. Felipe Massa, 64
3. Kimi Raikkonen, 57
4. Robert Kubica, 55
5. Heikki Kovalainen, 43
6. Nick Heidfeld, 41
7. Jarno Trulli, 26
8. Fernando Alonso, 18
(tie) Mark Webber, 18
10. Timo Glock, 15
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES
Driver standings
1. Clint Bowyer, 3,913
2. Brad Keselowski, 3,709
3. Carl Edwards, 3,691
4. David Reutimann, 3,503
5. Mike Bliss, 3,474
6. David Ragan, 3,428
7. Kyle Busch, 3,344
8. Mike Wallace, 3,136
9. Jason Leffler, 3,129
10. Marcos Ambrose, 3,082
11. Jason Keller, 3,055
12. David Stremme, 2,991
13. Steve Wallace, 2,888
14. Kelly Bires, 2,859
15. Bobby Hamilton Jr., 2,763
16. Kenny Wallace, 2,410
17. Scott Wimmer, 2,340
18. Brad Coleman, 2,271
19. Kevin Harvick, 2,185
20. Greg Biffle, 1,828
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK
Driver standings
1. Johnny Benson, 2,596
2. Ron Hornaday, 2,502
3. Matt Crafton, 2,397
4. Todd Bodine, 2,347
5. Mike Skinner, 2,323
6. Rick Crawford, 2,307
7. Erik Darnell, 2,289
8. Jack Sprague, 2,233
9. Dennis Setzer, 2,165
10. Terry Cook, 2,158
11. Chad McCumbee, 2,051
12. David Starr, 2,042
13. Ted Musgrave, 1,987
14. Brendan Gaughan, 1,956
15. Colin Braun, 1,1934
16. Shelby Howard, 1,767
17. Donny Lia, 1,714
18. Justin Marks, 1,705
19. Kyle Busch, 1,697
20. Stacy Compton, 1,669
NHRA
Driver standings
Top fuel
1. Tony Schumacher, 1,764
2. Antron Brown, 1,197
3. Larry Dixon, 1,140
4. Cory McClenathan, 1,096
5. Rod Fuller, 1,046
Funny car
1. Tim Wilkerson, 1,261
2. Tony Pedregon, 1,124
3. Robert Hight, 1,114
4. Cruz Pedregon, 1,015
5. Ashley Force, 955
Pro stock
1. Greg Anderson, 1,275
2. Kurt Johnson, 1,259
3. Jeg Coughlin, 1,184
4. Jason Line, 1,126
5. Allen Johnson, 1,066
Pro stock motorcycle
1. Matt Smith, 980
2. Andrew Hines, 945
3. Chip Ellis, 807
4. Angelle Sampey, 702
5. Chris Rivas, 697
INDY RACING LEAGUE
Driver standings
1. Scott Dixon, 606
2. Helio Castroneves, 576
3. Tony Kanaan, 481
4. Dan Wheldon, 464
5. Ryan Briscoe, 412
6. Danica Patrick, 359
7. Oriol Servia, 345
8. Marco Andretti, 339
9. Ryan Hunter-Reay, 338
10. Hideki Mutoh, 334
11. Justin Wilson, 321
12. Vitor Meira, 314
13. Ed Carpenter, 310
14. Will Power, 301
15. Darren Manning, 297
16. Buddy Rice, 296
17. Graham Rahal, 276
18. E.J. Viso, 274
19. A.J. Foyt IV, 263
20. Bruno Junqueira, 244
