By KEN de la BASTIDE
Australian driver Ryan Briscoe is not out of the running for the IndyCar Series championship, but if he loses the title to either Scott Dixon or Dario Franchitti, he will look back at the race in Japan.
Briscoe entered the next-to-last race with the points lead and appeared poised to be ready to hoist the championship trophy in Florida on Oct. 10.
But during a yellow flag pit stop the Penske Racing driver lit up the tires, lost control and smacked the inside retaining wall leading from the pit exit. I can’t understand why he was lighting up the tires on a pit stop made under caution. Maybe his helmet was too tight!
That resulted in suspension damage which resulted in an 18th-place finish and the loss of the points lead. What made the situation worse was that Ganassi teammates Dixon and Franchitti finished 1-2.
Dixon is now the points leader heading to the Homestead oval with a five-point lead over Franchitti, with Briscoe another three points back.
The pressure is squarely on Briscoe entering the final race of the season. It’s his first time as a championship contender and the blunder in Japan will naturally be playing heavily on his mind.
The last two seasons Dixon has been in a tight points race heading into the final race of the year. He captured the title in 2009 and finished second in 2008. Franchitti is also a former champion.
Over the past 14 races Dixon has finished in the top ten 13 times. Franchitti has a string of seven consecutive top ten finishes entering the final race of the year.
Prior to his blunder in Japan, Briscoe had six finishes of first or second in the previous seven races and the other finish was a fourth.
Entering the final race of the year Briscoe does have two factors in his favor. Team owner Roger Penske and former champion Helio Castroneves as a teammate, both will be offering up plenty of advice.
There is one certainty heading to Florida, the IndyCar championship race should be one of the best of the season.
In other racing news
Mark Martin couldn’t have gotten off to a better start in the chase for the Sprint Cup title by winning at New Hampshire. Juan Pablo Montoya, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin all had strong runs to legitimize their teams as contenders for the title.
Kasey Kahne took a hit in the chase with an engine failure resulting in a 39th place finish. Kahne can’t afford another bad race with chase drivers taking 10 of the top 15 spots at New Hampshire.
The chase is running at the Monster Mile in Dover this weekend. The first race provided some good racing but its too early to tell if that will be the case at the final nine events of the year.
• Ken de la Bastide may be reached at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com or (765) 454-8580.
