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2004 INDYCAR IRL: TEXAS

• Castroneves started from pole and won - his only win of the year.
  Despite the win he was fined $50,000 and 15 points for jumping the final restart.
• Championship was decided at the last race. Wheldon finished championship runner-up. Going into this race Dan Wheldon led from Buddy Rice by 25 points. Wheldon needed to finish at least 5th to secure his runner-up position.

ROUND 13, TEXAS   2004 Season

RACE: OCT 17, 2004

• Indy 500
• 200 laps / 500 miles

CIRCUIT:

• Texas Motor Speedway
• 1.5mile / 2.5 km oval
• Race: 200 laps

RACE RESULT

RACE, OCT 17, 2004

1ST CASTRONEVES: "... We did it, finally. It's great momentum ... These guys are awesome. Not only Marlboro Team Penske, but all our associates, especially Toyota. You guys worked your butts off to make today happen. I'm so proud of everyone ... We won the first race of the season, and we won the last race of the season. Hopefully, next year, we can be more competitive. Well done, Tony (Kanaan). Well done on the championship. But today, we beat you."

3rd WHELDON: "... It's been good. To come second in the championship, third in the Indy 500, is strong. We've got to try to go one better next year, so that's what we've got to work on from this point on."

• 1 Helio Castroneves , Penske 200laps
• 2 Tony Kanaan +0.37
• 3 Dan Wheldon +0.375
• 4 Vitor Meira
• 5 Adrian Fernandez
• 6 Scott Dixon
• 7 Mark Taylor
• 8 Scott Sharp
• 9 Townsend Bell
• 10 A.J. Foyt IV
• 11 Giaffone 12 Takagi 13 Enge
• DNF: Barron, Franchitti, Hornish, Scheckter, Rice, Matsuura, Carpenter, Herta

QUALIFYING:

GRID, OCT 16, 2004

1ST CASTRONEVES: "... I'm surprised to be on pole considering the competition. Our guys have worked so hard and Toyota has worked so hard. I went a little too fast too soon on my warmup and wasn't sure I'd do this ... We knew we had a shot at pole but that it would be close with Tomas (Scheckter)"

• 1 Helio Castroneves , Penske 24.250s, 215.996mph
• 2 Tomas Scheckter +0.019s
• 3 Sam Hornish Jr. +0.1
• 4 Vitor Meira
• 5 Buddy Rice
• 6 Scott Dixon
• 7 Bryan Herta
• 8 Dan Wheldon
• 9 Dario Franchitti
• 10 Tony Kanaan
• 11 Barron 12 Fernandez 13 Bell 14 Foyt IV 15 Matsuura 16 Sharp 17 Taylor 18 Enge 19 Takagi 20 Carpenter 21 Giaffone

PRE RACE QUOTES

FERNANDEZ, winner of last 2 races: "... I have never had a season like this in my career. Regardless of what happens this weekend, I am thrilled with our first season in the IRL and I am already looking forward to 2005. I believe we will be challenging for the championship next year."

KANAAN, 2004 champion: "... I'm going to Texas to celebrate my championship with everyone from Team 7-Eleven and Andretti Green Racing and want to try to help my teammate, Dan Wheldon, secure second place in the championship. I'm relaxed, focused and looking forward to doing my best."

WHELDON, 2nd in standing, needs to finish at least 5th to secure runner-up position for the season: "... Texas has always been a difficult place for the Klein Tools/Jim Beam team as far as luck goes, but I think we're going to be very fast this weekend. We'd like to find a little more speed so we can lead and put a stop to (Adrian) Fernandez's domination of late. I'm sure we're going to be very competitive. I hope everybody stays within themselves and doesn't get too crazy just because it's the last race. But, it's always a good market to be in. Texas has great fans, it's always a unique atmosphere and I'm looking forward to being there."