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2006 INDYCAR IRL 

HORNISH JR WINS

• Sam Hornish Jr.'s 16th career win.

RACE RESULT

HONDA RACE REPORT

• Hornish Scores Honda's 100th Open-Wheel Win
• Marlboro Team Penske's Sam Hornish Jr. scored Honda's 100th race victory in Indy Racing League and Championship Auto Racing Team history Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, dominating the Suntrust Indy Challenge in a race run at a record pace on the shortest track on the IRL circuit.
• In a race slowed only three times by the caution flag, another Richmond IndyCar record, Hornish took the lead from teammate Helio Castroneves on Lap 39 and was never headed for the remainder of the 250-lap event, scoring his second win of the 2006 season and moving within four points of Castroneves in the championship points battle.
• An exciting late-race pass of Dario Franchitti netted Vitor Meira his sixth career second-place finish. Meira ran fourth in the early laps, but problems at the first round of pit stops dropped the Panther Racing driver back to 10th. However, Meira fought his way through the field during the second half of the race, finally going very low in Turn One to pass Franchitti on Lap 246 as the pair came up on a slowing Castroneves, who was struggling with a deflating right rear tire. At almost the same instant, the failing tire came off Castroneves' car, leading to the caution that ended the race.
• Other events in the hectic final laps included both Target Chip Ganassi cars having to pit for fuel in the final 10 laps, costing Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon top-six finishes, while Delphi Fernandez Racing's Scott Sharp put on a late-race charge to finish fifth, just behind rookie points leader Marco Andretti.
• Honda entered North American open-wheel racing at the start of the 1994 Championship Auto Racing Team season, and the manufacturer scored its first victory, with driver Andre Ribeiro and his Tasman Motorsports team, at the one-mile New Hampshire International oval in 1995.
• Honda went on to win 65 times in CART through the 2002 season, then moved to the IRL IndyCar Series in 1993. Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan posted Honda's first IRL race win, at Phoenix in 2003, the start of a run of 35 victories to date for Honda in the IndyCar Series.

DARIO FRANCHITTI RACE REPOERT - HE FINISHED 3RD

• Franchitti Scores Third-Place Finish at Richmond In Klein Tools/Canadian Club Car
• RICHMOND, Va. (June 24, 2006) - Klein Tools/Canadian Club driver Dario Franchitti scored his best result of the 2006 IndyCar Series season by finishing third at Saturday's SunTrust Indy Challenge Presented by XM Satellite Radio.
• Starting the race in 10th place, Franchitti moved up through the field during the race's opening laps, eventually settling into the sixth position. Content staying with the leaders, Franchitti used perfect pit stops to gain positions and momentum through the race. During his first pit stop on lap 55, Franchitti gained one position, exiting in fifth place. On his second and final stop of the 250-lap event, Franchitti entered the pits in sixth place and let the Klein Tools/Canadian Club crew conduct a flawless fuel-to-tires stop, gaining him four spots and putting him in second place. As the leader encountered traffic, Franchitti was unable to get close enough to execute a pass and eventually finished third.
• He jumped three positions in the IndyCar Series driver championship and now finds himself in eighth place only 19 points out of sixth place.
• Sam Hornish Jr. won his second race of the season. He was followed across the line by Vitor Meira and AGR teammate Marco Andretti. Scott Sharp and Bryan Herta rounded out the top six.
• The IndyCar Series schedule resumes next weekend with the Kansas Lottery Indy 300 from Kansas Speedway. ABC Sports will provide live broadcast coverage of the 200-lap event beginning at 1 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday, July 2. The race can also be heard live by XM Satellite Radio subscribers on XM channel 145, the official home of the IndyCar Series.
• Dario Franchitti, #27 Klein Tools/Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/ Firestone:
  "At the end, I got held up in traffic and Vitor (Meira) made a great move to get into second place. It was just a great result for the Klein Tools/ Canadian Club team. The guys gained me four spots on our last pit stop and did great work in the pits all night. I had a wonderful time at Richmond and I really enjoy racing here."
• John Anderson, Team Manager, #27 Klein Tools/Canadian Club Dallara/ Honda/Firestone:
  "The Klein Tools/Canadian Club guys had some great pit stops tonight. That last stop was just a perfect stop to get him out there in second place. The traffic here is a major deal, but unfortunately for us, Sam just sliced through it like a knife through hot butter and that was the difference."

FIRESTONE RACE REPORT

• Hornish Manages Tires and Traffic to Dominate for Win in Richmond
• Sam Hornish, Jr. literally drove off into the sunset tonight in Richmond, dominating the race and leading laps 39-250 to take the checkered flag in the SunTrust Indy Challenge. A little race strategy from his team owner Roger Penske didn't hurt, either. Andretti Green Racing's Dario Franchitti gave Hornish a run for his money in traffic; but once the lapped cars were out of the way, neither Dario nor anyone else could come close to the #6 Penske machine.
• Thunderstorms threatened at the beginning of the race, but all 250 laps were run without incident. In fact, the 2006 SunTrust Indy Challenge set a record as the fastest IndyCar Series event at Richmond International Raceway, with an average speed of 129.5mph (15mph faster than the previous record) and only three caution periods.
• As the laps wound down, Panther Racing's Vitor Meira made a bold and brilliant move to get around Franchitti. Around that same time, Hornish's teammate Helio Castroneves, who had run strong throughout the race and looked to be a contender, lost pressure in his right rear tire due to a puncture. The race ended under caution, and an elated Meira matched his career-best finish of second-place. Franchitti held on to round out the top-three.
• * From Sam Hornish, Jr., Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Honda/ Firestone: "The Firestone tires were great! We ran over 100 laps on one set, and they were just as good at the end as they were at the beginning of the stint."
• * Firestone Tire Performance Summary: Firestone engineers brought an all-new tire specification to this year's SunTrust Indy Challenge; however, as expected, it demonstrated similar grip and wear characteristics to the tires they had brought to Richmond in the past. Durability was evident - as noted above, cars ran over 100 laps on a single set of Firehawks. Each team received seven sets of slicks for the two-day race weekend.
• * From Joe Barbieri, Manager, Firestone Racing: "Richmond always presents a challenge because of the stress and constant loads the track puts on the right side of the car. It is really a matter of balance for us; the tires were a little harder this year, but there were still marbles on the track. If we made the tires softer, there would be even more. I think we have found a good mix - especially since the tires were one of the first things Sam raved about as he got out of his car. Congratulations to him and to Team Penske for another victory in what has been a dominant season for them."

QUALIFYING