Bonus points keep Briscoe in the points lead

Ryan Briscoe has led the most laps by wide margins in the past three IndyCar Series races and what does he have to show for it? Runner-up finishes in each of those events.

Ryan Briscoe Credit: Shawn Payne/IndyCar Series

Still, Briscoe leads the championship chase by three points over two-time race winner Dario Franchitti heading into the SunTrust Indy Challenge this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. That's considerable consolation to the second-year Team Penske driver.

He's been the beneficiary of six bonus points by pacing the field in laps led (154 of 225 at Milwaukee, 160 of 228 at Texas and 85 of 250 at Iowa). Not even halfway through the schedule, Briscoe has led 509 laps. The record is 899 by Scott Dixon last year.

"I don't think we're doing anything wrong," said Briscoe, who finished second to Franchitti in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer on June 21. "We're doing an extraordinary job as a whole team. It's going to be like this for the rest of the season. It's going to be very close. Every race we go to, it's going to be tough."

Maybe he can receive additional perspective from teammate Helio Castroneves, who recorded three consecutive second-place finishes in the second half of the 2008 IndyCar Series season to put him in position to keep the pressure on points front-runner Dixon.

Dixon was 48 points clear of Castroneves pointing to Richmond last year. Castroneves finished second to Tony Kanaan, and Dixon was third in the race under the lights on the 0.75-mile track. Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Team Penske car, reeled off a string of seven (of eight) races in which he didn't finish lower than third (including two victories). The championship was decided in the season finale.

As Briscoe forecasts, he's poised for a similar scenario. Dixon is 12 points off the lead, and the top five (Castroneves is fourth and Danica Patrick is fifth) are separated by 52 points.

"We're just going to have to keep on our game and keep doing what we're doing," said Briscoe, who has finished 15th and 21st in his Richmond visits. "Hopefully, we'll start with those last few laps instead of the first few laps."

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