Dixon Wins At Richmond, Ties Hornish's All-Time Victory Record

RICHMOND, Va. - Scott Dixon, who started next to polesitter Dario Franchitti, won the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway by 0.3109 of a second over his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate.

Scott Dixon and his crew in victory circle Credit: Shawn Payne/IndyCar Series

The victory - Dixon's third of the season and second at Richmond - was the 19th of Dixon's IndyCar Series career and tied Hornish for the most in series history. Dixon, driving the No. 9 entry, matched the record in his 104th race - two less than Hornish, who totaled 116 starts from 2000-2007.

Graham Rahal finished third - his best oval finish - in the No. 02 McDonald's entry for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. Hideki Mutoh, who led the first laps of his IndyCar Series career, finished fourth in the No. 27 Formula Dream car and Andretti Green Racing teammate Danica Patrick was fifth.

Franchitti, who earned a bonus point for winning the PEAK Performance Pole Award, took the championship points lead (279-278) over Dixon. Ryan Briscoe, the points leader entering the eighth of 17 races, suffered his first DNF since July 2008 at Nashville Superspeedway and fell to 26 points behind. His Team Penske teammate, Helio Castroneves, also crashed exiting Turn 2 and is fourth with 225 points heading to Watkins Glen International, the first of three consecutive road/street races.

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, winner SunTrust Indy Challenge): "Richmond has been a place I've wanted to win at again for quite some time. You know, we won here in 2003. To come through and get the points when we need them and have such a great day points-wise over the Penske two was very, very big. I definitely hand it to Team Target. The guys definitely had it covered with a 1-2 and almost putting the majority of the field almost a lap down."

DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, finished second): "It's a great 1-2 for the Target team. It came down to a yellow. We were very close on fuel and had to come in when the pits are closed. We couldn't pass. We were a second slower when we were in traffic. I have to apologize to the fans because that was an awful, awful race. There's nothing the drivers can do about it. We're trying as hard as we can. It was a terrible race, but the bright spot is a 1-2 for Team Target."

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 02 McDonald's Racing Team, finished third): "It shows how hard the McDonald's guys worked because honestly at the start of this weekend we weren't where we wanted to be and we were struggling. We just kept working through it. It's great to be on the podium. We've been good on the short ovals but we just need to find some more speed on the mile-and-a-halfs."

HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 27 Formula Dream, finished fourth): ""The car was great. We made some changes at practice yesterday so that made the car better. The guys did a fantastic job with the pit stops."

DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Boost Mobile/Motorola, finished fifth): "It was good. I wasn't sure how staying out on that first yellow would work out. I guess it did work out. When we first went back out we were really fast and we were picking people off. I don't know if that had anything to do with that strategy working out. The guys did a real good job in the pits tonight. I would have liked to stay up with Scott and Dario in the beginning when we stayed out because I think we had the pace. The car got better and better all night. When you get lapped traffic in the way some are tougher than others and it makes for a long night. It was a solid run for AGR. We need to put our heads together and figure out what happened with our qualifying here and apply that to everywhere else. We will have to work harder."

RAPHAEL MATOS (No. 2 US Marines/Luczo Dragon Racing, finished eighth): "We're happy to finish top 10, but we had a top 5 car. We were held up on one of the restarts and that really hurt us. Overall it's a good result. After a DNF at Iowa it was extremely important for us to finish tonight. It was good for the Marines Luczo Dragon team to get another top 10, to increase the lead in the Rookie of the Year race and to pick up two positions in the point standings. We proved again that we are capable of running up front. We have the performance, it's just a matter of putting all the pieces together."

ROBERT DOORNBOS (No. 06 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, finished ninth): "That was very hard work for P9. It reminds me of my F1 days when you had to work really hard to get up there. I'm very happy with the experience. It was very good for us to come home like this. All my team did a great job in setting up the car, it was really good to drive. Unfortunately, we got unlucky with the yellow twice. I think we had the pace, especially with new tires. I was pushing really hard and really enjoyed that. For me it was like driving like in qualifying for 300 laps. With a bit more luck with the yellows we would have been higher but I'm happy with a good solid race. This will make me stronger on ovals but I have to be honest, I look forward to the road courses."

ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing): "It was a frustrating race. You could run a decent pace on your own but this was like no Richmond race I have ever run before. The no.20 Menards car was really affected by dirty air and loss of grip in traffic. We didn't have much luck with cautions coming out of the pits either. Finishing in 13th place is nothing to be happy with but we made it through in one piece when others didn't."

JAQUES LAZIER (No. 98 Novicomm LED Lighting Technology): "We've been battling a car that we just can't get a hold of. At the start of the race we went into the corner and got tied up with everyone slowing down I was just waiting when the thing just snapped around on me. It is a tough deal and I feel bad for the guys."

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske): "The car just snapped on me and caught me by surprise (Briscoe was involved in a single-car incident in Turn 2 on lap 27). It's obviously very disappointing and hopefully we can start catching back up next week in Watkins Glen. I feel bad for the Team Penske guys, they worked hard all weekend and it's a shame we ended the race they way we did."

MIKE CONWAY (No. 24 Charter/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing): "Basically Ed (Carpenter) came out of the pits and I went to the outside of him and caught the marbles. That was it."

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske): "I'm extremely disappointed with the way our race ended tonight. We didn't have a winning car but we had a top-5 car and we were just trying to stay on the lead lap and score some Championship points. Unfortunately for some reason a car slowed down in front of me and in order for me to not crash him, I ended up crashing myself. I had to get out of the throttle which just pushed my car up into the marbles and then the wall. We just have to focus on Watkins Glen and move forward."

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