IRLblog.com

… is definitly what Helio Castroneves should have said when finding out that he would be standing over Scott Dixon on the podium at Chicagoland for placing first at the Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300.   The IRL stated that a faulty transponder in Scott Dixon’s #10 TCGR car was to blame for the erroneous finish at this season’s finale at Chicagoland this past Sunday. Helio Castroneves, although falling short from winning the IndyCar Series Championship by 17 points beat out Scott Dixon by less than 12 inches of asphalt. Scott Dixon was surprised as well as he was climbing out of his car in victory lane to receive his $1 million check and championship trophy. Thank goodness for slow motion replay.

Eric Cowdin, the engineer for the #11 7-11 car driven by Tony Kanaan quit Friday at Chicagoland Speedway.  He helped Tony obtain his 2004 IndyCar Series championship along with 13 race wins, and 10 pole starts which includes the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500.  Eric Cowdin has been Tony Kanaan’s engineer for the previous 10 seasons.  It is thought that Cowdin left Andretti Green Racing to head to Team Penske to engineer for Ryan Briscoe.

Well, not exactly.  Helio Castroneves started last but proved to drive like a champion as he made quick work of the other 27 cars in the field improving 20 positions in less than 40 laps and leading by lap 76.  He went on to lead the most laps and win the Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.  Although he does not have a trophy, or a million dollar check showing that he is an IndyCar Series champion, he sure showed that he has what it takes to be one.  Not to mention that he is a two time Indy 500 winner.  However, in the end the better driver came out on top and that was Scott Dixon with 6 wins including this years Indy 500.  What a close to the 2008 IndyCar season.

IRLblog.com would like to congratulate Scott Dixon for his 2008 IndyCar Series Championship win. Equally impressive were the last to first heroics of Helio Castroneves’ victory at Chicagoland Speedway.

Once again the finale at Chicagoland Speedway will be where the IndyCar Series championship will be decided. Only 30 points separate 1st place Scott Dixon from 2nd place Helio Castroneves. In order for Helio to win he would have to place first with Scott Dixon placing no better than 10th. If Helio does win and gets three extra points for most laps led Then Dixon would have to finish no better than 9th in order for Helio win the championship.The race this Sunday has the potential to be a very interesting one. Scott has won at Homestead, Texas, Nashville, Edmonton, Kentucky and won the 92nd running of the Indy 500. I do think that it is possible for Helio to win. It is however, a long shot. Scott Dixon performs well on the 1.5 mile ovals and I am sure that he will run a smart conservative race with his mind on the championship instead of pushing hard and potentially getting in trouble trying to get the win.