2008 Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Race 1 of 17 in the 2008 IndyCar Series season | |
 | |
| Date | March 29, 2008 |
| Official name | GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 |
| Location | Homestead-Miami Speedway |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.485 mi / 2.390 km |
| Distance | 200 laps 297.000 mi / 477.975 km |
| Weather | 78 °F (26 °C), Fair skies |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Scott Dixon ( Chip Ganassi Racing) |
| Time | 1:40.2341 (4 laps) |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Ryan Briscoe ( Penske Racing) |
| Time | 25.0624 (on lap 3 of 200) |
| Podium | |
| First | Scott Dixon ( Chip Ganassi Racing) |
| Second | Marco Andretti ( Andretti Green Racing) |
| Third | Dan Wheldon ( Chip Ganassi Racing) |
The 2008 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 was the opening round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season and took place on March 29, 2008 at the 1.485-mile (2.390 km) Homestead-Miami Speedway. For the first time in series history, the reigning champion was not on the grid to defend his title, as Dario Franchitti had moved to the No. 40 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car for Chip Ganassi Racing. Graham Rahal was supposed to make his debut in this race, however due to a crash in testing his team could not get his car repaired in time for the race. 2003 champion Scott Dixon kicked off the season with the victory, on his way to the series championship.
Qualifying
[edit]- All cars run four laps and the car which completes the laps in the quickest time, wins the pole.
- The Vision Racing entries of Ed Carpenter and A. J. Foyt IV, who qualified second and third, failed technical inspection and were moved to the back of the starting grid.[1]
Race
[edit]| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Laps Led | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 |  Scott Dixon
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | 200 | 1:44:03.5914 | 1 | 67 | 50 |
| 2 | 26 | Marco Andretti
|
Andretti Green Racing | 200 | +0.5828 | 4 | 85 | 43 |
| 3 | 10 |  Dan Wheldon
|
Chip Ganassi Racing | 200 | +1.4728 | 22 | 9 | 35 |
| 4 | 3 |  Hélio Castroneves
|
Penske Racing | 200 | +8.0340 | 5 | 4 | 32 |
| 5 | 20 | Ed Carpenter
|
Vision Racing | 199 | +1 Lap | 24 | 0 | 30 |
| 6 | 7 | Danica Patrick
|
Andretti Green Racing | 199 | +1 Lap | 2 | 0 | 28 |
| 7 | 17 | Ryan Hunter-Reay
|
Rahal Letterman Racing | 199 | +1 Lap | 9 | 0 | 26 |
| 8 | 11 | Tony Kanaan
|
Andretti Green Racing | 198 | +2 Laps | 6 | 35 | 24 |
| 9 | 2 | A. J. Foyt IV
|
Vision Racing | 198 | +2 Laps | 25 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | 4 | Vítor Meira
|
Panther Racing | 197 | +3 Laps | 10 | 0 | 20 |
| 11 | 15 | Buddy Rice
|
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 196 | +4 Laps | 11 | 0 | 19 |
| 12 | 5 |  Oriol Servià (R)
|
KV Racing | 195 | +5 Laps | 14 | 0 | 18 |
| 13 | 14 | Darren Manning
|
A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 194 | +6 Laps | 12 | 0 | 17 |
| 14 | 34 |  Franck Perera (R)
|
Conquest Racing | 194 | +6 Laps | 13 | 0 | 16 |
| 15 | 02 | Justin Wilson (R)
|
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing | 193 | +7 Laps | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| 16 | 19 | Mario Moraes (R)
|
Dale Coyne Racing | 187 | +13 laps | 21 | 0 | 14 |
| 17 | 33 |  E. J. Viso (R)
|
HVM Racing | 183 | Accident | 18 | 0 | 13 |
| 18 | 36 | Enrique Bernoldi (R)
|
Conquest Racing | 149 | Handling | 17 | 0 | 12 |
| 19 | 6 |  Ryan Briscoe
|
Penske Racing | 126 | Collision | 3 | 0 | 12 |
| 20 | 23 | Milka Duno
|
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 122 | Collision | 16 | 0 | 12 |
| 21 | 25 |  Marty Roth
|
Roth Racing | 53 | Handling | 8 | 0 | 12 |
| 22 | 24 | Jay Howard (R)
|
Roth Racing | 50 | Handling | 23 | 0 | 12 |
| 23 | 18 | Bruno Junqueira
|
Dale Coyne Racing | 40 | Handling | 20 | 0 | 12 |
| 24 | 27 |  Hideki Mutoh (R)
|
Andretti Green Racing | 32 | Mechanical | 7 | 0 | 12 |
| 25 | 8 | Will Power (R)
|
KV Racing | 24 | Mechanical | 19 | 0 | 10 |
| [2][3] | ||||||||
Average race speed: 171.248 mph
Cautions: 3 for 24 laps
Lead changes: 12[4]
Broadcasting
[edit]Television
[edit]The race was televised in high definition in the United States on ESPN 2, the telecast utilized the Side-by-Side format for commercial breaks.
| Booth Announcers | Pit/garage reporters |
|---|---|
| Jack Arute Vince Welch Brienne Pedigo |
Radio
[edit]The race was broadcast on radio by the IMS Radio Network. Mike King served as anchor. Davey Hamilton was the driver analyst.
| Booth Announcers | Turn Reporter | Pit/garage reporters |
|---|---|---|
|
Chief Announcer: Mike King |
Turns 1, 2, and Backstretch: Mark Jaynes |
Kevin Olson Kevin Lee Bob Jenkins Dave Wilson |
References
[edit]- ^ "IndyCar Series Homestead Race Report". Honda Racing Corporation USA. March 30, 2008. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
- ^ "2008 Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ "Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300". Ultimate Racing History. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ "2008 Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300". www.racing-reference.info.