Photo by: Michael C. Johnson
Saturday Success: Briscoe (third), Castroneves (seventh) and Power (eighth) began a streak of three consecutive Saturday races with a successful performance at Texas Motor Speedway last weekend. Briscoe led five laps and Power was leading late before he was issued a drive-through penalty for blocking on lap 194, which ended his 24-lap run in the top position.
Milwaukee Milestone: Briscoe won his first career IZOD IndyCar Series race at Milwaukee in 2008. The victory was also Penske Racing’s landmark 300th all-time race win. Briscoe, an admitted Green Bay Packer fan, also considers Milwaukee as sort of his “home” race as his wife, Nicole, hails from nearby Roscoe, Illinois and her family still lives in the area.
Quality Qualifying: Team Penske has an accomplished history of qualifying at the Milwaukee Mile with Castroneves (1999, 2006, 2007) and Briscoe (2009) combining to win four overall and three out of the last five pole positions. In addition, Sam Hornish, Jr. took the top qualifying spot in 2005, as Team Penske has won the pole in five of the seven IndyCar Series races at the track. Castroneves’ 177.477 mph polewinning qualifying speed in 2006 still holds the track record. Through the first seven races of the 2012 season, Team Penske has won the pole five times.
Predominance In Points: With three race victories and two pole positions, Team Penske’s Power leads the IZOD IndyCar Series championship standings with 256 points. Teammate Castroneves is currently in fourth place with 203 points and Briscoe is ranked eighth place with 174 points.
First In Line: Power is currently at the top of nearly every statistical category in 2012. He is in sole possession of first place with the most wins (three), he’s tied for the most top-10 finishes (six), top-five finishes (four) and poles (two) and he ranks second in the series in laps led (135) and races led (five).
Drive for Five: Castroneves (St. Petersburg) and Power (Barber, Long Beach, Sao Paulo) combined to win the first four races in the 2012 season. There has never been a season in the 44-year history of Penske Racing that began with four consecutive victories until 2012.
Step Right Up: Castroneves, who has two podium finishes in 2012 (St. Petersburg and Barber), enters the Milwaukee IndyFest tied with Scott Dixon for eighth all-time in second place finishes (29) and 12th all-time in top-three finishes (68).
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT THE MILWAUKEE INDYFEST
Ryan Briscoe: “I’m always excited to go back to Milwaukee; it’s like a home race for me, my home away from home. I always have a lot of support and family there. We are working on taking our success at ovals and turning it into a win with the No.2 Hitachi Team Penske car this weekend.”
Helio Castroneves: “Milwaukee is a place that has always been special for me and hopefully this year we will be able to put together a great race in the No.3 Penske Truck Rental machine. I have been looking forward to this race since the test we had there earlier in the season and hopefully we will all be able to leave with big smiles on our faces.”
Will Power: “I’m looking forward to driving the Verizon car at the Milwaukee Mile. Unfortunately for our team we will have a ten grid spot penalty going into the race so it’s important that we qualify as high as possible to be near the top ten. It should be a great race.”
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