2006 SunTrust Indy Challenge
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0.750 mi / 1.200 km
| Race details | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7th round of the 2006 IndyCar season
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 Layout of the Richmond International Raceway circuit | |||||
| Date | June 24, 2006 | ||||
| Official name | SunTrust Indy Challenge presented by XM Satellite Radio | ||||
| Location | Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Virginia | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 0.750 mi / 1.200 km | ||||
| Distance | 250 laps 187.500 mi / 301.752 km | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver |  Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske) | ||||
| Time | Field set by practice times; 15.5645 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver | Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske) | ||||
| Time | 16.7234 (on lap 5 of 250) | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First |  Sam Hornish Jr. (Team Penske) | ||||
| Second | Vítor Meira (Panther Racing) | ||||
| Third |  Dario Franchitti (Andretti Green Racing) | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
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The 2006 SunTrust Indy Challenge presented by XM Satellite Radio was an IndyCar Series motor race held on June 24, 2006, in Richmond, Virginia at Richmond International Raceway. It was the seventh round of the 2006 IndyCar Series and the sixth running of the event. Sam Hornish Jr. of Marlboro Team Penske won the 250-lap race. Panther Racing driver Vítor Meira finished second, and Andretti Green Racing's Dario Franchitti took third.
Hélio Castroneves was awarded the pole position after qualifications were rained out. He led the first 38 laps before teammate Hornish Jr. overtook him for the first position. Hornish Jr. proceeded to lead the final 212 laps and win the race with little vying from the other competitors. His win, coupled with Castroneves' ninth-place finish after blowing a tire late in the race, allowed him to reduce Castroneves' Drivers' Championship lead to five points. Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon dropped to third and fourth, respectively, while Meira moved to fifth with seven races remaining in the season.
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The SunTrust Indy Challenge was the seventh of 14 scheduled open-wheel races of the 2006 IndyCar Series and the sixth edition of the event.[1][2] It was held on June 24, 2006, in Richmond, Virginia, United States, at Richmond International Raceway, a four-turn 0.75 mi (1.21 km) asphalt oval track which features 14-degree banking in the turns, 8-degree banking in the front stretch, and 2-degree banking in the back stretch, and contested over 250 laps and 187.5 miles (301.8 km).[3] Before the race, Marlboro Team Penske driver Hélio Castroneves, the defending race winner,[4] led the Drivers' Championship with 232 points, twenty-two points ahead of Scott Dixon in second and thirty-seven points over Dan Wheldon in third. Sam Hornish Jr. and Tony Kanaan held the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.[5]
To prepare for the race, IndyCar conducted a test at the circuit for the series' entrants on June 22; the sessions were exclusively opened to rookie drivers at 9:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), paused from 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM, opened to all drivers at 2:00 PM, and concluded at 6:00 PM.[3] All 19 full-time entries took part in the session, which was led by Hornish Jr. with a lap of 15.7520 seconds; however, Hornish Jr. had also brought the session to an early end after crashing into the SAFER barrier in the fourth turn, destroying his primary car in the process.[6] He was closely trailed by Andretti Green Racing drivers Marco Andretti and Kanaan, while Scott Sharp and Dario Franchitti drove the fourth- and fifth-quickest laps of the session, respectively.[7]
Hornish Jr. looked forward to the race weekend because of how fun he felt the circuit was. Castroneves was equally as optimistic and fondly reminisced his win at the track in 2005.[4] After the test, Andretti instantly became fond of the track because of its emphasis on driver effort.[6] Kanaan shared this sentiment and likened Richmond International Raceway to a road course.[8] Franchitti spoke of the physical challenges while racing at the track, such as G-forces,[9] but had hope that he could muster another good finish in the race.[10] Buddy Rice, on the other hand, claimed that the track was not physically demanding, but mentally demanding because it tested drivers' patience.[11]
Practice and qualifying
Two practice sessions were held prior to the race on Saturday, both on Friday. The first session lasted for 90 minutes, and the second for 60 minutes; both sessions were divided into two groups which each received equal track time.[3] The first session featured two stoppages, one for Buddy Lazier, who backed into the fourth-turn wall, and another for Felipe Giaffone, whose engine failed just eight laps into his run.[12][13] Castroneves led the first session with a quick lap of 15.6043 seconds, ahead of Andretti, Kanaan, Kosuke Matsuura, and Hornish Jr.[14] Castroneves later improved on his fastest time during the second and final session with a lap of 15.5645 seconds, besting Scott Sharp, Hornish Jr., Wheldon, and Andretti.[15]
Forty-five minutes after the second practice session ended, the starting grid was set to be determined by the qualifying session. Each driver was required to complete two timed laps; the fastest time would determine the drivers' starting positions.[12] After nine drivers completed their qualifying attempts, rain began to descend over the track, forcing IndyCar to cancel the session. The starting grid was resultantly determined by the combined practice speeds on Friday, which awarded Castroneves the pole position.[12][16] He was joined on the grid's front row by Sharp; Hornish Jr., Wheldon, and Andretti took positions third through fifth, and Vítor Meira, Kanaan, Matsuura, Bryan Herta, and Franchitti qualified from sixth through tenth. The grid was rounded out by Dixon, Tomas Scheckter, Ed Carpenter, Rice, Danica Patrick, Jeff Simmons, Eddie Cheever, Giaffone, and Lazier.[17]
Qualifying classification
- Notes
- The starting grid was determined by the fastest speeds of Friday's two practice sessions.[12]
- ^1 — Buddy Rice was sent to the rear of the grid because of a crash during the warm-up session.[19]
Warm-up
At 2:00 PM EDT, the drivers took to the track for a thirty-minute warm-up session leading up to the race.[3] The session was briefly stopped three minutes after it began when Rice crashed into the SAFER barrier in the fourth turn.[20] Hornish Jr. was the fastest driver of the session with a timed lap of 16.5691 seconds, ahead of Meira, Kanaan, Franchitti, and Wheldon.[21]
