The race started out somewhat haltingly, with several cautions in the early going as drivers struggled to keep control of their cars in the strong tail wind that met them comming off of Turn Two. After about 50 laps, however, they got settled in & the race was not interrupted again - except for a brief yellow for debris - until the closing laps.

The early lead was taken by Helio Castroneves, with season points leader Scott Dixon in pursuit. While they diced for position, Marco Andretti caught up with the lead duo and tried repeatedly to pass them using the high line around the track, a move that normally courts disaster from the "marbles" - bits of rubber that peel off of the tires.

It would be those three drivers showing the way for most of the race, with Ryan Hunter-Reay making a strong showing by hanging on to their draft & Vitor Meira taking the lead late in the going by playing a long-shot fuel strategy, which didn't pay off in the end.

Meanwhile, Helio's teammate Ryan Briscoe was putting in an impressive run to back up his race-winning effort at Milwaukee. After falling nearly two laps down in the early going after a penalty, Ryan and his crew played the pit-stop strategy game to perfection, resulting in his getting back in contention by the closing laps.

With only a few laps to go it was Dixon in the lead with Andretti & Hunter-Reay fighting for 2nd when the two tangled, sending both into the wall & ending their night. Immediately after, Ryan blamed Marco for chopping down on him as they dove into Turn Three. Castroneves & Briscoe picked their way through the accident scene & followed Dixon home as the field bunched up behind the safety car & the race finished under caution.

You can find the full race results here:

http://www.indycar.com/stats/boxscores/2008/texas_06072008.pdf 

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