2006 ABC Supply / A. J. Foyt Indy 225

The 2006 ABC Supply / A. J. Foyt Indy 225 was an IRL IndyCar Series motor race held on July 23, 2006, in West Allis, Wisconsin at the Milwaukee Mile. It was the tenth round of the 2006 IRL ndyCar Series and the third running of the event. Tony Kanaan, driving for Andretti Green Racing, won the 225-lap race from the fourth position. Marlboro Team Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr. finished second and Vision Racing's Tomas Scheckter finished third.

Hélio Castroneves won the pole position by setting the fastest lap of qualifying. He led the first 31 laps until he was passed by Kanaan, who held the lead until making a pit stop on lap 74. He reclaimed the lead two laps later. Dario Franchitti took the lead soon after a restart on lap 109 before being overtaken by Kanaan 26 laps later. Kanaan continued leading until being overtaken by Marco Andretti on lap 141, though Kanaan moved back into the lead on the 180th lap. He maintained his lead until the race ended, giving him the win. There were four cautions and eight lead changes between six drivers during the race.

Kanaan's win was the seventh of his IndyCar Series career and his first of the season. The result tied Kanaan and Vítor Meira, who retired from the race after crashing, for fifth place in the Drivers' Championship. Hornish Jr. extended his championship lead from five points to twenty-five points over second-place driver Scott Dixon, while Castroneves and Dan Wheldon remained third and fourth, respectively, with four races left in the season.

Background

The ABC Supply / A. J. Foyt Indy 225 was the 10th of 14 scheduled open-wheel races for the 2006 IndyCar Series and the third edition of the event dating back to 2004. It was held on July 23, 2006, in West Allis, Wisconsin, United States, at the Milwaukee Mile, a four-turn asphalt oval track which features 9.25-degree banking in the turns and 2.5-degree banking in the front stretch and back stretch, and contested over 225 laps and . Leading up to the race, Marlboro Team Penske driver Sam Hornish Jr. led the Drivers' Championship with 316 points, five more than Scott Dixon in second and six more than Hélio Castroneves in third. Dan Wheldon was fourth with 300 points and Vítor Meira, with 262 points, placed fifth. Hornish Jr. was the race's defending champion.

Days after meeting United States President George W. Bush at the White House for his recent win in the Indianapolis 500, Hornish Jr. was hopeful of performing well during the race: "The short straight-aways and flat turns make passing very difficult. But with a good handling car and a little bit of patience, hopefully we'll be able to bring the Marlboro Team Penske car into victory lane for the second year in a row." His teammate Castroneves regarded the track as "drastically different" from any other circuit on the schedule due to its lack of banking. Danica Patrick, who matched her career-best finish of fourth in the preceding Firestone Indy 200, predicted that hot temperatures would produce a slippery track surface and more cautions. Dario Franchitti assured that he would win the race: "I enjoy driving at the Milwaukee Mile and I've had a very good car there the last two years. We're going to Milwaukee to win."

Practice and qualifying Four practice sessions preceded the race on Sunday, two on Friday and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 120 minutes, the second 90 minutes, the third 60 minutes, and the fourth 30 minutes. The first three sessions were also divided into two groups which received equal track time. Franchitti led the first practice session on Friday morning with a time of 21.5691 seconds, besting Tony Kanaan, Bryan Herta, Castroneves, and Meira. Ryan Briscoe resorted to a back-up car after crashing into the turn-four SAFER barrier. Later that day, Marco Andretti was fastest in the second practice session with a time of 21.5839 seconds, ahead of Meira, Tomas Scheckter, Herta, and Jeff Bucknum. In the third practice session on Saturday morning, Castroneves was fastest with a time of 21.1046 seconds; Hornish Jr., Jeff Simmons, Meira, and Andretti occupied positions second through fifth.

Qualifying was held forty-five minutes after the third practice session concluded. Each driver was required to complete two timed laps, with the quicker of the two determining their starting position. Castroneves scored the 14th pole position of his IndyCar Series career with a time of 21.1854 seconds, breaking the track record set by Hornish Jr. in 2005 and surpassing Greg Ray to become the series' all-time leader in pole positions. He was joined on the grid's front row by teammate Hornish Jr., who was 0.0120 seconds slower and had the pole position until Castroneves' lap. Andretti qualified third, Kanaan fourth, and Meira fifth. Simmons, Ed Carpenter, Scheckter, Herta, and Dixon took the remaining positions in the top ten, and Wheldon, Franchitti, Buddy Rice, Patrick, Kosuke Matsuura, Bucknum, Scott Sharp, and Briscoe completed the starting grid. Patrick led the final practice session on Saturday afternoon with a time of 22.1654 seconds, beating Hornish Jr., Meira, Andretti, and Castroneves.

Qualifying classification Driver Team 13 Hélio Castroneves Marlboro Team Penske 21.1854 172.4771 26 Sam Hornish Jr. Marlboro Team Penske 21.1974 172.3802 326 Marco Andretti Andretti Green Racing 21.2732 171.7653 411 Tony Kanaan Andretti Green Racing 21.2841 171.6774 54 Vítor Meira Panther Racing 21.3929 170.8045 617 Jeff Simmons Rahal Letterman Racing 21.4195 170.5926 720 Ed Carpenter Vision Racing 21.4632 170.2457 82 Tomas Scheckter Vision Racing 21.4901 170.0328 97 Bryan Herta Andretti Green Racing 21.4954 169.9909 109 Scott Dixon Target Chip Ganassi Racing 21.4962 169.98410 11 10 Dan Wheldon Target Chip Ganassi Racing 21.5003 169.95111 1227 Dario Franchitti Andretti Green Racing 21.5297 169.71912 1315 Buddy Rice Rahal Letterman Racing 21.5694 169.40713 1416 Danica Patrick Rahal Letterman Racing 21.5863 169.27414 1555 Kosuke Matsuura Super Aguri Fernández Racing 21.6220 168.99515 1614 Jeff Bucknum A. J. Foyt Racing 21.6723 168.60218 178 Scott Sharp Delphi Fernández Racing 21.8033 167.58916 185 Ryan Briscoe Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 22.1153 165.22517 Sources:

Notes — Moved to the rear of the grid for changing engines after qualifying.

Race Live coverage of the race began at 12:30 PM Central Daylight Time (CDT) in the United States on ESPN. Commentary was provided by Marty Reid, Rusty Wallace, and Scott Goodyear. Weather conditions at the start of the race were fair, with air temperatures reaching and track temperatures measuring . A. J. Foyt, for whom the race is named, gave the command for drivers to start their engines; prior to the race weekend, he had spent the past three weeks recovering from knee replacement surgery. Johnny Rutherford drove the pace car. During the pace laps, Bucknum was forced to start in the 18th position, despite qualifying 16th, due to an engine swap after the final practice session.

Castroneves maintained his pole position advantage on the first lap, while Kanaan passed teammate Andretti and Hornish Jr. to move into the second position. Castroneves managed to open his lead over Kanaan to 0.62 seconds by the tenth lap; meanwhile, Briscoe drove into pit road with a right-rear suspension issue. Ten laps later, Castroneves began navigating around lapped drivers, allowing Kanaan to close the gap. He drove down the track in an attempt to take the lead on lap 21, though Castroneves kept the position and built a quarter-second lead by the 25th lap. Kanaan moved into the lead in the first turn on lap 32. Matsuura entered pit road on the 42nd lap for tires and adjustments. Castroneves was passed by Andretti for the second position on the 54th lap, and by Meira for the third position three laps later.

Green-flag pit stops began on lap 70, with Andretti and Franchitti making pit stops for new tires and fuel. Kanaan made his stop four laps later, handing the lead to Scheckter and Simmons, who each led one lap before entering pit road. After the pit stops had concluded, Kanaan regained the first position and held a seven-second lead over Andretti until the first caution was flown on lap 96, when debris was spotted in the third turn. During the caution period, most of the leaders made pit stops; Castroneves stopped for a front wing adjustment and Carpenter was forced to stop twice after dropping a wheel weight while exiting his pit stall. Kanaan, Franchitti, and Meira chose to stay on track and remained the leaders at the lap-108 restart. Franchitti drove left on the back stretch to take the lead from Kanaan on lap 109; two laps later, the second caution was prompted after Castroneves and Carpenter collided in the third turn, damaging the left-front suspension of Castroneves' car and the right-rear suspension of Carpenter's car. Carpenter retired from the race. Most of the leaders, with the exception of Scheckter, did not make pit stops.

Franchitti led the field back up to speed on the lap-116 restart. Kanaan drove to the left to pass Franchitti in the first turn on lap 125, but backed off. He completed the pass and reclaimed the lead on the 135th lap. The third caution was triggered two laps later when Meira, from third place, made heavy contact with the turn-three wall, ending his race. All the leaders made pit stops under this caution, with Andretti taking the lead from Franchitti on lap 141 by virtue of a quick pit stop. After Castroneves' team repaired his suspension, he returned to the race one lap later in order to gain points. Andretti led at the lap-146 restart; he was followed by Scheckter and Kanaan, the latter of whom passed Scheckter for second place the following lap. In the next 33 laps, Kanaan gradually condensed Andretti's lead from 1.1 seconds to 0.4 seconds. On lap 180, Kanaan drove to the inside line and overtook Andretti in the third turn. Hornish Jr. moved into fourth place over Herta on the 183rd lap, and Dixon pitted for tires and fuel two laps later.

The fourth (and final) caution was necessitated on lap 200 when Bucknum slid up the track and contacted the turn-four wall, dealing unfixable damage to his car. All the leaders elected to make pit stops under the caution. Kanaan led the field at the lap-209 restart, followed by Andretti and Franchitti. Hornish Jr. swiftly overtook Franchitti for the third position in the third turn. He then passed Andretti for second place three laps later. Scheckter, meanwhile, moved into third on the 217th lap. On lap 220, Kanaan's car began sputtering, igniting fears that he may run out of fuel; despite this, he maintained the lead for the final five laps and earned his seventh IndyCar Series win and the first of the season for him and his team, Andretti Green Racing. Hornish Jr. finished second, ahead of Scheckter in third, Patrick fourth, and Andretti fifth. Franchitti, Herta, Wheldon, Simmons, and Dixon completed the top ten, and Rice and Sharp were the last of the classified finishers. The race featured four cautions and eight lead changes among six different drivers. Kanaan led four times for a total of 127 laps, more than any other competitor.

Post-race