Bourdais Ties Unser Jr. on All-Time Win List with ABC Supply Milwaukee 250 Victory - Speedway Digest

Sebastien Bourdais collected his fifth Indy car victory on an oval – his first since winning at The Milwaukee Mile in 2006 – and 34th win overall by dominating the second half of the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest presented by the Metro Milwaukee Honda Dealers.

Driving the No. 11 Team Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing Chevrolet, Bourdais tied Al Unser Jr. for seventh on the all-time victory list with 34.

Bourdais, who led a field-high 118 laps, built a large enough cushion on his Verizon IndyCar Series competitors that he retained the lead after pitting on Lap 213 of 250 on the 1.015-mile historic Milwaukee Mile oval. He then held off Helio Castroneves, who started last in the 24-car field in the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet because of a qualifying rules violation, on a Lap 232 restart and sped away to a 2.2366-second victory.

Bourdais led 117 laps from the pole in winning a 197-lap timed race at The Mile in June 2006 for his fourth consecutive victory of that season.

“On these ovals, you can go from hero to zero and back to hero again. I guess that’s my story,” said Bourdais, who qualified 11th on a day that had both qualifying and the race on Sunday. “It’s so much about momentum when you can feel one with the car, and today the guys gave me an awesome car. It felt pretty good off the truck and I thought, ‘This could be a pretty good weekend.’ And then we messed up qualifying.

“Never did I think we could come up through the field and pass everybody. It’s just unbelievable. It’s what these places do to you. When the car is right, it’s so, so special.”

Graham Rahal, who won the MAVTV 500 on June 27, finished third in the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda and Juan Pablo Montoya was fourth in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Pole sitter Josef Newgarden led 109 laps and finished fifth in the No. 67 CFH Racing Chevrolet.

Will Power’s No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet was collected in a Lap 131 incident off a restart when the No. 5 Arrow/Lucas Oil Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda driven by Ryan Briscoe spun in Turn 4.

It was the second consecutive DNF for Power, allowing Montoya to increase his championship points lead. Scott Dixon, making his 250th Indy car start, overtook Power for second in the standings with a seventh-place finish in the No. 9 Cottonelle Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

Montoya takes a 54-point advantage over Dixon into the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway on July 18. Power fell to fifth in the standings with 369 points, one marker behind Rahal and Castroneves.

“No question it makes it tough,” said Power, the reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion who finished 22nd. “We just have to focus and move on to the next one.”

Click HERE to view and download the Official Box Score for the ABC Supply Co. Inc. Wisconsin 250.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.