2008 SunTrust Indy Challenge

SunTrust Indy Challenge
Company type	IndyCar Series race
Industry	Motorsport
Founded	2008-06-28
Headquarters	Richmond, Virginia, United States

The 2008 SunTrust Indy Challenge, serving as the ninth event in the 2008 IndyCar Series season, took place on June 28 at Richmond International Raceway in Virginia. Prior to the official start, Ryan Hunter-Reay experienced a spin, while an accident involving Will Power caused a delay in the race proceedings.

On the 31st lap, a crash between A. J. Foyt IV and John Andretti removed both competitors from contention and influenced their respective teams' tactics. During this caution period, several drivers, including Danica Patrick and newcomer Jaime Camara, opted to pit, whereas most frontrunners remained on track.

Debris cautions around lap 67 triggered pit stops from the leading cars, enabling Camara and Patrick to temporarily improve their positions. Camara led multiple restarts, successfully defending against seasoned drivers such as Tony Kanaan until lap 116 when Marco Andretti overtook him for the lead.

Additional incidents involving competitors like Graham Rahal, Hunter-Reay, and others resulted in several caution flags, which affected pit stop strategies amid concerns about weather conditions potentially shortening the event.

Following Marco Andretti’s final pit stop on lap 204, Tony Kanaan regained the lead and managed to keep control despite a late-race crash by Camara on lap 217. Kanaan maintained his advantage through the concluding pit sequences and claimed his first win of the season, showcasing excellent teamwork from Andretti Green Racing.

Result

Finish	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points
1	11	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	300	2:04:05.5111	1	166	53
2	3	Template:Country data BRA Template:Namespace detect showall Hélio Castroneves	Penske Racing	300	+4.7691	18	0	40
3	9	Template:Country data NZ Template:Namespace detect showall Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	300	+6.6504	4	0	35
4	10	Template:Country data UK Template:Namespace detect showall Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	300	+7.7270	6	0	'32'

... [table continues with remaining entries unchanged] ... |} !colspan=9 | Average race speed: |} !colspan=9 | Lead changes: 3 among 3 drivers |} !colspan=9 | Cautions: 9 for 102 laps |}

References

IndyCar Series (Archived 2009-06-01)