2008 Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300

The 2008 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 was the opening round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season and took place on March 29, 2008 at the 1.485-mile (2.390 km) Homestead-Miami Speedway. For the first time in series history, the reigning champion was not on the grid to defend his title, as Dario Franchitti had moved to the No. 40 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car for Chip Ganassi Racing. Graham Rahal was supposed to make his debut in this race, however due to a crash in testing his team could not get his car repaired in time for the race. 2003 champion Scott Dixon kicked off the season with the victory, on his way to the series championship.

2008 Homestead-Miami Speedway

Race details
Race 1 of 17 in the 2008 IndyCar Series season
Date	March 29, 2008
Official name	GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300
Location	Homestead-Miami Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.485 mi / 2.390 km
Distance	200 laps 297.000 mi / 477.975 km
Weather	78 °F (26 °C), Fair skies
Pole position
Driver	Scott Dixon ( Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time	1:40.2341 (4 laps)
Fastest lap
Driver	Ryan Briscoe ( Penske Racing)
Time	25.0624 (on lap 3 of 200)
Podium
First	Scott Dixon ( Chip Ganassi Racing)
Second	Marco Andretti ( Andretti Green Racing)
Third	Dan Wheldon ( Chip Ganassi Racing)

Qualifying

• All cars run four laps and the car which completes the laps in the quickest time, wins the pole.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Speed (mph)
1	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	1:40.2341	213.341
2	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing	1:40.2482	213.311
3	2	A. J. Foyt IV	Vision Racing	1:40.7676	212.211
4	7	Danica Patrick	Andretti Green Racing	1:40.8066	212.129
5	6	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing	1:40.8166	212.108
6	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	1:40.9452	211.838
7	3	Hélio Castroneves	Penske Racing	1:41.0675	211.581
8	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	1:41.0683	211.580
9	27	Hideki Mutoh (R)	Andretti Green Racing	1:41.1024	211.508
10	25	Marty Roth	Roth Racing	1:41.1264	211.458
11	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Rahal Letterman Racing	1:41.4689	210.744
12	4	Vítor Meira	Panther Racing	1:41.6762	210.315
13	15	Buddy Rice	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	1:42.0784	209.486
14	14	Darren Manning	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	1:42.1598	209.319
15	34	Franck Perera (R)	Conquest Racing	1:42.2034	209.230
16	5	Oriol Servià (R)	KV Racing	1:42.3056	209.021
17	02	Justin Wilson (R)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	1:42.4349	208.757
18	23	Milka Duno	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	1:42.6559	208.308
19	36	Enrique Bernoldi (R)	Conquest Racing	1:42.7433	208.130
20	33	E. J. Viso (R)	HVM Racing	1:42.7577	208.101
21	8	Will Power (R)	KV Racing	1:42.7935	208.029
22	18	Bruno Junqueira	Dale Coyne Racing	1:43.0882	207.434
23	19	Mario Moraes (R)	Dale Coyne Racing	1:43.2707	207.067
24	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Disallowed
25	24	Jay Howard (R)	Roth Racing	Disallowed

• Before the race, the cars of Ed Carpenter and A. J. Foyt IV failed technical inspection, their times were disallowed, and were dropped to 24th and 25th on the grid respectively. All drivers behind them moved up two places from their original grid positions.

Race

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points
1	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	200	1:44:03.5914	1	67	50
2	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	200	+0.5828	4	85	43
3	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	200	+1.4728	22	9	35
4	3	Hélio Castroneves	Penske Racing	200	+8.0340	5	4	32
5	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing	199	+1 Lap	24	0	30
6	7	Danica Patrick	Andretti Green Racing	199	+1 Lap	2	0	28
7	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Rahal Letterman Racing	199	+1 Lap	9	0	26
8	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	198	+2 Laps	6	35	24
9	2	A. J. Foyt IV	Vision Racing	198	+2 Laps	25	0	22
10	4	Vítor Meira	Panther Racing	197	+3 Laps	10	0	20
11	15	Buddy Rice	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	196	+4 Laps	11	0	19
12	5	Oriol Servià (R)	KV Racing	195	+5 Laps	14	0	18
13	14	Darren Manning	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	194	+6 Laps	12	0	17
14	34	Franck Perera (R)	Conquest Racing	194	+6 Laps	13	0	16
15	02	Justin Wilson (R)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	193	+7 Laps	15	0	15
16	19	Mario Moraes (R)	Dale Coyne Racing	187	+13 laps	21	0	14
17	33	E. J. Viso (R)	HVM Racing	183	Accident	18	0	13
18	36	Enrique Bernoldi (R)	Conquest Racing	149	Handling	17	0	12
19	6	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing	126	Collision	3	0	12
20	23	Milka Duno	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	122	Collision	16	0	12
21	25	Marty Roth	Roth Racing	53	Handling	8	0	12
22	24	Jay Howard (R)	Roth Racing	50	Handling	23	0	12
23	18	Bruno Junqueira	Dale Coyne Racing	40	Handling	20	0	12
24	27	Hideki Mutoh (R)	Andretti Green Racing	32	Mechanical	7	0	12
25	8	Will Power (R)	KV Racing	24	Mechanical	19	0	10

Average race speed: 171.248 mph
Cautions: 3 for 24 laps
Lead changes: 12

Broadcasting

Television

The race was televised in high definition in the United States on ESPN 2, the telecast utilized the Side-by-Side format for commercial breaks.

ABC Television

Booth Announcers	Pit/garage reporters
Announcer: Marty Reid Color: Scott Goodyear	Jack Arute Vince Welch Brienne Pedigo

Radio

The race was broadcast on radio by the IMS Radio Network. Mike King served as anchor. Davey Hamilton was the driver analyst.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network

Booth Announcers	Turn Reporter	Pit/garage reporters
Chief Announcer: Mike King Driver expert: Davey Hamilton	Turns 1, 2, and Backstretch: Mark Jaynes	Kevin Olson Kevin Lee Bob Jenkins Dave Wilson