BRISCOE TAKES CHECKERED FLAG AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Ryan Briscoe Burnout by Ron McQueeney/IndyCar

Ryan Briscoe was denied of firing the six-shooters in Victory Circle at Texas Motor Speedway the past two years. Finally, the Team Penske driver got to have some fun.

Briscoe, who started from the pole, held off Danica Patrick to win the Firestone 550K. Marco Andretti finished third for the second consecutive race and Scott Dixon, the 2008 race winner, finished fourth.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dario Franchitti was fifth, ending the two-year streak of the Indianapolis 500 winner repeating at Texas the same year.

Helio Castroneves, who started fifth in the No. 3 Team Penske car and was the 2009 winner at Texas, exited on Lap 129 when he attempted to overtake the No. 32 KV Racing Technology car driven by Mario Moraes on the frontstretch.

Wheels touched and the cars spun, with Bertrand Baguette in the No. 36 Conquest Racing RACB car having nowhere to go but between the spinning cars. He didn't fare so well. Castroneves was without radio communication with his spotter and the pit stand.

Simona De Silvestro suffered a minor burn on her right hand when the No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing car made contact with the wall on the backstretch.