Team Penske was strong throughout Sunday’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway, but a series of yellow flag periods at the end of the race combined with tire trouble saw the day end with a seventh place finish for No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda driver Ryan Briscoe and a 14th place finish for No. 3 driver Helio Castroneves.

Both cars were among the fastest in the field during the race, but three caution periods in the final 62 laps allowed other teams to stretch their fuel windows to finish ahead of the No. 3 and 6 machines.

Despite leading the most laps of the day (92 of 250 total), Castroneves was forced to the pits inside the last 20 laps due to a leaking right-front tire and finished 14th.  “Today just wasn’t our day,” Castroneves said. “The Team Penske car was great, and we led the most laps, but after our final pit stop I felt a change in the way the car was handling and thought we might have a tire problem. The guys looked into it, and we were losing pressure slowly.”

Castroneves remains second in the 2008 IndyCar Series driver championship standings, 48 points behind leader Scott Dixon.   “Fourteenth is not the result we deserved today,” Castroneves continued. “All we can do now is look forward to a better result in Richmond.”

Ryan Briscoe and his No. 6 machine also had a challenging day, and despite setting fastest lap of the race, ended up in seventh place.  “It was tough out there today,” Briscoe said. “We needed more downforce and also struggled to find grip.  But my guys made adjustments throughout the day, and toward the end of the race we had a solid car. The good news is we were able to salvage a fairly decent finish.”

Briscoe is currently sixth in the driver championship standings, only four points out of fifth spot.

The 2008 IndyCar Series season continues with the SunTrust Indy Challenge on June 28 at Richmond International Raceway. The race will be telecast live at 8 p.m. (EDT) by ESPN and will be carried on the IMS Radio Network.

Results Sunday of the Iowa Corn Indy 250 Presented by Pioneer IndyCar Series event June 22 at the .875-mile Iowa Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (3) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
2. (7) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
3. (8) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
4. (1) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
5. (18) A.J. Foyt IV, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
6. (6) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
7. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
8. (14) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
9. (11) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
10. (16) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
11. (23) John Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
12. (20) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
13. (13) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
14. (2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 248, Running
15. (12) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 248, Running
16. (10) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 247, Running
17. (17) Enrique Bernoldi, Dallara-Honda, 242, Running
18. (4) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 211, Contact
19. (24) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 192, Contact
20. (21) Jaime Camara, Dallara-Honda, 133, Mechanical
21. (19) Darren Manning, Dallara-Honda, 94, Mechanical
22. (15) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Honda, 78, Mechanical
23. (9) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 38, Contact
24. (22) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 26, Handling
25. (25) Bruno Junqueira, Dallara-Honda, Did not start
26. (26) Marty Roth, Dallara-Honda, Did not start

Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 136.007 mph

Time of race: 1:38:35.8923
Margin of victory: 0.1430 of a second
Cautions: 6 caution flags for 57 laps
Lead changes: 9 among 4 drivers

Lap leaders: Castroneves 1-12, Kanaan 13, Castroneves 14-15, Kanaan 16-51, Castroneves 52-106, Kanaan 107-134, M. Andretti  135-160, Kanaan 161-166, Castroneves 167-189, Wheldon 190-250.

Point standings: Dixon 316, Castroneves 268, Wheldon 267, Kanaan 216, Mutoh 199, Briscoe 195, Patrick 192, Andretti 189, Power 169, Carpenter 166.