Circuit: Richmond International Raceway (0.75-mile oval), Richmond, VA
2005 Winner: Helio Castroneves (Toyota) 114.953 mph average
Weather: Cloudy, humid, 84 degrees F
Top 10 Race Results:
| Ps. | St. | Driver | Team | Engine/Chassis | Laps | Average Speed/Notes |
| 1. | 3. | Sam Hornish Jr. | Marlboro Team Penske | Honda Dallara | 250 | 129.572 mph average (new record) |
| 2. | 6. | Vitor Meira | Panther Racing | Honda Dallara | 250 | -0.3907 seconds |
| 3. | 10. | Dario Franchitti | Andretti Green Racing | Honda Dallara | 250 | -1.5895 seconds |
| 4. | 5. | Marco Andretti | Andretti Green Racing | Honda Dallara | 250 | -6.5400 seconds |
| 5. | 2. | Scott Sharp | Delphi Fernandez | Honda Dallara | 250 | -5.6677 seconds |
| 6. | 9. | Bryan Herta | Andretti Green Racing | Honda Dallara | 250 | -10.9217 seconds |
| 7. | 12. | Tomas Scheckter | Vision Racing | Honda Dallara | 249 | Running |
| 8. | 13. | Ed Carpenter | Vision Racing | Honda Dallara | 249 | Running |
| 9. | 4. | Dan Wheldon | Target Chip Ganassi | Honda Dallara | 249 | Running |
| 10. | 1. | Helio Castroneves | Marlboro Team Penske | Honda Dallara | 249 | Running |
Hornish Scores Honda's 100th Open-Wheel Win
Marlboro Team Penske's Sam Hornish Jr. scored Honda's 100th race victory in Indy Racing League and Championship Auto Racing Team history Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, dominating the Suntrust Indy Challenge in a race run at a record pace on the shortest track on the IRL circuit.
In a race slowed only three times by the caution flag, another Richmond IndyCar record, Hornish took the lead from teammate Helio Castroneves on Lap 39 and was never headed for the remainder of the 250-lap event, scoring his second win of the 2006 season and moving within four points of Castroneves in the championship points battle.
An exciting late-race pass of Dario Franchitti netted Vitor Meira his sixth career second-place finish. Meira ran fourth in the early laps, but problems at the first round of pit stops dropped the Panther Racing driver back to 10th. However, Meira fought his way through the field during the second half of the race, finally going very low in Turn One to pass Franchitti on Lap 246 as the pair came up on a slowing Castroneves, who was struggling with a deflating right rear tire. At almost the same instant, the failing tire came off Castroneves' car, leading to the caution that ended the race.
Other events in the hectic final laps included both Target Chip Ganassi cars having to pit for fuel in the final 10 laps, costing Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon top-six finishes, while Delphi Fernandez Racing's Scott Sharp put on a late-race charge to finish fifth, just behind rookie points leader Marco Andretti.
Honda entered North American open-wheel racing at the start of the 1994 Championship Auto Racing Team season, and the manufacturer scored its first victory, with driver Andre Ribeiro and his Tasman Motorsports team, at the one-mile New Hampshire International oval in 1995.
Honda went on to win 65 times in CART through the 2002 season, then moved to the IRL IndyCar Series in 1993. Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan posted Honda's first IRL race win, at Phoenix in 2003, the start of a run of 35 victories to date for Honda in the IndyCar Series.
IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship (after 7of 14 races)
| 1. Helio Castroneves | 252 points (3 wins) | 6. Tony Kanaan | 176 |
| 2. Sam Hornish Jr. | 247 (2 wins) | 7. Scott Sharp |
164 |
| 3. Scott Dixon | 229 (1 win) | 7. Dario Franchitti | 157 |
| 4. Dan Wheldon | 217 (1 win) | 9. Bryan Herta | 153 |
| 5. Vitor Meira | 192 | 10. Marco Andretti | 150 |
Rookie of the Year:
| 1. Marco Andretti | 150 points |
| 2. Jeff Simmons | 63 |
| 3. P.J. Chesson | 54 |
Sam Hornish Jr. (#6 Marlboro Team Penske Honda) Started 3rd, finished 1st, his second win of 2006, his 16th career IndyCar win, has led in every race this year: "It was a great weekend for us, I'm really happy to be the first repeat winner here in IndyCars. It's also Honda's 100th win, so that's great, too. There were a lot of close calls out there tonight, as there always are at these short tracks, but the breaks seemed to all go our way when we needed them. Team Penske did a great job, it was a tough night out there, but our guys did what they had to do to get us a win.
Robert Clarke (President, Honda Performance Development) on
100 Open-Wheel victories for Honda:
"I have personally been in attendance at every one of our 100 wins, and
I remember each as if it were yesterday. I remember the joy and excitement of
Andre Riberio winning our first race in New Hampshire in 1995, the outstanding
performance tonight from Sam Hornish Jr. and all the wins between these two
landmarks. We've truly been blessed with some outstanding talents throughout
our open-wheel racing program, and our congratulations tonight to Sam, Roger
Penske and the entire Team Penske organization. My congratulations also go out
to all of our associates at Honda Performance Development for their passion,
hard work, and dedication over the years."
Honda Open-Wheel Fast Stats
(CART 1994-2002; IRL 2003-2006)
- 220 Races, 164 in CART, 56 in IRL IndyCar Series competition (through Richmond 2006)
- 100 Race Wins, 65 in CART 1994-2002, 35 in IndyCar 2003 (through Richmond 2006)
- 12 Honda Race Engines designed, produced and raced since 1994
- 6 Manufacturers' Championships in CART (1996, 1998-99, 2001) and the IRL (2004-05)
- 8 Drivers' Championships: Jimmy Vasser (1996); Alex Zanardi (1997-98); Juan Pablo Montoya (1999); Gil de Ferran (2000-01); Tony Kanaan (2004); and Dan Wheldon (2005)
- 6 Rookie titles: Alex Zanardi (1996); Tony Kanaan (1998);
Juan Pablo Montoya (1999);
Dan Wheldon (2003); Kosuke Matsuura (2004); and Danica Patrick (2005) - 17 Race Winning Drivers: Alex Zanardi-15; Dario Franchitti-14; Dan Wheldon-10; Helio Castroneves-10; Jimmy Vasser-8; Tony Kanaan-7; Paul Tracy-6; Juan Pablo Montoya-6; Gil de Ferran-6; Adrian Fernandez-4; Andre Ribeiro-3; Buddy Rice-3; Michael Andretti-2; Bryan Herta-2; Sam Hornish Jr.-2; Scott Sharp-1; Scott Dixon-1
- 8 Race Winning Teams: Team KOOL Green/Andretti Green Racing-39; Target Chip Ganassi Racing-31; Marlboro Team Penske-16;Tasman Motorsports/McDonald's Championship Racing-5; Fernandez Racing-4; Rahal Letterman Racing-3; Walker Racing-1; Jim Hall Racing-1
- 95 Pole Qualifying Runs; 65 in CART and 30 in the IRL
| Year | Races | Wins | Poles | Manufacturer Standings |
Honda Engine |
| 1994 | 16 | 0 | 0 | N/A* | Honda HRX Indy V-8 |
| 1995 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3rd | Honda HRX through Nazareth Honda HRD starting at the Indianapolis 500 |
| 1996 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 1st | Honda HRH Indy V-8 |
| 1997 | 17 | 6 | 6 | 2nd | Honda HRR Turbo V-8 |
| 1998 | 19 | 13 | 7 | 1st | Honda HRK Turbo V-8 |
| 1999 | 20 | 14 | 13 | 1st | Honda HRS Turbo V-8 |
| 2000 | 20 | 8 | 11 | 2nd | Honda HR-0 Turbo V-8 |
| 2001 | 20 | 7 | 9 | 1st | Honda HR-1 Turbo V-8 |
| 2002 | 19 | 5 | 5 | 2nd | Honda HR-2 Turbo V-8 |
| 2003 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 2nd | Honda HI3R Indy V-8 |
| 2004 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 1st | Honda HI4R Indy V-8 (3.5 liter capacity) Honda HI4R-A starting at the Indianapolis 500 |
| 2005 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 1st | Honda HI5R Indy V-8 |
| 2006** | 7 | 7 | 7 | N/A* | Honda HI6R Indy V-8 |
* CART Manufacturers' Championship originated in 1995; Honda is sole
IRL engine supplier in 2006
** Statistics complete through Richmond International Raceway, 7th race in the
2006 season
