This weekend’s Honda Indy 200 saw some amazing action. Scott Dixon took the checkered flag, becoming the winningest driver in IndyCar history with 20 wins, breaking the record previously held by Sam Hornish Jr.

The rest of the race was action-packed. Highlights included Conway bumping Patrick, causing her to spin into the pea gravel and stall (I wonder if he got an earful afterwards). Milka Duno, several laps behind, was like a slow-moving truck — blocking everyone. Drivers frustrated, the action came to a head when she blocked the leader Wilson as he attempted to pass. This allowed Dixon to get ahead of Wilson for the lead. Dixon never lost that lead.

There was also all kinds of pit row drama. Justin Wilson, still fighting Scott Dixon for the lead, almost ran out of gas, barely getting to his pit box on time. He had a 30+ second pit stop as he struggled to get the car moving again. This gave Dixon a wide lead, and shortage of yellows meant he won by a wide margin.

The final podium standings were Dixon, Briscoe (pole winner) and Franchitti. Wilson finished a disappointing 13th.

Check out the video highlights below.

This past weekend’s race in Toronto saw arguably the best race action of the 2009 IndyCar season. Two drivers without permanent rides this season, Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracy, were surprisingly dominant factors in the race. They provided so much surprise and drama—and even better for the Canadian fans, they both hail from Canada.

The starting grid had a lot to do with the race’s high adrenaline level. Normally-dominant racers such as Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe all qualified in the middle of the pack, meaning they’d have to fight their way to the front on a skinny, winding track where passing opportunities are hard to come by.

An experienced veteran of racing in Toronto, Paul Tracy took advantage of every passing opportunity he had. The hometown favorite started 15th, and made up a jaw-dropping seven spots in the first lap. By lap 29, he had passed Conway and Dixon to race in second spot behind Tagliani. Tracy’s contact with Castroneves (and the wall) when trying to make a pass for the lead on lap 66 brought an end to his day, some feeling that he was too aggressive trying to pass a slower Castroneves.

And, the race day would not be complete without Tomas Scheckter throwing his gloves at Alex Tagliani after an incident that put Scheckter out of the race (an incident for which (Scheckter apologized to his fans via Twitter).

Check out the adrenaline-filled action in the video linked below.

Photo Credit: evolvingblue

Update
Here is the official IndyCar schedule of race related activities for the Rexall Edmonton Indy (PDF).
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As promised, here’s a preliminary look at the on-track and off-track schedule of events for the Rexall Edmonton Indy. For other information and some facts on the event have a look at our previous post, Construction Underway at Rexall Edmonton Indy.

Rexall Edmonton Indy On-Track Events
Friday, July 24, 2009
11:30 Gates Open to Public
11:45-12:30 IndyCar Practice
12:30-1:15 IndyCar Practice
1:30-2:15 FIL Qualifying
2:30-3:30 Corporate Race
3:45-4:45 IndyCar Practice
5:00-5:45 Canadian Tire NASCAR Series Qualifying
5:45-5:55 James Van Domselaar, Lukemia & Lymphoma Society, Racing for a Cure Lap-A-Thon
6:00-7:00 Pace Car / 2 Seater Program
7:00-8:30 Concert Turn 1 Stage

Saturday, July 25
9:30 Gates Open to Public
9:45-10:45 IndyCar Practice
11:00-12:15 Canadian Tire NASCAR Series Race
12:30-1:15 NASCC Eurasia Cup GT Invitational Qualifying Race
1:30-2:00 FIL Pre Race
2:00-3:00 FIL Race
3:20-4:50 IndyCar Qualifying Race – Live Versus
5:00-6:00 Pace Car / 2 Seater Program

Sunday, July 26
9:30 Gates Open To Public

2008 Rexall Edmonton Indy (Photo Credit: Adam Jevne)

The 2009 Rexall Edmonton Indy will be the year that tells all. 2008 end as a year of questions for the organizing committees in Edmonton. The merger left the Edmonton venue as a large question mark on the schedule and as a result, the organizers scrabbling. Hard work, much determination and frequent meetings with IRL finally net a confirmation that Edmonton would be on the schedule for three more years. Good news, except the late round of negotiations left the event in a state of flux because they were now very late in the planning process. 11th hour marketing activities, unconfirmed supporting events and last minute commitments from sponsors left the event in the red by $5.3 million. Local media blasted the organizers over tab left for taxpayers. Now that there are no excuses this year, I know the event will be a huge success.

Tickets
Tickets for the Rexall Edmonton Indy can be purchased at Ticketmaster. This includes: single day passes, three day passes, RV parking passes and pit-lane passes.

This weekend is the 93rd Indianapolis (Indy) 500. The 33 car field and huge prize ($2,988,065 in 2008) for top spot is sure to keep the event entertaining.

The Indy 500 includes 200 laps over a 2.500 mile (4.023 km) circuit for a total race distance of 500 miles (804 km). The fast lap (race) record holder is Eddie Cheever in 1996 with a speed of 236.103 mph (379.971 km/h).

To make the race extra challenging, there are four former Indy 500 winners in the starting field (Castroneves, Dixon, Franchitti, and Wheldon). Franchitti is starting in position three and will be nipping at the heels of Castroneves from the first wave of the green flag. Back from the top three positions are some other drivers to watch, including: Dixon (starting in position 5), Kanaan (starting in position 6), Marco Andretti (starting in position 8), and Tracy (starting in position 13). Also adding to the importance of this race is the fact that over the past four years the Indy 500 winner has gone on to win the IndyCar season.