2006 Meijer Indy 300
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Race 12 of 14 in the 2006 IndyCar season
| |||
| Date | August 13, 2006 | ||
| Official name | Meijer Indy 300 Presented by Coca-Cola and Secret | ||
| Location | Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Kentucky | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi / 2.414 km | ||
| Distance | 200 laps 300.000 mi / 482.803 km | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hélio Castroneves (Marlboro Team Penske) | ||
| Time | 24.4037 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver | Bryan Herta (Andretti Green Racing) | ||
| Time | 24.3154 (on lap 48 of 200) | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Sam Hornish Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske) | ||
| Second | Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) | ||
| Third | Hélio Castroneves (Marlboro Team Penske) | ||
The 2006 Meijer Indy 300 was an IndyCar Series motor race held on August 13, 2006, in Sparta, Kentucky at Kentucky Speedway. It was the twelfth round of the 2006 IndyCar Series and the seventh running of the event. Sam Hornish Jr., driving for Marlboro Team Penske, won the 200-lap race. Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon finished second and Hornish Jr.'s teammate Hélio Castroneves finished third.
Castroneves earned the pole position after posting the fastest lap of qualifying. He and Hornish Jr. swapped the lead five times before making their first pit stops on lap 54. After a caution was flown, the Marlboro Team Penske drivers were relegated back in the field as Wheldon and his teammate Scott Dixon took control of the race. Hornish Jr. climbed back up to the lead on lap 96 and held it until Wheldon reclaimed the first position shortly after a lap-135 restart. Wheldon and Hornish Jr. then engaged in a fierce battle for the lead, which ended after Wheldon slipped up in his final pit stop on lap 185. Hornish Jr. passed Dixon on a restart and led the final five laps to earn his eighteenth IndyCar victory and fourth of the season.
As a result of the race, Hornish Jr. retook the first position in the Drivers' Championship, leading second-place driver Castroneves by seven points. Wheldon remained third, ahead of Dixon and Vítor Meira (who finished sixth), with two races left in the season.