2006 Bombardier Learjet 500

The 2006 Bombardier Learjet 500 was the sixth round of the 2006 IndyCar Series season. The race was held on June 10, 2006, in Fort Worth, Texas at Texas Motor Speedway. The race was contested of 200 laps. Hélio Castroneves won the race. Scott Dixon finished 2nd, and Dan Wheldon finished 3rd. Sam Hornish Jr. and Scott Sharp rounded out the top five, and Vítor Meira, Tony Kanaan, Kosuke Matsuura, Ed Carpenter, and Tomas Scheckter rounded out the top ten.

2006 Bombardier Learjet 500

Race details
6th round of the 2006 IndyCar season ← Previous race Next race →
Layout of the Texas Motor Speedway circuit
Date	June 10, 2006
Official name	Bombardier Learjet 500
Location	Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi / 2.400 km
Distance	200 laps 300 mi / 482.803 km
Pole position
Driver	Sam Hornish Jr. (Team Penske)
Time	24.5197
Fastest lap
Driver	Dan Wheldon (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time	24.4535 (on lap 200 of 200)
Podium
First	Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske)
Second	Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Third	Dan Wheldon (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Chronology
Previous Next 2005 2007

Wheldon was the most dominant driver of the day, leading 171 laps. However, a slow pit stop with 15 laps to go cost him the victory.^[1] After the race, he stormed away into the garage and said that he and his team "gifted another one to Penske."

With only two cautions and no crashes, race winner Castroneves earned an average speed of 185.710 mph (298.871 km/h), making this the third-fastest race in IndyCar history (at the time).^[1]

Entry list

Further information: 2006 IndyCar Series § Confirmed entries

All entries drove Dallara chassis.

Key	Meaning
R	Rookie
W	Past winner

No.	Driver	Team
2	Tomas Scheckter  W	Vision Racing
3	Hélio Castroneves  W	Team Penske
4	Vítor Meira	Panther Racing
5	Buddy Lazier	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
6	Sam Hornish Jr.  W	Team Penske
7	Bryan Herta	Andretti Green Racing
8	Scott Sharp  W	Delphi Fernández Racing
9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing
10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing
11	Tony Kanaan  W	Andretti Green Racing
14	Felipe Giaffone	A. J. Foyt Racing
15	Buddy Rice	Rahal Letterman Racing
16	Danica Patrick	Rahal Letterman Racing
17	Jeff Simmons  R	Rahal Letterman Racing
20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing
26	Marco Andretti  R	Andretti Green Racing
27	Dario Franchitti	Andretti Green Racing
51	Eddie Cheever	Cheever Racing
55	Kosuke Matsuura	Super Aguri Fernández Racing

Practice

First practice

The first practice session was held at 2:30 PM CDT on Thursday, June 8, and lasted for 90 minutes.^[2] The session was split into two groups, with 45 minutes for each group.

Top Practice Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Time
1	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	24.5455
2	3	Hélio Castroneves  W	Team Penske	24.5794
3	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	24.5962
Official first practice results

Second practice

The second practice session was held at 4:30 PM CDT on Thursday, June 8, and lasted for 60 minutes.^[2] The session was split into two groups, with 30 minutes for each group.

Top Practice Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Time
1	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	24.3782
2	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	24.4136
3	6	Sam Hornish Jr.  W	Team Penske	24.4844
Official second practice results

Qualifying

Qualifying was held at 7:30 PM CDT on Thursday, June 8.^[2] Each driver was required to run two laps in their qualifying attempt; the best of the two laps would determine their starting position.

Qualifying classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Lap 1	Lap 2	Final grid
1	6	Sam Hornish Jr.  W	Team Penske	24.5197	24.5349	1
2	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	24.5238	24.5366	2
3	3	Hélio Castroneves  W	Team Penske	24.5706	24.5998	3
4	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	24.7102	24.5998	4
5	2	Tomas Scheckter  W	Vision Racing	24.6421	24.6120	5
6	11	Tony Kanaan  W	Andretti Green Racing	24.6711	24.7309	6
7	8	Scott Sharp  W	Andretti Green Racing	24.6794	24.7152	7
8	27	Dario Franchitti	Andretti Green Racing	24.7154	—	8
9	26	Marco Andretti  R	Andretti Green Racing	24.7496	24.7165	9
10	55	Kosuke Matsuura	Super Aguri Fernández Racing	24.7607	24.7768	10
11	7	Bryan Herta	Andretti Green Racing	24.7622	24.7875	18[a]
12	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing	24.7783	24.7785	11
13	4	Vítor Meira	Panther Racing	24.7913	24.8009	12
14	15	Buddy Rice	Rahal Letterman Racing	24.8071	24.8055	13
15	16	Danica Patrick	Rahal Letterman Racing	24.8269	24.8487	14
16	17	Jeff Simmons  R	Rahal Letterman Racing	24.8901	24.8902	15
17	51	Eddie Cheever	Cheever Racing	25.0127	25.0345	16
18	5	Buddy Lazier	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	25.0440	25.0679	17
19	14	Felipe Giaffone	A. J. Foyt Racing	—	—	19
Official qualifying results

Notes

• Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.

Practice (post-qualifying)

Third practice

The third practice session was held at 2:00 PM CDT on Friday, June 9, and lasted for 60 minutes.^[4] The session was split into two groups, with 30 minutes for each group.

Top Practice Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Time
1	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	24.4744
2	3	Hélio Castroneves  W	Team Penske	24.6207
3	8	Scott Sharp  W	Delphi Fernández Racing	24.6530
Official third practice results

Final practice

The fourth and final practice session was held at 7:00 PM CDT on Friday, June 9, and lasted for 30 minutes.^[4]

Top Practice Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Time
1	6	Sam Hornish Jr.  W	Team Penske	24.4100
2	3	Hélio Castroneves  W	Team Penske	24.4307
3	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	24.4379
Official final practice results

Race

The race began at 8:15 PM CDT on Saturday, June 10.

Race classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Pts.
1	3	Hélio Castroneves  W	Team Penske	200	01:34:01.0482	3	8	50
2	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	200	+0.2402	4	0	40
3	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	200	+0.2981	2	171	38
4	6	Sam Hornish Jr.  W	Team Penske	200	+14.5389	1	16	32
5	8	Scott Sharp  W	Delphi Fernández Racing	200	+14.5895	7	5	30
6	4	Vítor Meira	Panther Racing	200	+15.9294	12	0	28
7	11	Tony Kanaan  W	Andretti Green Racing	200	+16.1398	6	0	26
8	55	Kosuke Matsuura	Super Aguri Fernández Racing	200	+22.3327	10	0	24
9	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing	200	+22.9791	11	0	22
10	2	Tomas Scheckter  W	Vision Racing	199	+1 Lap	5	0	20
11	7	Bryan Herta	Andretti Green Racing	199	+1 Lap	18	0	19
12	16	Danica Patrick	Rahal Letterman Racing	199	+1 Lap	14	0	18
13	27	Dario Franchitti	Andretti Green Racing	199	+1 Lap	8	0	17
14	26	Marco Andretti  R	Andretti Green Racing	199	+1 Lap	9	0	16
15	17	Jeff Simmons  R	Rahal Letterman Racing	198	+2 Laps	15	0	15
16	14	Felipe Giaffone	A. J. Foyt Racing	197	+3 Laps	19	0	14
17	51	Eddie Cheever	Cheever Racing	197	+3 Laps	16	0	13
18	15	Buddy Rice	Rahal Letterman Racing	70	Engine	13	0	12
19	5	Buddy Lazier	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	56	Fuel Pump	17	0	12
Fastest lap: Dan Wheldon (Chip Ganassi Racing) - 24.4535 (lap 200)
Official race results

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Hélio Castroneves 232 2 Scott Dixon 210 (–22) 1 3 Dan Wheldon 195 (–37) 1 4 Sam Hornish Jr. 194 (–38) 5 Tony Kanaan 164 (–68)

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Footnotes

1. Despite qualifying 11th, Bryan Herta started 18th because of an engine change the night prior to the race. He started ahead of Felipe Giaffone because he made a qualifying attempt.^[3]