Scheckter

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Tomas Scheckter's ride to his first victory in the Indy Racing League ended with a hard crash into the second turn wall, just nine laps from the checkered flag.

Scheckter started on the pole and dominated the 200-lap race, leading four times for 101 laps. But when his right rear tire deflated, his dream ended with another hard whack to the wall.

"We hadn't had a problem with the car all weekend and the car was handling perfect," said the 21-year-old driver from Cape Town, South Africa. "This drags me down, but it will go away. I'll go away, cry about it tonight, have a wank and feel better tomorrow.

"There are a lot of times I thought this would be my first win and with 10 laps to go, yes, I did think this was it. I had 10 laps to go -- 10 easy laps to go -- but when the car goes like that, there is nothing you can do. I thought I was untouchable. I thought I was untouchable at Texas, I thought I was untouchable at Indy and again here today."

Scheckter said the air pressure in the right rear tire deflated rapidly, which sent him on the ride to the wall.

"Losing any race is a disappointment," Scheckter said. "I lost Indy and that was massive. It's getting disappointing because it's getting closer and closer. It's also getting disappointing because it's not the first time, second time or third time.

"We'll get it together. I'll keep my head up. Sometimes, that is hard to do."

Unser's disappointment
Al Unser Jr. led Sunday's race three times for 29 laps and was a leading contender for the victory before his transmission quit 11 laps from the finish.

"We don't really know what it is at this point, but it's disappointing for all of us because we had such a great car," said the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner. "My guys had the best pit stops today as anyone on pit road, and I'm so proud of all of them."

Unser is now sixth in IRL points, 19 behind race-winner Airton Dare.

Castroneves likes Kansas track
Helio Castroneves competed in his first race at Kansas Speedway and despite the high heat and humidity, gave the track rave reviews.

"The track surface is smooth like a baby's butt," Castroneves said. "It's unbelievable. I guess you saw, you can go two lines, almost three lines. Oh my goodness -- and as the race went on, the track was getting better and better.

So it was truly ... I'm really impressed with this facility."

Castroneves leaves Kansas with an eight-point lead over Marlboro Team Penske teammate Gil de Ferran in the battle for the IRL title.

"I'm very happy because that's the points," Castroneves said. "Little by little, that's the way you keep a lead on the championship. It doesn't matter if you win a championship by one point or 20 points, as long as you are in the front, that's important."