Felipe Giaffone became the ninth different winner this IRL season with his win in the Belterra Casino 300 at Kentucky Speedway. It was a win many had waited for since the second-year driver captured last season's Rookie of the Year honors, but one that had added significance for the affable Brazilian.

"My father has played such an important role in my career," Giaffone said. "It was Father's Day in Brazil today and I was able to give my father the very best present of all."

Others had days of special significance -- Four star performances.

Kelley Racing
Sunday was supposed to be a day of celebration for Tom Kelley's outfit. Al Unser Jr. was returning to the cockpit and Tony Renna was rewarded for his outstanding substitution service while Unser was in rehab with a full-time ride in Kelley's Kruse Special. Their Infiniti Pro driver, Jason Priestley, won the outside pole Saturday.

Then at 8:30 a.m., Kelley's world collapsed. Priestley was involved in a 180-mph crash in Turn 2 while running the final Infiniti Pro practice. He was air lifted to the University of Kentucky Hospital's Trauma Center with life-threatening injuries. The uncertainty of Priestley's condition cast a dark cloud over the team's preparations.

Then during the running of the IRL race, Renna collided with members of his crew during a pit stop. Bernie Hallisky, the left-rear tire changer, fractured his right leg, pelvis and left hip. Rusty Herford suffered a minor neck injury. There was chaos in the Kelley pit.

Kelley stepped in and calmed both his driver and crews. With the help of Unser Jr.'s operation, Renna was serviced and returned to the race and finished 12th.

It was a difficult day for the team, but one when it showed its perseverance and spirit.

Sarah Fisher

	Fisher

When Sarah Fisher captured her first pole, mainstream media took notice. The 21-year-old driver was featured on ABC's World News Tonight, CNN and other mainstream outlets.

At the drop of the green flag, Fisher showed that her pole was no fluke. She took the lead and smoked the competition.

"I found something out today: leading a race without passing cars gets boring," Fisher said. "Your vision gets blurry, and there isn't a lot of excitement when there is no passing going on. We maintained our lead from the start until the first stop, which was slow and put us back a bit. The car was pushing from the beginning, and we kept tuning it until the last stop when I asked for one more half-turn of front wing, which made us loose."

The last change resulted in a disappointing eighth-place finish, but also signaled that Fisher likely will follow Giaffone into Victory Circle in short order.

Robbie Buhl

	Buhl

Robbie Buhl started this season with high expectations. Continued engine problems and an injury at Fontana, Calif., have limited him to just one top-five finish.

"We finished," Buhl said after he and teammate Fisher were running at the end of the race. "With both of us in the top 10, hopefully this gives us the momentum shift that we've been looking for."

With Infiniti-powered cars on other teams showing so much promise, Buhl's engine issues have confounded the Dreyer & Reinbold operation.

"We know we can win races," Buhl said. "Now we just have to prove it."

Gil de Ferran

	De Ferran

It was a terrible day for Gil de Ferran's Team Penske outfit. After qualifying sixth, de Ferran's car developed a push.

"The left-front tire became blistered," de Ferran said. "I was dropping back in the field when the No. 20 car (Richie Hearn) came by me on the outside. My right-front tire touched his left-rear tire, and it broke my right-front top wishbone."

The damage was sufficient enough to retire the car. But points were an issue, so the Penske team repaired and returned de Ferran to the track more than 20 laps off the pace.

"We spent the rest of the day biding our time so we could run as many laps as possible in order to earn points in the championship," de Ferran said. "As far as the championship is concerned, we're on the up and up. We've been racing well at each track we've been to, and it just wasn't our day today. Overall, the points race is still wide open, and it looks like it'll go right down to the final lap in Texas." If it does and de Ferran rebounds, the nine points he earned at Kentucky will loom large.