With the future of longtime Team Penske star Helio Castroneves in doubt as he stands trial on federal tax evasion charges, and replacement Will Power new to the team, Penske has placed some added responsibility on the slim shoulders of 27-year-old Ryan Briscoe.

Briscoe, starting his second year with Penske, responded Sunday with a victory in the season-opening Honda Grand Prix, outdueling Ryan Hunter-Reay and Justin Wilson for his third career IndyCar Series victory.

“It’s certainly been tough not having Helio, but no matter who my teammate is going into this year, my approach was the same,” Briscoe said. “I wanted to come in carrying off the experience I gained last year and try to kick the season off gaining points and trying to go for this championship.”

Asked about comments Penske made earlier this week about expecting Briscoe to step up, the Australian said, “You know, I do feel as though I’ve probably taken on slightly more of a leadership role with Team Penske with Will coming on board, just letting him feel comfortable and showing him the ropes.”

Briscoe passed Wilson for the lead on a restart 14 laps from the end of the crash-filled race in the streets of downtown St. Petersburg. He then stayed out front as Hunter-Reay, driving on the new softer alternate tires that provide more grip, also got past Wilson and tried to chase him down.

There was one last restart on the slick 1.8-mile, 14-turn circuit, but Briscoe was able to fend off a strong move by Hunter-Reay, who only got his ride with Vision Racing seven days earlier.

Leadership aside, Briscoe was relieved to finish the 100-lap event after crashing out here in his two previous starts — the first with Target Chip Ganassi Racing in 2005 and then last year with Penske.

“Finally,” Briscoe said as he emerged from his No. 6 Dallara-Honda. “This place has been bad to me. It feels so good to finally get to the end of this race.

“And it’s great to start off the year like this.”

Hunter-Reay lost his ride with Rahal Letterman Racing at the end of last season when the team lost its sponsorship and was signed for 2009 at the last minute by the team owned by Indy Racing League founder Tony George.

He made the most of his opportunity, giving George his best finish as a car owner.

“It’s unreal how the last few days have gone,” Hunter-Reay said. “I met with the team for the first time on Sunday and showed up here Friday and they were still trimming down my seat.”

Hunter-Reay, who won on the road course at Watkins Glen last year, said he didn’t want to take any big chances as he chased Briscoe on the treacherous track in the waning laps.

“I was thinking long term with points,” he said. “You couldn’t step a foot off line without jeopardizing your car, so I kept it in line for the team.”

Wilson, another late addition to the 22-car field, made his debut with Dale Coyne Racing a good one, dominating at times before fading at the end.

“I couldn’t quite get the restart there at the end,” the British driver said. “But it was a good day, a good way to get started with this team.”

Former series champion Dario Franchitti, returning to IndyCar after spending part of last year in NASCAR, ran a solid race and finished fourth.

Graham Rahal, who won his IndyCar debut here last year and then won his first series pole this week, was spun out by Tony Kanaan in the first turn of the race as all the leaders bunched up. Rahal and Kanaan both had to pit for repairs and wound up charging from the rear of the 22-car field.

Kanaan wound up fifth, Power sixth and Rahal seventh.

The 20-year-old Rahal, son of three-time series champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, was still upset after the race.

“I was conservative on the start and I’m guessing it was Kanaan that punted me,” Rahal said. “It’s obviously ridiculous and you would expect a guy like that with experience to know it’s the first corner of the first lap of the first race of the season. Why make a move like that?”

Kanaan, a former series champion, said, “I feel sorry for Graham, but he got chopped up. … On the start, Dario dive-bombed everybody [on the inside] and Graham tried to avoid him and he came to a stop. I couldn’t avoid him.”

A new factor in this race was the option of using the alternate tires provided by Firestone. The rules required each car run at least two green flag laps with the alternates but, otherwise, the teams were allowed to make their own decisions.

“Having the option tire really spiced things up,” Hunter-Reay said. “There was a lot of pressure to make the right decision at the right time on tires, but they worked to my benefit today.”

Fan favorite Danica Patrick and reigning series champion Scott Dixon both had forgettable days.

Patrick wound up 19th after a crash involving rookie Raphael Matos. Dixon, who was 22nd here a year ago, finished 16th after making contact with Hideki Mutoh and then slamming into the wall.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

Johnson, a three-time Sprint Cup winner, said Michigan lawyer Alan Miller has many clients in NASCAR and the Indy Racing League, a circuit where the Brazilian-born Castroneves is a top driver. Both Castroneves and Johnson have received financial guidance from Miller.

“Alan’s reputation is about honesty. His character is second to none,” Johnson testified in a 10-minute appearance. “He’s given me great advice.”

Miller, 71, is charged with conspiracy and tax evasion for allegedly helping Castroneves, 33, and the driver’s business manager-sister, 35-year-old Katiucia, avoid U.S. taxes on some $5.5 million from 1999 to 2004. All three face more than six years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors rested their case Monday after four weeks of testimony, much of it focused on Miller’s role in handling financial arrangements when Castroneves was hired by Penske Racing in late 1999. Prosecutors say the deal illegally avoided U.S. taxes on $5 million of the Penske money, which first was earmarked for a Panamanian shell corporation and then wound up in a Dutch deferred compensation account.

Johnson, 33, said Miller — a former professional football player and former NFL Players Association lawyer — has represented him for about 12 years and came widely recommended by racing industry leaders.

“I needed help to grow in my career. Alan was that guy for me,” said Johnson, who won his 41st career NASCAR race Sunday at Martinsville, Va.

The defense case for Castroneves, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, and his co-defendants is expected to take about a week. Howard Srebnick, attorney for Katiucia Castroneves, told jurors that evidence will show what the Internal Revenue Service claims were improper tax deductions were actually payments to their father for his years in Brazil working to promote Helio Castroneves.

“There was an understanding, and a moral obligation on the part of Helio, to pay his father,” Srebnick said.

Castroneves also does not owe U.S. taxes on the $5 million sitting in the Dutch account because he has not yet received it, Srebnick said. Prosecutors claim the taxes were owed because Penske was ready and able to pay Castroneves, who cannot avoid tax just because he didn’t accept the money.

Either way, Srebnick said Castroneves relied on advice from experts like Miller and others for his financial dealings.

“If the best-known lawyer in the racing community gives you that advice, you follow that advice. That’s what Helio did,” Srebnick said.

Aside from his racing career, Castroneves is perhaps best known for his 2007 victory on TV’s Dancing With The Stars competition. The tax case does not involve his appearance on that show.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

“Welcome back, Dario,” they shouted.

Franchitti smiled and returned the greeting. It’s good to be back home.

The Scot has returned to open-wheel racing after taking a shot at NASCAR following the 2007 season, when he won the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series championship.

The stock car adventure ended abruptly last July when team owner Chip Ganassi closed Franchitti’s team for lack of sponsorship, with few prospects of finding any backing in the bleak economy.

Tuesday, during a break on the opening day of preseason testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Franchitti said he has mixed feelings about his short stay in NASCAR.

“I’m disappointed because I’ve been lucky enough to win in everything I’ve ever done,” he said. “So the fact I didn’t win, or (have) what I consider success, kind of grates a little bit. I’m very happy to be where I am right now, with this opportunity. But I’d like to have been successful in that area.”

But Franchitti doesn’t consider his time in NASCAR a failure.

“I was getting the hang of it by the end of it,” he said. “Certainly, the last three races in the Cup car I was starting to run as good if not better than my teammates. And, in the Nationwide car, we qualified on the pole at the road course (at Watkins Glen) and on the front row at Bristol and led 80-something laps there.

“So I was getting the hang of it, but it just wasn’t to be. The economy and stuff, all those things, it just wasn’t to be.”

For other drivers who have run head-on into the economic turmoil in the past year, that would have meant looking for another ride when few are available.

But Ganassi, whose IndyCar team won the Indy 500 and the championship last year with Scott Dixon, needed a replacement for Dan Wheldon, who left to join Panther Racing.

Franchitti was the obvious choice.

“They are trying to show something that doesn’t exist,” Castroneves said after a hearing on pretrial motions.

Trial is set to begin March 2 for Castroneves, his sister Katiucia “Kati” Castroneves and Michigan attorney Alan Miller on charges they schemed to hide about $5.5 million in income from the Internal Revenue Service. Each of the seven counts in the indictment carries a potential 5-year prison sentence.

“Kati and I are innocent,” said Castroneves, whose main defense is that he relied on the advice of lawyers and experts to handle his finances.

One of those lawyers was Miller, a former professional football player who is represented by high-profile Washington attorney Robert Bennett. Miller, who has pleaded innocent, did not attend Thursday’s hearing. But Bennett also questioned the government’s case, saying it should have been handled as a civil dispute rather than a criminal indictment.

“There is no way that Alan Miller, or Mr. Castroneves, could have felt they were violating the law,” Bennett said.

Prosecutors said they have ample evidence showing the opposite.

“This is something Mr. Miller and Mr. Castroneves were aware of,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Dwyer.

Castroneves, a 33-year-old native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the others are accused of setting up shell corporations and offshore bank accounts to conceal income generated by Penske Racing Inc. and Brazilian firm Coimex International S.A. They are charged with conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion between 1999 and 2004.

At Thursday’s hearing, U.S. District Judge Donald Graham rejected motions by Miller to dismiss some of the counts and also allow him to stand trial separately. Another hearing is scheduled Monday for a motion by Castroneves and his sister to dismiss three tax evasion counts because the six-year statute of limitations may have expired.

With the four-week trial set to begin in early March, Penske Racing has already temporarily replaced Castroneves with Australian driver Will Power. The new Indy Racing League season begins April 5.

Castroneves won the Indy 500 in 2001 and 2002 and TV’s Dancing With the Stars competition in 2007 with partner Julianne Hough.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

The Indy Racing League fan favorite announced Friday that IUPUI, a local college, is back on board for 2009.

Details of the deal were not immediately available, but IUPUI wants to use the racing series as a platform to promote the school’s four-year motorsports engineering program.

“We see this sponsorship as an investment in opportunity for our students, and Sarah couldn’t be a better role model as she was once a student here at IUPUI,” said Oner Yurtseven, dean of IUPUI’s school of engineering and technology.

It’s the second deal Fisher has announced since mid-January, despite the struggling economy. Last month, Fisher announced Dollar General would double its commitment this season, allowing her to race in at least four venues on the IRL circuit.

Fisher started her own team last year and was expected to run an amended schedule with primary sponsor ResQ, a sports drink. But when the company pulled out of the deal just before the Indianapolis 500, Fisher was left in a financial bind. That’s when IUPUI bailed her out, helping her qualify for the traditional Memorial Day weekend race.

Fisher has been named the series’ most popular driver three times and has tied Lyn St. James’ female record with seven Indy starts. Her best career finish was second at Homestead, Fla., in 2001 and she won the pole in 2002 at Kentucky.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

Team Penske’s Briscoe became the first Australian driver to win the 60-lap race on the 2.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit. He beat Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon of New Zealand by 0.5019 seconds.

American Ryan Hunter-Reay was third. Alex Tagliani, the Canadian attempting to cement a place with Conquest Racing after two races with the team, was fourth, followed by Oriol Servia.

“It was definitely special to win here,” Briscoe said. “I was getting pressured there at the end with Scott and low fuel. I really feel bad for Will Power. He had a real fast car.”

It was the third year in a row that Team Australia’s Power, who is from the nearby Queensland state city of Toowoomba, won the pole but failed to finish the race. He clipped the wall, damaging his suspension, then hit the next concrete barrier and was out of the race.

Only three pole sitters have won in the 18-year history of the Australian race — Nigel Mansell in 1993, Jimmy Vasser in 1996 and Dario Franchitti in 1999.

Briscoe, who celebrated by doing a series of doughnuts on the track during the warmdown lap, saw his near two-second lead over Dixon slip to as low as 0.7 seconds with a few laps left as he attempted to conserve fuel.

It was a long time between wins for Team Penske in Australia. The last team driver to win at Surfers Paradise was Emerson Fittipaldi in 1992.

It was Briscoe’s third win of the year. He won on an oval at Milwaukee and on the Mid-Ohio road course.

Power took a 2.9-second lead over Dixon and Briscoe after the first lap, but Briscoe, who started in the second row, chipped away at the lead until a yellow flag on the seventh lap bunched the field.

Briscoe continued to narrow the gap after the green flag came back out before Power hit the wall on Turn 6 on the oceanside backstretch.

While Power heavily criticized Sebastien Bourdais for taking him out of the race in 2006, and he made contact last year with Katherine Legge, this year he had only himself to blame, with no other car causing the accident.

With his suspension gone, he hit the next wall and then drove the damaged car to the back of a tire barrier, where it stayed until the race ended.

“It’s a big disappointment, the worst mistake of my career,” said Power, who appeared to be close to tears in the pits.

“It’s motorsports, but I just can’t win at this place. I had such a quick car this weekend … it was just a bad display.”

Dixon thought he had a chance to catch Briscoe over the final 10 laps.

“The traffic at the end made it exciting,” said Dixon. “We were quicker in different spots. If he had made a mistake, we could have got him.”

Third-place finisher Hunter-Reay, who won here in 2003, has never been out of the top five at Surfers Paradise.

“It was a long day with those curbs,” said the American driver. “Unfortunately, I got held up by Tagliani for a good while … but the guys did a great job in the pits to get us by him.”

Danica Patrick stalled after trying to avoid an accident, and looked extremely agitated while gesturing to nearby track officials in the jump truck to get her engine started.

Patrick, who had a tough time qualifying and started at the back of the grid Sunday, finished 18th.

Despite some predictions of a major accident on the first-turn chicane involving the field of 24 — the largest here since 2001 — there was only a minor skirmish between Mario Moraes and fellow Brazilian Vitor Meira.

This Surfers Paradise race was the first under the Indy Racing League banner, and was a non-points event. The IRL and Champ Car World Series, which formerly staged the Surfers Paradise event, unified in February.

“It means almost a million points to me, to win my home race,” Briscoe said.

Due to a scheduling conflict, the race is not on the IRL schedule for 2009, although talks are continuing in an effort to have it reinstated.

“I hope we’re back here next year,” Briscoe said.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

The Team Australia driver had a time of 1 minute, 34.9451 on his final lap on the 2.8-mile, 14-turn circuit. Dixon, the Indy 500 winner, had his fastest time on the previous lap, but Power was 0.82 seconds quicker to take the pole for Sunday’s race.

Only three pole-sitters have won the Australian race — Nigel Mansell in 1993, Jimmy Vasser in 1996 and Dario Franchitti in 1999.

“We’ve been really fast all week,” said Power, who led both practice sessions Friday. “I just hope we can hold it all together tomorrow.”

Australian Ryan Briscoe was third, followed by Franchitti, who is making his return to open-wheel racing from an aborted stint in NASCAR.

American Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2003 winner, was fifth-fastest and will start alongside two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves.

The 18th version of the race Sunday also is the first under the Indy Racing League banner, and is a non-points event. The IRL and Champ Car World Series, which formerly staged the Surfers Paradise event, unified in February.

Under the IRL qualifying format, the 24 cars were divided into two groups in sessions lasting 20 minutes each. The top six of each of those groups advanced to a second round of qualifying of 15 minutes, and the top six from that group went into a final 10-minute session to determine the pole winner.

The first group that included Danica Patrick had light rain falling when the session started. Patrick’s bad run in her Australian debut continued when she crashed into the wall on her first lap after managing only a best time of 20th place in any of the practice sessions.

Patrick, the first woman to win a major open-wheel event, finished with no time and will start from the back of the grid Sunday.

Hunter-Reay was the best in the drizzle in the opening qualifying group but 19 seconds slower than the top practice time set earlier in the day on a dry track.

“It was pretty messy out there,” said Briscoe, who just sneaked into the second round of qualifying by finishing sixth in the first group.

The rain eased slightly for the second group but the wet track left cars slipping and sliding all over the track and the yellow caution flag came out three times during the session. Power, on his last lap, finished with the fastest time in the second group, 1.45 seconds quicker than Hunter-Reay.

With more showers approaching the track, officials started the next session, with the 12 fastest cars, early and the track dried for most of the session. Dixon led the group of the final six qualifiers, followed by Castroneves, Franchitti, Briscoe, Power and Hunter-Reay.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

With the Surfers Paradise race missing from the 2009 Indy Racing League schedule, there’s a possibility that the race, first held in 1991 and one of the most well-attended and popular on the old CART and then Champ Car series, might not be held again.

The IRL and local organizers are meeting this week to discuss the future of the race, and a decision is expected in about two weeks.

Scheduling in the regular late October race is the stumbling block — the mostly U.S.-based IRL wants its season finished before the start of the National Football League season, and Gold Coast organizers don’t want the race moved up because it will clash with Australia’s national football finals.

Regardless, Sunday’s race should go out with a bang — and maybe a few other mishaps along the way as the expanded field due to the IRL-Champ merger tries to find room on the tight 14-turn, 2.795-mile temporary beachside street course that winds its way around high-rise hotels and resort apartments.

The biggest test will come on the first turn — a tricky chicane that has been the scene of numerous accidents in the 17-year history of the race which, not surprisingly, has produced only one repeat winner — Sebastien Bourdais in 2005 and 2007.

“Coming down the front straight is where we reach the fastest speed, about 185 mph,” said Canadian Alex Tagliani, who has two third-place finishes in Australia in eight appearances on the course.

“Then we must brake hard for the first chicane in order to slow down to 90 mph. We have to be aggressive over the curbs and then reaccelerate … ”

The entry list includes three former Surfers Paradise champions — Dario Franchitti (1999), Bruno Lunqueira (2004) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (2003). Former drivers Michael Andretti (the 1994 winner) and Jimmy Vasser (1996) return as team owners.

Andretti and Bobby Rahal will watch their sons, Marco and Graham, respectively, from pit lane in Sunday’s race. A.J. Foyt IV, the grandson of four-time Indy 500 winner and son of 1992 Gold Coast race entrant and current IRL team owner, A.J. Foyt, will also be making his Australian debut.

The five former Indy 500 winners include reigning winner and IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon, who was born in nearby Brisbane but was raised a New Zealander.

Danica Patrick, who became the first woman to win a major open-wheel event in Japan in April, is making her first trip to Australia.

“I’ve heard about this race for a number of years, and I’m looking forward to finally driving in it,” Patrick said Thursday at a drivers’ breakfast.

Franchitti will make his first start with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Vitor Meira will debut with A.J. Foyt Racing, Dan Wheldon moves to Panther Racing and Tagliani will attempt to cement a spot with Conquest Racing after driving for the team in the final two events of 2008.

Whether any of those drivers are back next year depends on continuing negotiations led by Indy 300 chairman Terry Mackenroth and Terry Angstadt, the IRL’s commercial division president.

Organizers want a five-year contract to continue running the event and the Queensland state government, which backs the race with about $8 million of funding each year, would prefer that the date stay in late October.

“We will be holding a number of meetings over the weekend. If an agreement can be reached, a binding contract will be signed within 14 days of the event,” Mackenroth said Thursday.

Angstadt, who arrived just several hours earlier from the IRL’s head office in Indianapolis, said three scheduling options were being discussed in an effort to keep the race in Australia.

“We want to make something work,” Angstadt said.

Hookscenter.com wire report.

Statistics released this week by the IRL show gains were made with the merger of IndyCar and the Champ Car World Series and not just on the track.

• At-track merchandise sales were up 25 percent compared to 2007, according to Main Gate, the league’s merchandising agent.

• Average viewership was 1.55 million, up from 1.4 million in 2007.

“It was better than expected,” said Terry Angstadt, president of the IRL’s commercial division, in a telephone interview. “I really felt like we would have certain levels of increases and success.

“I always qualify things, though. I think we know where we are. I’m not suggesting everything’s perfect by any stretch of the imagination. In terms of attendance, TV ratings and merchandise sales, all kind of our key metrics, I was more pleased that things were better than I anticipated.”

The on-track competition was better, too.

After each series struggled for years to get 18 cars on the grid, this year’s IndyCar Series averaged 26 cars at each race.

“I think the biggest positive, and the one that’s most visible to fans, is car count,” Angstadt said. “That is what I think is where we heard the biggest reaction. And it drives across a number of things for business when you have more cars out there, you have more drivers, you have higher attendance, you have more sponsors, you have more people following your races.”

A record-tying nine drivers won races, including 19-year-old Graham Rahal and his Newman/Haas/Lanigan teammate Justin Wilson. And 13 drivers recorded top-three podium finishes as Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon edged out Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves for the championship.

The teams that made the move from Champ Car to IndyCar began the season way behind the holdover teams, forced to build and race unfamiliar cars at new venues.

“I think they really exceeded everyone’s expectations,” Angstadt said. “I think next year it will be a notch up.”

Another area for improvement will be finding a title sponsor for the IndyCar Series.

Angstadt said the IRL is close to signing a “very big company” to be the series’ presenting sponsor.

“We’re just pleased with the progress we’ve made, but we still recognize we’ve certainly got a lot of hard work to do,” he said. “I think, in another year or two of the unified series, we’ll be even more proud of where we are.”

Hookscenter.com wire report.

The Brazilian race car driver and 2007 Dancing With The Stars champ had been barred from leaving the United States. A judge granted Castroneves’ request Friday to travel to Brisbane, Australia so he can drive in the Oct. 26 race. Prosecutors may still appeal that order.

Castroneves was indicted last week on federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges and is free on $10 million bail. Prosecutors say Castroneves used offshore accounts to hide millions of dollars in income from the Internal Revenue Service.

Castroneves insists he is innocent and that he relied on advice from tax experts for his financial dealings.

Hookscenter.com wire report.