| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 9th round of the2008 IndyCar Series season | |
 | |
| Date | June 28, 2008 |
| Official name | SunTrust Indy Challenge |
| Location | Richmond International Raceway |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 0.750 mi / 1.207 km |
| Distance | 300 laps 225.000 mi / 362.102 km |
| Weather | 89 °F (32 °C), Hazy |
| Pole position | |
| Driver |  Tony Kanaan ( Andretti Green Racing) |
| Time | 1:04.3333 (4 laps) |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green Racing) |
| Time | 16.9369 (on lap 234 of 300) |
| Podium | |
| First | Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green Racing) |
| Second | Hélio Castroneves (Penske Racing) |
| Third |  Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
The2008SunTrust Indy Challenge was the ninth round of the2008 IndyCar Series season and took place on June 28, 2008 at the 0.750-mile (1.207 km)Richmond International Raceway, inHenrico County, Virginia. At the start,Ryan Hunter-Reay spun just before the start/finish line, which brought the yellow out immediately. The first 7 laps were run under yellow withTony Kanaan leading from the pole position. On lap 8, the green came out, but only one lap was completed before the next yellow.Will Power was driving belowHélio Castroneves, lost control, and crashed in turn 4. The race finally got going on lap 21, when the green came out once again. On lap 31,A. J. Foyt IV touched wheels withJohn Andretti, and Foyt crashed in the wall in turn 2. His Vision Racing teammateEd Carpenter ran over debris from the crash, and both cars were sidelined. During the caution, a handful of cars pitted, includingDanica Patrick and rookieJaime Camara, but most of the leaders stayed on the track.
Kanaan continued to lead when debris brought out the caution again on lap 67. All of the leaders pitted, while Camara and Patrick stayed out and took the first two spots. On the restart, Camara led the field, butBuddy Rice spun and tagged the wall on the frontstretch. The field checked up, andDarren Manning,Ryan Briscoe andBruno Junqueira were involved in a separate crash. Camara led at the next restart, while Kanaan, Patrick, and Castroneves went 3-wide for second. Behind them in turn 2, John Andretti andVítor Meira tangled, and crashed hard in the wall. Patrick returned to the pits, and topped off with fuel. Camara continued to lead, and impressively held off Kanaan on the restart. On lap 116,Marco Andretti caught up to Camara, and took the lead for the first time.
Graham Rahal crashed on lap 133 in turn 4. Many of the leaders pitted, but Marco Andretti stayed out to lead. Another restart saw only three green laps, as yet another crash occurred, this time involving Hunter-Reay andMario Moraes. Around this time, some teams anticipated that rain might end the race early. Marco Andretti gave up the lead on lap 204 when he made his final pit stop. That put Kanaan back into the lead. On lap 217, after a brilliant run in the top five, Camara lost control and crashed on the frontstretch. The yellow trapped Andretti a lap down, and kept Kanaan in the lead after the final sequence of pits stops. The rain held off, and Kanaan led the rest of the way for his first victory of the season.
| Preceded by | IRL IndyCar Series round 9 2008 | Succeeded by |
