IndyCar Race Review: Peak Antifreeze Indy 300
If Saturday’s Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 will go down in history as the final IZOD IndyCar Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, the fans in attendance and watching on television certainly got everything they hoped for in a finale.
Dario Franchitti held off a hard-charging Dan Wheldon after a daring call in the pits gave him the late-race lead, producing the 17th-closest finish in IndyCar history. His victory closed some of the gap on points leader Will Power, who had been leading late in the race but ran out of fuel with five laps to go to finish way down the running order.
All in all, the race featured a record-breaking 25 lead changes among 11 drivers. Ryan Briscoe dominated the early stages of the event, battling side-by-side with Marco Andretti for a good chunk of the race’s early stages. Briscoe, the polesitter and defending race winner, led 113 of the race’s 200 laps, though he could only muster an 11th place finish.
Meanwhile, the top four drivers in the finishing order – Franchitti, Wheldon, Andretti, and Ryan Hunter-Reay – all led at least two laps, with Franchitti’s 28 tops among them. Franchitti actually did not lead until the very end of the race, when his team gambled by not taking tires under the final caution. While Briscoe could not keep others from leading laps while he was out in front, Franchitti managed to do just that
Some of the drivers who spent time up front were surprising, to say the least. Wheldon, Vitor Meira, and Alex Lloyd all led a handful of laps. Even the part-time entries of Ed Carpenter and Sarah Fisher spent time up front; Fisher stayed out under the race’s second caution to gain the point, but managed to hold a top-three position for many laps after the green flag dropped.
Unfortunately for the little guys, nobody was really there at the end besides Wheldon. Meira salvaged a ninth place finish, but Fisher was the first car a lap down in 15th, Carpenter pulled out after 179 laps when his team couldn’t get fuel into the car, and Lloyd crashed out to finish 21st.
Heartbreak was no stranger to the series’ top team, either. Power nearly lost control of his car in the early laps of the race, making a fantastic save, a feat he would have to replicate a couple of other times before the night was over. Power drove his heart out all night, showing a level of talent we had previously only witnessed from him on the road and street courses, and was a contender for victory until the very end.
Unfortunately, Chicagoland left Power and his Team Penske crew with Indianapolis 500 deja vu: a fueler error ended all hope for a strong finish. At Indy, it was Power driving off with part of his fuel assembly; at Chicago, the team didn’t quite get enough in the car to make it. To his credit, Power was surprisingly upbeat in post-race interviews, looking forward to the challenge of maintaining his points lead over the final three races.
With three races to go and Kentucky up next on the schedule, Power’s points lead has shrunk from 59 to 23 over Franchitti. It may be a race between those two alone; third-place Scott Dixon is 85 points out, while no other driver is within 100.
For more on the IZOD IndyCar Series from Christopher Leone, go to OpenWheelAmerica.com.
IndyCar Race Preview: Peak Antifreeze Indy 300
This weekend, the IZOD IndyCar Series enters the fourth and final quarter of the season, another oval run that begins with the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway. Last year’s race, won by Ryan Briscoe by about six inches over Scott Dixon, was yet another example of how exciting IndyCar racing can be when the series heads to the Illinois speedway, and nobody expects anything different this year.
In the lone practice session preceding qualifying, Briscoe once again paced Dixon, though the gap was much larger. Briscoe’s 217.874 mph best lap was a full mile per hour better than Dixon’s best. Will Power, the series points leader despite only ranking eighth in the oval championship, had the third best lap, with the four Andretti Autosport drivers – Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Tony Kanaan – ranking fourth through seventh.
In qualifying, Briscoe took the pole over Dario Franchitti, teammates Power and Helio Castroneves, and Andretti. Dixon could only muster a 15th place qualifying run.
Patrick, in particular, has to be excited to return to the ovals, after ranking a dismal 15th in the final road course standings. She was the only Andretti driver to place outside the top 10. Meanwhile, she ranks sixth in the oval standings, with a runner-up finish at Texas her best run of the season.
The field at Chicagoland, a whopping 29 cars, will be the largest field of the season (excluding Indianapolis) and the largest in a non-500 field since 28 showed up for this race in 2008. Entries for Graham Rahal, Ed Carpenter, Davey Hamilton, Jay Howard, and Sarah Fisher have expanded the field from the 24 full-season entries.
Four times out of nine, the winner has come from the pole position, a feat Briscoe achieved last year, after Castroneves won from the last starting spot the year before. Penske drivers have won the past two events at Chicagoland, while perennial series power Chip Ganassi Racing has only one win at the track, by Dan Wheldon in 2006.
IndyCar Race Review: Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma
Just like last year, a single driver dominated yesterday’s Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, the road course finale for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season. What made this particular win special for that driver, however, were the circumstances surrounding it.
Will Power’s fifth win of the season (all on road courses) came on a track where his career was put into serious jeopardy, after a freak accident in practice severely injured his back and prematurely ended his 2009 season. The win served as a victory parade for this year’s winner of the Mario Andretti Road Course Trophy, an honor he clinched two weeks ago at Mid-Ohio.
Unlike Dario Franchitti last year, Power did not lead all 75 laps of the event; Scott Dixon, who finished second, led two laps in the middle stages of the event. But nobody really had anything for Power, who had won the pole and stretched some huge leads early on in the race.
While a top five completely populated by Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing cars doesn’t suggest the most unpredictable or exciting of races, some of the action a little deeper in the field was more than exciting enough to keep the most jaded of fans interested.
Dan Wheldon’s race ended before it began, with accidental contact from Bertrand Baguette at the start sending the No. 4 Panther Racing Dallara-Honda upside down in a wreck that almost looked like it came out of a video game. It was Wheldon’s first DNF since St. Petersburg earlier this year, as well as his first finish outside the top 20.
Simona de Silvestro had an interesting day as well. First, contact with Alex Tagliani cut the Canadian’s tire down, and then she nearly sent Raphael Matos upside down as well with an aggressive move early in the race. Finally, E.J. Viso ran into her not long after, spinning her out. De Silvestro continued on, eventually winding up 13th.
Hometown hero J.R. Hildebrand and 2006 race winner Marco Andretti got together on lap 37, ending Hildebrand’s day. Not too long after, Andretti got into Mario Moraes in the same corner, eliciting a reaction from fans aware of the drivers’ history with one another.
The final caution of the day came when Baguette, Matos, and Viso got together with under ten laps to go. Viso’s KV Racing Technology car was able to continue on, marking only the fourth race all season where each of that team’s cars finished the event. Baguette and Matos, however, were done for.
Dixon put the pressure on at the final restart, the drivers matching presses of the Push to Pass button, but the Australian managed to extend his lead once again. Francesco Dracone stalled in the final corner on the final lap, leading to a local yellow that brought down Power’s margin of victory considerably, but the rule against passing during a local yellow, combined with the proximity to the start-finish line, ensured that Dixon would not have a chance to go by.
Franchitti was third, with Power’s teammates Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves rounding out the top five.
Read more on the IZOD IndyCar Series from Christopher Leone at OpenWheelAmerica.com.
IZOD IndyCar Series
Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma
SONOMA, Calif. – Results Sunday of the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.303-mile Infineon Raceway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
2. (6) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
3. (3) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
4. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
5. (2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
6. (7) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
7. (9) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
8. (8) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
9. (16) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
10. (22) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
11. (20) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
12. (18) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
13. (11) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
14. (4) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
15. (21) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
16. (23) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 75, Running
17. (14) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 74, Running
18. (17) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 74, Running
19. (15) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 74, Running
20. (25) Francesco Dracone, Dallara-Honda, 71, Contact
21. (10) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 67,
22. (24) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 67, Running
23. (13) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 65, Contact
24. (19) J.R. Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 38, Contact
25. (12) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 0, Contact
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 92.063
Time of Race: 01:52:34.1915
Margin of victory: .7432 of a second
Cautions: 4 for 10 laps
Lead changes: 2 among 2 drivers
Lap Leaders: Power 1-55, Dixon 56-57, Power 58-75
Point Standings: Power 514, Franchitti 455, Dixon 419, Briscoe 384, Castroneves 370, Hunter-Reay 360, Kanaan 330, Wilson 290, Andretti 284, Wheldon 269.
IndyCar Race Preview: Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma
Will Power may have already clinched the Mario Andretti Trophy as the best road course driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series this year, but he’ll have plenty of unfinished business when he takes to the Infineon Raceway for this weekend’s Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.
Power’s season ended here prematurely last year when a freak accident with Nelson Philippe landed him on the sidelines with two fractured vertebrae in his back. By now, most IndyCar fans know the story: originally a temp replacement at Team Penske while Helio Castroneves’ legal issues were sorted out, owner Roger Penske found the money to run Power in a handful of other events last year, and his performance was stellar until the Sonoma incident.
Regardless, Penske took a chance on the Australian full-time this year, shutting down his sports car operation to make room, and Power rewarded the veteran owner by winning his first two races back this season. He has taken four of the eight road course races run thus far this year, and he hasn’t finished any worse than fourth running on the twisties.
But just because he has the road course championship in hand, and a solid 41-point advantage in the overall standings, doesn’t mean that a Power victory lap at Sonoma is a certainty. It’s especially not the case when his top rival in all categories, 2009 series champion Dario Franchitti, led every lap to win from the pole here last year.
Franchitti got the best of Power during Friday practice, as the series’ top two drivers were 1-2 atop the speed charts. 16 drivers posted laps within a second of Franchitti’s best, a 78.297-second circuit. Alex Tagliani, Franchitti teammate Scott Dixon, and Justin Wilson completed the top five in that session.
J.R. Hildebrand, in 13th with a lap of 79.039 seconds, was the top rookie in the session. Wilson’s teammate at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and a California native who calls Infineon his home track, Hildebrand will attempt to top the injured Mike Conway’s third-place finish in this race last year. He had nearly half a second on Bertrand Baguette, the second-best rookie.
In all, 23 of the 25 drivers attempting the race were within two seconds of Franchitti’s best lap. The lone two exceptions were Francesco Dracone, making only his second career IndyCar start with Conquest Racing, and Milka Duno, who has been consistently off the pace all year with Dale Coyne Racing. The buzz around Duno gets stronger every week, with more and more fans calling for the IRL powers that be to park her. Last year, Duno had her second best finish of the season at Infineon, placing 17th.
Tony Cotman named project manager for new IndyCar
The IZOD IndyCar Series has hired NZR Consulting’s Tony Cotman as a consultant to serve as project manager for the development of its 2012 technical program.
Cotman will be responsible for leading the 2012 car project, including writing technical regulations for both engine and chassis, coordinating with suppliers and manufacturers and communicating with teams. He will work with the IZOD IndyCar Series’ technical and safety staff as well as outside engine and aerodynamic experts during the process.
“Now that we have unveiled our 2012 car strategy, we need to move swiftly to complete the rules package as we engage potential manufacturers and prepare our teams for the transition,” said Randy Bernard, chief executive officer, IZOD IndyCar Series. “The timing of completing these rules is critical to the development process. By bringing Tony on board to focus solely on the 2012 car, we can let Brian Barnhart and the competition staff focus on completing the current race season while preparing for next year.”
Cotman served as vice president of operations and race director for the Champ Car World Series from 2005-07, during which he oversaw the development and implementation of the series’ new cost-effective chassis. He directed the Atlantic Series chassis and engine programs from prototype to implementation.
Cotman was a member of the ICONIC Advisory Committee, which researched and recommended the future car and engine strategy to the IZOD IndyCar Series.
“I understand how important developing the right rules are in a timely manner for this process,” said Cotman. “Introduction of the new car and engine are not far off, and we have a lot of work to do. Having a strong team and committed chassis and engine partners will make my tasks that much easier. I look forward to developing and implementing rules that will provide opportunities for new manufacturer involvement and increased competition in the 2012 season.”
The engine strategy, which will require the IZOD IndyCar Series to adopt rules that can accommodate various engine architectures, was announced June 2. It was followed July 14 by the unveiling of the chassis strategy, which features a Dallara Automobili-built IndyCar Safety Cell as the rolling chassis with aerodynamic body packages open to development within the rules by potential suppliers.
“Tony is the right guy for the job,” added Barnhart. “In addition to his experience with developing the rules for the introduction of the Panoz chassis in Champ Car, Tony has been a part of the ICONIC Advisory Committee so he has an in-depth knowledge with the car and engine strategy we have set for 2012. Additionally, his experience on both the team and sanctioning body side bring a unique perspective to this process.”
A two-time Indianapolis 500-winning team member, Cotman served as team manager for Team Green in CART in 1998, winning 11 races in three years. In 2001, he was promoted to vice president of racing operations, guiding a three-car program for Team Green and eventually a four-car program when the team became Andretti Green Racing and moved to the IZOD IndyCar Series.
He served as the Indy Racing League’s vice president of competition until 2009 before leaving to form NZR Consulting, focusing on race circuit design, safety and management. He continues to serve as a member of the FIA circuits commission and is race director for Firestone Indy Lights.
Chip Ganassi Racing Teams Complete Historic Day with Three Victories Across Three Different Series
CONCORD, N.C. (Aug. 9, 2010) – Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc. celebrated a historic weekend by picking up three wins across three different series. It marked the first time Ganassi’s teams have won in all three of the series in the same weekend. Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas started things off when they won the Rolex GRAND-AM Series event at Watkins Glen International on Saturday night. Then, Juan Pablo Montoya picked up a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS) victory by also winning at Watkins Glen on Sunday afternoon. That win was immediately followed by Dario Franchitti completing the hat-trick with an IZOD IndyCar Series win at Mid-Ohio.
The win by Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 42 Target Chevrolet marked Target’s first NSCS win and their first-ever two-win day. The two wins were Team Target’s 84th and 85th overall wins.
· ROLEX GRAND-AM SERIES: The weekend began with Rojas and Pruett starting their No. 01 TELMEX BMW Powered Riley from the pole and then going on to pick up their fourth win in the last five races. Rojas and Pruett have dominated the series thus far in 2010 winning seven of 10 races and finishing second in two of the other three. They lead the series point standings with just two races remaining on the schedule.
· NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES: On Sunday, Montoya drove his No. 42 Target Chevrolet to a dominating victory in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen. It was Montoya’s second career NSCS win in 131 starts – both coming on road courses. The win marked the first NSCS win for Target who has been a full-time sponsor in the series since 2002. Montoya started in the third position and quickly made his way to the front and would ultimately lead 74 of the 90 laps. The win was the third of the season for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates after Jamie McMurray won both the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400.
· IZOD INDYCAR SERIES: The historic day was capped off with Dario Franchitti picking up his first win since winning the 2010 Indianapolis 500 and moved closer to first place in the IZOD IndyCar Series standings, in second place just 41 points behind leader Will Power. The win marked the 78th for Team Target in Indy Car racing since their relationship began with Chip Ganassi in 1990. The victory was also Franchitti’s 25th in his career and the fourth of the season for Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
· AN INTERNATIONAL FEEL: Between Pruett, Rojas, Montoya and Franchitti, they represent six championships, three Indy 500 wins, seven Rolex 24 At Daytona wins and over 100 professional victories. In addition, they represent four different countries – Pruett (United States), Rojas (Mexico), Montoya (Colombia) and Franchitti (Scotland).
· MCMURRAY CONTINUES CLIMB TOWARDS THE CHASE: With his sixth-place finish at Watkins Glen on Sunday, the 2010 Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 Winner continued his climb towards the coveted 12th position in the NSCS points standings. McMurray entered Watkins Glen in the 17th position, 172 points outside of the top 12. But, with his impressive sixth-place finish at Watkins Glen, McMurray moved up two positions to 15th, just 94 back from 12th – the cutoff for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
· GANASSI WINS TRIPLE CROWN: Earlier this month Chip Ganassi also made history by becoming the first owner to win what has become known as the American Racing Triple Crown. Ganassi’s NASCAR team picked up wins in the 52nd running of the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 with Jamie McMurray behind the wheel of the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet and the Indianapolis 500 with Dario Franchitti in the cockpit of the No. 10 Target Honda. It was also the first time in one season that an owner has won both of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s marquee events.
· OVERALL: With 14 wins already in 2010, Chip Ganassi Racing Teams continues to add to their tally of 129 trips to victory lane. Ganassi’s teams now include two IZOD IndyCar Series entries, and along with Felix Sabates and Teresa Earnhardt he has two cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and a Daytona Prototype in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. Ganassi’s IndyCar teams have amassed seven Championships and 78 wins; his NASCAR teams have 15 wins, a trip to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup and two Rookie-of-the-Year titles; and the GRAND-AM team has won three Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Championships and are an unprecedented three-time winners of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
IndyCar Race Review: Honda Indy 200
Dario Franchitti posted his first IZOD IndyCar Series road course win in nearly a year in today’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, holding off polesitter Will Power to the checkered flag.
Franchitti, whose last win on a road course came at Infineon last year, inherited the lead when Alex Tagliani made his final pit stop, put the power down for a few extra laps, and managed to beat Power out of the pits to retain the lead when stops cycled through.
Tagliani, for his part, drove one of his finest races of the year, scoring his best finish, a fourth place, between Helio Castroneves, who threw away the race at Edmonton two weeks ago on a blocking penalty, and Scott Dixon, who won that race. His pit crew, reading the race like a book, had him pit on lap 22, expecting a caution that would come almost immediately after. The Canadian led from lap 26, midway through the first caution, to his final pit stop on lap 56.
That first caution came when Justin Wilson, driving with an injured thumb from a Saturday incident with Ryan Briscoe, made an ill-advised attempt on passing E.J. Viso in the first turn on lap 23. Both cars went off track and were done for the day.
Almost immediately after the green flag flew after that caution, Takuma Sato brought the yellow out again, when a combination of cold tires and cold brakes caused him to careen off course, again in the first turn. That was just the icing on the cake for a bad weekend for KV Racing; not only were Viso and Sato out, Mario Moraes had given three of his pit crew minor injuries in an incident during race warmups.
Pit incidents were not out of the question all weekend, as a 27-car field meant that pit stalls had to be shortened to 35 feet. Normally, the Mid-Ohio pit accommodates 26 cars length-wise, and is also fairly narrow. Ryan Hunter-Reay became a victim of the tight space, getting sandwiched between the Penske cars of Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe during the first pit stops and having to return to the pits for damage repairs. He dropped back to 24th but recovered to finish 10th.
Two drivers made their IndyCar debuts during the race, but neither did all that much to impress. J.R. Hildebrand, last year’s Indy Lights champion, was never a factor in a 16th place finish for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Meanwhile, Francesco Dracone caused the final two cautions of the race with two separate spins on different sections of the track. He finished three laps down in 22nd, beating only Milka Duno of the cars still on track at the finish.
On the other end of the spectrum, Simona de Silvestro and Bertrand Baguette were among the drivers who scored season-best finishes in the race. De Silvestro placed eighth in an older, heavier HVM Racing chassis that was able to chase down Penske cars in some points of the race. Baguette had a top-10 car for much of the race, but was bumped down to 11th by the checkered flag.
All in all, 21 cars finished on the lead lap, the last of them being Danica Patrick. Four cars did not finish the race: Wilson, Viso, Sato, and Jay Howard.
For more on the IZOD IndyCar Series from Christopher Leone, visit OpenWheelAmerica.com.
LEXINGTON, Ohio – Results Sunday of the Honda Indy 200 IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (2) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
2. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
3. (6) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
4. (14) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
5. (5) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
6. (7) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
7. (19) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
8. (10) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
9. (9) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
10. (4) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
11. (15) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
12. (16) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
13. (21) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
14. (13) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
15. (24) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
16. (18) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
17. (20) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
18. (12) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
19. (17) Adam Carroll, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
20. (25) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
21. (22) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
22. (23) Francesco Dracone, Dallara-Honda, 82, Running
23. (27) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 81, Running
24. (26) Jay Howard, Dallara-Honda, 38, Suspension
25. (3) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 28, Contact
26. (8) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 22, Contact
27. (11) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 22, Contact
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 100.542
Time of Race: 1:54:32.2568
Margin of victory: .5234 of a second
Cautions: 5 for 15 laps
Lead changes: 4 among 4 drivers
Lap Leaders: Power 1-25, Tagliani 26-55, Franchitti 56-60, Hunter-Reay 61, Franchitti 62-85
Point Standings: Power 461, Franchitti 420, Dixon 379, Briscoe 352, Castroneves 340, Hunter-Reay 336, Kanaan 304, Andretti 266, Wilson 262, Wheldon 259
IndyCar Race Preview: Honda Indy 200
Team Penske will once again be the team to beat this weekend at Mid-Ohio, as Will Power tied a series record by scoring his seventh pole of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season for tomorrow’s Honda Indy 200.
Penske cars have been towards the top of the charts in every practice session, with Dario Franchitti also consistently posting solid runs. Franchitti qualified alongside Power on the front row, followed by strong runs for Takuma Sato and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Row 3 consists of Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves, involved in controversy over the finish at Edmonton two weeks ago, when a hotly contested blocking penalty on Castroneves handed the win to Dixon. Castroneves was previously the lone record holder for most poles in an IndyCar season until this weekend.
The 27-car field is one of the healthiest in IndyCar all season, and by far trumps the meager 21-car field that the series mustered last year. Besides the increase in full-time cars from last year to this year, part-time entries for Graham Rahal, Adam Carroll, and Jay Howard have inflated the field. Carroll qualified 17th, Rahal 25th, and Howard 26th.
This race will mark the IndyCar debuts for two drivers: J.R. Hildebrand, filling in for Mike Conway at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and Francesco Dracone, replacing Mario Romancini at Conquest Racing. They qualified 18th and 23rd, respectively. Hildebrand was the 2009 Indy Lights champion, while Dracone spent the majority of his professional racing career in Europe, primarily competing in the Formula 3000 Euroseries.
The race will be shown live on Versus at 2:30 PM EST on Sunday.
IndyCar fines Castroneves $60,000
The IndyCar Series slapped Helio Castroneves with a $60,000 fine and placed him on probation for the remainder of the year following his post-race tirade at Edmonton last weekend. Castroneves grabbed an official after the IRL took a win away from him for a blocking penalty late in the race.
According to the news release from the IZOD IndyCar Series, Castroneves “was penalized for refusing to follow the direction of officials as well as portraying unsportsmanlike conduct when he engaged in physical contact with two officials on pit lane after the conclusion of the race.”
The initial penalty was a pass through pit lane following what the series officials deemed a block on lap 93 while Castroneves was racing with Penske Racing teammate Will Power. However, when Castroneves did not adhere to the penalty, the series assessed a 20-second penalty after the race that sent Castroneves to a tenth place finish as the last car on the lead lap.
Scott Dixon would go on to score the victory after leading just two laps.
“This sport is so close and competitive that emotions are always on display,” Randy Bernard, chief executive officer, IZOD IndyCar Series, said. “However, that does not justify the post-race conduct of Helio toward series officials. This is a very serious matter and we weighed all options, including suspension. But we felt suspension would hurt the fans more than anyone else. Fans have paid their hard-earned money to watch the best drivers in the world and many bought their tickets for upcoming events with the expectation of watching Helio. He is a great ambassador for this sport and we know his actions after the race in Edmonton are not indicative of his normal behavior.”
Castroneves is currently sixth in IndyCar Series points and trails current IRL points leader Power by 115 points heading into Sunday’s race in Lexington, Ohio.
IndyCar Race Review: Honda Indy Edmonton
Scott Dixon won his second IZOD IndyCar Series race at the Edmonton City Centre Airport on Sunday, though it did not come without its share of controversy.
Helio Castroneves was assessed a non-appealable penalty for blocking Team Penske teammate Will Power on the 93rd lap of the 95-circuit Honda Edmonton Indy. He refused to head into the pits for his drive-thru penalty, and dropped to 10th place in the official results after being assessed a 20-second penalty to his time.
An angry Castroneves confronted three race officials after climbing from the car, grabbing one by the collar, but it was no use. It was the second time in three years that a blocking penalty on Castroneves took a race win from him, the other instance coming at Belle Isle in 2008, where Justin Wilson eventually took the victory.
So Dixon and Power, the past two winners of the event, stood 1-2 on the podium at the end, with Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dario Franchitti placing third. It was Ganassi’s second victory of the day, the other coming with driver Jamie McMurray in NASCAR’s Brickyard 400, held at IndyCar mecca Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Ryan Briscoe and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top five.
The two biggest surprises in qualifying, E.J. Viso (sixth) and Simona de Silvestro (seventh), had wildly divergent days. Viso was unable to maintain his position directly behind the sport’s top two teams, but rebounded to finish eighth, as KV Racing Technology cars swept positions six through nine. Meanwhile, de Silvestro ran strongly for much of the race, a necessary boost for HVM Racing, but finished a disappointing 22nd after her fuel pump broke with eight laps to go.
And finally, critics of Milka Duno may see some relief, as she was put on probation for the rest of the year during the race weekend. Series officials have cited her failure to meet minimum standards of performance, such as maintaining 107% of the leader’s speed, and poor decision-making on the track (to the ire of many of her competitors).
IndyCar Race Preview: Honda Indy Edmonton
Once again, a Team Penske Dallara-Honda driven by Will Power will start on the pole in an IZOD IndyCar Series race.
Like clockwork, the Australian won his sixth pole of the season (fifth on road or street courses) for this weekend’s Honda Indy Edmonton, the lone race that he won last season. And unsurprisingly, the rest of the top five cars all belong to his owner, Roger Penske, or his top rival, Chip Ganassi.
Meanwhile, Helio Castroneves continued his trend of being an Edmonton bridesmaid. Penske’s elder statesman, who finished second in both IndyCar-sanctioned Edmonton races, qualified alongside Power. They were the only two drivers to break the 61-second mark in qualifying.
But time trials at the Edmonton City Centre Airport also provided some surprises. Namely, E.J. Viso and Simona de Silvestro will start sixth and seventh, respectively. Both drivers have or have had affiliations with ex-Champ Car teams, and were brought up through the ranks to race on this sort of track.
Indeed, most of the cream of the road course crop rose to the top in qualifying, with a handful of surprises, such as Raphael Matos and Tomas Scheckter, advancing to the second round of qualifying. But drivers who generally have run better on ovals, such as Alex Lloyd, Mario Romancini, and Danica Patrick, qualified closer to the back of the pack. Only Tony Kanaan and Milka Duno failed to make qualifying laps, and will start 24th and 25th, respectively.
The three drivers in the field that have won this event before all start towards the front. Power, obviously, sits on pole, while Scott Dixon, who won this event in 2008 with Ganassi, starts third. Meanwhile, Justin Wilson, looking to rebound from miscues that cost him last week’s win in Toronto, starts ninth. He won this event in 2006 when it was still sanctioned by Champ Car.
Power grabs sixth pole of the season at Edmonton
EDMONTON, Alberta (Saturday, July 24, 2010) – Will Power earned his sixth PEAK Performance Pole Award of the season (the fifth on road/street courses), slipping past Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves by 0.0765 of a second in the Firestone Fast Six session on the 1.973-mile, 14-turn City Centre Airport course, for the Honda Indy Edmonton.
Scott Dixon, the 2008 race winner, in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car had a best lap of 1:01.2395 in the Firestone Fast Six and will start next to teammate Dario Franchitti (1:01.2481) on Row 2. Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe (1:01.3799) and E.J. Viso, making his first appearance in the Firestone Fast Six this season in the No. 8 PDVSA KV Racing Technology car (1:01.6122), will be on the third row.
Rookie Simona de Silvestro will start a season-high seventh in the No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds/HVM Racing car, and Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay also will be on Row 4 in the No. 37 IZOD entry.
Also on July 24, James Hinchcliffe earned the pole for the Edmonton 100, edging championship points leader J.K. Vernay late in the qualifying session.
Hinchcliffe, the driver of the No. 2 TMR-Xtreme Coil Drilling car, recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 6.2159 seconds. It’s the fourth time this season that Hinchcliffe will start on the pole and fifth time on the front row.
Martin Plowman (1:06.2707) in the No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers/KEP Printing car for AFS Racing Andretti Autosport will join teammate Charlie Kimball (1:06.3802), driving the No. 26 Levemir FlexPen entry, on Row 2.
Note: Official starting lineup for Honda Indy Edmonton is attached as EXCEL file and Adobe PDF file.
EDMONTON, Alberta – Qualifying Saturday for the Honda Indy Edmonton IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 1.973-mile(s) Edmonton City Centre Airport circuit, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, time and speed in parentheses:
1. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 1:00.7126 (116.991)
2. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 1:00.7891 (116.843)
3. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 1:01.2395 (115.984)
4. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 1:01.2481 (115.968)
5. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 1:01.3799 (115.719)
6. (8) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 1:01.6122 (115.282)
7. (78) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 1:01.5438 (115.410)
8. (37) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 1:01.5596 (115.381)
9. (22) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 1:01.5887 (115.326)
10. (2) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 1:01.7015 (115.116)
11. (06) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.1935 (114.205)
12. (24) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.8751 (112.967)
13. (5) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 1:01.9181 (114.713)
14. (32) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.1324 (114.317)
15. (15) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.3264 (113.961)
16. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.1465 (114.291)
17. (34) Mario Romancini, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.4191 (113.792)
18. (19) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.2203 (114.156)
19. (77) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.5240 (113.601)
20. (36) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.5193 (113.610)
21. (7) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.5795 (113.500)
22. (4) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.7397 (113.211)
23. (14) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 1:02.7511 (113.190)
24. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, No Time (No Speed)
25. (18) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, No Time (No Speed)
DAY 2 NOTEBOOK:
The chief mechanics for Team Penske’s No. 3 and No. 6 cars are not in Edmonton this weekend due to injuries sustained away from the track.
Sean Hanrahan, chief mechanic for No. 3 Helio Castroneves is not at Edmonton after surgery for a hernia this week. Rick Rinaman, who served as chief mechanic on the car prior to this season, is filling in as chief mechanic and as outside front tire changer on the car. Hanrahan is expected to return to chief mechanic duties at Mid Ohio.
Matt Jonsson, chief mechanic for No. 6 Ryan Briscoe, remains out of action with a broken right ankle. Jonsson, who served as chief mechanic at Toronto, is not in Edmonton. John Stanchina, who was the outside front tire changer on the car last week in Toronto, will return as chief mechanic and outside front tire changer on the car Jonsson is expected to return to chief mechanic duties at Mid Ohio.
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Firestone Indy Lights driver James Hinchcliffe is doing double duty this weekend. The Canadian is serving as a driver analyst for the Honda Indy Edmonton public address system during IZOD IndyCar Series practice and qualifying.
“I’ve done some television and radio work in the past and was the color analyst at the Indianapolis 500 this year for the IMS Radio Network,” he said. “I’m happy to lend my expertise to the event when I can. Obviously, driving the TMR car takes priority.
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IZOD IndyCar Series entrant FAZZT Race Team and Canadian driver Alex Tagliani are lending their support to Montreal-based non-governmental organization ONE DROP. The ONE DROP logo has been on display on the No.77 FAZZT Bowers & Wilkins Hot Wheels at the Honda Indy Toronto (July 17-19) and Honda Indy Edmonton (July 23-25)
Established in October of 2007, ONE DROP—an initiative of Guy Laliberté, the founder of Cirque du Soleil®—fights poverty through its projects aimed at supporting access to water in developing countries and raising each and every one’s awareness of water-related issues worldwide.
ANDRÉ AZZI (FAZZT Race Team owner): “As CEO of Fazzt Race Team, I am so proud to be associated with ONE DROP. It’s sad to know that in 2010, people around the world still lack access to safe water. Our hope is to help raise awareness and get race fans in both Canada and the United States, as well as our international followers, to support water for all.”
ALEX TAGLIANI (driver, FAZZT Race Team): “Our goal is to use our team, the sport we love and our visibility amongst IndyCar fans to help bring attention to this vital issue and make the world just a little bit better for everyone. We’re blessed to be able to go racing or enjoy it as a fan, but it’s also nice to have the opportunity to do something important for others as well. We hope to an impact even just by educating people and letting them know about what ONE DROP is all about.”
LILI-ANNA PEREŠA, executive director, ONE DROP): “We very much appreciate the support of the FAZZT Race Team in spreading our message and supporting safe water for all. Water and poverty are closely linked. When populations have easy access to water, they have more time to devote to activities that enable them to improve their living conditions. Health, equality between men and women, a decent income and food security all depend on having access to water.”
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John Cummiskey, team manager of de Ferran Dragon Racing, is wearing the CF-18 Hornet patch presented to him by Capt. Brian Bews during last year’s Edmonton race weekend.
Capt. Bews ejected from his CF-18 Hornet as the plane plunged toward the ground during a practice session July 23 for the Alberta International Air Show in Lethbridge. Capt. Bews remained in a Saskatchewan hospital July 24, listed in stable condition. The Defense Department is investigating the crash.
Capt. Bews was among the guests of de Ferran Dragon Racing at the City Centre Airport in 2009.
PEAK PERFORMANCE POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:
· Will Power won the pole for the Honda Indy Edmonton, his sixth pole of the season. He also won the pole at Edmonton in 2009.
· This is Power’s fourth consecutive front row start.
· Helio Castroneves will start second. Castroneves has started no worse than third in three starts at Edmonton.
· Scott Dixon will start third, his 43rd consecutive top-10 start, further extending the series record.
· Dario Franchitti will start fourth, his seventh consecutive top-five start of the season.
· Ryan Briscoe will start fifth, his sixth top-five start of the season.
· E.J. Viso will start sixth, his best start of the season. His previous best start in 2010 was ninth at St. Petersburg. This is the first time that Viso has qualified for the Firestone Fast Six in 2010.
· Simona De Silvestro will start seventh, her best start of the season. De Silvestro missed the Firestone Fast Six by .146 of a second. Her previous best start was 11th at Sao Paulo.
· Raphael Matos will start 8th, his best starting position of the season. His previous best was 11th at both Watkins Glen and Toronto.
· Tomas Scheckter will start 12th, his best qualifying effort of the 2012 season.
PEAK PERFORMANCE POLE QUALIFYING QUOTES:
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske): “It’s awesome to get the Verizon car on the pole again. All the points count and I know here it’s important to be at the front because it is tough to pass. If all the strategy goes well, like it did last year, it makes it easier to win. It’s a long day tomorrow. We have a good starting spot and we have to keep going to win this championship.” (What makes you so good at this track?): “We’ve all work really hard. Obviously, last year the cats were really good. But this year, I had trouble trying to beat my teammate. It’s good to see two Team Penske cars on the front row.”
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske): “We had a very good lap out there and I just made a little mistake and this place is about not making mistakes. Will is making us better – me, Ryan and the team. He’s pushing hard and I’m pushing hard, too. It’s a shame we couldn’t make it, but we’re getting closer. We can win the race from (second).”
DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing): “We just missed it a little bit. Ultimately, it wasn’t a bad (Firestone) Fast Six for us.”
E.J. VISO (No. 8 PDVSA-Jet Aviation-KV Racing Technology): “It was a good run today and a good qualifying effort against very tough guys. We put in so much effort to go up against the Penske and Ganassi drivers that we didn’t have a set of stickers that we could use in the last run. We needed another two or three tenths from a set of stickers and we could have qualified in P4. We’re happy. It’s a tough race and a long race and we have the resources to finish up with those guys.”
TAKUMA SATO (No. 5 Lotus – KV Racing Technology): “The first group was the toughest group today. I didn’t get a good feeling during the first run with the primary tires. However, when we went to the alternate tire, the car was getting better and it looked like it was all coming together. Unfortunately the times were so close that we missed the top-12 by just a tenth. I tried everything we had but we just couldn’t find the grip so I’m very disappointed we didn’t make it through to Q2 today.”
MARIO MORAES (No. 32 KV Racing Technology): “Unfortunately, my KV Racing car had some understeer in qualifying. We couldn’t put a lap together to reach the Top 12. We just missed at the end of session. Overall, our balance in the car is pretty good for the race. I hope to get a good start and move up in the race.”
PAUL TRACY (No. 15 Make-A-Wish KV Racing Technology): “We were put in the hardest group possible today. There were three Penskes, a Ganassi car, Wilson and others. That group was just stacked with a lot of fast guys. It’s a shame because we just didn’t have enough to transfer to the second round. We missed by a little today. It’s tough to start 15th on Sunday. I really wanted to start further up in the grid for the Make A Wish, Honda Canada and Motegi Wheels people. We had been a top-seven car all weekend leading into qualifying. I’m disappointed for everyone. We’ll have to drive through the field again in the race.”
DAN WHELDON (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing): “A lot of the things we’ve learned from the Soldiers in the National Guard are really helpful on a day like today – it’s their ‘never give up’ and ‘never say die’ attitude that gets them through tough situations and that’s what everybody on the National Guard Panther Racing team is going to strive for as we look forward to tomorrow’s race. We’ve learned some key things in the last two days here in Edmonton and myself and everybody on this team are going to work hard tonight and tomorrow in the warm-up to improve the No. 4 car so that we’re a factor in the race. We’ve overcome some challenges in each of the past two IZOD IndyCar Series races and the fans that will be here tomorrow and the ones watching on TV are going to see the same effort during the race tomorrow.”
MARIO ROMANCINI (No. 34 Conquest Racing): “After the morning practice, we got a pretty good balance and I was happy with the car. But in qualifying when we tried the red tires, the balance changed a lot, and the car was very lose and we missed quite a lot of time because of that. It wasn’t so bad for us as P17 is the best position start so far in the season, so we can’t complain a lot, but based on what happened this morning, we were expecting to be a bit better, but the race is going to be long tomorrow, and I think we will have a solid race car.”
BERTRAND BAGUETTE (No. 36 Conquest Racing/RACB): “The qualification session was a little bit better for us. On the first set of tires it wasn’t so good, but then we did some few good modifications for the second set. Unfortunately, I hit the wall on my second lap and I damaged the left corner of my car; and after that it was harder for sure. I still did my best driving the car, but without that damage it would be a lot quicker. We are P20, the race is long and quite physical so everything is possible”.
HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 06 Formula Dream/Panasonic): “We improved a lot overnight; it was a significant improvement. Then we had a good practice session and ended fourth fastest and I was quite happy, balance-wise so we kept the same balance in qualifying but the temperature went a lot warmer and the balance changed. We tried many things during the qualifying session to try to find a better balance but we just didn’t find it in the limited time. It was good to get back in Round 2 after not making it the past two events. It was good news for me and I was trying to get into the next round for the top-six but it was difficult because the balance changed a lot. In Toronto we found a good race setup and although it’s not the same layout here at all but I think we can apply it here. It’s going to be a tough race. My arms are already banged up a little.”
DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com): “Coming off of a strong weekend in Toronto, we were hoping to keep the momentum going into Edmonton for the GoDaddy.com car. I was in a really tough qualifying group, and I didn’t have the speed to make it into the top six today. The first couple laps of tomorrow’s race will be very important, and hopefully we’ll come out with some clean laps.”
TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven): “It was a tough day for Team 7-Eleven and for the whole team. Sometimes when you’re struggling as a team, you try to do too much when you get in the car, and that’s what happened. I’m driving the car, so I’m the only one to blame. You try to set the world on fire because you trust in yourself and have a lot of confidence that you can make a difference. Sometimes you go over the limit.”
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 37 Team IZOD): “We definitely recovered a little bit since yesterday, but we’re still struggling with something. We’re not satisfied with our qualifying effort overall as a team. But, I know the IZOD guys will give me a great race car. I always know when I wake up in the morning on race day that I’ve got a shot to put that thing in the top five. We’ll do our best at getting a good race car under us tomorrow, but eighth today was like a home run.”
RAPHAEL MATOS (No. 2 HP de Ferran Dragon Racing): It was a good qualifying session today. It was great to advance to the second round. We made some improvements to the car between the first and second rounds. We’re missing a little bit, but we are close on the set-up and we keep getting closer. This is a physically demanding track and that will make for a long race, but I have been training really hard and I feel really fit. So I’m hoping that will help me in the race tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team Venom Energy): “We really needed to take advantage of the Firestone reds today and unfortunately we just weren’t able to find the grip we needed. Track position is crucial at a place like this so it’s frustrating for the Venom car to start where we are. We’ll do what we can to make the best out of the race tomorrow.”
ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 77 Bowers & Wilkins/Hot Wheels): “It wasn’t so much that the group one draw was so competitive it’s that we just weren’t competitive like we should be. It’s no secret that we’ve been struggling to find a set up all weekend. We’re a bit lost at the moment with a car that has a lot of understeer, is very nervous with some push. I just feels really unstable and just doesn’t have any bit even with the Firestone red tires on. The way the car feels on the track, I would have been very surprised if we had made it out of our group to battle for the Firestone Fast 6. We’re not going to give up. The Fazzt guys will keep working to find something to make the no.77 Bower & Wilkins Hot Wheels car better and we’ll also try to be creative with our strategy for the race. Until that checkered flag drops we’re going to fight.”
JUSTIN WILSON (No. 22 Team Z-Line Designs/DRR): “The Z-Line Designs car was quick and I would have thought I was running P2 if the crew hadn’t told me my lap times and position. I lost a bit of rear grip on my final two laps and unfortunately we missed the Firestone Fast Six by a couple of tenths. I think we have a good race car and will go over the data tonight and work out a game plan for the race. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully we can pick up positions throughout the race.”
TOMAS SCHECKTER (No. 24 MonaVie/DRR): “Today was a lot better. Considering the fact that I have only been on road courses for only about four or five days this year, we definitely are getting better and developing the car and getting the time that we need. We didn’t want to do any more so after we made the top-12 we saved two sets of the Firestone Firehawk Alternate (red sidewall) tires. I’m really pleased with the MonaVie car and it really seems to suit the Firestone Firehawk “red” tires, so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”
RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske): “It’s really exciting as usual. This track, it’s exciting. It’s really fast and bumpy, but you can really attack the bumps and push the car hard. It’s a lot of fun out there. My car wasn’t really to my liking. We made probably too many changes going into qualifying just trying to find an extra couple of 10ths and sort of went backwards a bit. It was a little disappointing for me. I thought we would have a shot at pole today, but we didn’t have the speed. It was good to get in the Fast Six. It was tough to get through Q1. It was just really good. I mean, no yellow flags at all, so the whole field was very consistent on such a challenging track. But fifth is good. I started on the front row the last two years and it didn’t work out for me, so maybe starting fifth will help.”
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 78 Team Stargate Worlds/HVM): “Starting seventh with some of the big guys in front of us is something pretty special. We put two sets of reds (Firestone alternate tires) on in the first session. I think if we would have had a fresh set of reds in the second session we would have been a bit quicker. But the whole team at HVM can be really happy. They’ve worked really hard all weekend, and now we just have to try to move forward and I think it could be a good race for us. If we can duplicate what we did in Toronto — moving forward in the race — I think with this starting position it’s going to be good.”
VITOR MEIRA (No. 14 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing): “It’s not a weekend we were expecting to be honest. We came out of Toronto with a decent result, it wasn’t an optimum weekend there, but we learned a bunch of things. We unloaded here and it wasn’t good, we have been chasing a moving target here. We don’t know where to pinpoint where the problem is. We’re trying things, very aggressive things. We’re going through every piece of information, but so far, we have not figured out what we can improve. We’re talking about a second here, so it’s not a small detail. Maybe it’s a lot of small things or one big thing but we’ll keep our heads down and keep working. We have one practice left to get it right.”
SUNOCO POLE QUALIFYING NOTES
· This is James Hinchcliffe’s fourth pole of 2010. He was previously on pole at St. Petersburg, Long Beach and Watkins Glen.
· J.K. Vernay will start on the front row for the fifth time in eight races
SUNOCO POLE QUALIFYING QUOTES:
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 2 Xtreme Coil Drilling- TMR, SUNOCO Pole Award winner): “It never hurts to start up front, but it was a little bit too close there. As I said to my engineer Lee Dykstra, it’s a little bit of payback for Toronto, where we sort of sat up at the top and then J.K. (Vernay) pulled it out on us at the end. But credit to him, he’s been super quick all weekend. He’s such a tough competitor. A huge thanks to Team Moore. This is sort of (team co-owner) Tom Wood’s hometown here so to get a pole at the home race is great.”
MARTIN PLOWMAN, (No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers/KEP Printing, qualified third): “That was a really tough qualifying session. The times were extremely close. At one point, I was two-thousandths from pole. I put in another quick lap, but we ran out of time. The top three were separated by less than half a tenth. When it’s that close, it’s just about who gets it that day. I think I got the best out of the car today. I know we have a really strong race car, so it’s going to be a great race tomorrow.”
CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 26 Levemir FlexPen, qualified fourth): “That was a great effort by everyone. Qualifying is really close. We didn’t quite have that last couple of tenths to put it on pole. I know the #26 Levemir® car will be quick on lap 50 tomorrow, when it really matters. I think we should be ready to go have a good race tomorrow.”
SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE (All time local):
9:20 – 9:40 a.m.
Firestone Indy Lights warmup
10- 10:30 a.m.
IZOD IndyCar Series warmup
12:30 p.m.
Firestone Indy Lights Edmonton 100 pre-race
1 p.m.
Firestone Indy Lights Edmonton 100 (50 laps
3 p.m.
IZOD IndyCar Series Honda Indy Edmonton pre-race
4 p.m.
Honda Indy Edmonton (95 laps), VERSUS (Live)
IndyCar Race Review: Honda Indy Toronto
Will Power capitalized on a poor restart by Justin Wilson, opened up a big lead on defending race winner Dario Franchitti, and cruised to victory in yesterday’s Honda Indy Toronto. It was the fourth win of the season (all of them coming on road or street courses) for the Team Penske driver, who now holds a 42-point lead over Franchitti in the overall standings.
It was perhaps the luckiest of Power’s four wins this season, however, as Wilson clearly had the car to beat all weekend. During an early practice session, Wilson had a .7-second advantage on the next best car; from there, he won the pole, and led in the early stages of the event. He only relinquished the lead during pit stops under the first caution, which came after KV Racing teammates Takuma Sato and Mario Moraes got together.
Hometown hero Paul Tracy inherited the lead on lap 18 by staying out, with Vitor Meira also choosing not to pit. Two more cautions over eight of the following 12 laps kept him there until he pit on lap 31. From there, another caution trapped Tracy in 17th, and another pit stop and a miscue while trying to pass Simona de Silvestro later in the race put him back in 13th at the finish, the first car one lap down.
Cautions were a big story of the event, especially involving KV Racing cars, which have now been involved in 20 accidents over 10 race this year. Moraes later punted Mario Romancini out of the race, leading to a drive-thru penalty from race control. And E.J. Viso ran into a spun Raphael Matos with 19 laps to go, totaling the de Ferran Dragon Racing vehicle and putting Viso three laps down in 19th at the finish.
Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon were two of the bigger names to fall out of the event. Castroneves was a victim of early braking by Meira in the third turn after the first restart, and he went hard head-on into a tire barrier in the runoff area. Dixon touched wheels with Ryan Hunter-Reay about the same place where Castroneves and Tracy had an incident last year, and a damaged left front suspension ended his day. Both drivers were unhurt.
But as Castroneves and Dixon sat on the sidelines, they watched a good show by their teammates, Power and Franchitti. The Scotsman inherited the lead from Tracy on lap 32 and held it until a green-flag pit stop on lap 53. Power and Wilson pit the next lap, with the Dreyer & Reinbold team somehow managing to beat the renowned Penske crew out of the pits. Despite being held up by lapped traffic in that extra lap, oth managed to make up enough time on track to get ahead of Franchitti coming out of the pits, and they ran 1-2-3 as pit stops cycled through. Wilson began to open up a huge lead on Power, with the help of lapped traffic and the alternate red tires, before the fifth caution of the day.
But on the restart after the Matos-Viso incident, everything went awry for Wilson. Power pressured him on the restart, making quick work of passing his former Champ Car competitor, and Franchitti was soon in hot pursuit. Going into turn eight, Wilson came in too hot and spun the car around, allowing most of the field to get by him. Wilson would rebound for seventh at the end of the race.
In the same handful of laps, Dixon had his incident, and Tomas Scheckter and Canadian favorite Alex Tagliani drove into the tires in turn one, setting up the final restart of the day.
But Power would not yield, as he beat Franchitti to the line by 1.27 seconds. Hunter-Reay, who had been struggling with his car all day, took third, followed by Tony Kanaan and Graham Rahal, who scored his best finish of the year in his return to Newman/Haas Racing.
Andretti Autosport, at a track where team owner Michael Andretti took seven victories as a driver, had the best day of any team, with their other two cars of Danica Patrick and Marco Andretti taking sixth and eighth, respectively. Meanwhile, Simona de Silvestro and Dan Wheldon rounded out the top ten, marking de Silvestro’s best finish of the year and Wheldon’s fourth top-10 finish on a road or street course this season.
IZOD IndyCar Series
Honda Indy Toronto
TORONTO – Results Sunday of the Honda Indy Toronto IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 1.755-mile Streets of Toronto circuit, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (2) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
2. (5) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
3. (4) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
4. (8) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
5. (14) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
6. (12) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
7. (1) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
8. (10) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
9. (21) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
10. (15) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
11. (26) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
12. (22) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 85, Running
13. (24) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running
14. (20) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running
15. (19) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running
16. (16) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running
17. (9) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 84, Running
18. (7) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 83, Running
19. (13) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 82, Running
20. (6) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 71, Contact
21. (11) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 64, Contact
22. (17) Mario Romancini, Dallara-Honda, 31, Contact
23. (23) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 26, Contact
24. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 21, Contact
25. (18) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 15, Contact
26. (25) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 8, Handling
Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 83.451
Time of Race: 01:47:15.2554
Margin of victory: 1.2757 seconds
Cautions: 6 for 21 laps
Lead changes: 6 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders: Wilson 1-17, Tracy 18-31 Franchitti 32-53, Power 54, Kanaan 55-56, Wilson 57-71, Power 72-85.
Point Standings: Power 377, Franchitti 335, Dixon 299, Briscoe 292, Hunter-Reay 286, Castroneves 285, Kanaan 273, Wilson 240, Wheldon 233, Andretti 225.
For more on the IZOD IndyCar Series from Christopher Leone, check out OpenWheelAmerica.com.
IndyCar Race Preview: Honda Indy Toronto
The IZOD IndyCar Series makes it first foray into the Great White North of the season with this weekend’s Honda Indy Toronto, an event won by Dario Franchitti last year.
Each of the past eight races held on the 1.755-mile Exhibition Place street circuit have been won by different drivers; the last driver to successfully defend his victory was Michael Andretti in 2001. Andretti is the all-time wins leader at the circuit with seven victories, a factor in his decision to purchase the race’s assets in mid-2008 and rescue it after that year’s running was cancelled due to the demise of Champ Car.
This weekend’s event, as well as the Edmonton airport race two weeks from now, are widely celebrated by the Canadian fans, and are especially welcomed by the Canadian members of the circuit. Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracy, the two active Canadian IndyCar drivers, will each be running special paint schemes in the race – Tagliani a new Hot Wheels-backed livery, Tracy an equally impressive car backed by the Canadian arm of the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Toronto Blue Jays.
But the drivers aren’t the only ones returning to their home country this weekend. In fact, two of the engineers on the de Ferran Dragon Racing team, lead engineer Eric Zeto and performance engineer Scott Raymond, call the province of Ontario home. The team hopes to build on their momentum from Watkins Glen, where driver Rafa Matos finished an impressive 4th despite losing his in-car telemetry in the middle of the race. Matos finished 10th at Toronto last year.
Matos has certainly shown the speed this weekend, with his best lap in the second practice, a 62.3984-second run, good for fifth in that session. But 13 cars – half of the field – were within a second of that session’s leader, Ryan Hunter-Reay, who turned a 62.1433-second lap.
Within those 13 cars, seven different teams are represented – Andretti Autosport, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Team Penske, de Ferran Dragon Racing, FAZZT Race Team, KV Racing Technology, and Chip Ganassi Racing. This suggests not only a close battle for pole position, but also a mammoth struggle just to make the Firestone Fast Six.
In the race itself, don’t be surprised if Will Power and Justin Wilson challenge for victory. They are two of only four former Toronto winners in the field (the others being Tracy, who won it in 1993 and 2003, and Franchitti, who won in 1999 as well as last year). Power and Wilson were right on Franchitti’s tail last year, finishing third and fifth, respectively, after starting second and fourth.
Television coverage of the Honda Indy Toronto begins on Sunday at 12:30 PM EST. The race will be shown on ABC.
IndyCar Race Review: Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen
This weekend, Team Penske had the Power – Will Power, that is.
Power led over two-thirds of the race from the first starting spot as Penske claimed its first victory in the Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen after winning every pole six years running.
Teammate Ryan Briscoe made it a Penske 1-2 after passing Chip Ganassi Racing rival Dario Franchitti in the later laps of the race. Raphael Matos and Mario Moraes rounded out the top five.
Dan Wheldon rebounded from an early-race incident in the track’s boot to finish sixth. Alex Lloyd punted Wheldon’s Panther Racing Dallara-Honda and Wheldon stalled, The Holmatro Safety Team got him refired before he lost a lap, however, and he utilized an alternate pit strategy to help get him up front.
Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves were also among those to use different pit strategies, although not by choice; Dixon got into the back of his Team Penske rival early on in the race, forcing both to pit for repairs. Neither lost a lap, however, and were able to stay out after the Wheldon caution. They finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
E.J. Viso and Alex Tagliani also had encountered early-race issues that put them towards the front in the middle of the race. Viso came home 11th, and Tagliani 17th.
Tony Kanaan, on the other hand, had his problem on the penultimate lap, running out of fuel during a solid top-10 run. The necessity of the splash and go dropped him all the way back to 21st.
Kanaan’s finish was emblematic of a difficult day for most of the members of Andretti Autosport. Coming off the announcement that he would be running the rest of the season for the team, Ryan Hunter-Reay led the team with a seventh place finish, but other than that, there wasn’t much to celebrate about in the AA garage.
Marco Andretti’s streak of three consecutive top five finishes at the Glen was broken with a 13th place run, Adam Carroll’s first race of any kind in over a year yielded a 16th place result, and Danica Patrick continued to struggle on the road courses with a 20th place showing.
As for last year’s race winners, Justin Wilson snuck into the top 10 for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Meanwhile, it was a difficult day for Dale Coyne Racing, which saw Milka Duno finish 23rd and off the lead lap. Lloyd, meanwhile, was the first driver to retire, shortly after the Wheldon incident.
Power now maintains a lead of 32 points over Franchitti in the series point standings as the series heads to Toronto. His lead in the road course standings is now a whopping 70 over Ryan Hunter-Reay – theoretically, Power could take the next two events off and still win that title.
For more IZOD IndyCar Series news, check out OpenWheelAmerica.com.
IZOD IndyCar Series
Camping World GP At The Glen
Watkins Glen, N.Y. – Results Sunday of the Camping World Grand Prix At The Glen IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 3.37-mile Watkins Glen International, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
2. (3) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
3. (4) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
4. (11) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
5. (9) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
6. (20) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
7. (16) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
8. (7) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
9. (2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
10. (6) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
11. (25) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
12. (14) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
13. (8) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
14. (12) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
15. (5) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
16. (10) Adam Carroll, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
17. (19) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
18. (23) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
19. (17) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
20. (21) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
21. (13) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 60, Running
22. (18) Mario Romancini, Dallara-Honda, 59, Out of Fuel
23. (24) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 57, Running
24. (15) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 38, Contact
25. (22) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 22, Mechanical
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1:40:27.4391
Winners average speed: 120.768
Margin of victory: 1.2181 seconds
Cautions: 2 for 5 laps
Lead changes: 5 among 4 drivers
Lap Leaders:Power 1-18, Dixon 19-28, Power 29-38, Franchitti 39, Briscoe 40-43, Power 44-60.
Point Standings: Power 327, Franchitti 295, Dixon 287, Briscoe 280, Castroneves 273, Hunter-Reay 251, Tony Kanaan 241, Wilson 211, Wheldon 211, Andretti 201.
