The Numbers Behind Winning the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series Championship

 

Photo Credit: Chris Owens

It is unfortunate to note the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series is ending so early. After 17 races, the open wheel series season wraps with a final race on a two-mile oval in California. The last chance for a team to score a victory in the 2014 tour, the MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway provide the last stand to claim the drivers’ championship for the Verizon IndyCar Championship.

In the best contention for the 2014 crown is a pair of Team Penske drivers who both have a case for being owed a championship. Will Power finished in the runner-up spot in the IndyCar Series championship three times in a row between 2010 and 2012. In second heading into California is Brazil’s Helio Castroneves. Having won the Indianapolis 500 three times, Castroneves has never won a championship in a major American open wheel racing series. Finishing second in the 1997 Indy Lights Series to Tony Kanaan, 13 full seasons in the IndyCar Series have seen him end the season in second three times. Both Power and Castoneves would like to put a cherry on top of career sundae with a Verizon IndyCar championship trophy.

 

Photo Credit: Richard Dowdy

Points Heading into MAVTV 500

Will Power: 626
Helio Castroneves: 575
Simon Pagenaud: 545
Ryan Hunter-Reay: 534

　

Operating on a double point system with the MAVTV 500 being part of the 2014 IndyCar Triple Crown, the race opens an otherwise sealed championship providing contenders a chance to unseat Will Power (or Power a chance to unseat himself). Mathematically, the championship is still a four-driver fight prior to the green flag dropping. However, 2012 IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay will be eliminated from contention at the start of the race. 92 points back from Power ahead of the 500-mile race at Auto Club Speedway, 22 cars starting the MAVTV 500 will result in a minimum of 16 points being scored.

With only Will Power, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud in contention for the 2014 championship, 200 laps around the fast Auto Club Speedway in California is a rare occasion to see a three-way title fight at the IndyCar finale. Heading into to the final race of the season, Power held a 51-point lead over his Team Penske teammate. An outside shot for the 2014 championship, Simon Pagenaud driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports is 81 points from the lead. In qualifying for Saturday night’s race, Helio Castroneves captured an important point by taking the pole position for the MAVTV 500. The gain draws the Brazilian to 50 points of teammate Will Power.

　

Championship Scenarios:

 

Castroneves Wins Race and Will Power Finishes 7th while also Leading Lap

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

 
Will Power: 679
Helio Castroneves: 679
Simon Pagenaud: ?

　

With a 50-point lead, Will Power only needs to gather 53 additional points in the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series to guarantee a championship. With the 52 points gained with the seventh place run, leading a lap will grant Power the one additional point solidifying the championship for the Australian. Even if the #3 car wins the race and leads the most laps, Castroneves can only add 103 points. This scenario will end in a points tie between the Team Penske entrants. With three wins to a potential two, Will Power would prevail for 2014.

In 500-mile races this season, Helio Castroneves holds the best average finish with runner-up spots at Indianapolis as well as Pocono. Will Power’s finishing average in the same two races for 2014 was ninth. This scenario has a close statistical possibility.

　


Power Finishes 22^nd and Castroneves Finishes 4^th While Leading Most Laps

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy

 
Helio Castroneves: 643
Will Power: 642
Simon Pagenaud: ?

　

Since the minimum amount of points available within the 22-car for the MAVTV 500 is 16, Will Power will end the 2014 season with a points total of at least 642 points. Castroneves would need to gain more than 66 points in the race to steal the title from Power. In this scenario, the Castroneves came take the championship mathematically by finishing in the top three spots without leading a lap. However, Helio Castroneves could also be crowned 2014 Verizon IndyCar champion if he finishes fourth withstanding he will gain three additional points leading the most laps at Auto Club Speedway at the end of 500 miles.

　


Pagenaud Wins Race, Power takes 21^st and Castroneves finishes 4^th

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy

Simon Pagenaud: 646
Will Power: 644
Helio Castroneves: 640

　

Even if Power finishes 22^nd, the Simon Pagenaud would have to take victory at Auto Club Speedway in the #77 car in order to take the 2014 championship with misfortune required for Will Power. Power would need to finish in the bottom two positions of the race for Pagenaud‘s championship dreams to be realized. Currently 31 points behind Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud would need the second Team Penske title contender to place fourth or lower in the final results. Unfortunately for Pagenaud, his already long-shot hopes for the 2014 title is not helped by so-so runs in the previous two 500-mile oval races this season.

Please Note: The points would account for the unlikelihood Helio Castroneves will not lead a lap while starting on the pole for Saturday night’s MAVTV 500.

　

Of course, these three championship scenarios would not matter if Will Power would be positioned ahead of both Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud at the end of the race. While Power won last year’s MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway, earning a 21^st place starting spot in Friday’s qualifying could mean the points will at least be closer following Saturday night’s race on the two-mile speedway.

　

Franchitti Wins Fiercely Fought Milwaukee 225

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

After an absence through the 2010 season (the first year since World War 2 that an open wheel race was not run on the prolific one-mile oval), the IZOD INDYCAR drivers and teams happily returned to the Milwaukee Mile. A revived event, the 225-lap affair at the Milwaukee Mile started under overcast skies to a less than packed set of grandstands. Though the empty seats might have been more plentiful than a promoter would desire, the loyal open wheel racing fans who showed up for the event were treated to one of the most thrilling events so far on the 2011 IZOD INDYCAR Series calendar.

Taking pole position on Saturday over Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti and his #10 Target/Chip Ganassi team were looking for their second win on an oval for the 2011 season. As the green flag dropped to on the 26-car field of The Milwaukee 225, a few contenders would quickly be ruled out of the event. Into the first turn of the opening lap, Ryan Hunter-Reay spun-out in his #28 Andretti Autosport car. Unlike the last IZOD INDYCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway where caution fell only once in the double-race format, the one-mile oval event at Milwaukee demonstrated more of a challenge against the teams and drivers.

Of the 26 drivers starting The Milwaukee 225, 9 were making their first IZOD INDYCAR starts at the race track. Of those drivers was 2010 series rookie of the year contender Simona de Silvestro. Striking the wall hard in Saturday's qualifying session, it was unsure if de Silvestro would gain medical clearance to drive less than 24-hours since her crash. To the delight of the fans, the #78 HVM Racing car and driver Simona de Silvestro took green for The Milwaukee 225. Quickly gaining the reputation as one of the toughest drivers on the circuit, the Swiss racer de Silvestro weekend resulted with a driving a damaged, slow #78 car HVM Racing made a painstaking effort to start shotgun on the IZOD INDYCAR field. Competing just 11 laps on the Sunday afternoon, the 22 year-old decided to park the Indy car rather than risking her luck on the tight, fast Milwaukee Mile.

 Photo Credit: Shawn Gritzmacher

Aside from de Silvestro, there were other drivers and teams missed the race setup for The Milwaukee Mile 225 event. The lead cars guided by Dario Franchitti lapped the #77 Sam Schmidt Racing car driven by Alex Tagliani for the first time prior to the 25th lap. Finishing 29 laps down, the hard day for the two-time pole-sitting team ended with the #77 as the last vehicle running on track. While Tagliani stuck out the entire race run with an ill-handling race car, AJ Foyt's #14 driven by Vitor Meira join the HVM Racing #78 with self-appointed retirement from the Milwaukee event after 75 laps.

Through the first 116 laps, Dario Franchitti was the event's only leader. Holding onto the top spot even during a pit stop occurring as the field was under caution on lap 66, Franchitti managed the Sunday afternoon race comfortably in the lead. Unlike his #10 teammate, the #9 Target/Chip Gannasi Racing car of Scott Dixon found the race particularly harsh off the start. Getting overhauled on track by Takuma Sato and Tony Kanaan early, Dixon would become acquainted with the strong beginning for the KV Racing Technology squad. However, during the first round of pit stops, Scott Dixon and the #5 of Sato would become involved with a wild altercation. While there was no contact, the #9 car was briefly impaired from entering his pit by Sato. Due to mediocre pace on the race track and pit road troubles, New Zealand's Scott Dixon struggled in the lower top-10 through the race eventually coming home 7th place. Along with the anxious moment as a collision was averted, tire changer for the #5 KV Racing Technology team was hit by Sato's entrance. Committing an infraction in the INDYCAR Series rules, the Japanese former Formula 1 driver to serve a drive-through pit penalty. At the end of the event, Takuma Sato and team salvaged their run following the early miscues finishing The Milwaukee 225 in 8th place.

As misfortunes first the one leading KV Racing Technology team, the #82 team car of Tony Kanaan was having another strong event for his new IZOD INDYCAR Series ride in 2011. Chasing down the #10 Target car, Kanaan's British racing green Geico-sponsored machine caught and passed leader Franchitti on lap 116. A big shift in the tone of the event as well as the balance of racing power in the IZOD INDYCAR Series, Kanaan aligned with the KV Racing Technology organization has become a refreshing spoiler in as many races. At Milwaukee, Tony Kanaan battled the #10 car of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing on two occasions to lead in the 225 miles of competition. One time Dario Franchitti was able to retake the top position was on a restart following the lap 123 crash of JR Hildebrand. Showing a start car on the early stages of a green flag run, Franchitti was eventually run down by Kanaan through longer periods of caution-free racing.

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

After the race's 5th caution on lap 165 where the yellow flag flew for the damaged car #59 car of EJ Viso, a final set of pit stops for the lead cars prepared drivers for the final 51 laps remaining of the Milwaukee Mile race. A controversial development between the pits of the #10 Target/Chip Ganassi Racing team and the #12 Penske Racing team. Entering his pit stall, Franchitti made contact with a crew member the #12 team for driver Will Power. Seen as similar to the incident for which Takuma Sato was penalized for earlier in the event, the INDYCAR officials ruled there was no fault by the #10 car's driver or team thereby allowing Dario Franchitti to remain in the thick of the important event's latter stage.

Beating out both the #10 of Franchitti and the #82 of Kanaan, the renowned teamwork of Penske Racing showed up big time as the #3 car of Helio Castroneves was sent out ahead of the other lead cars. As the race restarted, Castroneves was pulling away appearing as if he could cruise to victory at Milwaukee. However, with 39 laps remaining, the Brazilian driver reported to his crew an instinct that a Firestone racing tire was low on the #3 Penske Racing Dallara. It worry of low air pressure in the left rear tire was confirmed by the Penske Racing team's pit telemetry.

As the leader of The Milwaukee 225 contemplated whether to give up the lead for a tire change or risk remaining on track, Helio Castroneves' decision was practically resolved when caution came out for the 6th and final time on lap 195. The reason for the yellow flag was the crash of race contender Tony Kanaan in oval's turn 4. Losing control of his #82 car in the late stages, a disappointed Kanaan exited the KV Racing Technology for an unceremonious end to a solid race performance.

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

During the caution, Helio Castroneves and the Penske Racing crew gave up the lead in order to change questionable tires. In a matter of only a few laps, Dario Franchitti was presented not only the lead but the comfort of having both of his primary competition out of the equation. To the checkered flag, Dario Franchitti stormed across the line ahead of the #83 of Graham Rahal (Rahal is one-half of Chip Ganassi Racing's second team). From 3rd to 5th, Oriol Servia, Will Power and Danica Patrick came across the line for excellent finishes.

In the overall IZOD INDYCAR driver standings for the 2011 year so far, Dario Franchitti and Will Power are tied at the top of the points. Preparing for their last June race at the Iowa Speedway, the appearance in Milwaukee has given the IZOD INDYCAR Series some moments of action and suspense American open wheel racing fans will continue to hunger for through the duration of the IZOD INDYCAR Series season.


Race Results

Milwaukee Mile

The Milwaukee Mile 225

Pos # | Car # | Driver/ Nationality/ Team

1. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
2. 38 Graham Rahal/United States/Chip Ganassi Racing
3. 2 Oriol Servia/Spanish/ Newman/Haas Racing
4. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
5. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
6. 06 James Hinchcliffe/Canada/ Newman/Haas Racing
7. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
8. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
9. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
10. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
11. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
12. 27 Mike Conway/England/Andretti Autosport
13. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
14. 83 Charlie Kimball/United States/ Chip Ganassi Racing
15. 18 James Jakes/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
16. 67 Ed Carpenter/United States/Sarah Fisher Racing
17. 24 Ana Beatriz/Brazil/ Dreyer & Reinbold
18. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ Sam Schmidt Racing
19. 82 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
20. 58 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
21. 4 JR Hildebrand/United States/ Panther Racing
22. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/Dale Coyne Racing
23. 34 Sebastian Saavedra/Columbia/ Conquest Racing
24. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
25. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland/ HVM Racing
26. 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/Andretti Autosport

Castroneves Bid Sayonara to the Field for Indy Japan 300 Win

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

Setting up the season finale in Homestead, the IZOD IndyCar round at the Twin-Ring Motegi oval is almost more important than that Florida round on the basis of being a championship prelude. Entering the Indy Japan 300, the overall championship battle between Will Power and Dario Franchitti is one of the tightest of tight battles of past IRL/IndyCar seasons. Besides the champion fight, every one of the 25 IZOD IndyCar Series drivers are vying for to best others racing around the 1.55 mile oval.

Showing stunning speed in qualifying for the Twin-Ring Motegi's Indy Japan 300, Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves led the field through turn one as the Indy cars proceeded to complete the first lap. However, a chance of a second green flag lap would be halted by Bertrand Baguette's Conquest car sliding out of control on turn 2, lap 2. A short race for the Belgium native, Baguette was cleared as being fit by medical officials following the accident.

For the first 70 laps around the Twin-Ring Motegi, Helio Castroneves reigned at the front as a battle behind him ensued between Target/Chip Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti as he tries to better the Penske Racing drivers Will Power and Ryan Briscoe within the top-5 positions. This would be a race-long battle as the grouping maintained close for all the 200 lap distance.

Car slows again on lap 39 as the Dale Coyne Racing #19 stalled on the apron drawing on caution on lap 43. Later to be recognized by team mechanics as a throttle linkage problem, Lloyd would be able to rejoin the Indy Japan 300 field several laps down. Leading the Twin-Ring Motegi event by more than 3 seconds over second place, Helio Castroneves' #3 car was brought back into sight for Ryan Briscoe and Dario Franchitti.

The yellow flag created a moment for Indy cars to pit as Castroneves led the #10 of Dario Franchitti and the #6 of Ryan Briscoe. On the pit stop for the wide variety of competitors, Castroneves preserved his lead position but Briscoe leapfrogged Franchitti for 2nd place providing the Penske Racing team a valuable cushion not only to for Castroneves' #3 car but for Will Power's championship hopes (though a great deal of the IZOD IndyCar's Indy Japan 300 was still left to be run).

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

The field restarted on lap 47 with Helio Castroneves again working his dominant car on top of the IndyCar drivers. 21 laps later, a frightening crash in turn 2 occurred when Mario Moraes' #32 KV Racing Technology car broke loose, smashing hard into the outside retaining wall. Possibly the result of a mechanical failure, some sparks from the rear left corner of the #32 car were visible just prior to Morae's hard impact. Conscious and physically moving within the car, Mario Moraes was carefully extracted with assistance out of his KV Racing Technology car by safety officials. Taken to a local hospital, he was released late Sunday night after getting cleared by doctors.

As this recent incident involving a KV Racing Technology car, the mechanical failure has called into question whether the constant rebuilding of the race cars must have left them in a weakened state. Co-Editor for Morefrontwing.com Steph Wallcraft queried regarding this on Twitter.
Through a long caution where many cars returned to pit road, the #2 Dragon/de Ferran Racing vehicle of Raphael Matos and the #06 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing car of Hideki Mutoh stayed on track to claim important tract position. Leading 5 laps under caution followed by 10 more as the green flag resided over the Twin-Ring Motegi, Raphael Matos would be the only non-Penske Racing car to lead this Japan race (though its noteworthy that one of Matos' team co-owners is Roger Penske' son Jay). Ryan Briscoe took the race lead on lap 86 while teammate Helio Castoneves was working on a recovery from a poor restart 10 laps prior. As the #2 and the #06 played their strategy for getting to the front, they inevitably needed to pit as Matos stayed out until lap 103 while Mutoh ducked in one lap later.

As Ryan Briscoe lead for 32 laps, the Australian driver of the #6 car would be the 3rd and final driver to lead the Twin-Ring Motegi Indy Japan 300. Speeding back to the lead for lap 118, Helio Castroneves took a definitive possession of the 1st place position in pit lane under caution. The #24 Dreyer and Reinbold Racing car drvien by Paul Tracy slid out of the groove and brushes the wall to draw this lap 114 yellow. Though Tracy returned to the pits, the Canadian's day was over in Japan.

A final caution for the IZOD IndyCar Twin-Ring Motegi fell on lap 148 Alex Lloyd as slides into the turn 2 outer wall skimming down the backstretch. Providing one last opportunity for what would be a futile chance for Ryan Briscoe and Dario Franchitti to defeat Castroneves, the competition amongst themselves leaving pit lane was puzzling. Out of the pits, Briscoe's #6 Penske Racing car flew by the #10 of Dario Franchitti at the exit line making it appear that Briscoe grabbed the 2nd place on the race's restart. However, Indy cars circulated around the Twin-Ring Motegi for a long 19 laps as on-track safety crews cleaned up the #19 car, IndyCar officials ordered the #6 Penske of Ryan Briscoe start behind Franchitti. Admitting his finger slipped off the pit road speed limiter button when he shot by Franchitti, Briscoe was never ruled to have committed a pit road speed violation. Earlier in the Indy Japan 300 race, FAZZT Race Team driver Alex Tagliani was sent to the back of the pack for a speeding penalty.

Into a final 34 lap green flag period, Castroneves pulled away while the fight for second was, too, a short-lived fight on the restart as Dario Franchitti left Briscoe after the #6 car was able to try one quick but unsuccessful move for the runner-up spot. Slower than on the previous run, Ryan Briscoe was later lost 3rd place to teammate Will Power who is devoted to minimizing or neutralizing any point gains Franchitti looks to obtain in Japan. One spot behind the #10 car and closing through the final laps of the Indy Japan 300, Power was unable to complete a pass on Franchitti despite having extra Push to Pass power on tap.

At the line by 4.57 seconds, Helio Castroneves takes the Indy Japan 300 in masterful fashion. Last winning at the Twin-Ring Motegi during the 2006 season, Castroneves won his third race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar season and his 2nd straight victory by leading 153 of the 200 laps around the Twin-Ring Motegi circuit. Acting as a delightful escape from the actions of the championship points scravaging through the event, Castroneves' performance had no doubt affected Franchitti's plans to further capitalize over Will Power.

Powerful, but not enough to beat Castroneves, Dario Franchitti takes third as well as a 5 point gain over Will Power in the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series overall championship. "We can only control what we do and we did our best." Franchitti summed up his day as part of post-race comments. Remembering too well the heated end of the IZOD IndyCar Honda Edmonton Indy less than 2 months ago, Helio Castroneves' protest against a late-race blocking penalty divided the Penske Racing drivers as Power expressed Castroneve's car did indeed block. In this instance, it's fair to reason Will Power became a fan of his teammate.

In respect to himself, Will Power posted a first, momentus career podium finish on an oval for either a Champ Car or IRL-backed event. Will Power said "It's great for us to put the Verizon car on the podium. I've never finished ahead of him (Dario) on an oval and one day I'll get it. Hopefully this year because if I don't, he'll win".

With Briscoe coming fourth to the line, Danica Patrick in the #7 Godaddy.com car finished a hard-fought 5th rising 7 positions as the highest result for an Andretti Autosport car. This is the 3rd year in a row Patrick has led the Andretti Autosport team at the Twin-Ring Motegi and keeps alive a career-wide streak of top-10 finishes in Indy Japan 300.

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

In two weeks time, Homestead-Miami Speedway will not only provide one driver with an opportunity of the final race trophy of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar season as well as deciding whether Will Power or Dario Franchitti will wear the American open wheel crown.



2010 IZOD IndyCar
Indy Japan 300
Twin-Ring Motegi
Race Results


1. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
2. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
3. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
4. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
5. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
6. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
7. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport

8. 02 Graham Rahal/United States/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
9. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
10. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
11. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
12. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
13. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
14. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
15. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
16. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
17. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
18. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ de Ferran Dragon Racing
19. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing
20. 36 Roger Yasukawa/United States/ Conquest Racing
21. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
22. 24 Paul Tracy/Canada/ Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
23. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
24. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
25. 34 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing

IZOD IndyCar: Castroneves Leads Penske Qualifying Sweep in Japan

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

After 15 races, the 2010 IZOD IndyCar preultimate round brings the open wheel series to their only overseas engagement on the 1.55 mile oval called the Twin-Ring Motegi. A track owned and operated by local IZOD IndyCar engine supplier Honda, the planting in the series schedule shapes the Indy Japan 300 into a defining event for wrapping race seasons.

The renowned venue where open wheel's popular driver Danica Patrick won her first major racing event in 2008, the Twin-Ring Motegi oval was also significant to last year's IZOD IndyCar title chase. As Ryan Briscoe led the 2009 standings and appeared destined to perhaps clinch the series crown, Briscoe lost control of his Penske Racing owned machine banging it against the inner pit road wall. With the DNF at the Indy Japan 300, Ryan Briscoe would go on to lose out on the championship at Homestead Speedway to Dario Franchitti of rival team Target/Chip Ganassi Racing.

Entering into the 2010 edition, another Penske versus Target/Chip Ganassi battle appears firmly in the cards as Penske's Will Power holds a slim 17-point lead over Dario Franchitti. With Penske Racing drawing first blood through the two practice sessions on the Twin-Ring Motegi oval, the Captain's 3-car squad found all the speed they needed through IZOD IndyCar qualifying as all three stand at the top of the charts. Led by recent Kentucky Speedway race winner Helio Castroneves, the #3 car flew around the Japanese 1.55 oval in 201.992 miles per hour average during the 2-lap qualifying run. Despite a faster second lap, 2nd place Penske car of Ryan Briscoe started with a dismal first timed lap which resulted in an average 4/10ths a mile per hour slower run. Will Power rounds out for Penske Racing trio's dominant qualifying in 3rd place. Power is probably going to feel uncomfortable knowing his title rival Franchitti's #10 car will be starting right alongside his #12 Penske in the second row Sunday.

Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan, and Ryan Hunter-Reay line up in the 5th through 7th positions all driving for Andretti Autosport. Fourth Andretti Autosport car and 2008 race winner Danica Patrick will take the green flag on the outside of the 6th row following a 12th place in the time trial session. As Patrick starts mid-field, the two other female IZOD IndyCar competitors Simona de Silvestro and Milka Duno exited the Twin-Ring Motegi qualifying will sadly start on the final two positions of the starting grid.

A Japanese event where two full-time drivers get welcomed home, native Hideki Mutoh delivered a 17th place run for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing but would be topped by series rookie and KV Racing Technology driver Takuma Sato. Averaging a pace good enough for 10th place, Former Formula 1 driver Takuma Sato has visited Honda's other popular motorsport park facility of Suzuka but competes in open wheels at the Twin-Ring Motegi oval for the first time. After what has been a first season filled with misfortune for situations out of his control, Sato found solace in the patriotic Japanese fans.

Starting with a 25-car field in Japan, North American fans of the IZOD IndyCar Series will have to stay or wake up at midnight Eastern time to catch the Indy Japan 300 on TSN2 for Canadian audiences or Versus for American viewers.


2010 IZOD IndyCar
Indy Japan 300
Twin-Ring Motegi
Qualifying Results 

1. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing

2. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
3. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
4. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
5. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
6. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
7. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
8. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
9. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
10. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
11. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
12. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
13. 34 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing
14. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
15. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
16. 02 Graham Rahal/United States/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
17. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
18. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
19. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ de Ferran Dragon Racing
20. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
21. 36 Roger Yasukawa/United States/ Conquest Racing
22. 24 Paul Tracy/Canada/ Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
23. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
24. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
25. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing

Fuel Savings Allow Castroneves to Go the Distance for Kentucky Win

Photo Credit: Dana Garrett

With three races remaining in the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series as cars arrive for the season's last night race at Kentucky Speedway. Besides the aspirations of 20-plus regular competitors wanting to end the year off on a high note, a contentious overall points fight is brewing between current leader Will Power and reigning IZOD IndyCar champ Dario Franchitii. Optimizing his chance to collect a 3rd overall IndyCar title in 4 years, Franchitti's win at the last round in Chicagoland brought the driver of Target/Chip Ganassi's #10 car just 23 points away from Penske Racing's best hope.

In qualifying for the Kentucky Indy 300 on the 1.5 mile oval gave a snapshot of what could be a very extraordinary event. As the green flag dropped at Kentucky Speedway, wildcard Ed Carpenter led the 27-car field to the start. Immediately fighting off the charge of Penske Racing's Will Power, Carpenter would lead the first lap which was unfortunately greeted with the race's first yellow flag. The #5 KV Racing Technology vehicle of Takuma Sato crashed in turn 4 failing to complete a single lap in the Kentucky Indy 300.

After cleaning up the #5 car, racing action resumed on lap 9 with Carpenter out front. However, Ed Carpenter's reign in the lead in the Vision Racing car would come to an end when Panther Racing's Dan Wheldon passed him for lap 11. Under the Vision Racing/Panther Racing alliance that granted Carpenter a ride through the final races of the 2010 season, Wheldon's 43-lap lead in the #4 car after the #20 car allowed the Panther Racing team to stay out front for the first 54 laps.

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

Nearing the end on fuel and tires under green, the front-running teams shot to pit road. The well-funded, well-trained #12 Penske Racing and #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing crews performed effectively as the night hit the Kentucky Speedway. With Power and Dixon benefiting from their crew armed with almost a season worth of experience, the Ed Carpenter and the Vision Racing team appeared to have suffered from their limited 2010 race schedule. Entering lap 50 second behind Dan Wheldon, Carpenter dropped to 10th place once leaving pit lane. The #6 Penske Racing car of Ryan Briscoe and Paul Tracy driving the #24 Dreyer and Reinbold Racing machine would lead during the pit stop exchange before the #12 of Will Power found himself out front. Taking the lead on lap 61, Power found himself in a unusually strong position on an oval track this season. The #12 Verizon Penske Racing car spent 83 laps in the 1st place position with 81 of those laps occurring consecutively after the first pit stop.

With only two cautions flying in the Kentucky Indy 300, the final caution flew on lap 80 brought out for a multiple car crash involving the #6 of Ryan Briscoe, the #14 of Vitor Meira and the #78 of Simona de Silvestro. Created in turn 3, the incident occured when Meira attempted to pass de Silvestro on the inside while the faster Briscoe steered to the outside of both drivers. Contact was made between the #78 and #14 which would also catch the #6 as a bystander. Insisting that Vitor Meira was aggressive on passing, de Silvestro expressed deep regret for Ryan Briscoe being wrecked. "I knew that Ryan (Briscoe) was on the outside and he kind of stuck his nose in there. I didn't see him, and I didn't know he was there. I'm really sorry if I was in the way." Apart from a long caution, only the cars suffered any serious damage with all three drivers checked and received at the medical center.

Photo Credit: Ron McQueeney

Running clean and green through the second half, the Kentucky Indy 300 was shaping into a possible fuel economy run as pit stops within the lap 140-150 range left many teams on the edge of running to the finish or requiring a stop-and-go stop for fuel. As the numbers were being crunched by IZOD IndyCar race team engineers for each car, Dan Wheldon past Will Power to retake the lead through pit stops. In fact, Power's #12 car began showing troubles keeping his same pace as he fell down in the order of the top-5 cars. "The Verizon car was great out front. I had a little understeer back in traffic." Power commented on the problems through his last run. This was compounded by a near miss incident where the Australian get loose on track. Power, who finished 8th at the end said in post-race ".... I think I hit some oil from an earlier incident between Turns 3 and 4".

Without cautions, green flag pit strategy entered into effect in the races final 10 laps. Wheldon and Franchitti dropped into the pits by 196 for a quick splash of ethanol making it look less evident that lead cars would chance a winning run on a fuel gamble. Carpenter attempted to run his #20 car as close as possible to the checkered flag but just didn't have the reserves to go all the way. The one and only cars in the contending pack to make a fuel economy attempt was Helio Castroneves. Slowing drastically to a pace which involved laps more than 10 mile per hour than the leaders, Castroneves' skilled fuel consuming abilities allowed his #3 Penske Racing car to capture victory.

After a magnificant qualifying effort to grant his #20 car a pole, Ed Carpenter backed up his effort from Friday with a 2nd place in Saturday night's race. Carpenter finishes ahead of Panther Racing's Dan Wheldon who has now secured 2 top-3 results in the past 2 IZOD IndyCar races. In 4th place, the 26th place starting Andretti Autosport car of Tony Kanaan rocketed early in the race to an excellent efforton the night. In fact, after an overall dismal time trial for Andretti Autosport, 3 of the 4 cars finished in the top-9 after 200 laps in Kentucky. Marco Andretti 6th and Danica Patrick 9th, Ryan Hunter-Reay suffered a late-race mechanical issue on his #37 machine. Completing the Kentucky Indy 300's top-5 was Dario Franchitti who gained a small but possibly important 5 points on Will Power in the overall championship.

More than a month passing since his explosive objection to a penalization for blocking at the Edmonton Honda Indy, Helio Castroneves' emotions were more devoted to joy as he celebrates with his #3 Penske Racing team sharing the victory lane at Kentucky. Winning a Barber Motorsport Park earlier this season, Castroneves also becomes the only Penske Racing driver so far this year to win on a road course and an oval. Sitting mathematically a non-factor to the 2010 IZOD IndyCar overall championship in 4th place, Helio Castroneves could easily set sights on the AJ Foyt trophy for oval points scored in the season. The #3 Penske Racing driver is only 29 points away from leader Dario Franchitti for that honour.

Heading to the land of the rising sun next, the 2nd to last round of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season takes place at the Twin-Ring Motegi circuit.


2010 IZOD IndyCar Series
Kentucky Indy 300
Kentucky Speedway
Race Results


1. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
2. 20 Ed Carpenter/United States/ Panther/Vision Racing
3. 4 Dan Wheldon/England/ Panther Racing
4. 11 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ Andretti Autosport
5. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
6. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
7. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
8. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
9. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
10. 36 Bertrand Baguette/Belgium/ Conquest Racing
11. 22 Justin Wilson/England/ Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
12. 24 Paul Tracy/Canada/ Dreyer and Reinbold Racing
13. 19 Alex Lloyd/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
14. 34 Tomas Scheckter/South Africa/ Conquest Racing
15. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ FAZZT Race Team
16. 2 Raphael Matos/Brazil/ de Ferran Dragon Racing
17. 06 Hideki Mutoh/ Japan/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
18. 32 Mario Moraes/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
19. 18 Milka Duno/Venezuela/ Dale Coyne Racing
20. 02 Graham Rahal/United States/ Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
21. 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/ Andretti Autosport
22. 67 Sarah Fisher/United States/ Sarah Fisher Racing
23. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
24. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
25. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland HVM Racing
26. 8 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
27. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology