Ryan Hunter-Reay Wins Milwaukee Mile Indyfest

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/ LAT USA

A United States auto racing venue that pre-dates the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, The Milwaukee Mile has been the site of motorsport competition since 1903. Preserved as a staple venue for Indy car-style racing, the one-time centerpiece for open wheel made headlines in 2010 when the IZOD INDYCAR Series was unable to hold a race at the 1.015-mile oval. The Milwaukee Mile’s historic allure brought the major open wheel racing tour back to the racetrack in 2011 but was hurt by poor planning leading to many questions of whether the event will continue for 2012. Five-time winner at The Milwaukee Mile Michael Andretti would save the race through his sports marketing firm proving the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series another chance show-off the 22-lap event as a historical crown jewel.

On race day Saturday, rain delayed the start of the Milwaukee Indyfest by around two hours. However, with aggressive track drying, The Milwaukee Mile’s race start was inevitable. Little past two 2pm local time, pole-sitter Dario Franchitti led the 25-car IZOD INDYCAR field to the double-file start. A neat flawless start for almost all competitors, the #10 car of Franchitti benefited from his front starting position to secure a comfortable lead through the Milwaukee Indyfest’s first 63 laps.

On lap 28, a pit stop for the #67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing car was penalized when Josef Newgarden ran into an air wrench lying in his stall. The penalty for the American driver Newgarden added insult to the injury of losing their 7^th place qualifying due to an unapproved engine change. Josef Newgarden would be the first retirement from the event with a mechanical problem reported on the #67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing race machine.

The first caution of the Milwaukee Indyfest was thrown on lap 67 when Simona de Silvestre’s #78 car was stopped in turn 4. The sole Lotus engined runner currently in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series, the HVM Racing car ended its day with the driver de Silvestro stating, "I just made a mistake.”.

With the #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car pitting just ahead of the yellow flag period, the race was ultimately out of the hands of the car’s Scottish driver Dario Franchitti. Later in the race, Franchitti would end up in the turn 3-4 wall finishing a season-worst 19^th. The Milwaukee Indyfest event would prove tedious for the Target Chip Ganassi Racing squad with #9 car of Scott Dixon penalized with a drive-though sentence for passing under yellow. Several observers including Dixon questioned the officials’ penalty. "I really don't know what happened on the restart where we got penalized. I think the one they waved off was the one we got out of line when EJ Viso was trying to restart at 20 mph.” said Scott Dixon. Running third when he was assessed the penalty lap 123, Scott Dixon and the #9 car was only able to claim 11^th place at the end of 225 laps.

After the 63^rd lap, Chevrolet powered would rule The Milwaukee Mile in a dominance not seen since earlier in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR season. The #3 Team Penske car of Helio Castroneves took the lead from Dario Franchitti with James Hinchcliffe leading a lap through a pit stop exchange. Assuming the lead by staying out on the racetrack while others pitted, EJ Viso in the #5 KV Racing Technology vehicle would lead 27 laps. Viso would turn the lead back over to Castroneves on lap 96 during a caution for Justin Wilson #18 Dale Coyne Racing car sitting on the racetrack with a blown Honda engine. Misfortune would also find Wilson’s Dale Coyne Racing teammate James Jakes who was part of a coming-together with the #15 car of Takuma Sato. Unrelated to the crash between Jakes and Sato, the #4 car of JR Hildebrand was also part of the race’s third yellow period as his car stalled due to a mechanical problem.

The winning pass of the event was made on lap 142 when the #28 car of Ryan Hunter-Reay took advantage of a slight bobble by Castroneves. Surviving the attacks under two additional cautions, Hunter-Reay gave the Andretti Autosport group their first victory in 2012. By winning the Milwaukee Indyfest, Ryan Hunter-Reay will have won at least once in all three seasons he raced with Andretti Autosport. "It's amazing. First of all, thank you to all of the fans for coming out, filling a great number of seats in here. What a race. I know we would all have liked to see a little more passing, but from the car it was so busy, just trying to hang on to it. But getting a win for DHL and Sun Drop, it's unreal.” said the winning driver Hunter-Reay. For winning car owner Michael Andretti, the victory in a race promoted by Andretti Sports Marketing was a significant day.

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/ LAT USA

Quietly claiming his best finish of the season, Tony Kanaan finished ahead of the Andretti Autosport #27 car of James Hinchcliffe. For another incredible top-5 performance for the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing #22 car of Oriol Servia, the Spanish driver weaved this way from 20^th to 4^th in the Milwaukee Indyfest. Rounding out the top-5 for the 2012 Milwaukee Indyfest is the EJ Viso’s #5 car for KV Racing Technology.

With the top-5 in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series’ The Milwaukee Mile all Chevrolet powered, this was the first win by the bowtie win since the Sao Paulo street race event. After 225 laps in the Saturday event, Alex Tagliani’s #98 Bryan Herta Autosport race car was the highest-finishing Honda-engined runner.

The next venue for the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series is June 23^rd at Iowa Speedway for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 night race.


2012 IZOD INDYCAR
Milwaukee Indyfest
The Milwaukee Mile
Race Results

	Car #	Driver	Driver Nationality	Race Team	Engine
1	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
2	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
3	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
4	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Chevrolet
5	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
6	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
7	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda
8	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
9	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
10	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
11	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
12	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
13	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
14	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
15	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
16	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
17	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
18	6	Katherine Legge	England	Dragon Racing	Chevrolet
19	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
20	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
21	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
22	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
23	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
24	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus
25	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda

Dixon Wins Detroit INDYCAR Race Amidst Track Decay

Photo Credit: Phillip G. Abbott/ LAT Photo USA (American Honda Motor Company)

The race on the Belle Isle circuit was touted as a major deal with the open wheel racing series’ returning engine supplier Chevrolet sponsoring the ‘motor city’ event. The Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix was granted the special honour of being the race that followed the Indianapolis 500 on the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series calendar. With many minds still recalling the 96^th race at the Brickyard fondly, the 2.07-mile street course in the state of Michigan one week later served as restart point for the 2012 open wheel racing season.

In Saturday qualifying the #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car of Scott Dixon broke the pole position dominance that Team Penske held throughout the 2012 season up to the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. Only the three IZOD INDYCAR Series event of the season where Honda was able to make use of a more powerful turbocharger unit, the engine is coming off of a momentous Indy 500 win powering Dario Franchitti‘s Target Chip Ganassi entry. Will Power qualified 2^nd quickest as the highest Team Penske car intent to allow their Chevy engines capture the Chevrolet-sponsored event.

Photo Credit: Phillip G. Abbott/ LAT Photo USA (American Honda Motor Company)

As cars took off through the warm-up laps of the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, the 3^rd place starting #98 Bryan Herta Autosport machine of Canadian driver Alex Tagliani would not start. This race was the second race of 2012 where the Bryan Herta Autosport team were utilizing Honda power rather than the Lotus engine they ran for the first 3 IZOD INDYCAR Series events of 2012. The #98 car was able to restart but lost its prime starting spot as the scheduled 90-lap street race were sent to green.

Besides, Tagliani, there was also early race troubles for the #18 Dale Coyne Racing car piloted by Justin Wilson. On the first lap, Wilson slid and made side contact with concrete barrier out of a turn. While Justin Wilson remained in the race for 28 more laps, the Dale Coyne-owned car was retired based on mechanical issues pertaining to the crash damage finishing 22^nd. James Jakes, Sebastian Bourdais and Rubens Barrichello were also early retirements from the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix by the time the race‘s first pit stops were taking place.


From pole, Scott Dixon was having an opportune race leading all the early laps of the Detroit IZOD INDYCAR event up to the pit stop cycle. Thanks to a comfortable lead and other lead cars pitting, Dixon’s #9 car left his Target Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew still holding the race lead as he returned to competition. While passing wasn’t impossible on the Belle Isle track, the pace of leaders gave few teams an chance to challenge the New Zealand driver Dixon. There was also a number of accusations that 5^th place starting EJ Viso’s slower race pace divided the field.

An event composing of 40 laps of green flag racing, the 2012 Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix’s first caution resulted from two incidents on track caused by a deterioration of the race surface. While almost every driver on the course were realizing sizeable pieces of asphalt flying from the Belle Isle track, it wasn’t until the #27 GoDaddy.com car of James Hinchcliffe sailing hard into the tire barrier of turn 7 that a problem presented itself to everyone observing the spectacle. In addition to Hinchcliffe, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing #15 car of Takuma Sato was also bit by a decaying track in turn 12. After retiring from his first 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series race, James Hinchcliffe commented "It was like Russian Roulette and I just pulled the bullet."

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

Given a choice to run the race under caution to 45 and calling the event as official, the IZOD INDYCAR Series official elected instead to give track repairs an opportunity to patch up the sections of the Belle Isle street. More than 2 hours and 15 minutes of red flag to replace the defective parts of the Belle Isle track, the event would continue without further interruptions from the surface. The remaining IZOD INDYCAR drivers were sent back out on the course to receive green for a reduced race distance of 60 laps (turn from 90).

There were two full course yellows the slowed the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix in the final 15-lap dash.. On lap 47, an incident involving Helio Castroneves spinning out on a slick turn 6 that also collected the #20 car of Ed Carpenter. The #67 car of Josef Newgarden had spun out during this caution after receiving contact from another car.

The race’s final caution flew as a result of a turn-5 incident involving KV Racing Technology driver EJ Viso and the #26 car of Marco Andretti. The final caution period came at lap 52 giving the field one more chance to chase race leader Scott Dixon.

The extended break in the 2012 Detroit Grand Prix did little to upset the rhythm of the leader Scott Dixon. Through the final 15 laps, the #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car kept his teammate Dario Franchitti in his rearview mirrors on route to his first victory of 2012. A dominant performance where the New Zealand driver led flag-to-flag in the shortened Detroit race, Dixon’s first victory comes after finishing three times in the runner-up position in this year’s events. “If I could have gotten my gloves off I'd have chewed my nails for sure on those final laps. I'd like to give a lot of credit to everyone at INDYCAR and the Detroit staff for getting the track back in shape so we could race. The final 15 lap shoot-out was exciting for me - so I sure hope the fans liked it.” said Scott Dixon.

Photo Credit: Phillip G. Abbott/ LAT Photo USA (American Honda Motor Company) 

Even a final chance 7 laps to go wasn’t enough for Dario Franchitti to follow-up his Indy 500 win with a victory on the streets of Belle Isle. Still a solid effort based on the start of the 2012 season, Franchitti in 4^th place in IZOD INDYCAR Series overall driver points. In post-race, Dario Franchitti responded, "I thought in the first couple of laps I had a chance, but I couldn't, he was too quick. And with our car breaking the front wing early on, the more the run went on, the more understeer it got. But that's not to take anything away from the job Dixie did, and a 1-2 for Team Target after his brilliant qualifying and my abysmal one, we'll take it." Franchitti and the #10 car came from a 14^th place starting spot to 2^nd at the end of 60 laps.

Aside from the two Target Chip Ganassi Racing cars powered by Honda engines, rookie driver for Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports Simon Pagenaud allowed the Japanese auto company to own the podium for the Chevrolet-sponsored Detroit street race.

Chevrolet’s top finisher in the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix was Australian Will Power in 4th. Leading the overall driver points standing by 26 points over Scott Dixon, Power and the Team Penske group are starting to feel a much stronger challenge from old rival Target Chip Ganassi Racing as 2012 progresses.

After a quiet but effective effort at Indianapolis that resulted in a 4^th place finish in the 500-miler, Oriol Servia and the #22 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team continues to impress with their new Bowtie engine at Detroit. With a 5^th place result, Servia finished ahead of multiple car team Chevrolet contenders KV Racing Technology (Tony Kanaan in 6^th) and Andretti Autosport (Ryan Hunter-Reay in 7^th).

Worthy of honourable mention, Alex Tagliani and the #98 Bryan Herta Autosport team didn’t give up after their early race setback. After starting deep in the field, Tagliani managed to break into the top-10 during the final race restart. The 10^th place is the first top-10 for the former Lotus-powered entry in 2012. The only Lotus-engined car on the IZOD INDYCAR Series grid throughout the 2012 season, HVM Racing’s #78 car driven by Simona de Silvestro took a respectable 13^th place from the Detroit event.

On Saturday night, the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series will participate in their second oval race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway.



2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series
Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand PrixRace Results

	Car #	Driver	Driver Nationality	Race Team	Engine Supplier
1	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
2	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
3	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
4	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
5	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Chevrolet
6	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
7	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
8	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
9	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
10	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Honda
11	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
12	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
13	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus
14	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
15	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda
16	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
17	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
18	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
19	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
20	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
21	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
22	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
23	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
24	7	Sebastien Bourdais	France	Dragon Racing	Chevrolet
25	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet

Chevy Power and Will Power Overcome Penalty to Win Long Beach GP

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

The anticipated third round on the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series tour, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach is one of the oldest and most prestigious open wheel street races in the United States.

The 1.968-mile race course has historically been known as a race where passing was a premium. Entering the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Chevrolet teams received a major setback what could be one of the least ideal circuit to suffer in qualifying. Engine issues spotted during testing at Infineon Raceway left engine supplier Chevrolet with no other choice but to order their 11 teams to start the IZOD INDYCAR event with new powerplants. With each Chevrolet runner receiving a 10-grid position penalty, the impact of the numerous IZOD INDYCAR teams changing engines made for a confusing ordeal for where qualifying results and the race’s starting line-up was drastically shuffled. Falling behind qualifying winner Ryan Briscoe who was ushered to 11^th place in his Chevrolet-powered #2 Penske Racing for the start of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Chevrolet entries were faced with mid-to-rear grid positions ahead of Sunday’s 85-lap event. As the green flag was ready to fall on the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, it would be a big story if Chevrolet teams would be able to charge back to the front.

Thanks to the penalties issued to the top Chevrolet-powered Dallara race cars, 4^th fastest in qualifying Dario Franchitti would lead the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR with a Honda engine for the first time. Alongside Franchitti’s #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing vehicle, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing’s IZOD INDYCAR Series rookie driver Josef Newgarden saw his 7^th place qualifying result parlayed into a front-row start. When the green flag dropped on the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the race’s first caution flew on the opening lap with an incident between the front-row starters. As the #10 of Dario Franchitti and the #67 of Josef Newgarden raced into the first corner, the battle ended with Newgarden in the tire barriers of turn one. The first retirement of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights champion Josef Newgarden and the #67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing car left the event early.



Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

When the field was sent back to green on lap 4, the #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car of Dario Franchitti found himself under attack from the Dale Coyne Racing #18 car. Piloted by Justin Wilson, the #18 Dallara-Honda took the lead away from Franchitti on turn 1 for lap 5. At the front, Wilson built up an incredible lead early in the IZOD INDYCAR event gaining a 5 second interval on second-place by lap 12.

While Justin Wilson led in what it considered one of the lower-funded race efforts in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series paddock, the #10 car fielded by the wealthier Chip Ganassi suffered a fall down the running order. On lap 10, Simon Pagenaud took second-place in the race from the #10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry while Takuma Sato and Franchitti’s teammate Scott Dixon would find their way past the pole-starting machine.

Photo Credit: American Honda Motor Company/ c)2012 Dan R. Boyd LAT Photo USA

The field was slowed again as full-course yellow flew on lap 20 for #7 car of Sebastien Bourdais stopped in turn nine. A quick caution that concluded with the Lotus Dragon Racing entry of Bourdais restarting, some of the leaders decided to use the caution to stop for pit service. With Justin Wilson and Simon Pagenaud pitting, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team decided to keep their #15 car and driver Takuma Sato out to lead back to green. Taking green for lap 22, the field would be led into the race’s final caution containing a series of incidents spanning from unfortunate to outright bizarre.

Immediately on the restart, the #98 Bryan Herta Autosport car piloted by Alex Tagliani received contact from the #5 KV Racing Technology machine of EJ Viso on the Long Beach street course’s frontstretch. “Obviously being in the back like that, as soon as it goes green I just jumped on the inside and passed Viso inside the hairpin, and coming on to the front straight away he just pushed me in to the wall.” said Tagliani after the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach as a difficult 2012 season is plaguing the French-Canadian racer. While the #5 car driver described the move by the #98 as “a very dangerous move”, Viso was assessed a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact from INDYCAR Race Control. Viso finished the race 12^th while the #98 Lotus-powered entry would only continue past the halfway point to the event.

However, less than a minute after the Tagliani/Viso incident, the most dramatic incident of the Toyota Grand of Long Beach (and the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series so far) occurred when two drivers from open wheel racing’s most popular families collided. In turn 8, the #26 car of Marco Andretti drove up and made contact with the #38 Chip Ganassi Racing-owned race car driven by Graham Rahal. The nature of the rear end contact sent the #26 Andretti Autosport car into the air crashing back on the race course. The end of the race for both drivers who left the accident unhurt, there were opposing viewpoints on where the fault should have been placed after the crash. Graham Rahal said the #26 car had made an overly ambitious dive into the corner while Marco Andretti said the #38 car was blocking.

While the full-course yellow was displayed, safety crew also retrieved two stalled race cars on course. The first one being the #6 vehicle of Katherine legge that stopped on turn 9 following the Andretti/Rahal collision. In the second incident, the #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing came to a sudden stop on lap 27. For what was said to be a mechanical problem to his Dallara-Honda, Scott Dixon’s two second-place finishes starting off the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series season resulted in a retirement for the third event. The 2012 Long Beach race was Dixon’s first official did not finish in competition since the 2010 Honda Indy of Toronto.

Restarted on lap 30, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was set up as a pit and fuel strategy event. While Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ryan Briscoe would place Chevrolet-engined vehicles at the top spot of the IZOD INDYCAR street race by the end of the race’s third caution, two Honda Racing Development runners gave some optimism to the single-turbocharged engine’s cause. After leading ahead of the race’s final caution, the #15 car of Takuma Sato spent an extra 8-lap stint in the lead of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach before sailing into the pits on lap 55. Leading for a race-high 26 laps, Simon Pagenaud, driving the #77 Sam Schmidt Racing car, continues to make his 2012 rookie season a strong effort out of the gate. Pagenaud led the IZOD INDYCAR Series race until limited fuel required the driver to pit turning the first-place position over to Penske Racing’s Will Power.

Photo Credit: INDYCAR/LAT USA

Starting the race in 12^th spot, Power captured the lead on lap 71 for the first time of the event. As Simon Pagenaud was able to catch the #12 Penske Racing car while Power was told to save fuel, Power held off the aggressive attack of the #77 to win his second IZOD INDYCAR race of 2012 by a tight 0.8675 seconds. "It's a great day for the Verizon Team Penske Chevy. We really didn't think it was possible to win from 12th place here because it was a two-stop race, but once again with (strategist) Tim (Cindric), Dave (Faustino), my engineer, and all the boys we overcame a 10-spot penalty." Said Will Power in post-race interview. Previously winning the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2008, the circumstance for that event saw Power winning an INDYCAR event that was also the final race under the Champ Car organization.

With Simon Pagenaud taking a second-place finish at Long Beach, the Frenchman’s first full season of IZOD INDYCAR action has resulted in three top-6 placing in three races. Taking the final podium position behind Pagenaud, last year’s IZOD INDYCAR Series Rookie of the Year James Hinchcliffe scored his highest career race result. Starting from 16^th spot, Hinchcliffe declared, “It was certainly exciting from where I was. I hope it was exciting for you guys in the stands, and thanks to all the fans that come out to the race because this is just one of the best events we go to all year bar none.”

Tony Kanaan for KV Racing Technology charged from 19^th place in his Chevrolet-engined Dallara while JR Hildebrand brought Panther Racing their first top-5 result of 2012. Despite no Chevrolets starting in the top-10 spots of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, seven of the Dallara DW12 race cars in the top-10 after 85 laps were powered by Chevy engines.

The next race for the IZOD INDYCAR Series is a visit to Sao Paulo, Brazil scheduled for April 28^th.


2012 IZOD INDYCAR
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Race Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Nationality	Race Team	Engine
1	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
2	77	Simon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
3	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
4	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
5	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
6	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
7	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
8	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
9	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
10	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
11	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
12	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
13	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
14	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
15	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
16	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Lotus-Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Lotus
17	7	Sebastien Bourdais	France	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus
18	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
19	6	Katherine Legge	England	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus
20	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus
21	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Lotus
22	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
23	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
24	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
25	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
26	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda

Preview: 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Photo Credit: Dan Helrigel

The Notes and Know:

The Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg marked the first time that the Dallara DW12 was unleashed with the opening of the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR competition. This weekend, the brand new race car will roam the sweeping, twisty road course of Barber Motorsports Park. The visit to the 2.38-mile Barber Motorsports Park road course early in the season for the IZOD INDYCAR Series will be the third year in a row. Unlike the temporary St Petersburg street course, the race track of Barber Motorsports Park has already been lapped by the new race cars through a multi-day test session in 2012 IZOD INDYCAR pre-season.

After the first-ever event with the updated racing vehicles, the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series' return to a multi-engine formula appeared to have contributed to a higher than accustomed to rate of mechanical issues for some race competitors compared to season INDYCAR seasons. The elevation changes and the high-speed turns of Barber Motorsports Park will provide another unique test for the new Dallara open wheel race cars. In a contentious engine battle between Chevrolet, Honda and Lotus, Chevy has claimed the initial upper hand when Helio Castroneves guided a Penske-owned vehicle to victory at St Petersburg.

For fans, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama should provide an interesting spectacle. All 26 cars that debuted in the 2012 IZOD INDYCAR Series opener will be present at Barber Motorsports Park. Will Power will be looking to defend his pole which led to a flag-to-flag victory at last year's Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.


Barber Motorsports Park
Birmingham, Alabama
Track Type: 17-turn road course
Track Distance: 2.38 Miles
Race Length: 90 laps/214.2 miles
Race Time: 2:00 PM Eastern

2011 Defending Race Winner: Will Power


IZOD INDYCAR Entry List

	Car #	Driver	Driver Nationality	Race Team	Engine Supplier
1	2	Ryan Briscoe	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
2	3	Helio Castroneves	Brazil	Team Penske	Chevrolet
3	4	JR Hildebrand	United States	Panther Racing	Chevrolet
4	5	EJ Viso	Venezuela	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
5	6	Katherine Legge	England	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus
6	7	Sebastien Bourdais	France	Lotus-Dragon Racing	Lotus
7	8	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
8	9	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
9	10	Dario Franchitti	Scotland	Target/Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
10	11	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	KV Racing Technology	Chevrolet
11	12	Will Power	Australia	Team Penske	Chevrolet
12	14	Mike Conway	England	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Honda
13	15	Takuma Sato	Japan	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
14	18	Justin Wilson	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
15	19	James Jakes	England	Dale Coyne Racing	Honda
16	20	Ed Carpenter	United States	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
17	22	Oriol Servia	Spain	Lotus-Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Lotus
18	26	Marco Andretti	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
19	27	James Hinchcliffe	Canada	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
20	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	United States	Andretti Autosport	Chevrolet
21	38	Graham Rahal	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
22	67	Josef Newgarden	United States	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Honda
23	77	Smon Pagenaud	France	Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports	Honda
24	78	Simona de Silvestro	Switzerland	Lotus-HVM Racing	Lotus
25	83	Charlie Kimball	United States	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
26	98	Alex Tagliani	Canada	Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian	Lotus

Dominant Dixon Drives to Indy Japan Win

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

The only time the IZOD INDYCAR Series competes on the west side of the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese round at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit was created The last scheduled race for the IZOD INDYCAR Series in Japan almost did not happen as a result of the tragic aftermath resulting from the Earthquake and Tsunami in March.

Planned to run on the 1.549 mile oval, the event was at risk when there was damage found to the Twin Ring Motegi oval. There was also debate of whether or not the event in Japan should have been held this year. Devastation caused by the natural disaster is continuing to leave lingering troubles for the Japanese population. Some believed a major sporting event even 6 months after the disaster for the country was too soon. However, determined to keep the commitment to their economy, INDYCAR and race fans, the event has been relocated to the connected Motegi road course.

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

Titled Indy Japan: The Final, the 26-car field arrived on the 2.98 mile road course. In Saturday qualifying, Scott Dixon took pole with a 1-minute, 38.3918-second top lap time in the Firestone Fast Six session. Will Power started along Dixon gaining a large possible advantage in his points fight with Dario Franchitti. As the Japanese race switched from the oval to the road course, it would be at least an equalizer for the #12 Penske Racing driver fight for the title.

At the start of the 63-lap event, Will Power challenged Scott Dixon hard almost getting squeezed by the #9 car in the race's second turn. Drama early at the start resulted as Helio Castroneves drove into the turn 1 sand trap in avoidance of a rear-end collision with Ryan Briscoe. Castroneves' returned to the track quickly but fell well back in the running order after a 6th place start.

As Dixon and Power maintained a common pace at the front, teams immediately planned their pit stop strategy. Part time driver Hideki Mutoh and KV Racing Technology #82 car of Tony Kanaan pitted early for fuel as well as a change of tires. On lap 22, both Will Power and leader Scott Dixon pitted with the #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car just barely beating the Penske Racing #12 car.
Ahead of the race, teams and drivers of the IZOD INDYCAR Series were concerned about the lack of grip on the Motegi road course circuit. With drivers such as James Hinchcliffe sliding on track during practice, competitors with limited INDYCAR race involvement spent time off track. The #22 of Giorgio Pantano went off track several time during the event while the #34 car Joao Paulo de Oliveira collided with the #5 car of Takuma Sato. A few laps later, the #34 Conquest Racing car piloted by de Oliveira came to a stop drawing the first full course caution at the Motegi road course.

On the restart on lap 26, Dario Franchitti went three-wide on Ryan Briscoe and Graham Rahal into turn 1. Turning the Penske Racing #6 around on track, Franchitti's #10 car and Chip Ganassi #38 car of Rahal were trapped behind the stationary Briscoe. Charlie Kimball (another Chip Ganassi owned car also took evasive action through the sand as the incident drew a second race caution. All three car were able to resume racing but Dario Franchitti was assessed a penalty for avoidable contact. Sent to the back of the field on the restart, team owner Chip Ganassi expressed some firm disappointment for his Scottish driver. Franchitti would drive through the event and rallied to an 8th place finish. Another race where Graham Rahal was kept in a wreck after running strong, he brought the #38 car home 12th.

Photo Credit: Chris Jones

The only Chip Ganassi Racing car not involved in the lap 26 mayhem, the #9 car driven by New Zealand's Scott Dixon put on a very impressive show of force. Pulling Will Power at bay, Dixon ran comfortably translating his the pole position speed into a solid race pace.

With 6 laps remaining, the #28 car of Ryan Hunter-Reay made contact with the #19 of Sebastien Bourdais sending the Andretti Autosport racing machine into the sand trap. Once Hunter-Reay was recovered from the sand, the race resumed with only 3 laps to go. After a false double-file restart one lap earlier, Will Power was provided with one last opportunity to challenge the dominant Scott Dixon for the Indy Japan win. Dixon launched perfectly on lap 62 leaving the Penske Racing driver in his dust. In third, Marco Andretti and Oriol Servia dueled for the final podium spot with the Newman/Haas Racing race car briefly taking the position. By the second turn, Andretti swept back to reclaim the 3rd place position.

The final restart was not completely without flaws. The KV Racing Technology cars driven by Takuma Sato and EJ Viso (both residing in the top-10 late in the Indy Japan) tangled in the first corner ending both of their top finishes. The #14 AJ Foyt Racing car of Vitor Meira would also have conflict in the final laps resulting in the Brazilian beached in the sand.

Leading all but 1 lap, Scott Dixon's skillful piloting of the #9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car on the Twin-Ring Motegi road course brought him his 25th IZOD INDYCAR Series win. Taking his victory lap, Scott Dixon continued to drive around the track trying to locate the winner's circle at the Motegi road course event. As this Indy Japan: The Final concludes, Scott Dixon becomes the only driver to record a major race victory on both the road course and oval. Dixon won the 2009 event on the Twin-Ring Motegi track.

Photo Credit: Daniel Incandela

With a second place run and Dario Franchitti's troubles in the Indy Japan race, Will Power gained the top place in the overall series points 11 markers ahead. Power also picks up the Mario Andretti Trophy for most points earned on IZOD INDYCAR road courses in 2011 for the second year in a row.

Rounding out the top-five of the Indy Japan: The Final event on the Twin-Ring Motegi road course is Marco Andretti, Alex Tagliani and Oriol Servia.

As the last Japanese round of the IZOD INDYCAR Series, the Twin-Ring Motegi event could be remembered for its relatively few passing opportunities or for the dominance of Scott Dixon. It could also be recognized as a race of conflict in the KV Racing Technology and Chip Ganassi Racing teams. However, as the 63-lap competition ran to its conclusion, this final INDYCAR event Japan demonstrates the country's people is looking forward to welcoming the world.

2011 IZOD INDYCAR Series
Indy Japan: The Final
Twin-Ring Motegi Road Course
Race Results

1. 9 Scott Dixon/New Zealand/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
2. 12 Will Power/Australia/ Penske Racing
3. 26 Marco Andretti/United States/ Andretti Autosport
4. 77 Alex Tagliani/Canada/ Sam Schmidt Motorsports
5. 2 Oriol Servia/Spain/ Newman/Haas Racing
6. 19 Sebastien Bourdais/France/Dale Coyne Racing
7. 4 JR Hildebrand/United States/ Panther Racing
8. 10 Dario Franchitti/Scotland/ Target/Chip Ganassi Racing
9. 27 Mike Conway/England/Andretti Autosport
10. 5 Takuma Sato/Japan/ KV Racing Technology
11. 7 Danica Patrick/United States/ Andretti Autosport
12. 38 Graham Rahal/United States/Chip Ganassi Racing
13. 18 James Jakes/England/ Dale Coyne Racing
14. 78 Simona De Silvestro/Switzerland/ HVM Racing
15. 06 James Hinchcliffe/Canada/ Newman/Haas Racing
16. 22 Giorgio Pantano/Italy/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
17. 82 Tony Kanaan/Brazil/ KV Racing Technology
18. 17 Hideki Mutoh/Japan/ Sam Schmidt Motorsports
19. 24 Ana Beatriz/Brazil/ Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
20. 6 Ryan Briscoe/Australia/ Penske Racing
21. 59 EJ Viso/Venezuela/ KV Racing Technology
22. 3 Helio Castroneves/Brazil/ Penske Racing
23. 83 Charlie Kimball/United States/ Chip Ganassi Racing
24. 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay/United States/Andretti Autosport
25. 14 Vitor Meira/Brazil/ AJ Foyt Racing Enterprises
26. 34 Joao Paulo de Oliveira/Spain/ Conquest Racing