It was a risky strategy. The extra stop dropped Castroneves to 18th, but also let the Brazilian driver pit two laps later than the leaders when the rest of field made its last green-flag stop on Lap 145. Another yellow flag would have erased Helio’s advantage. Cindric decided that the gamble was his best shot at a win, and it worked.
“You shouldn’t interview me, you should interview that guy [Tim Cindric],” the excited Castroneves told Versus-TV.
“We were running good—maybe not the fastest car, but we were running good, and all of a sudden we have an opportunity to try something and he [Cindric] says we don’t have much to lose.
“In 2008 we actually ran out of fuel. [Castroneves was leading at Kentucky in 2008 and ran out of fuel two corners from the end, finishing second.]
“I said, ‘Please, just don’t let this happen again,’ but he said, ‘Just make the mileage,’ so I started doing the same thing that I did in 2008 and this time it paid off!”
While the leaders battled it out up front, Castroneves conserved fuel. Under normal circumstances an Indy Car can cover about 50 laps on a full tank of ethanol; Castroneves stretched it to 53.
Panther Power—and Wheldon’s Departure?
Ed Carpenter, who stunned everybody by winning the pole after having sat out most of the season, ran in the top five most of the night and finished second, ahead of the series regulars.
Carpenter’s team, Vision Racing, closed up shop early in the season, then combined with Panther Racing to get Carpenter a ride for the final four ovals, where he is particularly strong.
“For Dan and I to finish second and third is a little disappointing because we were so strong all weekend,” Carpenter said. “Dan had a dominant car today. It’s tough being in our position when you have a guy win on fuel mileage. I think we are very proud having two Panther cars on the podium.”
Carpenter was one of many drivers who found that an unexpected drop in temperature left his car handling badly in the first stint.
“We made a pretty big wing the first stop. We were loose, and I think that slowed us down, dropped back pretty far but it just took the whole trace to stay calm, battle back and got back up front.”
Carpenter is still looking for a full-time ride for next season. Referring to his two strong performances, he joked, “I hope someone is watching.”
Panther’s full-time driver, Dan Wheldon turned in another excellent oval-track performance, finishing third and leading the most laps. Wheldon finished second at Chicagoland, the race before this. As Wheldon is rumored to be leaving Panther after this season, the strong finishes will be a great boost for his resumé.
“The whole Panther racing team has done a phenomenal job to be able to bring the two cars to these last two races,” Wheldon told IndyCar.com. “The race went very well and the #4 boys did a fantastic job in the pits.”
“I really thought after I beat Dario out of the pits—I mean, my guys did a fantastic job in the pits all night and when I got Dario I thought we had it,” Wheldon told a versus reporter, “but that’s the way racing goes.”
Wheldon then made a remark that might support rumors that he and Panther racing might be parting ways.
“I’ve got to find a job for next year,’ he said, referring to a remark about how hard he pushed all race. “I always try hard fortunately we’ve hit a really good patch, and I think bringing Ed on board has made a huge difference.
“I want to stay around in the IndyCar series. Things are great, I love these races I love representing the people that I represent I’m just bummed we lost that one but we will come back strong at Motegi.”
AA Redux?
Tony Kanaan bounced back from a near-crash in qualifying to capture fourth. The Andretti Autosports driver started 26th out of 27, gained 10 places on the first lap, and ran in the top 10 all night.
Teammate Marco Andretti also ran well finishing sixth, and Danica Patrick finally had a solid performance, finishing ninth.
This is the second race in a row where AA has had three of its four cars in the top 10. Had Ryan-Hunter-Reay not retired with a mechanical problem on Lap 174 while in seventh, most likely he would have finished in the top 10 as well.
Kanaan seemed quite pleased with his fourth-place finish.
“I want to apologize to all my Twitter followers—I promised I was going to pass 11 cars on the first lap, but it was only 10,” he told Versus, laughing.
“I hope we can do a better job in qualifying, because although it is fun to start back there I want to start a little bit further up.”
Kanaan commented after Chiacago that 1.5-mile banked oval races were exciting to watch but not fun to drive. He seemed to change his opinion after Kentucky.
He told Indycar.com, “It was a great race. I worked with Marco [Andretti] and Ryan [Hunter-Reay] so well. It was fun. I hate strategy races. Dan Wheldon deserved to win this one.”
Power Holds Lead, Franchitti Inches Closer
Dario Franchitti brought his Target-Ganassi car (sponsored by Dixie Cups this week) home in fifth, whittling away just a bit more of Will Power’s points lead.
“I managed to work my way up to the top five in the first stint,” Franchitti told Versus. “The Dixie car seemed goods in traffic, but it wasn’t quite quick enough to hang with the guys the guys in front. We lost one spot getting that last splash, but overall not bad night.”
Franchitti now trails by 17 points with two races left in the season. Franchitti did take the lead—by three points—in the A.J. Foyt Oval Track championship, 178–175.
That lead might be hard to hold, as Penske’s Will Power—who has already won the Mario Andretti Road Course trophy—has definitely shown that he can drive in circles.
Power started second and led 83 laps. He dropped back after a near-brush with the wall on Lap 145, and then went into-fuel-saving mode, hoping to make it to the end.
“The Verizon car was great out front,” Power told IndyCar.com. “I had a little understeer back in traffic. Really, my night was quite good, although after my last stop I think I hit some oil from an earlier incident between Turns 3 and 4. I pushed up straight towards the wall; I was very close to hitting it.”
With two races left—Motegi and Homestead, both banked ovals—it seems likely that Will Power, in his first full season in IndyCar, might win the Road, the Oval, and the overall championship, possibly without ever winning a race on an oval.
Power will need better luck than he has had at the last two oval tracks—he has twice run out of fuel at the end—but he has certainly proved his oval-track driving skill. If everything works mechanically and strategically, he should sweep the championships.
IndyCar heads to the Far East, for its next race, the Indy Japan 300, at the Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan. The race will start on Sunday in Japan, and will be broadcast live in the United States on Saturday, September 18, at 10:30 p.m. EDT on Versus-TV.
Kentucky Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway | ||||||
| # | Driver | Laps | Gap | Diff | Status | |
| 1 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | 200 | --.---- | --.---- | |
| 2 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | 200 | 13.1597 | 13.1597 | |
| 3 | 4 | Dan Wheldon | 200 | 0.7617 | 13.9214 | |
| 4 | 11 | Tony Kanaan | 200 | 0.0717 | 13.9931 | |
| 5 | 10 | Dario Franchitti | 200 | 0.2037 | 14.1968 | |
| 6 | 26 | Marco Andretti | 200 | 0.3701 | 14.5669 | |
| 7 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 200 | 0.5356 | 15.1025 | |
| 8 | 12 | Will Power | 200 | 0.5117 | 15.6142 | |
| 9 | 7 | Danica Patrick | 200 | 0.2352 | 15.8494 | |
| 10 | 34 | Bertrand Baguette | 199 | 1 lap | 1 lap | |
| 11 | 22 | Justin Wilson | 199 | 0.1746 | 0.1746 | |
| 12 | 24 | Paul Tracy | 199 | 0.5001 | 0.6747 | |
| 13 | 19 | Alex Lloyd | 199 | 0.1402 | 0.8149 | |
| 14 | 36 | Tomas Scheckter | 199 | 6.2139 | 7.0288 | |
| 15 | 77 | Alex Tagliani | 199 | 7.7742 | 14.8030 | |
| 16 | 2 | Raphael Matos | 199 | 6.9851 | 21.7881 | |
| 17 | 06 | Hideki Mutoh | 199 | 0.6960 | 22.4841 | |
| 18 | 32 | Mario Moraes | 198 | 1 lap | 2 laps | |
| 19 | 18 | Milka Duno | 195 | 3 laps | 5 laps | |
| 20 | 66 | Graham Rahal | 195 | 5.3533 | 5.3533 | |
| 21 | 37 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 174 | 21 laps | 26 laps | Mechanical |
| 22 | 67 | Sarah Fisher | 134 | 40 laps | 66 laps | Mechanical |
| 23 | 14 | Vitor Meira | 79 | 55 laps | 121 laps | Contact |
| 24 | 6 | Ryan Briscoe | 79 | 0.0263 | 0.0263 | Contact |
| 25 | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | 78 | 1 lap | 122 laps | Contact |
| 26 | 8 | EJ Viso | 45 | 33 laps | 155 laps | Mechanical |
| 27 | 5 | Takuma Sato | 0 | 45 laps | 200 laps | Contact |
