Helio Castroneves outlasted his rivals on fuel strategy to win tonight’s Kentucky Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway over Ed Carpenter and Dan Wheldon.
As Carpenter, Wheldon and the rest of the front-runners were forced to hit pit road for a splash of fuel within the final ten laps, Castroneves was able to stay out after making his final stop of the night on Lap 147 — a couple of laps later than the leaders. He assumed control of the lead with three laps to go and had enough fuel in his No. 3 machine to win his second race of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season.
Meanwhile, Dario Franchitti made another cut into Will Power’s lead in the championship. However, it was only a slight one as Franchitti finished fifth and Power claimed eighth. As the series heads for Twin Ring Motegi in Japan (Sept. 18, 10:30 p.m. ET, Versus) and the penultimate race of the season, Power now holds a 17-point lead over Franchitti, down from the 23-point lead he had going into tonight.
More to come later tonight or tomorrow morning…
