Three-time Indy 500 champ bests Dixon, teammate Power
Upon retrospect, it figures that it would take a Penske driver to stop the win streak of another.
Will Power rode a massive wave of momentum into today’s Indy Grand Prix of Alabama with back-to-back wins to start the season in Brazil and St. Petersburg, Florida. But he was unable to make it three in a row as his teammate Helio Castroneves utilized a two-stop strategy to win the IZOD IndyCar Series’ inaugural event at the 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham.
Castroneves managed to take the point for good on Lap 82, when after many laps of chasing then-leader Marco Andretti, the young American had to go to pit road for a splash of fuel to make it to the finish. However, a Simona de Silvestro spin with five laps to go brought out a full-course yellow and forced Castroneves to hold his edge over Scott Dixon through a restart with two laps remaining. The Brazilian went on to win by .5703 of a second, claiming his first win since last June at Texas Motor Speedway and the 23rd of his American open-wheel racing career.
For much of the afternoon, Castroneves had to follow the rear wing of Andretti’s No. 26 Venom Energy/Andretti Autosport car. Andretti would lead 58 of the 90 laps in the race, but Castroneves’ ability to save fuel proved to be the difference in the end.
“I felt like the Team Penske car was better than Marco’s but, unfortunately, I just couldn’t pass him,” he said. “I was just patient and waiting for an opportunity, and well, I guess we were able to be smart enough to save a lot of fuel. Towards the end, we just had a yellow flag. I didn’t ask for that, especially when you have Scott Dixon and those guys behind you. So I just decided to make sure I did not give any opportunities for those guys, and that’s what I did.
“I knew what the car was capable of doing. Sometimes, you’ve got to count on a little luck.”
As for his red-hot teammate Power, he finally cooled down a little bit with a fourth-place finish. His lead in the championship is down to 32 points over Castroneves, but the Australian will have a solid chance to boost his edge upward again next weekend as the IndyCars go to the streets of Long Beach, California — a place where he dominated and won in 2008, then finished second last year in a third Penske car.
Power made his first of three stops during the first caution, which was triggered by a delayed throttle cable that left Takuma Sato’s machine dead near Turn 14. That decision left Power 14th at the restart on Lap 16, but with a few passes for position and drivers pitting on a normal strategy around the Lap 30 mark, he was able to move back into the top five. However, he was unable to get back to the front and had to settle for a top-five run.
“In the strategy meeting before the race, we talked about it and we knew that a caution in the early part of the race would not be to our favor,” Power said. “We made the best of it though. The No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car was fast today. The guys did a great job in the pits. We are still in the points lead heading into Long Beach. I think we are going to be strong there.”
Even though Power was unable to score another win for himself, Castroneves’ triumph has made it Team Penske 3, everybody else 0. Dixon and defending series champion Dario Franchitti of Target Chip Ganassi Racing (third) gave it their best shot and grabbed two of the podium spots. But after the race, Dixon was rueing a call by IRL officials that forced him to give up two spots after he was found to have jumped the start of the race from the fifth position on the grid.
“It was a good day all-in-all for the Target team with second and third, but I think it could have been even better,” the New Zealand native said. “It was a little tough to be called for that penalty when we dropped back and passed [Castroneves] again in the run up to Turn 2. But sometimes, that’s racing, and you’ve got to live with the calls made by the officials. After that, it was still a very tough race managing your fuel while maintaining the race pace we needed at the front.”
Meanwhile, Andretti was trying to look on the bright side after coming home in fifth place following a long stay at P1.
“We have to be happy to put the Venom car into the top five, especially after our finishes on road courses last year,” said the son of Michael and grandson of Mario. “I think maybe we could have stretched out each of our stints a bit longer and gained on fuel one lap at a time. Helio just went longer than us each time and that was the difference at the end. He was able to go that much farther and we fell short. Now we just have to keep marching forward.”
Ryan Briscoe took another Team Penske machine to sixth place, followed by Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Justin Wilson in seventh, Andretti Autosport’s Tony Kanaan in eighth, D&R’s Mike Conway in ninth, and FAZZT Race Team’s Alex Tagliani in tenth. However, Tagliani’s drive from 21st to the top ten wasn’t the biggest move of the race; that honor went to Dan Wheldon of Panther Racing, who picked up 12 spots to finish 11th after starting 23rd.
An estimated record crowd of over 53,000 fans saw the race unfold, proving that the solid crowds at Barber Motorsports Park for past IRL test sessions were indeed no fluke. Race promoter ZOOM Motorsports gave an estimated three-day weekend attendance of over 86,000 spectators.
Photo credit: Dan Helrigel/Indy Racing League.
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IZOD IndyCar Series
Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala.
Final results
1. 3-Helio Castroneves, Penske, 90, 106.436 m.p.h. avg.
2. 9-Scott Dixon, Ganassi, 90, -.5703 seconds.
3. 10-Dario Franchitti, Ganassi, 90, -8.1590 seconds.
4. 12-Will Power, Penske, 90, -8.6639 seconds.
5. 26-Marco Andretti, Andretti, 90, -9.7410 seconds
6. 6-Ryan Briscoe, Penske, 90, -10.9611 seconds.
7. 22-Justin Wilson, Dreyer & Reinbold, 90, -11.5478 seconds.
8. 11-Tony Kanaan, Andretti, 90, -12.8533 seconds.
9. 24-Mike Conway, Dreyer & Reinbold, 90, -13.3162 seconds.
10. 77-Alex Tagliani, FAZZT, 90, -14.8450 seconds.
11. 4-Dan Wheldon, Panther, 90, -15.2007 seconds.
12. 37-Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti, 90, -15.6727 seconds.
13. 32-Mario Moraes, KV Racing Tech., 90, -16.7242 seconds.
14. 2-Raphael Matos, Luczo Dragon + de Ferran, 89, Running
15. 06-Hideki Mutoh, Newman/Haas/Lanigan, 89, Running
16. 8-E.J. Viso, KV Racing Tech., 89, Running
17. 67-Graham Rahal, Fisher, 89, Running
18. 14-Vitor Meira, Foyt, 89, Running
19. 7-Danica Patrick, Andretti, 89, Running
20. 36-Bertrand Baguette, Conquest, 89, Running
21. 78-Simona de Silvestro, HVM, 89, Running
22. 34-Mario Romancini, Conquest, 89, Running
23. 19-Alex Lloyd, Coyne, 89, Running
24. 18-Milka Duno, Coyne, 86, Running
25. 5-Takuma Sato, KV Racing Tech., 68, Running
Race statistics
Winner’s average speed: 106.436 m.p.h.; Time of race: 1 hour, 56 minutes, 41.3928 seconds; Margin of victory: .5703 of a second; Cautions: 2 for 5 laps; Lead changes: 7 among 3 drivers; Lap Leaders: Power 1-12, Castroneves 13-15, Andretti 16-28, Castroneves 29-31, Andretti 32-56, Castroneves 57-61, Andretti 62-81, Castroneves 82-90.
Championship standings
Will Power, leader
Helio Castroneves, -32
Dario Franchitti, -42
Justin Wilson, -51
Scott Dixon, -56
Ryan Briscoe, -57
Ryan Hunter-Reay, -59
Raphael Matos, -64
Tony Kanaan, -72
Vitor Meira/Marco Andretti, -74
