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Filed under: IRL, Indianapolis 500, NASCAR

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- It is the greatest single season success story in all of auto racing.

Chip Ganassi's race teams have won the 2010 Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400, Grand-Am Series sportscar championship and Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, added an IZOD IndyCar Series championship with driver Dario Franchitti overcoming an 11-point weekend deficit to earn his second straight championship and third in the last four years.

As the Target Ganassi team's Manager of Racing, Mike Hull, casually suggested while walking out of the champions' press conference, "I guess it worked out.''

Indeed. It's the first time in history one team owner has won the Daytona 500 and Indy 500 in the same year and Ganassi didn't stop there. All the sport's biggest trophies -- from NASCAR to IndyCar to Sports Cars -- will reside in his Pittsburgh home.

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"It's going to be tough to repeat that,'' Franchitti said. "Chip's just had an incredible year.''

 

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Filed under: IRL

As Helio Castroneves dominated the IndyCar race at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan, an already tight points race tightened even more.

Dario Franchitti finished second, just ahead of series points leader Will Power, but the edge trimmed five points off the 17-point lead Power had coming into this event.

Castroneves, who started from the pole, led 153 laps and won by 4.5 seconds over Franchitti.

Behind Power in third was Ryan Briscoe in fourth, followed by Danica Patrick.

"They gave me a fantastic car," Castroneves said afterwards. "It was awesome. The car was on rails. Every time I wanted to go for it, the car was responding. I am as happy as can be!"

It was the third win of the season and second Motegi victory for Castroneves, who sits third in the title chase, 88 behind Power.

 

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Filed under: IRL

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Back broken, front teeth scattered somewhere, head ringing, Will Power left the 2009 race at Infineon Raceway in a helicopter.

A year later, he walked away, a bit of payback and a trophy in hand, his first series title well within reach.

Shaking off a touch of early anxiety, Power returned to Infineon Raceway with a dominating win on Sunday, padding his IndyCar Series lead on a course that nearly ended his career.

"Unbelievable. I watched this race from a hospital bed last year," Power said. "I said it all year, I'm coming back to win this because I thought this track owes me because of what happened."

Other than a few first-day jitters early in the week, the Team Penske driver never showed any sign of fear in his return to Sonoma. Power set an IndyCar record with his eighth pole of 2010 on Saturday and led 73 of 75 laps over the technically-demanding 2.303-mile circuit through the hills of the California wine country.

 

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Filed under: IRL, Danica Patrick

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Thinking he was a lock to move on in qualifying, Will Power drove into the pits, ready to park his car for the next session. Instead of greeting him with open arms, Power's crew members were waving them, imploring him to get back out on the track.

Power did, worked his way into the top six and made the most of a last-grasp opportunity, locking up his IndyCar Series-record eighth pole of 2010 in the final round of knockout qualifying at Infineon Raceway on Saturday.

"We thought that that time would sit. In fact, six guys were covered by a tenth and a half or something," Power said. "Halfway around that lap on my dash I was two-tenths down. I figured, I'm done. It's going to be tough to make that up. But I made it up, which was surprising. It was very tight."

Taking a chance by saving his fastest tires for the final six session, Power appeared to be safe late in the second qualifying round before being bumped out of the top six in the closing minutes.

Waved back onto the course by his crew, he jumped up to fifth in his final lap to get into the final round and pulled off another late-in-the-session speed run, making it around the 2.303-mile, 12-turn road course through California's wine country in 1 minute, 16.5282 seconds.

 

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Filed under: IRL, NASCAR

LEXINGTON, Ohio (AP) -- Will Power hit the curb, felt his No. 12 Team Penske Honda slide into the wet morning grass and braced himself.

This is the moment in the season when championships are lost, Power thought, as he careened into a tire barrier, his car's rear wing now a jumbled mess.

Maybe some years. But not this season. Not for this driver. Not for this team.

The Australian recovered from his stumble in practice to capture the pole for Sunday's IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio, turning in a lap time of 107.199 at the twisting 2.258-mile course. Power tied an IndyCar record with his seventh pole of the season, matching the mark set by teammate Helio Castroneves in 2007.

It's heady territory for IndyCar's King of the Road, a driver who endured a horrific crash in Sonoma last year that left his back in tatters and his career in question.

Now, with less than two months to go in the season, the affable 29-year-old finds himself in firm command of the points race. He'll take a 54-point lead over Dario Franchitti into the 85-lap event.

 

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Filed under: IRL

TORONTO (AP) -- Will Power knew when to be aggressive and when to play it safe Sunday in the wreck-filled Honda Indy Toronto.

After patiently avoiding early trouble, the IndyCar leader boldly passed Justin Wilson on the outside off a restart with 14 laps left, then held off Dario Franchitti for his second straight victory and fourth of the season,

"As I predicted, it was a very wild race," Power said. "It started on the first corner for me when I had Helio (Castroneves) and (Ryan) Hunter-Reay come cruising up the inside. I was like, `OK, I'll let those guys go.' And then I lost a couple of more positions. But I know how this race goes."The key for me when I came to this race was avoiding carnage and accidents, which I know happens every year, and like I said, in the first corner, that right there could have been the finish if I'd just turned in. But I backed off."

Power then gambled and won with the race on the line, moving past Wilson on the outside on the first turn after the fifth of sixth caution periods. Power pulled away, while Wilson spun out moments later and dropped from contention.

 

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Filed under: IRL

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) -- Will Power has won the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International with a commanding performance Sunday, giving Team Penske its first IndyCar Series win at the storied road course.

Penske drivers had won the first five poles at Watkins Glen but had never won.

Power, the series points leader, started from the pole and led 45 of 60 laps around the 11-turn, 3.4-mile road course. He beat teammate Ryan Briscoe by 1.2 seconds for his third win of the season, all on road or street courses.

Dario Franchitti was third, followed by Raphael Matos and Mario Moraes.

"It's the first race I pushed the whole way," Power said. "It was a difficult race. I loved it.

Penske Racing has won five of nine events this season and has 59 victories on road or street courses, the most of any team in open-wheel racing.

Dario Franchitti was third, followed by Raphael Matos and Mario Moraes, his best finish of the season. After one week driving in NASCAR, Danica Patrick finished 20th, one spot ahead of where she started.

 

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Filed under: IRL

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) -- Will Power has won the pole at Watkins Glen International as Team Penske captured the top three spots for Sunday's IndyCar Series race.

It was the eighth straight pole for Penske, extending its series record, and the fifth pole of the season for Power, the series points leader. Power covered the 11-turn, 3.4-mile course in 1 minute, 29.3164 seconds and was followed by teammates Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe.

Defending series champion Dario Franchitti was fourth, followed by Takuma Sato, who earned his top qualifying spot of the season, and defending race winner Justin Wilson.

Danica Patrick, fresh from a one-week stint in NASCAR, struggled and will start 21st in the 25-car field.

 

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by FanHouse NewswireKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- Waiting for the final green flag after a caution a few laps from the finish, Scott Dixon jokingly asked his crew if he could save some horsepower boosts for the Indianapolis 500 later this month.

Obviously, the answer was no.

The way Dixon kicked off IndyCar's oval season, he might not need them anyway.

Making few changes to a fast-off-the-truck car, Dixon cruised to his second straight IndyCar Series victory at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, firmly placing himself atop the list of favorites for the big race on the bricks.

Scott Dixon Back on Top as IndyCar Moves to Ovals originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sat, 01 May 2010 15:51:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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Scott Dixon ran away with the IndyCar series race at Kansas Speedway Saturday, leading more than three-fourths of the race on his way to an easy 30-car length victory over his teammate, Dario Franchitti.

On the clock, Dixon's margin of victory was a comfy 3.05 seconds, and he jumped ahead to that lead even after a restart with less than 10 laps to go.

Dixon led 167 laps, including the final 150 circuits, and easily survived a couple of late-race restarts to win his first race of 2010 and his second straight at Kansas.

Series defending champion Dario Franchitti was second after holding off a late charge from Tony Kanaan. Helio Castroneves was fourth, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Pole winner Ryan Briscoe, who led 31 early laps, was sixth, the final driver on the lead lap. Franchitti was the only other driver to lead any laps; he was in front for two circuits.

 

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