Although race was postponed 18 hours because of more than 4 inches of rain, Will Power succeeded to hold off Justin Wilson by 0.8244 of a second and took the checkered flag in the 100-lap event scoring his 2nd consecutive IZOD Indycar win in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car.
although Power losty his pole position in the first laps of the race, he managed to regain the lead on Lap 73 after overtaking E.J. Viso who had a gearbox issue. Luckily, a full-course yellow caution on the following Lap 74 allowed him to conserve fuel for four laps and finish the race in the lead.
"It’s just great. It’s Verizon’s first year, and we’re out to win the championship. Perfect pit stop, good race. Perfect weekend – pole and a win. Can’t get much better than that."
Justin Wilson, finished 2nd gave Dreyer & Reinbold Racing its best finish since team co-owner/driver Robbie Buhl won at Walt Disney World Speedway in the team’s debut in 2000. After the race he quoted:
"I knew (Viso) had to save fuel, but he had a problem. That was close. I didn’t want to nail him from behind because I knew Wilson was coming. I picked a side and went for it. In that last stint, we were flat out,” Wilson said. “We were pushing hard. Everyone on the Dreyer & Reinbold team did a great job on that last pit stop. From that point on, I was trying to put will under some kind of pressure. I saw him get sideways a bit, but it wasn’t enough."
Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves filled out the top four – as Briscoe, last year’s race winner, gained 16 positions to finish 3rd although team's manager Tom Wurtz was subbing owner Roger Penske as race strategist. Still his team mate and twice race winner Helio Castroneves tried hard to overtake his teammate in the final laps of the race without further success.
"It was an awesome day for Team Penske. Fortunately, the team looks strong and we are on the right track. With Will winning two in row, it shows how talented he is. It was a great effort for the whole entire team. Hopefully, in Barber, we will have a similar effort and result."
Franchitti, the reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion, who started back 13rth and had problems during the race, raced furiously in the last 10 laps from 11th to finish 5th.
"Credit to Team Target today. I had a great car and it was fast all day. I made a mistake and touched (Takuma) Sato early and that cost us. It was a lot of fun out there. Great weekend and glad so many fans came back today. Tough luck and we'll be back at Barber."
Alex Tagliani gave start-up team FAZZT Race team its best finish of sixth and his personal best in the series and Danica Patrick scored her best road/street course finish of seventh since Long Beach (4rth) in ’09. Raphael Matos checked in at eighth and Graham Rahal advanced from the 16th starting spot to ninth in the No. 67 Dollar General car for Sarah Fisher Racing. Even though Tony Kanaan started the race 2nd from the front row he didn't to follow Power success and finished 10th.
