Chip Ganassi Racing drivers held the victory in their hands at Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer. However, it was Tony Kanaan who celebrated his first victory in the season after 16 lead changes at the buzz-saw named Iowa Speedway.Helio Castroneves, was the last leader of the race on Lap 200 when the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car of IZOD IndyCar Series points leader and two-time race winner Dario Franchitti was found in a situation similar to Jacques Villeneuve during Bucyrus 200 presented by the Menards, when he was suddenly forced to slow down due to gearbox issues. But Helio finished second behind Kanaan as the Brazilian ace marched comfortably towards the victory at the final laps of the race although he started fromm a disappointing 15th.
Kanaan, who led a total of 119 laps at Iowa the past two years but didn’t finish either time, made the event-record 17th lead change among seven drivers stick. He overtook Castroneves on Lap 140 and went on to post his first victory since June 28, 2008, at Richmond International Raceway.
"I have to thank my team and the entire 7-Eleven crew. They did a great job. I had a great car. I have to thank my teammates, too. Marco (Andretti) and Ryan (Hunter-Reay) came over after I made a mistake during qualifying and I was pretty down. They talked to me for 45 minutes and cheered me up. Marco (led 12 laps early, finished 15th) gave me a little bit of his setup and Ryan (started 12th, finished eighth) actually helped me with the setup, putting it together for today. It was a great job as a team and it feels good."
It was the second victory of the season for Andretti Autosport after Hunter-Reay's win at Long Beach and the first on an oval since the humid evening in ’08 at Richmond.
Team owner Michael Andretti, referring to the spot where Kanaan exited the race the previous three years:
"(Kanaan) has always had a problem with Turn 2 here, but he’s finally got it figured out. Great racing and a great day for the team.”
Castroneves lost the fight when he starting losing the front Firehawks.
"The guys were able to put me right in the front, and when they did that, the clean air was so much better. Certainly the car at that point was perfect and I was just going cruising, flat out, no problem. The tires were really wearing out, the left front, and unfortunately our setup.
About 10 laps to go, Tony was able to get a run inside. There was nothing I could do. In fact, it wasn't him that was going faster, it was me actually slowing down. So I basically lost two-, three-tenths (of a second) every lap. I wish it had been 10 laps shorter but well deserved for Tony."
E.J. Viso, surprised quite a few as he was steadily moving during the race from his 19th starting position in the No. 8 PDVSA-Jet Aviation-KV Racing Technology car to be running third. Viso finished a career-high third
"There are not many words to describe my feeling right now. It has been a very tough year for KV Racing Technology. The team has a lot of great people and drivers and we deserve to be higher in points than where we really are. Today just showed that we can run and compete with the top teams. This is my first podium in the IZOD IndyCar Series and I want to thank my engineer Bill Pappas and my crew for giving me such a good car. I want to dedicate today to my father for Father's Day. I hope now our luck has changed and hopefully this won't be the last podium this year."
Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe was fourth. Pole sitter Will Power finished fifth to regain the championship points lead from Franchitti. Rookie ex-F1 driver Takuma Sato had an interesting run in the race up to 2nd position before he crashed in to the wall of Iowa speedway.
