Nothing is never certain in motorsports and although Will Power said at Sonoma that it would only take one slip to lose big chunks of his 51-point championship lead, that's exactly what happened in Chicagoland during the Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300. A miscalculation on fuel has forced the Aussie to abandon a top-3 finish with just a few laps to go while his championship contender Dario Franchitti drove his No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi IndyCar into victory Circle for the 3rd time this season. And the points spread from Power to Franchitti is now 528-505 with 3 oval races remaining.Just hours after a smart pit strategy call delivered another victory for Chip Ganassi organization at 2010 GRAND-AM Daytona Prototype championship for Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, there was another crafty move on the final pit stop. During the final pitstop session, strategist Chip Gannasi and engineer Chris Simmons opted Franchitti for fuel only while the majority of the front runners took fuel and tires. The result was the Svottish to gain 8 positions, putting him into the lead of the race at Chicagoland Speedway with 23 laps left and as he held off Dan Wheldon by 0.0423 of a second he won the PEAK Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300.
"It's good to have Floyd (Ganassi) back at the track. He hasn't been here for a while but as usual, he brought us luck tonight. We were struggling tonight with the Breathe Right car really in traffic as we got a little further back there. A lot of crazy stuff going on. I was just more comfortable up high. That last stop was the key to this race. Chris Simmons, turns out he was the one that made the call. We had a lot of faith in the Firestone tires. He said leave the tires on and got us out front. Dan Wheldon, he was just pushing me all the time, just helping me. I was giving him room at the bottom. We were working together very, very well there. So between him and Scott Dixon pushing me around all night. This Team Target is amazing."
The night looked like it would be long to Team Penske, with polesitter Ryan Briscoe leading more than half the 200-lap race, but Power's aggressive moves kept him in play at the front of the field in the latter stages of the race. Had the No. 12 Verizon Wireless IndyCar received an extra second of fuel during the final stop, his points lead would have been mostly intact. Power and Wheldon traded second place over the next 15 laps – never more than one-tenth of a second behind the No. 10 Breathe Right car. But on Lap 196, Franchitti got his second break when Power (running fourth) ducked onto pit lane for a splash of fuel as an equipment issue on the previous stop prevented a full 22 gallons to be dispensed. Power finished a season-low 16th. Power commented:
"That was a really intense race and man, I had a lot of fun out there in the Verizon car. Unfortunately, we had a problem with our fuel late in the race and we had to come back in and lost position. That was just a mistake that we couldn't afford. This obviously makes things tougher for the championship, but we're still in front and we proved how competitive we can be on the ovals. We'll move on and we will work harder next week at Kentucky."
Dan Wheldon raced his way to the lead pack and looked stronger than at any time since his runner-up position at the Indy 500. For a team whose spirits have been tested this season, it was just what the Panther Racing team needed.
Weldon commented:
"Great job by everyone at National Guard Panther Racing. We continue to work very, very hard. To be honest at the end, the reason I worked so hard with Dario (Franchitti) and just tried to stay with him was because he was so clean and professional. He is a true gentleman out there and a great driver. I have to take away with the guys on our team. They did an excellent job and it was a strong performance. I have to thank my team and the fans who were definitely on their feet at the end of the night. It was an exciting race as it should be."
Marco Andretti continued his strong form from qualifying, featuring in the top-3 for almost the entire evening. While the Andretti Autosport driver was lacking the final fraction of a second needed to win, his drive was a refreshing reminder of just how capable he can be on any given day.
Andretti explained:
"It's good to taste (success) again. It's been tough on the road courses lately so I'm happy to finish on the podium. We lost a couple spots in pit stops, so we have to really analyze what happened. It was costly."
The entire Andretti Autosport team had their most competitive showing in quite some time, with Marco in 3rd, Ryan Hunter-Reay in fourth and Tony Kanaan in fifth. Only Danica Patrick failed to finish inside the top-10, settling for 14th at the checkered flag.
After Power's unscheduled pitstop, the top Team Penske driver was Helio Castroneves back in sixth. Pole sitter, Briscoe's charge was slowed when the Aussie got up into the marbles, forcing him to back off and lose a lot of ground and took 11th while Power would place 16th, one lap down.
Justin Wilson made a long distance drive to seventh after starting 24th in his Z-Line Designs car, while teammate Ana Beatrix retired after making light contact with the wall. Accidents were aplenty at Chicago, with Vitor Meira ramming Hideki Mutoh as the field prepared for a restart. Mutoh then hit Alex Tagliani who was sent into the wall, ending his night prematurely. Tag was kind enough to use his fingers to tell Meira he thought the Brazilian was 'number 1' while the two were on pit lane after the incident.
E.J. "The Hitman" Viso spared his usual targets, this time taking out his teammate, Takuma Sato, as the two launched away from their pit stalls. Sato, who launched first, found The Hitman driving into his left rear wheel, bending the Japanese driver's suspension. Both cars were subsequently retired, with Sato claiming 26th and The Hitman 27th.
