It isn't just about the position you're in, it's about driving style as well. "The guy is at the top of his game and he's got an extreme roll going. "You know, there are two ways to win motor races and we like to win races in the fastest way possible," Hull said. Ganassi Racing general manager Mike Hull, who is Dixon's race strategist, said the credit for Dixon's record-tying sixth win of the season goes to the driver. The way the game goes, if there had been a yellow in the last stint, everybody else would have stopped and we would have won." "Right before Dixon pitted, Helio had to speed up to make sure Dixon didn't put him a lap down, and that might have been the difference. "What can you say? He did everything he could, but he lost fuel pressure at the end of the backstraight on the last lap.
"We pitted on the last available lap and Helio did an unbelievable job," Cindric noted. Penske Racing president Tim Cindric, who calls Castroneves' races, made the decision to take the fuel gamble. Dixon and the other leaders had stopped at the beginning of the caution period on Lap 135 and all would likely need to stop again. When Penske called Castroneves in under yellow on the 143rd lap, the writing on the wall was obvious for the estimated 55,000 in attendance to see. It was a solid chance, not a ridiculous, crazy chance. "We needed to take a chance to win the race, this weekend especially because Ganassi seemed to be really, really fast here. "Obviously in Japan I didn't save enough fuel, but I was committed this time," recalled Castroneves. That was another of the Brazilian's seven second-place finishes in 2008. He lost the Honda Indy 300 at Twin Ring Motegi on a late-race pass by Danica Patrick earlier this year while trying to save fuel. The Kentucky finish was a bit of a flashback for Castroneves as well. I knew he was slower and I could see we were catching him. "I didn't know that Helio was doing that - the team told me nothing about it. If they did, they certainly didn't inform their driver.
9 Target/Ganassi Dallara/Honda and appeared to have the field covered.īut the Ganassi crew didn't count on Castroneves and Penske trying out a desperate strategy in search of an elusive win.
In truth, it would have been a surprise had anybody other than Dixon won. "It's nice to be on the right side of it, and to burn by Helio with a couple hundred feet to go was pretty special." "Actually, I talked to Dario from the Winner's Circle and said that view was pretty sweet," Dixon said.
#HELIO CASTRONEVES LEAVES PENSKE SERIES#
It was déjà vu in reverse for the 27-year-old New Zealander, who lost the 2007 Ind圜ar Series championship to Dario Franchitti in similar fashion when he ran out of fuel while leading into in the final corner of the final lap of the final race of the season at Chicagoland Speedway. He then made up a 6.1-second deficit to Castroneves over the final six tours before making the last-gasp pass. Running a "standard" fuel strategy, Dixon made a 2.7-second pit stop for a splash of fuel on the 194th of 200 laps. Marco Andretti was a close third, with Vitor Meira fourth. 3 Dallara-Honda powered around the 1.5-mile speedbowl 56¾ times before its Honda engine finally sputtered, allowing runaway championship leader Scott Dixon to steal away the win, almost literally as the cars crossed the finish line. But without a doubt it featured one of the Indy Racing League's most exciting finishes.ĭesperate for a victory to remain in championship contention, Team Penske asked Helio Castroneves to try to stretch a 22-gallon tank of ethanol over the final 57 laps. With a 0.5532-second margin of victory, the Meijer Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway wasn't anywhere near being the closest race in Ind圜ar Series history. Think fuel strategy races are boring? Think again.
#HELIO CASTRONEVES LEAVES PENSKE UPGRADE#
You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĭixon foils Castroneves' fuel strategy, closes in on second series title
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