Two years ago, Team Penske's Helio Castroneves lost on a late-race fuel gambit.............Saturday night, he won on a late-race fuel gambit
----SPARTA, Ky. – Helio Castroneves’ No. 3 Team Penske car had just enough ethanol in the tank to pull into Victory Circle at Kentucky Speedway. Just enough was good enough to take a surprising victory in the Kentucky Indy 300.
It was surprising because a pit lane miscommunication on Lap 85 forced race strategist Tim Cindric to bring Castroneves back in four laps later to check if the right-rear tire was properly secured. It was surprising because Cindric rolled the dice and brought Castroneves in to top off on the final opportunity to pit under caution. It was surprising because with 35 laps left Castroneves was running 10th. And it was surprising because the driver then had to hit fuel mileage numbers while still trying to make up ground with cars traveling 217 mph-plus buzzing around.
The victory in the 200th Indy Racing League event even caught the three-time Indianapolis 500 champion a little off-guard. “You have to remember it is 200 laps,” said Castroneves, who jokingly referred to this as his third victory (black flagged in the final laps at Edmonton) of the season. Because he pitted on Lap 147 -- two laps later than the lead pack thanks to previous off-sequence stop -- he was able to out-fuel the front-runners (most of whom needed a splash in the final five laps).
“Unfortunately, we had an issue with our pit stop, but we started to make ground and head to the front,” he said. “I tried to stay steady and saving fuel. All of a sudden, (Cindric) says ‘Try to make this number.’ I was like, ‘That's going to be impossible, man.’ He was already thinking to make a number that would be very difficult. But when we pitted the last time, he just said you've got to make this number because we have nothing to lose, and it’s definitely going to pay off. I remember in 2008 here I ran out of fuel and finished in second (to Scott Dixon). This time it paid off for Team Penske. We were loose in the beginning, but at the end it was meant to be.”
Officially, it was win No. 2 for Castroneves, who overtook teammate Ryan Briscoe for fourth in the championship standings with two races left. Pole sitter Ed Carpenter finished second at the track for the second year in a row and Panther/Vision Racing teammate Dan Wheldon was third.
“The whole Panther racing team has done a phenomenal job to be able to bring the two cars to these last two races,” said Wheldon, who led a field-high 93 laps and finished second to Dario Franchitti a week earlier at Chicagoland Speedway. “Having Ed on board is a fantastic addition and we have a great relationship. The ending was unfortunate. I am bummed that the race didn’t turn out different, but it will motivate us for the last two races.” Added Carpenter: I think Dan and I can honestly say we had the best cars in the race. But that's racing. The best car doesn't always win."
Tony Kanaan charged from 26th in the 27-car field to fourth and Franchitti was fifth. “I promised my fans on Twitter that I was going to pass 11 cars on the first lap and I only got 10, so I want to apologize to all of my followers that I couldn’t do it,” Kanaan said. “But it was a great race. I worked with Marco (Andretti) and Ryan (Hunter-Reay) so well. Congratulations to Helio, but I don’t really like strategy races. I think Dan deserved this one, but it is what it is.”
Franchitti closed the IZOD IndyCar Series championship points gap on Will Power, who finished eighth, to 17. Twin Ring Motegi, where Power hasn’t competed and Franchitti has finished second and third his past two visits, is up next (Sept. 19). The finale is Oct. 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“The Verizon car was great out front,” said Power, who started on the front row and led 83 laps. “I had a little understeer back in traffic. Really, my night was quite good, although after my last stop I think I hit some oil from an earlier incident between Turns 3 and 4. I pushed up straight towards the wall; I was very close to hitting it. Congratulations to Helio and Team Penske for bringing home the victory. We have our work cut out for us for the championship, but we still have the lead and onward we go.”
Marco Andretti earned a second consecutive top 10, with Scott Dixon following in seventh. Danica Patrick finished ninth and Bertrand Baguette posted his season best in 10th. Paul Tracy, competing at the track for the first time, was 10th with 10 laps left. But he was one of the fuel-starved and pitted on Lap 194. He finished 12th, one position behind Dreyer & Reinbold Racing teammate Justin Wilson.
"That was a lot of work for a ninth-place finish,” said Patrick, who posted her sixth top 10 of the season. “I had a good car all night and was running with the lead pack the entire time. Right before the final pit stop I was in the top six so I thought it would end up playing out that way. My GoDaddy guys did a great job tonight and I really appreciate all their hard work."
Top-10 from Kentucky..................
1} #3 Helio Castroneves, 200 laps
2} #20 Ed Carpenter, -13.160 sec
3} #4 Dan Wheldon, -13.921 sec
4} #11 Tony Kanaan, -13.993 sec
5} #10 Dario Franchitti, -14.197 sec
6} #26 Marco Andretti, -14.567 sec
7} #9 Scott Dixon, -15.102 sec
8} #12 Will Power, -15.602 sec
9} #7 Danica Patrick, -15.849 sec
10}(R)#34 Bertrand Baguette, -1 lap