-----NEWTON, Iowa – Through 15 lead changes and 239 laps at the buzz-saw named Iowa Speedway, it appeared just about anyone on the lead lap could pop to the forefront and prevail in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer.
Helio Castroneves, who had inherited the lead 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 slowed – the victim of a gearbox issue? Si.
E.J. Viso, who surprised quite a few by steadily moving from his 19th starting position in the No. 8 PDVSA-Jet Aviation-KV Racing Technology car to be running third? Indeed.
How about Tony Kanaan, whose No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car started a disappointing 15th after topping the combined practice speed chart, but had moved behind his countryman Castroneves? That would have been a safe bet and the one that paid.
Kanaan, who led a total of 119 laps at Iowa the past two years but didn’t finish either time, made the event-record 16th 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 (another bullring). He was the seventh driver to win in the eight races.
“I have to thank my team and the entire 7-Eleven crew,” said Kanaan, who recorded three top 10s in this stretch of four oval races in the first half of the season. “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 (Hunter-Reay at Long Beach) and the first on an oval for a non-Team Penske or Target Chip Ganassi Racing car since that humid evening in ’08 at Richmond. “(Kanaan) has always had a problem with Turn 2 here, but he’s finally got it figured out,” said team owner Michael Andretti, referring to the spot where Kanaan exited the race the previous three years. “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," he said. "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."
Viso finished a career-high third and Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe was fourth. Pole sitter Will Power finished fifth to regain the championship points lead from Franchitti (274 to Scott Dixon’s 263 and Franchitti’s 260). The pole sitter has won 53 of 193 Indy Racing League-sanctioned races, but none of the four at Iowa Speedway.
"There are not many words to describe my feeling right now.,” said Viso, whose best previous finish this season was 11th (Texas). "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.”
Dixon, who started on the front row, finished sixth and Vitor Meira recorded his third top 10 in the oval package in seventh in the No. 14 ABC Supply car for A.J. Foyt Racing. Graham Rahal gave the injured Mike Conway a tip of the hat with a ninth place (advancing eight spots) in the No. 24 Dad’s Root Beer entry for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. “It was a good result,” said Meira, who rebounded from an incident late in pre-qualifying practice to start 13th. “What matters is that we're improving and being consistent everywhere we go. We've had top 10s and the next stage is top 5s. It's hard in this series but the ABC Supply team is moving forward and that's important.”
Top-10 from Iowa.....................
1} #11 Tony Kanaan, 250 laps
2} #3 Helio Castroneves, -4.203 sec
3} #8 E.J. Viso, -5.253 sec
4} #6 Ryan Briscoe, -9.053 sec
5} #12 Will Power, -9.591 sec
6} #9 Scott Dixon, -15.268 sec
7} #14 Vitor Meira, -15.480 sec
8} #37 Ryan Hunter-Reay, -1 lap
9} #24 Graham Rahal, -1 lap
10} #7 Danica Patrick, -1 lap
