England’s Dan Wheldon celebrated his 30th birthday with a victory in IndyCar’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 on Sunday, edging Japan’s Hideki Mutoh.
Wheldon captured his second victory of the season and the 15th of his career, beating Andretti Green Racing rookie Mutoh by 0.143 of a second.
Immediately after the race, Wheldon said he planned to donate his winnings to victims of the recent floods and tornadoes in the midwestern state of Iowa.
Marco Andretti was third, followed by points leader Scott Dixon of New Zealand, who started on the pole after qualifying was rained out.
“What a great day for Target Chip Ganassi Racing and a great birthday present for me,” Wheldon said.
Indeed it was — especially after Wheldon’s risky decision not to pit for the final 90 laps paid off.
“My car was just so loose with new tires,” Wheldon said. “Staying out was important. I had good restarts on the older tires.”
Mutoh, the current rookie leader, picked up his career-best finish by crossing the line in second. The Tokyo native earned a ride with Andretti Green after finishing second in the IndyPro points race in 2007, and he keeps getting better.
Mutoh has finished seventh or better in four of his last five races.
“I am very happy to finish second,” Mutoh said. “I am almost there, so maybe next time.”
But Dixon hung in there, which allowed him to extend his lead over Castroneves in the points race to 48 points.
“Early on, the car was definitely working the way I wanted,” Dixon said. “I think strategy played out in the end and that’s the way it goes.”
A.J. Foyt IV was fifth.
The key move came when team manager Barry Wanser (who was deputized to replace the absent Chip Ganassi) told Wheldon to stay on track when the rest of the field pitted under caution on Lap 190 of 225. Andretti Green Racing teammates Mutoh and Danica Patrick (who finished seventh) were the only drivers to utilize what was ultimately the correct fuel strategy.
The reason for the lengthy yellow that allowed that trio to stretch their final tank of ethanol fuel 90 laps was a surprise: Kanaan’s Turn 1 crash. The Brazilian speculated that something malfunctioned on the 7-Eleven car.
“It was really weird,” he said. “It’s tough to say what happened, although I was behind two cars. I can’t say something broke, but it sure seems that way.”
Kanaan looked like the man to beat through the first 150 laps, aggressively passing for the lead on a couple of occasions. A series of minor spins and incidents blighted the last 100 laps of the contest, and set up the fuel-mileage quandary that set up Wheldon’s win.
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