Scott Dixon was surprised, Helio Castroneves was steaming and Will Power continues to lead the IZOD IndyCar Series championship standings though he was thwarted again in seeking his third consecutive victory.
Dixon prevailed in the 95-lap race on the 1.973-mile, 14-turn City Centre Airport circuit courtesy of a black flag issued to race leader Castroneves for blocking on a Lap 92 restart.
Castroneves and Power entered Turn 1 side by side, with Castroneves hitting the apex a car length ahead. As Dixon slipped past Power into second place, race chief steward Brian Barnhart immediately called Castroneves for blocking his Team Penske teammate.
The black flag call was radioed to the No. 3 car, but Castroneves failed to take the drive-thru pit lane penalty. Following the race, he was penalized 20 seconds and placed at the end of the lead lap (10th). A black flag cannot be appealed, according to Indy Racing League rules.
Castroneves overtook Power, the pole sitter, in Turns 1-2 of Lap 78 and recorded his fastest race lap on 79 (1 minute, 2.3139 seconds) to put a 1.5-second gap between him and Power. It appeared that Castroneves would go on to his second victory. His first of the season - at Barber Motorsports Park in mid-April—derailed Power’s bid for a series record-tying third consecutive victory.
But a full-course caution was called on Lap 89 after the No. 78 car driven by Simona de Silvestro ran out of fuel and pulled off course in Turn 7. Castroneves led the field into Turn 1 of the restart, with Power making a bid to regain the lead he had for 76 laps.
Power recovered to finish second, while Dario Franchitti finished third and Ryan Briscoe was fourth. Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay finished fifth.
Results Sunday of the Honda Indy Edmonton IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 1.973 mile Edmonton Airport Circuit, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (3) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 95, Running
2. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 95, Running
3. (4) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 95, Running
4. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 95, Running
5. (8) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 95, Running
6. (15) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 95, Running
7. (14) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 95, Running
8. (6) EJ Viso, Dallara-Honda, 95, Running
9. (13) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 95, Running
10. (2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 95, Running
11. (16) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 94, Running
12. (24) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 94, Running
13. (10) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 94, Running
14. (20) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 94, Running
15. (21) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 94, Running
16. (23) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 93, Running
17. (11) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 93, Running
18. (18) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 92, Running
19. (12) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
20. (22) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 90, Running
21. (9) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 88, Running
22. (7) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 87, Out of Fuel
23. (19) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 52, Contact
24. (17) Mario Romancini, Dallara-Honda, 52, Contact
25. (25) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 4, Handling
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 01:50:37.0551
Winners average speed: 101.666
Margin of Victory: 2.6688 seconds
Cautions: 4 for 10 laps
Lead changes: 4 among 3 drivers
Lap Leaders: Power 1 - 34, Dixon 35, Power 36-77. Castroneves 78-94, Dixon 95.
Point Standings: Power 420, Franchitti 370, Dixon 349, Briscoe 324, Hunter-Reay 316, Castroneves 305, Kanaan 291, Wilson 252, Andretti 244, Wheldon 243.
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