Helio Castroneves, who pitted on Lap 147 of 200 on the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway, inherited the lead when the leaders had to take a splash of ethanol in the final stages of the Kentucky Indy 300 and went on to win his second race of the season.
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. Tony Kanaan charged from 26th in the 27-car field to fourth and Dario Franchitti was fifth.
Franchitti closed the IZOD IndyCar Series championship points gap on Will Power, who finished eighth, to 17 with two races left.
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, Kentucky Indy 300 winner): “Unfortunately we had an issue with our pit stop, but we started to make ground and head to the front. I tried to stay steady. You have to remember it is 200 laps. We were loose in the beginning, but at the end it was meant to be. I remember in 2008 here I ran out of fuel and finished in second. When the team told me to save fuel I was just trying to keep it up and stay in the draft. It was similar to what happened in 2008 and this time it paid off for Team Penske. I am very excited for this win and to be a part of the IZOD IndyCar Series.
ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Panther/Vision/Fuzzy’s Vodka, finished second): “For Dan and I to finish second and third is a little disappointing because we were so strong all weekend. Dan had a dominant car today and it’s tough being in our position when you have a guy win on fuel mileage. I think we are very proud having two Panther cars on the podium. We made a pretty big wing change after we were loose and that slowed us down in the pits. We dropped back a few positions and then worked our way through the field.”
Results Saturday of the Kentucky Indy 300 IZOD IndyCar Series event on the 1.48-mile Kentucky Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (8) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
2. (1) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
3. (3) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
4. (26) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
5. (11) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
6. (15) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
7. (4) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
8. (2) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
9. (17) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 200, Running
10. (6) Bertrand Baguette, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
11. (16) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
12. (23) Paul Tracy, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
13. (18) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
14. (10) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
15. (13) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
16. (20) Raphael Matos, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
17. (5) Hideki Mutoh, Dallara-Honda, 199, Running
18. (7) Mario Moraes, Dallara-Honda, 198, Running
19. (24) Milka Duno, Dallara-Honda, 195, Running
20. (25) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 195, Running
21. (27) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 174, Mechanical
22. (21) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Honda, 134, Mechanical
23. (12) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 79,Contact
24. (9) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 79, Contact
25. (19) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda,78,Contact
26. (22) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 45, Mechanical
27. (14) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 0, Contact
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 174.402
Time of Race: 01:41:50.0059
Margin of victory: 13.1597 seconds
Cautions: 2 for 23 laps
Lead changes: 11 among 7 races
Lap Leaders: Carpenter 1-10, Wheldon 11-53, Power 54-55, Briscoe 56, Tracy 57-60, Power 61 - 141, Wheldon 142-143, Dixon 144, Castroneves 145-147, Wheldon 148 - 195, Carpenter 196, Castroneves 197-200.
Point Standings: Power 552, Franchitti 535, Dixon 469, Castroneves 448, Briscoe 418, Hunter-Reay 404, Kanaan 392, Andretti 347, Wheldon 346, Wilson 335.
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