Pole-sitter Helio Castroneves won his second straight IZOD IndyCar Series race with a dominating performance in Sunday’s Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi.
The Brazilian took the lead from Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe on a lap-118 pit stop and held on through lap 200 to earn his third win this season.
“Team Penske is about execution and they gave me a fantastic car,” said Castroneves, who gained a position on teammate Ryan Briscoe on a Lap 118 pit stop under yellow to take the lead for good. “Every time I wanted to go for it, the car was responding.”
Castroneves led 153 of the 200 laps to pass Sam Hornish Jr. as the IZOD IndyCar Series career leader and posted his 23rd Indy car racing victory (tying Tommy Milton for 15th on the all-time list).
“It’s always a tough race here,” he continued. “I trusted my car and trusted my team, which did a great job in the pits.”
In Castroneves’ wake, Dario Franchitti beat Will Power to the finish line by 0.4997 of a second to claim second place and close the championship points gap to 12 heading into the season finale Oct. 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Briscoe, who started second, finished fourth and Danica Patrick advanced seven positions to fifth in the No. 7 GoDaddy car for Andretti Autosport. Teammates Tony Kanaan (seventh) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (ninth) were joined in the top 10 by Newman/Haas Racing’s Graham Rahal, who moved up eight positions to eighth, and Dan Wheldon of Panther Racing. IndyCar.com
“We made a small mistake on the setup of the car, but we did our absolute best today,” Franchitti said. “We got some more points on Will, and we’re going after them again [at Homestead].”
“It was my first [oval] podium, and I was happy to get the car in the top- three for the first time ever,” Power said. “We’re knocking on that door, and we’re going to get there.” MiamiHerald.com
Team Penske has now won nine of the 16 IndyCar Series races this season. The team has produced 92 victories on oval tracks and 153 wins overall, more than any team in open-wheel racing.
Castroneves said that Team Penske remains focused on Power’s run for the championship, which will be decided at Homestead. “He’s 12 points ahead, and it’s better to be 12 points ahead than 12 points behind,” said Castroneves. “He had a great performance today. Anything we can do to help him bring the championship to Team Penske, we’re going to do it.”
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IZOD IndyCar Series: Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi - Race Results
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