Will Power from Team Penske bounced back in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship battle in a big way by winning Sunday’s Edmonton Indy.
Power grabbed the lead from pole sitter Takuma Sato on lap 19, and then led 57 of the remaining 80 laps on the newly configured 2.256-mile, 13-turn Edmonton City Centre Airport course.
The Australian had to fend off challenges from teammate Helio Castroneves and Dario Franchitti from Chip Ganassi Racing during the closing laps for his fourth IndyCar win of the season and the 13th of his career. He started on the pole and won at Edmonton in 2009. MiamiHerald.com
“It was exactly the day we needed,” Power said.
Power has 350 points in the championship standings, cutting his deficit to Franchitti from 55 to 38 points with seven races remaining.
“It was so bloody hard there at the end with Helio and Dario pushing me along. I just couldn’t gap them. It’s good for Verizon and also good for Team Penske. To finish 1-2 is really good” he said.
Castroneves said he was happy with second place, given his season of mediocre finishes.
“It was awesome,” the 36-year-old Brazilian said. “After the season we’ve been having, this is like a victory.”
Castroneves actually crossed the finish line first at last year’s Edmonton event, but was black-flagged for blocking Power and the race win was given to Scott Dixon.
Tony Kanaan and Justin Wilson rounded out the top five, Danica Patrick was ninth and Sato ended up 21st after his promising start. The Associated Press
Dario Franchitti said he wasted an opportunity to grab the win at the halfway stage, when England’s Mike Conway was leading the other cars on a double-file restart.
Conway didn’t accelerate as soon as the green flag came out, saying he didn’t see the green flag.
Franchitti said he thought he had to wait until the end of the straightaway to accelerate.
“I screwed up,” he said. “I lost a bunch of track position. I’m disappointed in myself.”
The Chip Ganassi driver fell back to 10th and had to work his way back up through the field.
“I was catching Will and Helio really quickly, but unfortunately once I got there I couldn’t do anything with them. But it was a nice recovery from the whole team.” Sydney Morning Herald
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IZOD IndyCar Series: Edmonton Indy at Edmonton Airport Circuit - Race Results
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