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It was to say the least an incident-filled event as Will Power earned victory at the IndyCar grand finale at Fontana while Scott Dixon was able to hold on to fifth to secure his third IndyCar championship.
At the end of the evening, only eight cars were still running on the Californian oval to take the checkered flag; an indication of the intensity of the race.
Title contenders Scott Dixon (Ganassi) and Helio Castroneves (Penske) both endured a tough race.
It all started with Castroneves being called in for a stop when the pit lane was closed, forcing him to serve a drive-through penalty with less than 40 laps to go.
Even though he was able to get back to pace with the leaders and still had a shot at the title, the final blow came when he was forced to pit again to have his front broken wing repaired. Back out, he was one lap down.
Many of the contestants were forced to retire due to cooling problems cause by huge amount of debris that were being sucked into the cars' radiators.
That is what happened slowed down Dixon, who had to make a few extra stops late in the race to have his ducts cleaned out. Despite his misfortune, he was able to beat Castroneves and win the title by 27 points.
Meanwhile, Will Power was enjoying a very strong night. The Austrakian led 103 of the 250 laps to finish in front of last year's winner Ed Carpenter.
In what will be his last stint with KV Racing, Ganassi bound Tony Kanaan crossed the line in third followed by James Hinchcliffe (Andretti Autosport).
There were also a lot of accidents down the field. Justin Wilson caused the biggest when he caught a seam and spun in the middle of the track. He was T-boned by Tristan Vautier, and the resultant combination of smoke and debris accounted for several other cars.
All drivers but Wilson, who suffers from some pelvic fractures and a small pulmonary contusion, escaped unharmed.
Race results - IndyCar (Fontana)
Pos Driver Team/Engine Time/Gap
1. Will Power Penske/Chevy 3h13m42.8699s
2. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy +1.4883s
3. Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy +1.8615s
4. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy +3.0395s
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda +15.8759s
6. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy +1 lap
7. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy +2 laps
8. Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy +3 laps
Retirements
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy 242 laps
Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda 238 laps
JR Hildebrand Herta/Honda 237 laps
Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy 229 laps
Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda 217 laps
Alex Tagliani Ganassi/Honda 209 laps
Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda 200 laps
AJ Allmendinger Penske/Chevy 188 laps
Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda 144 laps
Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda 110 laps
Oriol Servia Panther/Chevy 110 laps
Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda 110 laps
Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda 110 laps
James Jakes Rahal/Honda 110 laps
Carlos Munoz Andretti/Chevy 100 laps
Sebastian Saavedra Dragon/Chevy 69 laps
Pippa Mann Coyne/Honda 68 laps
At the end of the evening, only eight cars were still running on the Californian oval to take the checkered flag; an indication of the intensity of the race.
Title contenders Scott Dixon (Ganassi) and Helio Castroneves (Penske) both endured a tough race.
It all started with Castroneves being called in for a stop when the pit lane was closed, forcing him to serve a drive-through penalty with less than 40 laps to go.
Even though he was able to get back to pace with the leaders and still had a shot at the title, the final blow came when he was forced to pit again to have his front broken wing repaired. Back out, he was one lap down.
Many of the contestants were forced to retire due to cooling problems cause by huge amount of debris that were being sucked into the cars' radiators.
That is what happened slowed down Dixon, who had to make a few extra stops late in the race to have his ducts cleaned out. Despite his misfortune, he was able to beat Castroneves and win the title by 27 points.
 |
| Scott Dixon (Photo: IndyCar) |
Meanwhile, Will Power was enjoying a very strong night. The Austrakian led 103 of the 250 laps to finish in front of last year's winner Ed Carpenter.
In what will be his last stint with KV Racing, Ganassi bound Tony Kanaan crossed the line in third followed by James Hinchcliffe (Andretti Autosport).
There were also a lot of accidents down the field. Justin Wilson caused the biggest when he caught a seam and spun in the middle of the track. He was T-boned by Tristan Vautier, and the resultant combination of smoke and debris accounted for several other cars.
All drivers but Wilson, who suffers from some pelvic fractures and a small pulmonary contusion, escaped unharmed.
Race results - IndyCar (Fontana)
Pos Driver Team/Engine Time/Gap
1. Will Power Penske/Chevy 3h13m42.8699s
2. Ed Carpenter Carpenter/Chevy +1.4883s
3. Tony Kanaan KV/Chevy +1.8615s
4. James Hinchcliffe Andretti/Chevy +3.0395s
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi/Honda +15.8759s
6. Helio Castroneves Penske/Chevy +1 lap
7. Marco Andretti Andretti/Chevy +2 laps
8. Simona de Silvestro KV/Chevy +3 laps
Retirements
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti/Chevy 242 laps
Charlie Kimball Ganassi/Honda 238 laps
JR Hildebrand Herta/Honda 237 laps
Sebastien Bourdais Dragon/Chevy 229 laps
Simon Pagenaud Schmidt/Honda 217 laps
Alex Tagliani Ganassi/Honda 209 laps
Graham Rahal Rahal/Honda 200 laps
AJ Allmendinger Penske/Chevy 188 laps
Takuma Sato Foyt/Honda 144 laps
Justin Wilson Coyne/Honda 110 laps
Oriol Servia Panther/Chevy 110 laps
Josef Newgarden Fisher/Honda 110 laps
Tristan Vautier Schmidt/Honda 110 laps
James Jakes Rahal/Honda 110 laps
Carlos Munoz Andretti/Chevy 100 laps
Sebastian Saavedra Dragon/Chevy 69 laps
Pippa Mann Coyne/Honda 68 laps