Team Owner CHIP GANASSI added Championship Number Ten to his resume with his driver, SCOTT DIXON/No.3 Honda, winning the MAVTV 500 IZOD Indy Car Race under the lights at Auto Club Speedway. Winning the Astor Cup ten times is the most of any team owner in indy car history. Ganassi said he knew his father, the late FLOYD GANASSI, was looking down and smiling. The Championship would have meant a lot to Floyd.
It was interesting for Ganassi to consider that he just won the 2013 Championship with Honda cars, while Chevrolet won the 2013 Manufacturer’s Championship; and then next year, Ganassi will be running Chevrolet engines.
WILL POWER/Team Penske Chevrolet finally ended the season on a high. “It was the most satisfying win of my life. That is the most satisfying thing I have ever done. And I wanted to do it so badly all year.” He referenced a remark made by runner-up ED CARPENTER/No.20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet at which he took offense. Power said it really motivated him to do well. “I like it when people say bad things about me because it makes me work harder.”
Power led six times for 103 laps, earning the bonus point for the most laps led. His Margin of Victory over Carpenter was 1.4883 seconds, and even sweeter for beating last year’s winner.
Second through fifth were Carpenter, TONY KANAAN/No.11 KVSH Chevrolet, JAMES HINCHCLIFFE/No.27 Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, and Dixon.
A very subdued and disappointed HELIO CASTRONEVES/No.3 Team Penske Chevrolet finished sixth. He said “We really fought as hard as we could, but I think it was a great race. I was having a great time and really going for it. There was nothig calm about that race. It’s just a shame that we had to have that little contact with the 83 (CHARLIE KIMBALL/No.83 NovoLog Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.)” Castroneves had to pit for a new front wing. “You have to understand we didn’t lose. We fought as hard as we could and finished second position. Ganassi just did a great job. That’s the good news about a new year with 2014 – we have another chance to win.”
With ten victories in 19 races, Chevrolet captured its second Manufacturer’s Championship in a row. JIM CAMPBELL, U.S. Vice President Performance Vehicles and Motorsports said “We are proud of the teamwork and dedicated efforts of our drivers, teams and technical partners that culminated in Chevrolet’s second consecutive IndyCar Series manufacturers’ championship. The Chevrolet IndyCar V6 engine gave our teams the right combination of power, fuel economy, and reliability that resulted in winning this prestigious award.”
Eleven drivers swapped the lead 28 times: Power/6/103; RYAN HUNTER-REAY/No.1 Andretti Autosport Chevrolet/2/45; SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS/No.7 Dragon Racing Chevrolet/4/35; Castroneves/3/27; Kimball/3/22; Dixon/2/5; ALEX TAGLIANI/No.10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda/3/5; MARCO ANDRETTI/No.25 Andretti Autosport Chevrolet/2/3; Kanaan/1/3l; Carpenter/1/1; and JAMES JAKES/No.16 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda/1/1.
Seven cautions took 55 laps out of the green flag racing, the longest caution being 14 laps for contacts involving seven cars in Turn Two. Of those involved, only JUSTIN WILSON/No.19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda required medical care. The latest word from DR. MICHAEL OLINGER, IndyCar Medical Director, was that Wilson suffered inoperable pelvic fractures and a pulmonary contusion. He was kept overnight in hospital. The accident caused Wilson to drop to sixth in the standings. Wilson spun, was hit by TRISTAN VAUTIER/No.77 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda, and a pile-up ensued. Wilson’s younger brother, STEPHAN, tweeted that the crash measured 62 lateral Gs.
All but the last caution were for contacts. Attrition was contagious, with only nine of 25 cars running at the finish. For awhile, it seemed as though the race would be won by the last car running.
The Championship Standings led with Dixon winning this third Astor Cup with 577 points. Castroneves was second, 27 points back, at 550. Third through fifth were SIMON PAGENAUD/No.77 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda-508, Power-499, and Andretti-484.
OFFICIAL RACE RESULTS
1. (1) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 250, Running
2. (7) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy, 250, Running
3. (9) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 250, Running
4. (8) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevy, 250, Running
5. (17) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running
6. (12) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 249, Running
7. (6) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevy, 248, Running
8. (16) Simona De Silvestro, Dallara-Chevy, 247, Running
9. (11) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy, 242, Running
10. (4) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 238, Mechanical
11. (15) JR Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 237, Mechanical
12. (3) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 229, Contact
13. (13) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 217, Mechanical
14. (21) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 209, Contact
15. (22) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 200, Mechanical
16. (2) AJ Allmendinger, Dallara-Chevy, 188, Contact
17. (25) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 144, Mechanical
18. (18) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 110, Contact
19. (14) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Chevy, 110, Contact
20. (20) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 110, Contact
21. (23) Tristan Vautier, Dallara-Honda, 110, Contact
22. (5) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 110, Contact
23. (10) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Chevy, 100, Contact
24. (24) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 69, Contact
25. (19) Pippa Mann, Dallara-Honda, 68, Contact