Justin Wilson kept the pace in his Dale Coyne Racing DW12 to take his first ever oval race victory, at the Texas Motor Speedway, by taking advantage of a late error by race leader Graham Rahal (Ganassi).
With only two laps to go, the young Rahal clipped the wall allowing Wilson to take over the lead. The Ganassi driver was able to hang on for second. Wilson had already provided Dale Coyne with its first ever victory on a road circuit a couple of season ago, this time it was its first ever win on an oval.
Penske's Ryan Briscoe took third, reporting afterwards that he did not have enough grip to keep pushing in the late stages of the race.
The race was filled with incidents as the aero tweaks introduced by the series left the drivers visibly struggling to hold on to their cars, resulting in constant position changes through the field.
Ganassi's Scott Dixon made a rare error, loosing the rear and spinning into the Turn 4 wall on lap 173. Teammate and series champion Dario Franchitti also had a difficult race, finishing three laps down after making an unscheduled pitstop halfway through the first stint.
Other incidents involved a drive-through penalty for Will Power (Penske) for having blocked KV Racing's Tony Kanaan.
Race results – IndyCar (Texas)
1. Justin Wilson (Coyne DW12-Honda) – 1h59m02.0131s
2. Graham Rahal (Ganassi DW12-Honda) + 3.9202s
3. Ryan Briscoe (Penske DW12-Chevy) + 5.8619s
4. James Hinchcliffe (Andretti DW12-Chevy) + 10.4511s
5. JR Hildebrand (Panther DW12-Chevy) + 18.7749s
6. Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt DW12-Honda) + 21.3883s
7. Helio Castroneves (Penske DW12-Chevy) + 1 lap
8. Will Power (Penske DW12-Chevy) + 1 lap
9. Alex Tagliani (Herta DW12-Honda) + 1 lap
10. James Jakes ( Coyne DW12-Honda) + 1 lap
11. Tony Kanaan (KV DW12-Chevy) + 1 lap
12. Ed Carpenter (Carpenter DW12-Chevy) + 1 lap
13. Josef Newgarden (Fisher DW12-Honda) + 2 laps
14. Dario Franchitti (Ganassi DW12-Honda) + 3 laps
15. Katherine Legge (Dragon DW12-Chevy) + 4 laps
16. Mike Conway (Foyt DW12-Honda) + 4 laps
17. Marco Andretti (Andretti DW12-Chevy) + 6 laps
Retirements:
Scott Dixon (Ganassi DW12-Honda) – 173 laps
EJ Viso (KV DW12-Chevy) – 129 laps
Oriol Servia (Panther/DRR DW12-Chevy) – 89 laps
Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti DW12-Chevy) – 66 laps
Takuma Sato (Rahal DW12-Honda) – 63 laps
Charlie Kimball (Ganassi DW12-Honda) – 29 laps
Rubens Barrichello (KV DW12-Chevy) 0 lap
Simona de Silvestro (HVM DW12-Lotus) 0 lap
With only two laps to go, the young Rahal clipped the wall allowing Wilson to take over the lead. The Ganassi driver was able to hang on for second. Wilson had already provided Dale Coyne with its first ever victory on a road circuit a couple of season ago, this time it was its first ever win on an oval.
Penske's Ryan Briscoe took third, reporting afterwards that he did not have enough grip to keep pushing in the late stages of the race.
The race was filled with incidents as the aero tweaks introduced by the series left the drivers visibly struggling to hold on to their cars, resulting in constant position changes through the field.
Ganassi's Scott Dixon made a rare error, loosing the rear and spinning into the Turn 4 wall on lap 173. Teammate and series champion Dario Franchitti also had a difficult race, finishing three laps down after making an unscheduled pitstop halfway through the first stint.
Other incidents involved a drive-through penalty for Will Power (Penske) for having blocked KV Racing's Tony Kanaan.
Race results – IndyCar (Texas)
1. Justin Wilson (Coyne DW12-Honda) – 1h59m02.0131s
2. Graham Rahal (Ganassi DW12-Honda) + 3.9202s
3. Ryan Briscoe (Penske DW12-Chevy) + 5.8619s
4. James Hinchcliffe (Andretti DW12-Chevy) + 10.4511s
5. JR Hildebrand (Panther DW12-Chevy) + 18.7749s
6. Simon Pagenaud (Schmidt DW12-Honda) + 21.3883s
7. Helio Castroneves (Penske DW12-Chevy) + 1 lap
8. Will Power (Penske DW12-Chevy) + 1 lap
9. Alex Tagliani (Herta DW12-Honda) + 1 lap
10. James Jakes ( Coyne DW12-Honda) + 1 lap
11. Tony Kanaan (KV DW12-Chevy) + 1 lap
12. Ed Carpenter (Carpenter DW12-Chevy) + 1 lap
13. Josef Newgarden (Fisher DW12-Honda) + 2 laps
14. Dario Franchitti (Ganassi DW12-Honda) + 3 laps
15. Katherine Legge (Dragon DW12-Chevy) + 4 laps
16. Mike Conway (Foyt DW12-Honda) + 4 laps
17. Marco Andretti (Andretti DW12-Chevy) + 6 laps
Retirements:
Scott Dixon (Ganassi DW12-Honda) – 173 laps
EJ Viso (KV DW12-Chevy) – 129 laps
Oriol Servia (Panther/DRR DW12-Chevy) – 89 laps
Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti DW12-Chevy) – 66 laps
Takuma Sato (Rahal DW12-Honda) – 63 laps
Charlie Kimball (Ganassi DW12-Honda) – 29 laps
Rubens Barrichello (KV DW12-Chevy) 0 lap
Simona de Silvestro (HVM DW12-Lotus) 0 lap