Ganassi’s Dario Franchitti won his third IndyCar championship in four years starting the race in 8th position only in the season’ finale at Homestead Miami Speedway. Series leader Will Power (Penske) was forced to abandon the race after damaging his suspension.
Even though the Scot led most of the race and finally won the crown, it was his teammate Scott Dixon who won the race.
Right from the start, the Ganassi teammates took control of things when polesitter Franchitti and Dixon settled in first and second place until lap 33 when Andretti Autosport's Tony Kanaan worked his way into contention and managed to split the duo.
Meanwhile Power had fallen as low as ninth in the first stint but picked up pace in the second half, coming back to fourth behind Franchitti, Kanaan and Dixon, and ahead of the other two Penske drivers.
But that was not going to be enough for the championship, especially once Franchitti had clinched the two bonus points for leading the most laps. And then came the terminal blow to Power's title hopes, when he understeered into the Turn 4 wall on lap 134.
Six laps were lost on repairs, and Power was soon back in again, not convinced that all the damage had been resolved. He eventually climbed from the car, and could only watch from the sidelines.
After the last restart Dixon broke clear, disappearing up the road to claim victory while Kanaan suddenly had his hands full fending off teammate Danica Patrick.
As Dixon went on to win by 2.7 seconds, Patrick finally muscled her way past Kanaan with a lap to go, holding on to clinch the runner-up spot by 0.0111s.
Briscoe lost his chance of victory by pitting just before the yellow for Power's incident, but recovered to fourth ahead of teammate Castroneves.
IRL Homestead Season Final Results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1h52m08.5580s
2. Danica Patrick Andretti + 2.7587s
3. Tony Kanaan Andretti + 2.7698s
4. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 3.7827s
5. Helio Castroneves Penske + 5.3324s
6. Vitor Meira Foyt + 7.2126s
7. Marco Andretti Andretti + 8.3637s
8. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 11.1401s
9. Dan Wheldon Panther + 22.2521s
10. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas + 1 lap
11. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 1 lap
12. Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne + 1 lap
13. Ed Carpenter Panther/Vision + 1 lap
14. Alex Tagliani FAZZT + 1 lap
15. Bertrand Baguette Conquest + 1 lap
16. Sebastian Saavedra Conquest + 1 lap
17. Raphael Matos De Ferran Dragon + 1 lap
18. Takuma Sato KV + 1 lap
19. EJ Viso KV + 2 laps
20. Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas + 2 laps
21. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold + 2 laps
22. Sarah Fisher Sarah Fisher + 3 laps
23. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 3 laps
Retirements:
Milka Duno Dale Coyne 170 laps
Will Power Penske 143 laps
Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold 42 laps
Mario Moraes KV 25 laps
Even though the Scot led most of the race and finally won the crown, it was his teammate Scott Dixon who won the race.
Right from the start, the Ganassi teammates took control of things when polesitter Franchitti and Dixon settled in first and second place until lap 33 when Andretti Autosport's Tony Kanaan worked his way into contention and managed to split the duo.
Meanwhile Power had fallen as low as ninth in the first stint but picked up pace in the second half, coming back to fourth behind Franchitti, Kanaan and Dixon, and ahead of the other two Penske drivers.
But that was not going to be enough for the championship, especially once Franchitti had clinched the two bonus points for leading the most laps. And then came the terminal blow to Power's title hopes, when he understeered into the Turn 4 wall on lap 134.
Six laps were lost on repairs, and Power was soon back in again, not convinced that all the damage had been resolved. He eventually climbed from the car, and could only watch from the sidelines.
After the last restart Dixon broke clear, disappearing up the road to claim victory while Kanaan suddenly had his hands full fending off teammate Danica Patrick.
As Dixon went on to win by 2.7 seconds, Patrick finally muscled her way past Kanaan with a lap to go, holding on to clinch the runner-up spot by 0.0111s.
Briscoe lost his chance of victory by pitting just before the yellow for Power's incident, but recovered to fourth ahead of teammate Castroneves.
IRL Homestead Season Final Results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Scott Dixon Ganassi 1h52m08.5580s
2. Danica Patrick Andretti + 2.7587s
3. Tony Kanaan Andretti + 2.7698s
4. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 3.7827s
5. Helio Castroneves Penske + 5.3324s
6. Vitor Meira Foyt + 7.2126s
7. Marco Andretti Andretti + 8.3637s
8. Dario Franchitti Ganassi + 11.1401s
9. Dan Wheldon Panther + 22.2521s
10. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas + 1 lap
11. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 1 lap
12. Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne + 1 lap
13. Ed Carpenter Panther/Vision + 1 lap
14. Alex Tagliani FAZZT + 1 lap
15. Bertrand Baguette Conquest + 1 lap
16. Sebastian Saavedra Conquest + 1 lap
17. Raphael Matos De Ferran Dragon + 1 lap
18. Takuma Sato KV + 1 lap
19. EJ Viso KV + 2 laps
20. Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas + 2 laps
21. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold + 2 laps
22. Sarah Fisher Sarah Fisher + 3 laps
23. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 3 laps
Retirements:
Milka Duno Dale Coyne 170 laps
Will Power Penske 143 laps
Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold 42 laps
Mario Moraes KV 25 laps