Team Penske's Helio Castroneves extended his IZOD IndyCar championship lead by taking a decisive win in Saturday night round that was held at Texas Speedway.
Not only did the Brazilian won, he did it with panache for a 1.5-mile oval; crossing the line more than 5.2 seconds in front of his closest rivals, series' champion Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) and Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan (KV Racing).
About every drivers had to make due with poor tire performance all night long and proper tire management became of the upmost importance. That is where Castroneves seemed to have the upper hand.
Marco Andretti took the lead early on by passing pole sitter Will Power on the first lap, but the American lost ground after a series of slow pitstops and because of higher tire wear. He ended up fifth.
Ed Carpenter had another good week-end, this time bringing his Dallara DW12 to a respectful fourth place.
Unusually, the race was interrupted by just three caution periods, two of which were brought about by mechanical problems.
Pippa Mann's outing in the second Dale Coyne Racing car ended after a handful of laps when she suffered an apparent engine failure, while Scott Dixon triggered the yellows when he slowed with what would eventually become a terminal gearbox problem.
Race results – Texas (IndyCar)
1 - Helio Castroneves (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 228
2 - Ryan Hunter-Reay (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 4"6919
3 - Tony Kanaan (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 11"6088
4 - Ed Carpenter (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Carpenter - 17"693
5 - Marco Andretti (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 19"5078
6 - Dario Franchitti (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1 lap
7 - Will Power (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1 lap
8 - Josef Newgarden (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Fisher - 1 lap
9 - James Hinchcliffe (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1 lap
10 - Ernesto Viso (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1 lap
11 - Takuma Sato (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Foyt - 1 lap
12 - James Jakes (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 1 lap
13 - Simon Pagenaud (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 2 laps
14 - Sebastian Saavedra (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 2 laps
15 - Justin Wilson (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 2 laps
16 - Simona de Silvestro (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 2 laps
17 - Charlie Kimball (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 2 laps
18 - Tristan Vautier (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 3 laps
19 - Oriol Servia (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Panther DRR - 3 laps
20 - Sebastien Bourdais (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 4 laps
21 - Graham Rahal (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 5 laps
22 - Alex Tagliani (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Herta - 5 laps
Retirements
Lap 62 - Scott Dixon
Lap 3 - Pippa Mann
Championship
1. Castroneves 259; 2. Andretti 237; 3. Hunter-Reay 232;
4. Kanaan 195; 5. Pagenaud 194.
Not only did the Brazilian won, he did it with panache for a 1.5-mile oval; crossing the line more than 5.2 seconds in front of his closest rivals, series' champion Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport) and Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan (KV Racing).
About every drivers had to make due with poor tire performance all night long and proper tire management became of the upmost importance. That is where Castroneves seemed to have the upper hand.
Marco Andretti took the lead early on by passing pole sitter Will Power on the first lap, but the American lost ground after a series of slow pitstops and because of higher tire wear. He ended up fifth.
Ed Carpenter had another good week-end, this time bringing his Dallara DW12 to a respectful fourth place.
Unusually, the race was interrupted by just three caution periods, two of which were brought about by mechanical problems.
Pippa Mann's outing in the second Dale Coyne Racing car ended after a handful of laps when she suffered an apparent engine failure, while Scott Dixon triggered the yellows when he slowed with what would eventually become a terminal gearbox problem.
Race results – Texas (IndyCar)
1 - Helio Castroneves (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 228
2 - Ryan Hunter-Reay (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 4"6919
3 - Tony Kanaan (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 11"6088
4 - Ed Carpenter (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Carpenter - 17"693
5 - Marco Andretti (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 19"5078
6 - Dario Franchitti (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1 lap
7 - Will Power (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1 lap
8 - Josef Newgarden (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Fisher - 1 lap
9 - James Hinchcliffe (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1 lap
10 - Ernesto Viso (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1 lap
11 - Takuma Sato (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Foyt - 1 lap
12 - James Jakes (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 1 lap
13 - Simon Pagenaud (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 2 laps
14 - Sebastian Saavedra (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 2 laps
15 - Justin Wilson (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 2 laps
16 - Simona de Silvestro (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 2 laps
17 - Charlie Kimball (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 2 laps
18 - Tristan Vautier (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 3 laps
19 - Oriol Servia (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Panther DRR - 3 laps
20 - Sebastien Bourdais (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 4 laps
21 - Graham Rahal (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 5 laps
22 - Alex Tagliani (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Herta - 5 laps
Retirements
Lap 62 - Scott Dixon
Lap 3 - Pippa Mann
Championship
1. Castroneves 259; 2. Andretti 237; 3. Hunter-Reay 232;
4. Kanaan 195; 5. Pagenaud 194.