Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) benefited from a short pitstop at the end of the Chicagoland oval race to take the win and reduced Will Power's points lead atop the IndyCar Series standings.
The team's decision not to change tyres at the final stop allowed the Scotish driver to take the lead while Will Power (Penske) had to make an extra stop to refuel and then fell to the 16th spot.
With that victory, Franchitti is now only 23 points adrift with still three races to go until season's end.
Dan Wheldon (Panther) and Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport) finished respectively second and third while Power, who had been in the thick of the lead fight all night long, did not receive sufficient fuel
at his last pitstop, forcing him to stop again; losing any chance of finishing on the podium.
A lot of incidents happened during the race, espescially for KV Racing as Takuma Sato and EJ Viso tangled in the pitlane during the first round of stop. Moreover, their team-mate Mario Moraes' promising night was later ruined by a pit speeding penalty.
Later, Vitor Meira, Newman/Haas' Hideki Mutoh and FAZZT's Alex Tagliani tangling as they prepared to go green.
For the last pitstop Franchitti chose to save a few seconds by keeping the same set of tyres and this strategy put him at the front of the field ahead of Power, Wheldon, Hunter-Reay and Briscoe.
Franchitti was then able to cling on through the final 25 laps to secure victory, holding off Wheldon by just 0.0423 seconds at the line as the Panther driver made a final outside line bid for glory.
Andretti, Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan completed the top five.
IZOD IndyCar Chicagoland - Results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1h47m49.5783s
2. Dan Wheldon Panther + 0.0423s
3. Marco Andretti Andretti + 0.1051s
4. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 0.1631s
5. Tony Kanaan Andretti + 0.3408s
6. Helio Castroneves Penske + 0.4868s
7. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold + 0.5953s
8. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 0.9137s
9. Vitor Meira Foyt + 0.9588s
10. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas + 0.9841s
11. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 1.0185s
12. Bertrand Baguette Conquest + 1.0833s
13. Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas + 1.3042s
14. Danica Patrick Andretti + 1.5658s
15. Sarah Fisher Sarah Fisher + 1 lap
16. Will Power Penske + 1 lap
17. Mario Moraes KV + 1 lap
18. Davey Hamilton De Ferran Dragon + 1 lap
19. Milka Duno Dale Coyne + 3 laps
Retirements:
Ed Carpenter Panther/Vision 179 laps
Jay Howard Sarah Fisher 162 laps
Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne 162 laps
Simona de Silvestro HVM 150 laps
Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold 88 laps
Alex Tagliani FAZZT 85 laps
Takuma Sato KV 80 laps
EJ Viso KV 80 laps
Tomas Scheckter Conquest 4 laps
Raphael Matos De Ferran Dragon 4 laps
IZOD IndyCar Series Standings - After 14 of 17 rounds
Pos. Driver Points
1. Will Power 528
2. Dario Franchitti 502
3. Scott Dixon 443
4. Ryan Briscoe 406
5. Helio Castroneves 398
The team's decision not to change tyres at the final stop allowed the Scotish driver to take the lead while Will Power (Penske) had to make an extra stop to refuel and then fell to the 16th spot.
With that victory, Franchitti is now only 23 points adrift with still three races to go until season's end.
Dan Wheldon (Panther) and Marco Andretti (Andretti Autosport) finished respectively second and third while Power, who had been in the thick of the lead fight all night long, did not receive sufficient fuel
at his last pitstop, forcing him to stop again; losing any chance of finishing on the podium.
A lot of incidents happened during the race, espescially for KV Racing as Takuma Sato and EJ Viso tangled in the pitlane during the first round of stop. Moreover, their team-mate Mario Moraes' promising night was later ruined by a pit speeding penalty.
Later, Vitor Meira, Newman/Haas' Hideki Mutoh and FAZZT's Alex Tagliani tangling as they prepared to go green.
For the last pitstop Franchitti chose to save a few seconds by keeping the same set of tyres and this strategy put him at the front of the field ahead of Power, Wheldon, Hunter-Reay and Briscoe.
Franchitti was then able to cling on through the final 25 laps to secure victory, holding off Wheldon by just 0.0423 seconds at the line as the Panther driver made a final outside line bid for glory.
Andretti, Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan completed the top five.
IZOD IndyCar Chicagoland - Results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1h47m49.5783s
2. Dan Wheldon Panther + 0.0423s
3. Marco Andretti Andretti + 0.1051s
4. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti + 0.1631s
5. Tony Kanaan Andretti + 0.3408s
6. Helio Castroneves Penske + 0.4868s
7. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold + 0.5953s
8. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 0.9137s
9. Vitor Meira Foyt + 0.9588s
10. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas + 0.9841s
11. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 1.0185s
12. Bertrand Baguette Conquest + 1.0833s
13. Hideki Mutoh Newman/Haas + 1.3042s
14. Danica Patrick Andretti + 1.5658s
15. Sarah Fisher Sarah Fisher + 1 lap
16. Will Power Penske + 1 lap
17. Mario Moraes KV + 1 lap
18. Davey Hamilton De Ferran Dragon + 1 lap
19. Milka Duno Dale Coyne + 3 laps
Retirements:
Ed Carpenter Panther/Vision 179 laps
Jay Howard Sarah Fisher 162 laps
Alex Lloyd Dale Coyne 162 laps
Simona de Silvestro HVM 150 laps
Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold 88 laps
Alex Tagliani FAZZT 85 laps
Takuma Sato KV 80 laps
EJ Viso KV 80 laps
Tomas Scheckter Conquest 4 laps
Raphael Matos De Ferran Dragon 4 laps
IZOD IndyCar Series Standings - After 14 of 17 rounds
Pos. Driver Points
1. Will Power 528
2. Dario Franchitti 502
3. Scott Dixon 443
4. Ryan Briscoe 406
5. Helio Castroneves 398