Helio Saves His Fuel

September 5th, 2010

SPARTA, Ky. — Helio Castroneves went “slow enough to win” Saturday’s IZOD IndyCar Series Kentucky Indy 300 as he was the only driver whose car was “good to the last drop” of fuel.

Castroneves scored his second victory of the season and it came in the 200th race in Indy Racing League history.

“We had a little issue on the pit stop and things happen for a reason,” Castroneves said. “We were not the fastest car but we tried something because we did not have much to lose. In 2008 we ran out of fuel but we just made the mileage and it paid off this time. The car is still running and that is good news.”

Castroneves was the only contender who could finish without a splash of fuel in the final 10 laps of the race. He defeated Ed Carpenter, who finished second for the second year in a row after winning the pole.

“It’s tough in our position right now to finish second to a guy that wins on fuel mileage,” Carpenter said. “We stayed calm and battled back and got this car back to the front.”

Dan Wheldon finished third and had to give up the lead with just four laps to go when he pitted for a splash of fuel.

“My guys did a fantastic job getting out of the pits and when I got out in front of Dario Franchitti I thought we had the win,” Wheldon said.

Castroneves was able to celebrate with his trademark “Spiderman” move by climbing the fence and then playfully grabbed IndyCar security director Charles Burns collar after the two were involved in the post-race altercation

Tony Kanaan was fourth followed by Dario Franchitti. IndyCar Series points leader Will Power was eighth which means his lead over Franchitti in the championship battle is down to 17 points with just two races remaining this season.

“It was up and down,” Franchitti said. “I worked my way up in that first stint and it got exciting there. I was running second behind Dan Wheldon and it was starting to look good.”

It was an extremely tense race as main contenders for the race victory pitted just outside the fuel window to make it to the finish. That meant the drivers challenging for the win also had to drive slow enough to save fuel making it a pressure packed conclusion to the 200-lap race.

Earlier in the race, Ryan Briscoe, Vitor Meira and Simona de Silvestro were all involved in a heavy crash on the 81st lap of the 200-lap contest. Briscoe’s car slammed into the outside wall and then shot across the track before hitting the inside retaining wall. All drivers were able to get out of their damaged race cars although Briscoe sat on the pavement after banging his knee. De Silvestro’s car barely touched Briscoe’s No. 6 to trigger the incident.

At the time of the crash Power was in the lead followed by Wheldon with Franchitti fifth.

Pit road was opened on Lap 84 as the drivers in the crash were checked and released from the infield care center.

“I can’t really tell but people were lapping us and I let them by on the top and I went to the bottom and I was already on the bottom line,” de Silvestro said. “Maybe it was my fault but I don’t think so. I hit pretty hard. My confidence is coming but you have to get used to the ovals. We were making the car better and better and were going in a good direction.”

The crash eliminated Briscoe from the IZOD IndyCar Series championship.

“We were in a bit of a group and I saw Simona on the bottom — I went to the inside of Simona and thought `Why are you doing that?’ and I stood on the gas and tried to miss the accident,” Briscoe said. “It was a hard hit and really disappointing. I thought we could get to the front tonight but it didn’t happen.”

The green flag waved on lap 96 with Power in the lead being chased by Kanaan, who proved that it doesn’t matter where he starts on an oval track.

Kanaan pitted on lap 142 while Power pitted while leading one lap later. Power’s stop was a bit longer than normal as the crew wanted to make sure all the fuel got into the tank after what happened last week at Chicagoland Speedway. Power nearly brushed the Turn 4 wall on his first lap out of the pits because of cold tires. Wheldon pitted the following lap and his stop was nearly onesecond shorter than Power’s.

“I came up on a backmarker and must have got in some oil,” Power said.

By the time the pit stop sequence was complete Wheldon was in the lead followed by Franchitti, Andretti, Kanaan and Power.

All the drivers in contention for the win would have to conserve fuel in order to make it to the finish adding to the drama and intrigue.

Kanaan had to pit with eight laps remaining while he was running third. Race leader Wheldon and Franchitti pitted with just four laps remaining to get enough fuel to make it to the end. That put Castroneves in the lead and he went on to victory for the second time this season. He also won at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama in April.