West Allis, WI (Sports Network) - When Helio Castroneves' rear wing collapsed
on lap 201, Tony Kanaan inherited the lead and went on to win Sunday's ABC
Supply/A.J. Foyt Indy 225 at the historic Milwaukee Mile. The No.11 Andretti
Green Racing driver crossed the finish line 2.5707 seconds ahead of Dario
Franchitti.
The victory was Kanaan's second of the season and ninth of his IndyCar career.
After winning his fourth pole of the season Castroneves led the 18-car field
to the green flag for 225 laps of short-track racing.
The No.3 Honda was able to pull away from the field early as Kanaan, Scott
Dixon and Dan Wheldon battled for the second spot.
On lap 14 Castroneves was already starting to lap some of his competitors as
he passed Sarah Fisher.
The first caution flag of the race came out on lap 22 for debris on the middle
of the frontstretch. Under the caution period Castroneves led the leaders down
pit road for their first stops.
Buddy Rice inherited the first position by staying out on the track.
Castroneves won the race off pit road followed by Kanaan.
After the restart the No.15 Honda held onto the lead despite being on older
tires. A few laps later Kanaan passed Castroneves to take over the second
spot. But eventually Castroneves would take the second spot back.
As Castroneves and Kanaan battled for second Rice increased his margin to one
second. But Castroneves quickly started to cut into that lead and on lap 62
Castroneves took the inside lane to pass Rice. Rice continued to fall back
through the field as he got ready to make his first pit stop.
The No.3 Honda once again started to put some distance between himself and the
field. Kanaan drove in second followed by Hornish Jr., Wheldon and Franchitti.
The next caution flag came out on lap 89 for a Danica Patrick spin out. This
caution period allowed for the leaders to make another round of pit stops.
A great stop by Wheldon's pit crew put him in first when the stops were
completed. Castroneves fell to the second followed by Hornish Jr., Dixon and
Franchitti. Kanaan didn't get enough fuel during his stop and had to come back
down pit road for a second time.
Wheldon led the field to the restart on lap 97. During the next lap
Castroneves went underneath him coming out of turn three to take back the
lead.
At the halfway mark of the race Castroneves held a 1.5 second lead over
Wheldon. His margin over Penske teammate Hornish Jr., the third place driver,
was at 4.7 seconds.
The No.3 Honda continued to show the way. Castroneves and Wheldon quickly
pulled away from the field. Dixon and Franchitti battled for the third spot
but trailed the leader by almost 10 seconds.
The huge margin was erased when a caution flag for debris in turn three came
out on lap 135. During the caution period the leaders went down pit road for
service.
Another great job by Wheldon's pit crew helped him beat Castroneves off pit
road for first position. Franchitti, Dixon and Hornish Jr. rounded out the
top-five after the stops.
The No.10 held off Castroneves on the restart and started to increase his
margin. By lap 150 the lead reached 1.3 seconds. Franchitti, who was running
in third, trailed Wheldon by more than four seconds.
On lap 158 Rice got into the marbles and slammed into the wall to bring out
another caution flag. This crash ended Rice's day after he had lead 37 laps of
the race.
During the caution period the leaders made their last pit stops of the race.
Another excellent stop by Wheldon helped him maintain the lead. Castroneves
came out of the pits in second. A great stop by Vitor Meira put him in the
third spot.
On the lap 169 restart Castroneves flew to the inside coming into turn one and
in the process went underneath Wheldon to take the lead. Wheldon and Meira
both started to fall back through the field.
The race became a three-car battle as Castroneves led Hornish Jr. and
Kanaan.
With 35 laps remaining the margin for the No.3 Honda reached two seconds. His
lead increased as Hornish Jr. and Kanaan battled each other for second. Kanaan
would eventually win the fight.
Only 24 laps were left in the race when disaster struck the race leader. In
turn four the right-rear wing bracket collapsed on Castroneves' car sending
him into the inside wall and ending his day. Castroneves led a race-high 126
of 225 laps.
Kanaan was now the leader after the crash by Castroneves. He led Hornish Jr.,
Wheldon and Franchitti to the restart with 17 laps remaining. Only a few laps
were run before Marco Andretti brought out a record sixth caution flag.
With 10 laps to go Kanaan led the field to the restart. The No.11 Andretti
Green Racing driver held onto his lead as the battle heated up behind him.
Franchitti passed Wheldon for the third spot but was looking to gain more.
The race had just seven laps left when another team Penske driver had wing
problems. Hornish Jr., who was in second, had a left-rear wing bracket
collapse. Franchitti would pass him for second as Hornish Jr. eventually took
his car down pit lane.
As the laps wound down it became clear that nobody was going to catch Kanaan,
barring any last minute mistakes by Kanaan. Kanaan kept it mistake free and
crossed the finish line.
Wheldon, Dixon and Meira completed the top-five.
Franchitti's second place finish moves him to the top of the standings with
221 points, three more than Wheldon. Dixon is third overall, just five points
behind Franchitti. With the win, Kanaan jumped up to fourth place 20 points
back.
The next IndyCar Series race is set for Saturday night, June 9th at the Texas
Motor Speedway.