From The Hills of Sonoma to Four Wide at Chicagoland

For those of us who enjoy hairpin turns, the change in speeds of 165 mph down to 70 mph and majestic hills of a road course like Sonoma; IZOD IndyCar is back to the ovals and they made sure it was an exciting evening at Chicagoland Speedway.

   

Like most races, the field started with much anticipation, “Drivers, start your engines!”  Throughout the night, Ryan Briscoe led the majority of laps, but drivers kept pushing him, at times up to four wide, leaving drivers little if any room for error.  Ultimately Will Power took the lead and looked to grab his sixth win of the season. When the field made their final pit at lap 172, the question being asked was: Which drivers were going to only fuel their cars and forgo a tire change and which drivers would spend the time for new rubber.

For Power, it was double trouble, Dario Franchitti did just that, his crew had faith that his Firestones would last for another 28 laps and he was first out of the pits.  Franchitti had been lingering at P10 for most of the race while Power had been aggressively pushing Briscoe and looked as if he could pull another last minute win out of Chicagoland.  Power took fuel and tires but his crew miss-calculated on the fuel which left him one gallon short causing him to pit at lap 199 and Franchitti cruised to victory circle.  Who said ovals can’t be exciting?

Jon Schackmuth for Avocado Motorsports Marketing

Artwork: copyright 2010 Wscott motorsports photography