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Sunday, 12 June 2011 03:00 |
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Page 1 of 3  Dario Franchitti held off Target Chip Ganassi Racing team-mate Scott Dixon by 0.0527 of a second to win the first of the Firestone Twin 275s at Texas Motor Speedway while Will Power, who finished third in the first race of the Firestone Twin 275s at Texas Motor Speedway, took his maiden victory on an oval in the second 114 lap race.
Franchitti, who started second in the #10 Huggies car, overtook pole sitter Alex Tagliani before Lap 1 was complete and earned the two bonus points for leading the most laps plus the 25 points (half points) for the victory.
Twenty eight cars took the green flag for a Lap 104 double file restart following a Lap 94 incident involving cars #83 and #99 cars of Charlie Kimball and Wade Cunningham, respectively, in Turn 4.
Neither were injured. Up to that point, the race was on pace to be the quickest in IZOD IndyCar Series history.
Franchitti led Dixon by 0.0800 of a second and the closing Will Power in the #12 Verizon Team Penske car by 0.1312 of a second after Lap 109.
Dixon attempted moves to the high side and inside on the final two laps, but Franchitti's car was hugging the bottom of the 1.5 mile, high banked oval.
"What can I say about that one? From the first lap I was able to get in the lead, and the biggest problem was fighting through traffic," said Franchitti, who moved into ninth on the all time Indy car racing victory list with 28 (breaking a tie with Johnny Rutherford and one behind Rick Mears).
Franchitti started 28th in the second race as all 30 drivers selected their position by blind draw (turning a Firestone Firehawk tire with corresponding number on the back side).
Power finished third and Tagliani was fourth in the #77 Bowers & Wilkins car for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
"It's tough when cars on are bottom and have new tires, but I didn't try to (pass Franchitti) until the last lap. Dario's car, the Huggies car, is quick and was the class of the field. The race just blows by. It's hard to keep count how many laps are left," Dixon said.
The margin of victory was the fourth closest at Texas Motor Speedway (15 of 22 races have been decided by less than a second).
Takuma Sato recorded a career best fifth place on an oval in the #5 KV Racing Technology-Lotus car.
Sato, who earned his highest starting position on an oval a day earlier said: "It's a great feeling. I mean last year we had so much drama, and finally, finally, we've got something that we wanted. It was a very exciting race, with a lot two wide and sometimes three wide racing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it."
Ryan Briscoe finished sixth in the #6 IZOD Team Penske car, while E.J. Viso posted a season high seventh in the #59 PDVSA KV Racing Technology-Lotus car.
Vitor Meira, driving the #14 ABC Supply car for A.J. Foyt Racing, earned his 10th top 10 finish in 11 races at Texas, and Graham Rahal finished ninth in the #38 Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing car for his third consecutive top 10.
Helio Castroneves was 10th in the #3 AAA Insurance Team Penske car.
The drivers drew for their starting position for the 114 lap Race #2, Tony Kanaan, who finished 11th in Race 1, drew the pole position for Race #2 and will start next to Cunningham.
FIRESTONE TWIN 275s RACE #1 STATISTICS:
Winners average speed: 181.649
Time of Race: 54'47.2787
Margin of victory: 0.0527 of a second
Cautions: 1 for 10 laps
Lead changes: 6 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders:
Franchitti 1, Tagliani 2,, Franchitti 3-50, Dixon 51, Castroneves 52, Meira 53, Franchitti 54-114
Point Standings:
Power 212, Franchitti 205, Servia 156, Dixon 149, Kanaan 145, Rahal 131, Briscoe 128, Tagliani 127, Hildebrand 119, Sato 109.
FIRESTONE TWIN 275s RACE #1 RESULTS:
| Pos. |
Started |
Driver |
Car |
Laps |
Status |
| 1. |
2 |
Dario Franchitti |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 2. |
7 |
Scott Dixon |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 3. |
3 |
Will Power |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 4. |
1 |
Alex Tagliani |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 5. |
4 |
Takuma Sato |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 6. |
9 |
Ryan Briscoe |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 7. |
19 |
EJ Viso |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 8. |
12 |
Vitor Meira |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 9. |
20 |
Graham Rahal |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 10. |
13 |
Helio Castroneves |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 11. |
6 |
Tony Kanaan |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 12. |
21 |
Paul Tracy |
Dallara-Honda |
114 |
Running |
| 13. |
23 |
Marco Andretti |
Dallara-Honda |
113 |
Running |
| 14. |
25 |
Alex Lloyd |
Dallara-Honda |
113 |
Running |
| 15. |
28 |
Jay Howard |
Dallara-Honda |
113 |
Running |
| 16. |
10 |
Danica Patrick |
Dallara-Honda |
113 |
Running |
| 17. |
27 |
Justin Wilson |
Dallara-Honda |
113 |
Running |
| 18. |
5 |
Ed Carpenter |
Dallara-Honda |
113 |
Running |
| 19. |
16 |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Dallara-Honda |
113 |
Running |
| 20. |
15 |
James Hinchcliffe |
Dallara-Honda |
113 |
Running |
| 21. |
14 |
Oriol Servia |
Dallara-Honda |
112 |
Running |
| 22. |
24 |
Ana Beatriz |
Dallara-Honda |
112 |
Running |
| 23. |
11 |
JR Hildebrand |
Dallara-Honda |
112 |
Running |
| 24. |
22 |
Mike Conway |
Dallara-Honda |
112 |
Running |
| 25. |
30 |
James Jakes |
Dallara-Honda |
112 |
Running |
| 26. |
29 |
Simona de Silvestro |
Dallara-Honda |
111 |
Running |
| 27. |
18 |
Davey Hamilton |
Dallara-Honda |
109 |
Running |
| 28. |
26 |
Sebastian Saavedra |
Dallara-Honda |
97 |
Running |
| 29. |
8 |
Wade Cunningham |
Dallara-Honda |
92 |
Contact |
| 30. |
17 |
Charlie Kimball |
Dallara-Honda |
91 |
Contact |
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