IRL Toronto: Will Power Saves Penske's Lost Weekend With 150th Win

Will Power salvaged an expensive weekend for his owner Roger Penske as he benefited from a Justin Wilson mistake late in the Toronto IRL street course race Sunday July 18, 2010.

The win was Roger Penske's 150th open wheel win in Penske's storied career as the most decorated open wheel owner in the history of the sport.  The win provided by Will Power , came as four of the five cars Penske fielded for two races this weekend were involved in four separate crashes, destroying three of the cars.

Roger Penske's Weekend Was Costly With Four Wrecked Cars in 2 Series

Roger Penske watched the NASCAR Nationwide race at Gateway International Saturday and witnessed his two cars get demolished in separate crashes. First it was his young protege, Justin Allgaier blowing a tire then getting hit from behind, shortening up his Verizon Nationwide car.

Next it was his NASCAR Nationwide point leading car driven by Brad Keselowski getting roughed up and disintegrated after yet another incident with Carl Edwards .  Penske was hoping Sunday in Toronto would be much less costly but his hopes were not realized.

Helio Makes a Costly Mistake Followed By Briscoe in Toronto

Helio Castroneves made a rare mistake entering the dangerous right-hander that claimed many cars throughout the day.  Castroneves misjudged a slower car, slammed into the outside crash barrier and then traveled all the way down the runoff area into the tire barriers in a hard crash.

Ryan Briscoe was also involved in a crash in the same right hand turn but he returned to the track two laps down, finishing 18th.

Drivers That Stayed Out of Trouble Finished Well

All four of Michael Andretti's Andretti Autosport cars finished in the top 10 led by the newest driver, American Ryan Hunter-Reay .  Tony Kanaan finished fourth, while Danica Patrick finished sixth, followed by Marco Andretti in eighth.

The entire team appeared to have the same strategy.  Avoid contact and let the others get in trouble.  Still, the Toronto street course is one of the most difficult tracks the series travels to so Andretti Motorsports accomplishments cannot be written off.

Dario Franchitti survived a few scares to finish a distant second to Power and Graham Rahal returned to Newman Haas, his former team and he looked solid finishing fifth after only working with the team for two days prior to the Toronto IRL race.

IRL Travels to the Airport Course In Edmonton July 25

The IRL will continue their summer swing through Canada with a stop in Edmonton on another traditionally violent but open course, laid out at the Edmonton City Centre Airport .  Paul Tracy will attempt to redeem himself from his 15th place finish in Toronto and win a race in Canada this year.

Todd Jacobs is featured on many websites you may contact him through Suite 101 , Associated Content or view his handicapping picks on www.lasvegasinsideinfo.co .