Dario Franchitti Holds off Will Power To Win Honda Indy 200 at Mid Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ohio- Dario Franchitti used an early pit stop and a very fast car to overcome a poor start and win the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.  Franchitti’s Target Chip Ganassi pit crew managed to get him out ahead of Will Power during the lap 22 pit stop.  The quick exchange not only put him in position ahead of Power, but would eventually cycle into the lead.

Power started on the pole and lead the entire first section of the race until a caution on lap 22 due to a collision between Justin Wilson and EJ Viso.  Wilson had an inside run on Viso, who did not give ground and both cars ended up out of the race.

Alex Tagliani had pitted just before the caution and inherited the lead while the rest of the field completed yellow flag pit stops. During the exit of those pit stops, Ryan Hunter-Reay was sandwiched between the dual Penske cars of Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves.

The three made contact, and Hunter-Reay caught the worst of the action.  His left front suspension broke, putting a very competitive car out of contention for the win.  Hunter-Reay managed to salvage a tenth place finish after his Andretti Autosport team was able to fix the suspension and keep him on the lead lap.

Castroneves said it was just a racing incident on a tight pit lane.  Castroneves said, “We had a great pit stop, and got out right in front of Hunter-Reay who was avoiding other traffic.  It was just a tight pit and we got together.  I was surprised my race did not end right there, but it actually made my car better.”

Hunter-Reay had a different view of the incident, believing that he and Briscoe were racing, and that he had a good enough car to do well today without the incident.  “Helio just didn’t have any right to put his car there.  There was no room.  I was racing Briscoe and Helio knew that putting his nose there was going to create a contact situation.  Unfortunately, it hurt us.  We had a great car today- probably one of the best out there.”  Hunter-Reay continued, “The IZOD guys did an excellent job of fixing a bent suspension under yellow there and getting us back out there without losing a lap.  But, we still had big suspension problems for the rest of the race.  The car was pretty diabolical, but we were able to hand on for a top 10, which is a miracle, considering.”

Alex Tagliani appeared to have guessed right with his fuel strategy, as he lead the most laps in the race, leading from the initial yellow flag until his next pit stop with just thirty laps to go.  When the other cars cycled around, it was Franchitti, Power, and Castroneves who came out in front of Tagliani. 

The Canadian settled for a fourth place finish after the early gamble lead to great success.

The last pit stops set the stage for a thirty lap showdown between Power and Franchitti, as Franchitti was able to hold off the series points leader for the victory.  Castroneves finished third, while Ryan Briscoe finished fifth to give Penske three cars in the top five.

The story of the day however was Dario Franchitti and Target Chip Ganassi racing.  Ganassi had won the Grand Am Race the night before at Watkins Glen, and during the IndyCar race, Juan Pablo Montoya took the NASCAR race for Ganassi’s stock car team.  Franchitti joked that after the first round of pit stops, his crew came on the radio and told him of Montoya’s victory that it was all on Franchitti now.

He delivered by driving a near perfect finish after a shaky start.  When the green flag dropped, Franchitti dropped from second to third, as Takuma Sato and Will Power got an inside run on him and Franchitti got loose.  He managed to recover and pass Sato going into turn four before getting by Power in the pits.

“The key today was the first pit stop by the Target boys.  In practice, we had really struggled to get the car into the pit box with Will in front of us because of how tight it was.  We never got it right in practice, but it was perfect during the race and we passed him.”  Franchitti said.

The Scotsman was able to pick up 9 points on Power, moving forty-one points shy of the lead with one road course and four ovals remaining on the schedule.  Power’s strength is the road courses, and he will have to be strong at Sonoma in two weeks to hold the lead.  Power spoke of the points chase, “It looking like it may be just the two of us (Dario).  I have to finish ahead of him every week.”  Franchitti also seemed concerned with keeping Power behind him, noting that while he had good finishes the weeks before, Power had finished higher on the podium.

With the win, Franchitti ties Gordon Johncock for 12^th all-time in IZOD IndyCar history with twenty-five wins.

Rookie Simona DeSilverstro had her best finish of the year, as she guided her Team Stargate World Car to an eighth place finish.  In a field that featured eight rookies, as well as two newcomers to the IZOD Indycar series in Francesco Dracone and JR Hildebrand, the rookies faired very well.  Belgian driver Bertrand Baguette finished just outside the top ten with an eleventh place finish, his best of the year.  Baguette was in the top ten until Ryan Hunter-Reay made a mad charge to take the spot away.

Boy Scouts of America’s Alex Lloyd managed a thirteenth place finish, while JR Hildebrand finished sixteenth.  Hildebrand is in his first race with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing.  He will also race at Sonoma in an attempt to show teams that his 2009 Firestone Indy Lights championship skills are ready for the big time.

It was an exciting race from the cornfield of Ohio that featured five cautions for a total of fifteen laps, as well as four lead changes for a total of five leaders.  The IZOD Indycar Series will return in two weeks to the rolling wine vineyards of Sonoma, California for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.