Toronto - IndyCar Race: Power survives chaotic day in Toronto

On a day more fit for bumper cars and a demolition derby, Will Power survived the carnage to take his fourth win of the season, passing Justin Wilson on the outside on a late race restart before the Briton spun and dropped from contention. Dario Franchitti followed Power home, with Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, and a surprising Graham Rahal rounding out the top five.

The day started off tame, with Justin Wilson leading the field into turn on the start. Ryan Hunter-Reay made a quick jump into third, before dropping back to fourth a lap later.

The chaos started early as Dan Wheldon rear-ended E.J. Viso going into turn three on lap one, damaging his front wing. Up front, Wilson led Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, Hunter-Reay, and Scott Dixon.

Hometown favorite Paul Tracy gave the crowd a thrill in the early laps, jumping to 18th in the opening stint. Bertrand Baguette was also an early mover, jumping up from 16th to 12th in the early going.

A slew of full course yellows then started on lap 16 when Takuma Sato bumped wheels with KV teammate Mario Moraes in turn three, sending the Japanese driver off. "I caught up very rapidly on him out of turn two and pulled alongside of him on the back straight," explained an unhappy Sato. " We went into the braking area in turn three, but I guess he didn't see me out there and made contact which unfortunately ended my race." The leaders all pitted under the caution, with Castroneves leading Franchitti, Power, Wilson, and Hunter-Reay off pit lane. However, Paul Tracy and Vitor Meira stayed out, taking the top two spots.

The race went back green on lap 21, but only for a few corners, as Castroneves misjudged a passing attempt on Meira into turn three, similar to what happened between Castroneves and Dixon at Watkins Glen, and bumped Meira's left-rear with his right-front. The damage to Castroneves' car sent him sliding off and into the tires, bringing out a second full-course caution. "We had an awesome car and I think we could've fought for the win," said a frustrated Castroneves, who hasn't finished five of his last six races in Toronto. "(Meira) just broke very early going into the turn and I just didn't anticipate that. It's really too bad. The Team Penske crew had a great pit stop and we were looking strong. We'll regroup and come back with a better result next week at Edmonton."

Tracy led the field back to green on lap 27, but again, it only lasted a few corners. Alex Lloyd spun in turn one, backing it into the tire barrier, bringing out a third full-course caution. The green came back out on lap 32, only for a yellow to come out immediately once more, when Mario Moraes bumped Mario Romancini into turn three. Moraes was given a penalty for avoidable contact.

Meanwhile, amidst the sparse green flag running, Justin Wilson managed to pass Vitor Meira for fourth at turn three before the yellow for Romancini. Also, Franchitti passed Tracy for the lead, also in turn three. Under that fourth caution, Tracy and Meira surrendered their track position and pitted for tires and fuel, dropping them through the field. "We struggled the first little bit with the handling. The car seemed to come alive at the end. My pace was as fast as the leaders and I was pretty happy with that. The yellow flags hurt us in the end," explained Tracy after the race. "We want the first one and then get some green flag laps to get a little space for our second pit stop. But the three yellow flags put us in a bad position for our strategy."

Franchitti led the field back to the green flag on lap 35, ahead of Power, Wilson, Hunter-Reay, and Tony Kanaan, who was passed by Dixon three laps later. The order remained largely unchanged until lap 51, when teams began laying out for their second pit stops, with Ryan Briscoe and Alex Tagliani the first make their stops.

Approaching lap traffic, Franchitti’s team chose to pit him early on lap 54, hoping that Wilson and Power would be trapped and unable to turn fast in-laps. However, the plan backfired when Wilson and Power pitted one lap later, and managed to beat Franchitti out.

When all stops cycled through, Wilson led the field, and by as much as four seconds, with Power, Franchitti, Dixon, and Hunter-Reay following.

Delving deeper into the field, Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal, and Danica Patrick were enjoying solid days, running eighth, ninth, and 10th after their stops. Rahal would actually pass Andretti as the two exited the pits, completing his pass in turn three.

The carnage would continue through the stops, though without full-course cautions. Bertrand Baguette saw his solid day ruined as he stuffed his car into the turn three tire barrier, bringing out a local yellow on lap 57. Ryan Briscoe would also have trouble at the same spot on lap 61, when Rahal bumped him from behind, sending Briscoe spinning into the wall and damaging his front wing. The Australian made it back to the pits for a new wing, but lost a lap in the process. :"That was just really unfortunate to be taken out by a non-championship contender," siad Briscoe. "The Team Penske car was definitely capable of a top-five finish today and we lost a lot of valuable championship points. We were able to finish, but now we'll just have to put our heads down and get to work next weekend in Edmonton."

Meanwhile, Wilson continued lead, until a lap 65 caution for Raphael Matos and E.J. Viso; Matos spun over the curbing at turn five, collecting Viso in the process. Both were done for the day.

The lap 72 restart saw Power make the move of the race, passing Wilson on the outside going into turn one. Ryan-Hunter-Reay would also try to move up, getting alongside Scott Dixon into turn three. However, the American overcooked it a little and bumped Dixon in the wall on the exit, eliminating Dixon from competition. "He was just carrying way too much speed and hit the front of my car and put us in the tires," said an unhappy Dixon. "Before that, the car was pretty quick. We had troubles early on in the race but we definitely came back. Thought we could have had a shot at fourth or fifth but it didn't work out."

Meanwhile, Justin Wilson saw his chances for a win evaporate when he spun entering turn eight, dropping to 14th. He would finish a disappointing seventh. "As I went through Turn 7 I felt the car get sideways, so I got on the brakes,” explained a distraught Wilson, who appeared set to take a victory. “But I just locked the rears all the way through the brake zone and couldn’t get them unlocked enough to make the corner. It’s tough. Everyone at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and the guys on the Z-Line Designs car deserve so much better than that. We’ve made such great strides this weekend and for that to happen while we’re leading 15 laps from the end is so disappointing. I can’t apologize enough and I just want to move on to Edmonton now.”

With a wild restart behind them, Power began drawing away from Franchitti and Hunter-Reay, now second and third, with Kanaan and Rahal now fourth and fifth. Danica Patrick also benefited from others’ trouble, running in sixth. Simona de Silvestro also was having solid day, running 10th at that point.

However, one more caution was to come when Tomas Scheckter and Alex Tagliani, battling for seventh, made contact going into turn one on lap 74. Both spun into the tires, but did continue on. Still, another caution was flown.

But, no one was able to challenge Power, who set sail on the lap 77 restart and never looked back for his fourth win of the season. Franchitti, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, and Rahal rounded out the top five.

"I'm just really happy to be in the Verizon car," said a euphoric Power. "I knew just from the marbles and the pick-up that the restart was going to be really slippery. I saw (Wilson) make a mistake coming off the straight so I got a run on him and pulled it off."

Franchitti acknowledged that he didn't have anything for Power in the later stages. "Our Airwick car today was pretty good. It was all just about track position; I had to pit a lap early so Justin and Will jumped up ahead when they went a lap longer. This week we just didn't run quite quick enough, we were fast in practice, but wasn't quite fast enough to beat Will in the race," he said matter-of-factly.

Hunter-Reay was very pleased to simply survive the race and finish on the podium."With all the chaos and all the yellows that was going on it I almost lost it four or five times," explained the Long Beach winner. "But it was a great finish for Andretti Autosport, it's a great team and I'm just happy to race with this fresh outlook for the rest of the season and everything. It's looking good from so we'll just keep plugging away."

Tony Kanaan echoed his teammate's sentiments. "We did a great job today with what we had," he explained. "The guys had great stops and we, unfortunately, benefited from people's mistakes, but that's just the race. I've made some mistakes in the past that has cost me the race, but all in all, not bad."

Graham Rahal who rounded out the top five, was over-the-moon to have come home in fifth. "It feels really good to be back with Newman/Haas Racing and finish fifth with Quick Trim on board," said an elated Rahal, who hasn't race since Iowa. "A top-five finish is a great way to start off and move forward. The guys worked really hard this weekend. When we showed up the car wasn't close. In the race it was a lot better. It will be great going to my home race next at Mid-Ohio coming off of some momentum like this. The car was only put together Monday and left Tuesday afternoon without an engine. For us to throw this together and be as successful as we have been in the first outing hopefully means it will only get better from here."

With Toronto in the books, Will Power leads Dario Franchitti by a stout 42 points heading into Edmonton next week. Scott Dixon sits 78 points back in third, with Briscoe a further seven points behind in fourth. HGunter-Reay moved into fifth, and sits 91 points out of the lead.

Full results of the race on Toronto