Edmonton-IndyCar Race: Dixon awarded win after Penske controversy

Will Power led the most laps, Helio Castroneves snatched the lead from him on lap 77, and they looked set for a Penske 1-2 until a late-race restart with three laps to go. Power tried passing Castroneves on the outside going into turn one, but saw Castroneves defend his line and hold him off. However, race control deemed Castroneves to be blocking, and penalized the three-time Indy 500 winner with a drive-through penalty. That left Scott Dixon to win the Honda Edmonton Indy.

"Brian always says that if you're blocking going into any corner and you are on the right side - especially into Turn 1, you're going to get a penalty. We get told every week, so you could see something was going to happen. We had a great run with the Target car and kept it in a typical line. It was a tough day. The Target car was pretty loose. I can't believe that we won," explained a surprised Dixon.

Power led from the start, dominating the race from there. Behind him, Paul Tracy and Marco Andretti were the biggest movers, each picking up five spots, with Tracy going from 15th to 10th, and Andretti from 16th to 11th.

Tony Kanaan was also moving up, running as high as 17th through the first stint, having come from 24th on the grid.

Another impressive performance was put in by Simona de Silvestro, who made an early pass on E.J. Viso for sixth, and held that spot for the first half of the race.

The running order remained largely unchanged, especially at the front, through the opening round of pit stops, with Power holding his lead through the first half of the race.

The first caution was flown on lap 47, when Alex Lloyd spun and stalled on the grass in between turns five and six. That set off a sequence of multiple yellow flags, similar to what we saw at Toronto, with the subsequent restarts full of carnage.

First, on lap a 50 restart, Simona de Silvestro saw a very strong day hampered when E.J. Viso bumped her from behind, spinning the driver known as Swiss Miss, with the car stopping just shy of the tire barrier. Viso was given a penalty for avoidable contact. Their incident brought a second full-course yellow.

The race was barely back under green conditions on lap 53 when Tony Kanaan bumped Alex Tagliani going into turn one, spinning the Canadian, who was then collected in the left-front by Mario Romancini. Both dropped out, and a third full-course yellow was called.

Power led the field on the lap 57 restart, with Paul Tracy, then up to seventh through the chaos, passing Ryan Hunter-Reay for sixth. At the same time, Ryan Briscoe lost fourth place to Scott Dixon, then fifth to Dario Franchitti.

The pace settled down through the second of stops, before the race once again turned wild. Will Power was held up by a slowing Tomas Scheckter heading onto the front-straightaway. His loss of momentum allowed Helio Castroneves, who had stalked Power the entire race, to pass his teammate on the inside going into turn one. Castroneves then began drawing away from Power, who was falling into the clutches of Dixon and Franchitti.

However, the field was neutralized once more when Simona de Silvestro, who fought her way back up 11th, slowed on the course, pulling off into the grass at turn six. However, she was still in a dangerous position, and one more caution was flown with six laps remaining, bunching the field up once more.

The restart, with three laps left, started the late-race controversy. Power tried a move around the outside of Castroneves. Castroneves held him off, with Dixon then jumping around Power into second. At the same time, Paul Tracy dive-bombed Ryan Briscoe for fifth, but slid a little wide on the exit of turn one, allowing Briscoe back through. He then slid off course at turn three, allowing Hunter-Reay through for sixth.

Castroneves looked set to take his second win of the season. But, one lap later, the officials ruled that he blocked Power on the restart, giving him a drive-through penalty. He never did come in, and was scored 10th at race's end. "I never moved my line," Castroneves said after the race. "I actually did move him outside. When you go side by side like that with your teammate and they just take it away from you, it's just absurd."

Power, who somewhat agreed with the call, sympathized with his frustrated teammate. ""I got a run on him and he blocked me," he recalled. "I would say a black flag is a pretty harsh penalty, but it is what it is. It was just one of those racing things. When you're leading on the last restart you want to keep the lead."

Dixon was scored the winner, with Power second, Franchitti third, Briscoe fourth, and Hunter-Reay fifth.

A furious Castroneves jumped out of his car and had a very heated conservation with technical director Kevin Blanche, which saw the emotional Penske driver poking and grabbing Blanche in anger over the penalty. Nevertheless, the call stands, and Dixon is the race winner.

"Obviously, I disagree with the decisions made by the race officials on the last restart in today's race, but there is no excuse for my actions after the checkered flag," Castroneves said after he calmed down. "I apologize to my team, our sponsors, the fans and the entire IZOD IndyCar Series community for my behavior. My actions were totally wrong and I acted inappropriately to some people who are my friends and people I respect very much. Obviously, I am a very emotional person and today I let my emotions get the better of me and I'm very sorry for that."

Outside of the wild finish, other stories included Paul Tracy rebounding from a tough race in Toronto to finish sixth in Edmonton. "It was a good finish for the Honda Canada - Make-A-Wish - Motegi Wheels - KV Racing team today. Our goal was to make money for Make-A-Wish these last two weeks and they raised over $112,000 for the two races," said a very happy Tracy. "It feels great to help the kids and the families. My second goal was to have a good time. Then we wanted a good finish and we pulled it off today. It feels so good to race in front of the Canadian fans. They really enjoy their racing. Both Toronto and Edmonton support these events so well. It is tough to come in as a spot driver and perform well. This place is so hard and physical on a driver. So coming from 15th and finish sixth feels very good. I just wish we could get the car figured out earlier in the weekend to get a better starting spot. I think we can race with the leaders if can do that. Overall, today was good for the whole KV Racing team. I just wish I could race again this year."

Also, Ryan Hunter-Reay continued to carry the Andretti Autosport flag, finishing fifth. "Coming out of here with a top five almost feels like a victory," said a relieved Hunter-Reay. "The guys did a great job and it was another good points day for us. We just didn't really have it this weekend. But, sometimes a team is measured by how well they do at a time when they're missing a little something and I think Team IZOD showed what it is made of."

With a pair of chaotic races north of the border in the books, Power leads Franchitti by 50 points heading into Mid-Ohio. Hunter-Reay moved around Castroneves into fifth in the standings, 104 points out of the lead.

Full results of the race on Edmonton