Hinchcliffe battles back to take the Victory; Championship still in view

Those in attendance for this afternoon's Chicagoland 100, the appetizer to the main course of the PEAK Antifreeze & Moter Oil Indy 300, were treated to quite a show, as Pippa Mann narrowly missed her first Indy Lights victory, succumbing to the hard charging James Hinchcliffe in the third closest finish in Indy Lights history following an attrition filled 67 laps.

The field got off to a clean start, with Martin Plowman and Pippa Mann leading the way and fighting side by side from the get go, followed by a tight group of chasers

A scary incident on lap 6 saw Charlie Kimball and Gustavo Yacaman get together on the outside of turn 2, after some dicing with James Hinchcliffe. The incident would see Kimball get airborne and flip over and sliding on his lid for several feet along the backside. Both drivers would be checked and cleared, but retired from the race.

The next incident would be one of the turning points of the race, when after multiple laps of wheel to wheel dicing, Plowman and Mann touched ever so slightly, with Mann's front left wing cut Plowman's right rear. The incident would drop Plowman to the back of the back, all hopes of a second victory lost. Despite his best efforts to get back in the fray, he would again see his luck change for the worst when he brushed the wall on lap 58, ending his day for goo. He would finish 13th.

There would be two other cautions for singular incidents. Sebastian Saavedra, having a very strong run, would see engine woes end his charge, and Brandon Wagner would spin off into the infield, bringing his day to the end.

Through all the melees, both JK Vernay and more impressively James Hinchcliffe made their way through the field to take on Pippa Mann for the win, with Hinchcliffe prevailing. Even more impressive than Hinchcliffe's charge from the back, was fellow Canadian Phillip Major's tenacity, managing to hold off the heavy hitters to hang on for the third step of the podium.

The Lights now head to Kentucky for their penultimate race of the 2010 season.

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