The green flag fell on lap 74, which Hinchcliffe, who led the race when it was red flagged in June, held the lead on the restart and faced challenges from Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Ed Carpenter, Helio Castroneves, and Graham Rahal. The downforce settings combined with lower temperatures created a lot of grip for the cars, allowing them to run very closely for several laps.
However, Hinchcliffe managed to separate himself as the run continued while others faltered, most notably Ryan Hunter-Reay, who struggled with an ill-handling car much of the night. Hinchcliffe, led Castroneves, Rahal, and Carpenter for much of the night, only losing the lead briefly during rounds of pit stops.
It appeared that Hinchcliffe might walk away with the victory. After a final round of green flag pit stops,
"Hinch" led Carpenter while Castroneves ran third, but needed one final stop after going off strategy earlier in the race. But, the entire complexion of the race change on lap 213 when Carpenter made contact with Scott Dixon entering turn one. Dixon spun into the outside wall and, while unhurt, emerged from the car very unhappy with Carpenter.
Under caution, Hinchcliffe and Car, penter stayed out while the other lead lap cars, which were only Castroneves, Kanaan, and Rahal at the time pitted for tires and fuel.
Racing resumed on lap 220 with Hinchcliffe holding the lead from Carpenter as lapped traffic got in the mix. But, the green was only out for a few moments before Carpenter crashed himself, collecting Castroneves in the process, exiting turn four. Castroneves pitted for repairs to the front and rear wings, but Carpenter was out on the spot.
Racing resumed on lap 230 and Hinchcliffe and three-wide with Kanaan as they battled traffic before another caution for for Mikhail Aleshin, who crashed in turn four with Jack Hawksworth. Of note, the sequence of cautions allowed Simon Pagenaud to get back on the lead lap. He and Kanaan pitted for tires under the caution.
A restart with eight laps remainings saw the most intense racing of the night. Hinchcliffe, Rahal, Kanaan, and Pagenaud battled side-by-side, often three and four wide for the lead, even making contact occasionally. In fact, Rahal's front wing had a piece of Kanaan's car on it at race's end.
On the white flag lap, Rahal was able to clear Kanaan and dive inside of Hinchcliffe entering turn three. While Hinchcliffe battled back and was alongside of Rahal at the line, Rahal just barely kept a nose in front to secure his first victory of the year, while a visibly frustrated Hinchcliife had to settle for second ahead of Kanaan, Pagenaud, and Castroneves.
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