Will Power got back to his winning ways on Sunday.
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Conor Daly impressed once again with a mature drive to sixth, following on from his maiden IndyCar podium finish during the opening race of the weekend yesterday in second.
“I think it just gives the whole crew some confidence”, he continued. It’s been a tough start to the year.
The key move came with about 18 laps remaining, shortly after a restart.
“It’s been a weekend where we were knocking on the door”, Power said. “But there was a space and I went for it”. “They’re working really well for us and it paid off, so I’m really, really delighted”. “I was really struggling on cold tires”. – Defending Top Fuel season champion Antron Brown raced to his first No.1 qualifier of the season at the NHRA New England Nationals.
The KVSH racer led for several laps, pulling out a decent lead before finally making a final splash and dash pit-stop.
Power would have set a track record in qualifying, but the Australian was penalized for interference and had his top two laps taken away.
At the front, however, Pagenaud’s care-free Sunday drive had come to and end as Kanaan cut the gap to a half second and was putting the big pressure on the series points leader.
On Lap 41, Castroneves slipped past his Penske teammate and into the lead.
Tony Kanaan could only manage a distant seventh, despite running as high as second and pressuring Pagenaud for the lead before pitting under caution and losing ground. Castroneves would restart 15th.
KV Racing Technology’s Bourdais started from 13th on the grid but outsmarted the leading pack in the pits, emerging from his final stop with 13 laps to go in first place. American Alexander Rossi, who won the Indianapolis 500 five days ago, will start 17th Saturday in the #98 NAPA Auto Parts/Curb Honda.
Ryan Hunter-Reay was third and Josef Newgarden fourth. “He made a good pass on us”, Pagenaud said. “I couldn’t dream of that, I don’t know how we got there”.
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Dixon, however, had electrical issues and finished 19th. Fast facts: Helio Castroneves has a series-high three wins in Detroit, including his first career victory in 2000. The problem, Hinchcliffe said, was that he was forced into the wall by Carlos Munoz of Andretti Autosport. I wouldn’t want anyone to just stop for me. “It was such an unnecessary, BS accident to happen”, Hinchcliffe, the Indy 500 pole-winner, said. Look for him to get on track today.
