DETROIT Australian driver Matt Mingay crashed during a trucks race at Belle Isle on Saturday, leaving him with facial injuries and in serious but stable condition.
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Entering the final 26 laps of the race, six cars, Juan Pablo Montoya, Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon, Bourdais and the Dale Coyne Racing twins of Conor Daly and Gabby Chaves went off sequence to not pit and leapfrog the leaders, with Will Power leading those who stopped.
Power finished 0.9203 of a second ahead of Penske team-mate Simon Pagenaud of France after 70 laps on the 2.35-mile (3.78 Km) Belle Isle street circuit.
The Frenchman took inspiration from Alexander Rossi’s stunning victory at last week’s Indianapolis 500 by using a smart strategy at Belle Isle Park. Montoya and Castroneves managed solid finishes, but Pagenaud slipped badly at the end and Will Power, another Penske star, had a shifting issue with about 25 laps to go and ended up 20th.
Power passed Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud on the restart on Lap 53, and while that only was for fifth place, the other cars in front of them still had to pit for fuel.
Brad Keselowski sits on the pole for the race which has a noon start in Pocono’s first Monday race since 2009. Sebastien Bourdais, victor of Dual 1, finished eighth.
“Helio got real unlucky with the yellow today because he had the race in hand”, said Power, who moved into seventh in the point standings despite missing the season opener.
Scott Dixon had a horror day yesterday when he was forced from the race, but recovered today to finish fifth in Detroit.
On Sunday, when weather conditions were not as much of a factor and the race was interrupted by only three short full-course cautions, Power and the No. 12 Chevrolet made sure that the fastest auto won. A lap later, Castroneves pitted and back to the lead when Pagenaud. We had a really good auto on long runs, but I struggled on cold tires.
Mingay’s truck overturned Saturday during the third of 10 scheduled laps in the race – the second of three races held this weekend in that series.
Power’s win gave Chevrolet the weekend sweep and team owner Roger Penske a hometown win. “We lost a ton of track position after that”.
Bourdais qualified 13th and spent the early stages of the race in the bottom half of the field.
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Hinchcliffe finished 21st, one position ahead of series rookie Max Chilton, who ran into the back of the Canadian.
