Friday, October 7, 2011

IZOD IndyCar Series: Carpenter upsets, Power stumbles in Kentucky

Carpenter nips Franchitti at the line by 0.0098 seconds.
Credit: Bret Kelley, IndyCar.com

In a stunning photo finish, Sarah Fisher Racing driver Ed Carpenter claimed his first career victory over Dario Franchitti by 0.0098 seconds. The victory came after 113 previous starts and two previous consecutive runner-up finishes at Kentucky Speedway in 2009 and 2010. The victory was the first for a non big-3 (Penske/Ganassi/Andretti) car on a 1.5 mile oval since Scott Sharp won for Fernandez racing at the same track in 2005, and the first for Sarah Fisher's 5-year-old organization.


Ed's victory has been hotly discussed this week as one of the most popular victories in years. What's not to love? A small team, a driver who had yet to get to victory lane, and a hometown story; Sarah Fisher is the current track record holder at Kentucky Speedway, and Ed is from Speedway, Indiana, just a few short hours away. Ed's victory comes as a vindication of sorts, after having finished second to Ryan Briscoe in a photo finish in 2009, and finishing second again in 2010 after winning the pole and leading late in the race just to get snookered by Helio Castroneves' fuel mileage gambit. In a reversal of fortunes, Ed took the victory using the identical methods used by Ryan Briscoe in 2009, only this time Ed took the high side instead of leaving himself vulnerable on the bottom.


While Ed was celebrating, Will Power was trying to gather his thoughts and find out how to proceed forward. He was struck by Ana Beatriz on pit lane on lap 49, leaving a 2-foot gash in his sidepod.

The damage to Power's car.
Credit: Chris Jones, Indycar.com

Due to the damage occurring under green-flag conditions, Power was unable to return to the pits to get the damage surveyed until the lap 80 debris caution. Efforts to repair the sidepod with body tape were fruitless, and due to unique mounting brackets for each dallara chassis's bodywork from car to car, obtaining the spare sidepod cover from Power's backup car was not a viable option. Power admitted he was helpless in the situation, and that there was nothing he could do. Now that he's trailing Dario going into this final race, he says that all he can do is bring his A-game to the table and not worry about what Dario does. If Power can win the pole, lead the most laps, and win the race, Dario must finish 2nd to win the title. A third-place result for Dario will lock himself and Power into a tie at the top of the standings, which Power will win based on the first tiebreaker (victories).  

The other big story going into Las Vegas, and its a 5-million-dollar question, is this: can Dan Wheldon win the race and take home the ginormous payday from 34th place? Wheldon started 28th in Kentucky and recovered to finish 14th. While this admittedly is a poor showing, it is disregarded by many people that Wheldon had to come from the way back not just once, but on two separate occasions due to the caution coming out around the same time he pitted. After pitting under green from 11th on lap 79, Wheldon recovered from 25th to finish 14th. He will officially be in the #77 Bowers & Wilkins at Magnolia Dallara for the chassis' swansong event.

With regard to Wheldon and the Sam Schmidt team, I definitely think he's capable of taking home the prize. Think of it this way: he has three cars to pull data from, his teammate has been fast in every 1.5 mile oval race he's run at, and his other teammate finish top-7 within reach of the leaders. Do I think Wheldon can do it? We'll see!

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