KYLE LARSON SWEEPS AUTO CLUB 400 RACE WEEKEND

Minutes before the end. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

The Happy Crew. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

After the Checker. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

A Very Happy Chip Ganassi. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

Only time I saw Chad Johnston smile. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

One Happy Race Driver. (Photo by: Dicken Wear)

FONTANA, Calif. – Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series leader and Elk Grove, Calif. native Kyle Larson (No. 42, Target Chevrolet) made Auto Club Speedway home sweet home this weekend and atoned for runner-up finishes in each of his previous three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts by pulling into victory lane at the 21^st Annual Auto Club 400 Sunday.

Larson’s second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 116 starts comes on the heels of winning the pole position for the race on Friday and winning Saturday’s XFINITY Series Service King 300 race. He is the first driver to win both races and the Cup Series qualifying run in one weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary throughout 2017, Auto Club Speedway hosted its 28^th NASCAR Cup Series race – second all-time among active California racetracks – and crowned its 16^th winning NASCAR Cup Series driver.

“Lots of fun to be Kyle Larson right now,” Larson said. “Our race cars are really fast in XFINITY and Cup. Our cars are, by far, the best they’ve ever been. I feel I have a shot to win at every race track. I came out of (Turn) 4 (on the final lap) and I told them (the crew team) on the radio to put the bridesmaid’s dress back in the closet. I don’t want to wear that ever again. It was a solid weekend. Definitely the best of my NASCAR career.”

Larson, 24, is the fourth driver to sweep the weekend of Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY races at Auto Club Speedway, following the lead of Kyle Busch (2013), Matt Kenseth (2007) and Kasey Kahne (2006).

Larson, who finished second at Auto Club Speedway during his rookie year in 2014, led for 110 laps overall and increased his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season points lead to 29 over Chase Elliott.

2015 Auto Club 400 champion Brad Keselowski (No. 2, Wurth Ford) endured a battle of attrition as his car was hit four laps into the race and on another occasion. Yet, he gradually worked his way back to a runner-up finish.

Recording his eighth top-10 finish in 17 career Auto Club Speedway starts and his fourth top-10 finish on the  Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series circuit this year, Keselowski encountered a fender bender with six-time Auto Club Speedway champion Jimmie Johnson (No. 48, Lowe’s Chevrolet) in Turn 4, leading to the race’s first caution flag.

“I got ran over the back and it did a lot of damage to the car. And then I got ran over again. The car was all torn up,” Keselowski said. “A lot of adversity but we were able to overcome it. We executed after the restarts. It takes a little bit of execution, good work by the team and luck the last few yellows.

“By the time things cleared up, Kyle (Larson) was far gone. It’s impressive to me that he’s been able to sustain it a handful of weeks in a row to start the new season. You knew this was going to be a good track for him, and it’s the type of track that suits his style the best.”

Clint Bowyer (No. 14, Rush Truck Centers Ford) placed third after starting the race from the 17^th position. It was Bowyer’s eighth top-10 finish in 17 races at Auto Club Speedway. Daniel Suarez (No. 19, Subway Toyota) placed as the highest-finishing rookie, in seventh.

The Auto Club 400 featured 17 lead changes among eight different leaders, and seven caution flags for a total of 29 laps. Four of the race’s five caution flags that weren’t related to stage finishes dropped in the last 20 laps.

A caution prompted Larson to pit and further refresh his tires with seven laps to go. Only three cars stayed out of pit row during this caution including Martin Truex Jr. (No. 78, Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Toyota), who was running second at the time. The move paid off for Larson as he restarted third and regained the lead on Lap 197. One more late caution, on Lap 198, pushed the race’s final lap tally to 202.

“I was just trying to stay calm and focused on what was ahead of me and what I needed to do in the restarts,” Larson said. “Seems like every time I get in the lead in one of these NASCAR races, a lot of cautions drop.”

2016 Auto Club 400 winner Johnson began the race in 37^th position (out of 39) and placed 21st. He fell two laps back of the leader in the first half of the race.

The first two 60-lap stages of the Auto Club 400 were won by Larson and Truex Jr. in succession, with Larson winning the final 80-lap stage at Auto Club Speedway’s two-mile oval.  (Story Courtesy of ACS Media Office).

Green Flag To Checkered Flag - #TGPLB42 Was One For The Record Books

P1 Simon Pagenaud as he is approached for his first interview in the TGPLB42 Victory Circle. Question in post-race press conference - "We talked before last year about going to Penske, and when you don't reel off that first win when you're driving for Team Penske pretty quickly, does the pressure kind of mount race to race to get that first win? The next question you're going to be sick of, now that you've got your first win, when are you going to get your next one?" - SIMON PAGENAUD: "Here we go again. You guys never stop, do you? Well, I guess it's just like racing. You never stop, you always go to the next step, and that's very true. It's a great question." Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2016)

Green Flag To Checkered Flag - #TGPLB42 Was One For The Record Books

The story of the 42nd edition of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach race in Round 3 of the Verizon IndyCar Series was told without pause (Yellow Flag) for debris, accidents, or just to take a breath.

From the drop of the Green Flag to start the contest between 21 Honda and Chevrolet powered open-wheel race cars featuring three main leaders (Penske Racing's Verizon Pole Award winning Helio Castroneves, Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, and Penske Racing's Simon Pagenaud), the race did not see another flag wave until the record-setting end when Simon Pagenaud held off an always charging Scott Dixon to the Start/Finish Line, crossing it as the Checkered Flag flew with a 0.3032 of a second margin ... the closest finish in the 33 Indy car races held at Long Beach and the fastest ever with an average speed of 100.592 mph.

This was Simon Pagenaud's first win since joining Team Penske as it's fourth driver with Will Power, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Helio Castroneves. By crossing the line ahead of Scott Dixon under controversy of a violation of Rule 7.10.1.1 (found on Page 97 - highlighted in post-race comments below), it gave Pagenaud five career Verizon IndyCar Series wins overall.

Driver relation discussions begin on Parade Lap around the TGPLB42 circuit. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2016)

This excerpted and edited from TRANSCRIPT - Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Post-Race Press Conference -

Q. In the drivers' meeting, what was the rule regarding your right-side tires and the yellow blend line coming out of the pits? What did they tell you you had to do with your right-side tires?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: I will not go into that. I don't know. I don't remember to be honest what they said. But certainly in practice we have to look -- what we've got to do. I don't recall.

Helio Castroneves comments on the rarity of a 100% Green Flag event - You're right, it's very rare. I guess that's one of the things related to the aero package. It's very difficult to get close to another guy, at least I was having this issue. I'm not sure about Scott. But I feel that probably those are the scenario. So if you don't get even close, you can't take a chance, or young drivers cannot make mistakes, and the yellow doesn't come up. I don't think it's a matter of long distance. I think it's just a matter of that kind of scenario, and that's why it was very difficult to pass.Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2016)

Q. It's rare for a street race to go green the whole way. Would you like to see a longer race next year?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: You're right, it's very rare. I guess that's one of the things related to the aero package. It's very difficult to get close to another guy, at least I was having this issue. I'm not sure about Scott. But I feel that probably those are the scenario. So if you don't get even close, you can't take a chance, or young drivers cannot make mistakes, and the yellow doesn't come up. I don't think it's a matter of long distance. I think it's just a matter of that kind of scenario, and that's why it was very difficult to pass.

After a conversation with Simon Pagenaud, Scott began to adjust his gaze toward the real culprits to his P2 finish behind the Penske Racing driver. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2016)

THE MODERATOR: I'd like to welcome the second-place finisher today, Scott Dixon, driver of car No. 9, the Target Chip Ganassi Chevrolet, reigning series champion, with a second-place finish today. Still second in the points, 14 behind Simon Pagenaud. Take us through your day today, please.

SCOTT DIXON: Yeah, it was definitely a pretty fierce battle up front, a bit of lapped traffic, some pit stop sequence, people trying to pit short, go longer, etc, etc, so it was quite exciting, I think, for ins and outs and when to use your overtakes and things like that. I think on the last one we got caught off guard a little bit before the pit sequence had already been finished, and then to hear when we're coming down the straight that the 22 was just coming out, we had actually backed off already and started saving fuel. With the gap that we had on Helio, I really didn't think we had to worry about too much and didn't get any warning from the pits. Obviously that scenario was a lot closer than we anticipated, and then when we got to Turn 1, it appeared that Simon turned a little early and crossed the line that you're not meant to cross. But it is what it is, so second place today, and Team Target did a hell of a job, and pit stops were clean, and I think we had really good pace, but personally I think we should have won the race.

Q. Scott, I'll ask you the same question that was asked of Helio. Coming out of the drivers' meeting, how did you understand that yellow line at the end of pit road, how was that supposed to work for the drivers?

SCOTT DIXON: This one is always very clear and is always mentioned, and we have two drivers' meetings a weekend, and it was clearly stated. I think if you look at the PDF, it's even in the PDF view that everybody gets, and I believe in the first one on Friday, it was asked several times about that. By all means any time you could not put more than two wheels over the line, and that was my understanding. I thought we were done with warnings and all this sort of wish wash stuff and we're going to stick to hard rules, but obviously that wasn't the case today.

THE MODERATOR: If we can clarify at this point, the rules violation that was put into effect was Rule 7.10.1.1, which is lane usage, which reads, "Failing to follow designated procedures entering or exiting the pit area, including the proper use of the acceleration and deceleration zones." Now, within the new penalty guidelines that were established this year for the race stewards, they do have the capabilities of issuing just a warning under that guideline, and that was a decision of the race stewards that it was the best decision in that instance to issue a warning.

SCOTT DIXON: In defense of that, I thought we had outlawed warnings. Yes, a warning was clarified at some point, but this was the problem we had in the offseason with people getting warnings all the time, especially when you're using it to your advantage when it's the last pit stop sequence or anything like that. If you're just going to get a warning every time you're going to do it, that's why this was discussed so deeply in the off-season, and why there was about 40 or 50 warning zones in the rule book removed. Obviously a few topics of conversation after this weekend. I don't even know why we discussed the pit lane exit if we're not going to stick to rules. Everybody else abided by it.

Q. My question is kind of on the same tone. The way I understood you say that is that for that particular rule there's a warning in effect, so what rules have warnings and which rules don't?
THE MODERATOR: There was a guideline, penalty guidelines document that was issued prior to the Phoenix race a couple weeks ago, and as I said, this one does have the ability for the steward to issue either a warning or to order a car to the back of the field for what they determined a mid-level penalty or a maximum penalty, which would be a drive through and/or a stop-and-go penalty. The race steward decided to issue the warning in this instance.
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#TGPLB42 podium - P3, Castroneves - P1, Pagenaud - P2, Dixon. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2016)

Q. Scott, you're pretty collected; is that Kiwi reserve, or do you have a speed bag at home to take out some frustrations?

SCOTT DIXON: Well, I was pretty mad once I got out of the car even with the last sort of 15 laps waiting for a drive-through or at least a swap of positions. I was even a little mad at Simon after the race, but it's not his fault. You've got to try to take advantage whenever you can, but he doesn't make the rules or put the rules forward. Huge credit obviously to Simon. He raced a fantastic race, and it was a great win for him and the team. You know, I can't be mad at him, so I'll direct my anger some other direction.
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Q. Could you see the violation? Did he not appear where you thought he would as you're coming down the front stretch?

SCOTT DIXON: Yeah, it definitely seemed a lot closer. When you're coming down there and we go through this scenario every practice session, every qualifying, etc, etc, and typically when you see the car, they still have to go down quite a ways to then turn back, which tries to stop the cars merging or hitting each other on the exit, and it seemed closer than normal. But when you're in those confines and going at the speeds you are, it is sometimes a little hard to judge.

Q. You've been to a lot of racetracks around the world; can you imagine some sort of physical barrier, rumble strips or whatever, not to block the track for people not pitting, but can you imagine some barrier that would take away the whole idea of a judgment call there so you've got to go around it or you don't?

SCOTT DIXON: It shouldn't be a judgment call. It's a rule, so that's what it comes down to.
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Q. Scott, I'm curious what it's like for the driver in the cockpit, just how far in front they can see with the way the front wing is, because when Simon was interviewed after the race he was asked about that exit and the warning, and he said, well, the rule was as long as I kept my right-side tires to the right of the dots, I was fine, and he clearly missed like about three feet of those -- there's some little things down there just to the right of those yellow lines, so he thinks he didn't violate anything until he'll see the video, but I'm just wondering what you can actually see in the cockpit.

SCOTT DIXON: You know, I don't know how many times we go in and out of the pits over a weekend, but a lot. You can see it pretty clearly, yeah.
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"I won. I'm happy." stated Simon Pagenaud at the post race press conference. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2016)

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome to the podium the winner of today's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, driver of car No. 22, the PPG Automotive Finish Chevrolet for Team Penske, Simon Pagenaud. Simon earned his fifth career victory today, his first with Team Penske, his first win since Houston 2014. He extends his championship lead. Simon, congratulations.
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Q. When they said your pit exit was under review, was there any time when you were wondering, oh, can I have my magic moment kind of hindered here?

SIMON PAGENAUD: No, I actually didn't know. Nobody mentioned it. (Strategist) Kyle (Moyer) didn't tell me on the radio. I just focused on the job. I really honestly didn't know it was that close. I wouldn't have changed anything honestly. We're talking -- to make it like an easy call to say it's no penalty or no warning, it would have been that much more. So it just made it great for TV and for you to understand, but actually INDYCAR has made it really clear this year what you can and cannot do, and it was certainly on the verge of being a stronger penalty, but I did get a warning. I only did it once in the race. Same for Munoz. Munoz did the same thing, so I guess it was a clear understanding for race control.
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Q. Simon, I know you made it clear, you said IndyCar has made it really clear what you can and can't do, but are you concerned that going forward warnings are kind of a gray area and if you're on the losing end you might get bit by somebody that gets a warning type deal?

SIMON PAGENAUD: I mean, no, I thought it was -- they've done this manual. They've done a manual that they actually sent to all the drivers, and the drivers' association and IndyCar and the teams actually worked with IndyCar to understand what was going to be a warning, what was going to be a minimum penalty, so a warning, mid-penalty and higher penalty. Each one of those levels has a different consequence.

You know, going into the race, I know the rule book, so I know that that line, I know you can take risks. I know you can get on the limit. It's just racing at the end of the day, and quite frankly, like I said, another inch to the right wouldn't have changed the outcome of the race.

Q. Remarkably this race stayed green, which is the first time it's happened in many years, and a lot of the drivers are saying it was too quick, and they would like a three-pit race, a lengthened race. What's your take on that?
SIMON PAGENAUD: I won. I'm happy. (Laughter.)

No, I don't have any -- it was very quick. I mean, it was like -- after 50 laps, I was like, wow, we're almost done here. The pace of the cars are really fast nowadays compared to 10 years ago. The pace is really, really strong. We brake really late. We carry a lot of speed through the corners and pretty fast on the straights, too. We go up to 190 on the straight now.

So yeah, there's a lot of speed. I don't know, personally it was fun for me as a driver because it was pure racing. It was about doing a perfect out lap, being on the limit every lap, so it's certainly not as exciting from outside, but I thought the pit sequence made it exciting. I'm a happy person. I thought our strategy worked out well, so personally I think the job is done.
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Pagenaud's No. 22 Penske Racing Dallara bounces across rumble curbing through Turn 9 past the colorful "Suite Row" while leading Scott Dixon at the #TGPLB42. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2016)

Q. Somebody was talking the other day, and they said that part of their problem with passing in a lot of corners is the brakes are so good that you brake way later than you used to and everybody can do it because the brakes are that good. Is that, in fact, a problem when you want to pass where you used to and now it's not so easy?

SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, I think the cars are just -- I mean, actually before the weekend, I study a lot, as you guys know, so I reviewed a lot of onboard cameras from this track, and I reviewed Bourdais's lap from 2003 compared to Helio's lap from last year in qualifying, and it's incredible the difference.

I suggest you guys look at it because our cars are really fast these days. They're a lot faster than we say. Certainly the braking zone is really short, and the aerodynamics are really high, so it's difficult to follow a car.

But this track here has got a long straight, so it allows you to draft and get past in Turn 1. I did it two times today with two fast cars, so it's possible. It's just you kind of have to find different ways to make the car work in straight line.
ENDS

Race Control by a committee is not a solution because no one really ever knows when a rule is ... not a rule. Hard targets are never hard when no one wishes to have the will to actually enforce a rule, especially when the race outcome is at hand.

To be clear, all decisions from Race Control are in the opinion(s) from three on-track race stewards that report to a President (as follows top to bottom - assumed) - JAY FRYE - President, Competition and Operations, INDYCAR | Trio of race stewards - Dan Davis, Max Papis, and Arie Luyendyk - race director Brian Barnhardt does not have a vote.

One suspects that this (above) is where Scott Dixon, team owner Chip Ganassi, and Ganassi Racing Managing Director Mike Hull will direct their collective - as Scott Dixon put it ... "You know, I can't be mad at him [Pagenaud], so I'll direct my anger some other direction."

Takuma Sato led the way for Honda Sunday, finishing, as the first Honda-powered Dallara DW12 IndyCar, fifth at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit Edmund Jenks (2016)

OFFICIAL BOX SCORE - Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach >>>

When racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series, everything on the track is open to interpretation and the only hard targets that exist are concrete walls, catch-fencing, corner tire cushions, and, of course ... cars plus the debris from parts that come loose after the Green Flag flies. Thank you Race Control by committee for this operational clarification.

As for the series points championship after three rounds of sixteen scheduled, Simon Pagenaud (who finished second in each of the first two races) takes a 14-point lead over Dixon into the next event, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park on April 24 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN).

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Helio Castroneves, IndyCar, Scott Dixon, Simon Pagenaud, Takuma Sato, Team Penske, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, #TGPLB42, The EDJE, Verizon IndyCar Series, Race Control, Race Steward, Rule 7.10.1.1

Dixon/Ganassi Triple-Down & Double-Up To Wrest Control At The GoPro GP of Sonoma

Chip Ganassi and 2015 Indy Car Champion Scott Dixon in Winners Circle at Sonoma.

(Photo by Ed Jenks)

Race Winner Scott Dixon enters Winners Circle

at Sonoma Raceway 8-30-15. (Photo by Dicken Wear)

Scott Dixon in Winners Circle at Sonoma Raceway

(Photo by Dicken Wear)

Teammates Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball Congratulate 

Scott Dixon on Winning the Indy Car Race and Championship at Sonoma Raceway.

(Photo by Dicken Wear)

Scott Dixon thanks his Engineer Chris Simmons for helping him Win the Race

 and the 2015 Indy Car Championship (Photo by Dicken Wear)

A Very Happy Chip Ganassi with Mike Hull and Scott Dixon.

(Photo by Dicken Wear)

Steve Page with Ganassi Teammates, Charlie Kimball and Scott Dixon

 in the Winners Circle at Sonoma Raceway. (Photo by Dicken Wear)

2015 Indy Car Champions, Team Ganassi

at Sonoma Raceway. (Photo by Dicken Wear)

Dixon/Ganassi Triple-Down and Double-Up To Wrest Control At The GoPro GP of Sonoma

In the media room, around the paddocks, and campgrounds around Sonoma Raceway at Sears Point, there were speculations as to who would win the Verizon IndyCar Series 2015 season finale race and, due to a double-points award, potentially win the season championship.

At no point in the lead up to this final race was there a story line that included Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, who sat at P3, 47 points behind Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya (JPM), not just winning the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma ... but further, the 2015 American open-wheel racing championship.

Almost all of the pre-race chatter centered on "just who" had what it would take to get the most points through qualifications, bonus points, and win the race (obviously, Will Power) ... or who had the charge to grab the championship and maybe the race from Penske Racing and JPM (obviously, Graham Rahal).

Scott Dixon, and the PR Department of Target Chip Ganassi Racing were the consummate ghosts. Little was being speculated about in pre-race press releases and interviews from this organization about their chances at the Sonoma Raceway finale and the IndyCar season.

However, at race's end and at post-race press conferences - the floodgates of strategic possibility thinking opened up ... and a few folks were surprised at the final tie-breaking results.

Target Chip Ganassi's race strategist, Mike Hull in the Winner's Circle with race winner and 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series Astor Cup winner, Scott Dixon. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Post Race Press Conference:

THE MODERATOR: The mindset going in, [describe] what you needed to accomplish today.

MIKE HULL: I'm sorry, I can only do two things at once. We knew we had to win the race. We knew that before we arrived here. We did get the opportunity to come, IndyCar extended the opportunity with the rule book for us to come here and test two weeks ago. We spent half a day with Scott on the racetrack, and Friday we used all day and we virtually wore the tires out trying to understand what we would need today, and that's what we did today, and we worked on what we call the mechanical balance of the race car to achieve what we achieved today.

It just really is important when you have a driver like Scott as an owner like Chip and people that work for us and a sponsor like Target that you do get the most out of every day, and I think that's what we did today, but it started well before today in terms of having a race-able product.
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Q. Mike, a couple of drivers told me it's very difficult to overtake here. Was your strategy before the race built on pit stops to bring Scott to the front?

MIKE HULL: [Mike pulls out a sheet of graph paper - and waves it - with three pitstops noted on it] ... Pit on lap 61, that's what ‑‑ well, we came in on 62, so even we make a mistake.

We wanted it to be a three‑stop race, so what we did was we worked really hard from the very beginning of the weekend to create a three‑stop event for us this weekend, and we knew we had to get to 61. If we could get to 61 as everybody thinned out on the racetrack with the track position gained throughout the stops, we thought we had a chance to win the race. We didn't think it would turn out quite the way it did in terms of we thought there would be two or three other guys there trying to make it hard on us, and at the end it was a little easier than what we thought to be honest about it, but it was still very difficult. I think what you do as a race team when you deal with strategy is you look at what you have. If you know you have a driver and car capable of winning the race, then what you simply do is work for the pit windows that you need to have to achieve something at the front.

But the bottom ‑‑ the denominator is we had to win. We had to win the race.
(ht: VICS)

During the race broadcast on NBCSN, Mike Hull was interviewed at the TCGR pit box immediately after the second round of pitstops where Scott Dixon was able to leap-frog pass from P3 (behind P1 - Will Power and P2 - Josef Newgarden) to the lead of the race on a 6 second timed pit stop - (paraphrased) "All I asked from our pit crew before the race was 18 seconds of work. We train for hours and hours for just this circumstance and I needed for them to give me three pitstops at 6 seconds apiece - two down, one to go!"

Now that's a Triple-Down.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal as he follows TCGR's Tony Kanaan up the drag strip straight after exiting the Carousel turn during the early part of the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. 
Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)  

This excerpted and edited from Tribute Racing -

Dixon takes victory and championship after wacky race in Sonoma
By: Josh Farmer - AUGUST 30, 2015

After a two hour Wild West showdown, Scott Dixon eventually emerged as the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series champion after taking the win in the GoPro Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway.

Pole sitter Will Power picked up from where he left off in qualifying yesterday as he jumped into an early lead over Josef Newgarden. The drama started early as the leaders made their first pitstops on lap 15. Newgarden came in right behind Power but was blocked by Power’s Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud as stopped right in front of Newgarden. Newgarden sped out through Pagenaud’s pit stall and only lost a small amount of time to Power.

Meanwhile, a few teams including Sebastian Saavedra and Marco Andretti, elected to roll the dice on strategy and stretch their fuel longer than the lead contenders before the lead cycled back around to Power on lap 25.

Penske Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya is running P4 on Lap 9 with Target Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon closing in from P5 to track him down in the Bus Stop complex of turns. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

A yellow flag for Luca Filippi’s throttle failure on lap 33 brought the field down down pit road. At this point, Scott Dixon’s Target Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew saw that it was time to go to put their driver in position to take the championship and performed a trademark Ganassi pitstop to get the Kiwi to the front of the queue.

A number of drivers on an alternate strategy stayed out which put the drivers had been leading the race down the leaderboard. The race would get dramatic as Juan Montoya rear ended Power, damaging his front wing and bringing out a yellow while Tony Kanaan would take the lead.

Kanaan held the lead on the restart but the same strategy that put him in the lead took him out of it when he pitted on lap 51, which handed the lead over to Dixon.

With Montoya burried in the field, Dixon assumed the points lead and would need a clean final pitstop and no mistakes on the track. On lap 63, the crew did exactly that and was perfect while his closest rival Newgarden stalled on pit road, taking him out of contention.

With Dixon up front, Montoya’s efforts were beginning to shrink but drama involving his season long championship rival, Graham Rahal.

Rahal had been struggling to find the handle on his car for much of the day but found himself in seventh place, his hopes still alive.

His hopes came to an end when Sebastien Bourdais rear ended him at the end of the dragstrip and spun him out. With Rahal out if the picture and Bourdais assesed a penalty for avoidable contact, Montoya soon found himself in a tiebreaker scenario with Dixon.

He would still need to pass one more car to get the points lead: Ryan Briscoe.

Montoya’s black tires would seem to prove better than Briscoe’s red tires and he chopped a few tenths a lap off his lead while Dixon was smooth sailing up front.

Dixon crossed the line 6.1115 ahead of Ryan Hunter Reay and it was enough to take the championship as Montoya couldn’t get to Briscoe.
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Hunter-Reay claimed his second straight podium while Charlie Kimball capped of the season with his third podium of the year.

Tony Kanaan claimed fourth and Ryan Briscoe completed his fill in duties for James Hinchcliffe with a fifth place finish.

Montoya would have to settle for second in the championship, followed by teammate Power and Rahal, who entered the race second in points. Helio Castroneves made it three Penske cars in the top five. A strong end to the season lifted Ryan Hunter-Reay to sixth in the standings while Josef Newgarden’s pit miscue dropped him to seventh in points.
(Reference Here)

The transporter for Penske Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya was located right across from the garage station of Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon. Here, Montoya is sitting on the stoop, watching the garage across the way (see reflection in mirrored door behind JPM). Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Sour grapes flooded the wine country racetrack's paddock area with the talk about the influence of having this race be awarded with twice the number of points given out for the results of the season finale race.

This excerpted and edited from STUFF -

IndyCar runner-up Juan Pablo Montoya questions Scott Dixon's series triumph
By: stuff.co.nz - Last updated 11:20, September 1 2015

IndyCar series runner-up Juan Pablo Montoya has questioned whether Scott Dixon was a deserved winner, saying the Kiwi had a "s**t" season.

Montoya was furious the crucial final race at Sonoma on Monday carried double points.

Dixon won, and his Colombian rival finished sixth at Sonoma, so lost the championship on countback [tie-breaker] after leading all season.

Montoya did not take it in good humour, lashing out at the post-race press conference.

"Dixon had a s**t season all year and had one good race, and we paid the penalty."

Montoya wants the double-points system reconsidered, though he holds little hope that it will be changed.

"We'll see if they [IndyCar] change it, but they like the excitement for the last race," he said.

"Is it fair? No, but we go into the last race of the year knowing it's a double‑points race.

"Is it fair for a normal championship? No, it's not fair, but it's the rules they want to play with, and if you don't like the rules, don't race."
----
"It sucks, but when you make the last race double-points on a road course and you change the tyre and you do everything you did for this weekend and you put so many variables, it doesn't even matter what you do all year."

Dixon, who was one of six drivers still in with a title chance, won the 2003, 2008 and 2013 series.

He has finished runner-up in the series twice and has been third four times in a 13-year IndyCar career.

WHAT DIFFERENCE DID DOUBLE POINTS MAKE?

Actual championship standings

1 Dixon 556
2 Montoya 556
3 Power 493

Standings without double score for Sonoma

1 Montoya 528
2 Dixon 506
3 Rahal 478

Standings with no double scores at all *

1 Montoya 478
2 Dixon 474
3 Rahal 448

* Montoya got double points for winning the Indianapolis 500
(Reference Here)

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal had a season for the ages. Driving the troubled Honda-powered and aerodynamically outfitted Steak 'N Shake Dallara, he entered the race just 34 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya in P2 and finished P4 in the season championship after his car was pushed off of the track by four-time champion Sebastien Bourdais. Here, Rahal finishes the Bus Stop complex of turns on his way to finishing P4 in the VICS championship. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

For Graham Rahal's part, he agrees with JPM on the assessment about double points being awarded for any race (from post-race transcript):

Q. Graham, Juan came in here and not a fan of the double points. He was not, at least. But aside from that, how do you think the championship from that standpoint is going?  Should they drop them from Indy or keep them just at Indy and drop them from the end?

GRAHAM RAHAL: I don't think any race should have double points.

Q. What about the double‑header part?

GRAHAM RAHAL: Those are two races. Just like Indy, why there's points for qualifying is stupid. I know what they're trying to do, trying to make it more interesting, trying to get everybody ‑‑ but everybody is already hanging out on the line, and all you're doing is benefiting the big teams. Like for instance, us, it killed us this year. Definitely is not to our advantage.

Obviously there's two sides to me here on this weekend because obviously if it had been single points or normal points, I'd have been in trouble. I think it made it interesting, you know, at the end. If I look, I finished fourth. If I'd finished one more position up, I think I would have tied Power for third and fourth, and obviously the No. 1 and 2 tied, and I think we would have beat Power on a head‑to‑head on a tiebreaker, I think. But it was interesting.

However, I don't think any race should be valued above another. I know people will say the Indy 500 should, but I think every race is equally important if you're looking at a championship. Anyway, just my take.

Just like we tried the double‑file restarts and all that stuff. We don't need gimmicks in this sport to make it exciting I don't think.
(ht: VICS)

The No. 98 Bryan Herta Autosport Honda Dallara driven by soon to be 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series Rookie-Of-The-Year Gabby Chaves as it negotiates the Bus Stop complex of corners (with wheel up) at Sonoma Raceway during the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma season finale race. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Besides that it was a great day for Scott Dixon and the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series championship, it was also a great day for Bryan Herta Autosport and their rookie Mazda Ladder Series driver, Gabby Chaves.

Post Race Press Conference:

GABBY CHAVES (No. 98 Bowers & Wilkins / Curb Honda): "It was a very eventful race for us. We barely made it to the start.

Actually we didn't even make the starting grid, so we started about half a lap back. We had a battery problem so that was unfortunate. We think we had the right strategy and had the right pace, but once we started being it was just like we didn't really know where to go and it was hard to get rhythm behind other cars that we were much faster than.

Twice we got caught out by a yellow flag, right as we were pitting and had to bail out from pitting. We obviously lost position trying to do that and screwed up our strategy.

It was just a rough day all around, but I think our pace is good and we have to work on a few things.

I am happy with the way our Bryan Herta Autosport team worked out this year and we couldn't do it without our sponsors, Bowers & Wilkins, Castrol Edge, Deltro Electric, Alarm.com, and of course having Honda in our car. It was a fun season and I look forward to what 2016 has to bring." (ht: VICS)

Scott Dixon signs a hat during the post race - post championship press conference.
 Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Post Race Press Conference:

Q. You made both championship, first Champ Car and then IndyCar later on when it was founded. Is there anything in those championships from the technology point of view, you're very impressed, aero package, engine, whatever?

CHIP GANASSI: Well, I mean, all of it is. It's a matter of ‑‑ I think from our point of view, we're just the race team. I mean, we look at the rule book, this guy to my right and I, you look at the rule book each year and you figure out what the rules are, and you go out and try to win races with what the sanctioning body gives you, what the drivers give you, what the engine manufacturers give you, what the tires give you. You've got all these sort of inputs and you've got to take all those sort of inputs and you have to make something of it, and whoever makes the best of that package, whatever it is, is going to be the champion at the end of the year. And that's how it's been for every championship.

Each one ‑‑ none are the same. None of the championships are the same because the rules are different, a little different each year. The points systems are different. You know, the technology is different. We've done it with different engine packages, we've done it with different tires, we've done it with different cars and we've done it with different drivers.

My hat's off to Mike here on my right for putting the team together so many times over the years that just takes all these inputs that you have from different constituencies in the sport. In actual fact we have very little control ‑‑ teams have no control over the sanctioning body, we have no control over the rules, we have no control over the engines, we have no control over the tires.

We give our opinion, but I think rarely ‑‑ if we give our opinion, they do the opposite, you know. But it's just a matter of taking all those things that they give you and putting them in a ‑‑ I refer to it as baking the pie.

You put all those ingredients together and you put it in the oven and at the beginning of the season. You hope at the end of the season the pie comes out good, and fortunately it did here today.
(ht: VICS)

What a fitting end to an arguable Top 5 best ever competitive season, in the history of American open-wheel racing championship seasons.

With a "Triple-Down" strategy on 6 second pitstops combined with a "Double-Up" on awarded race points for bonuses and finishing place, we are able to crown and add a rare 4-Time open-wheel series champion through a tie-breaker, based on winning three races, during this 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series championship season.

BRAVO ... that was one great pie!

... notes from The EDJE


TAGS: GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, Scott Dixon, Sonoma Raceway, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Mike Hull, Chip Ganassi, Chris Simmons, Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power, Graham Rahal, Penske Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, The EDJE, Dicken Wear, The Motorsports Report,

Josh Farmer, STUFF,  

Post MAVTv 500 IndyCar Winning Statements, Miscues, And Movements

IndyCar Series Race Director, Beaux Barfield waves to Scott Dixon to begin his qualification run which had his car be placed in P7, first car in Row 3 in a 3-wide rolling start. Target Chip Ganassi Racing decided to change the engine to give Scott's car a fresh machine for the 500 mile race which carries a 10 spot penalty. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Post MAVTv 500 IndyCar Winning Statements, Miscues, And Movements

You know, in this life, it is easy to be critical after the fact. The MAVTv 500 IZOD IndyCar Series season finale held at Auto Club Speedway, upon review, had its share of miscues and confusing statements ... probably way too many to mention in one posting but here are a couple of highlights.

The first one was a statement made by IndyCar's only team owner, driver, and first champion of the MAVTv 500 (2012) Ed Carpenter - No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, after the MAVTv 500 race last year which provided a key motivation to this year's MAVTv 500 champion, Will Power - No. 12 Verizon/Penske Racing Chevrolet.

Here, Will Power informs owner/driver Ed Carpenter of the level of motivation he provided with his ill thought out assertion. It was the kind of assertion that Dixon and his team were making against Team Penske at Sonoma when the right-rear pitman was accused of unprofessional tactics. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Will Power pumps his fist with excitement as Ed Carpenter begins to understand the positive nature of the motivation he was able to create with his off-the-cuff-comment about Power crashing out after only a little over 50 laps of the 2012 MAVTv 500. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

This excerpted and edited from Auto Racing Daily -

Q - I heard you mention on television that you had a little extra incentive today to want to win this, make a point of some sort.

WILL POWER:  The incentive?  The incentive was, Ed Carpenter said that Will Power did exactly what everyone expected him to do at the last race last year. I thought that was just such motivation for me to beat him and win at this track and just be good at ovals. I went about it. I thought I’m going to beat Ed. Ed, I really respect him. A very good, fast, clean oval racer. Always good to race. I don’t dislike him, but I told him, I said, Man, your comment last year gave me a lot of motivation. It’s true.

So, yes, that’s right. I like Ed. He’s very good. He’s quick. But that comment definitely got to me in a good way.
[Reference Here]

Second, can we say that 'The Captain' has called better races for Helio Castroneves? Helio Castroneves - No. 3 Auto Club of America/Penske Racing Chevrolet, had set himself up to win. He was mentally prepared, in qualifications he secured the P2 position between Pole winner Will Power and single race team-mate P3 A.J. Allmendinger leaving Scott Dixon further down in the field at P7 with an engine change for both Scott and Helio, a 10 spot penalty was assessed. (Castroneves P12 / Dixon P17).

Three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves leads four-time ChampCar series season champion Sebastien Bourdais into Turn 2 during the MAVTv 500 IndyCar season finale at Auto Club Speedway. Image Credit: Ken Manfred (2013)

By Lap 5 Helio was running in the top five where he remained for the  most of the race - even leading several times. Then on Lap 210 a YELLOW Flag flew due to Alex Tagliani - No. 10 Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, spinning off of Turn 2 which brought a call over the radio to Helio from Roger Penske to PIT. On Lap 212, Helio Castroneves gives up his position in the field as he enters the pits when they were still classified as closed.

Helio found himself battling for the lead again with Charlie Kimball - No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen/Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, where Helio crowded Charlie running for the lead and damaged the front wing on his No. 3 DW12. On Lap 226 Helio Castroneves replaced his nosecone and was never able to recapture his position in the field finishing one position behind P5 Scott Dixon - No. 9 Target/Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

In a post MAVTv 500 season championship press conference, Scott Dixon stated that his car was a 7th or 8th fastest car in the field at best. Castroneves is left as Power was left the previous three years with a 'should'a, could'a, would'a ending to a strong season.

This infographic found in the Media Room, where all of the post event press conferences take place, pretty much highlights the obvious ... made even more obvious by the win in the 2013 MAVTv 500 ... Target Chip Ganassi Racing is the team to beat in IndyCar. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Judging by the achievement of season championships - Scott Dixon's being the 10th since 1996, we need to be giving a higher military title to Chip Ganassi ... like 'The Colonel, Chip' or 'The General, Ganassi' because Penske Racing's 5 season championships has to take a back seat to this level of success. It is pretty funny to listen to Target Chip Ganassi's brain trust of Mike Hull and Chip Ganassi talk during the post MAVTv 500 season championship press conference and pay homage to Penske Racing as the best team in present day IndyCar. Let's be clear ... Target Chip Ganassi Racing is the best team in present day IndyCar based solely on performance.

Team Owner and Managing Director Chip Ganassi and Mike Hull revel in the 'hat danc' during victory lane celebrations at Auto Club Speedway. 'Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2013)

Lastly, one has to take issue with a statement made by Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Managing Director, Mike Hull about choosing the Honda engine for their DW12 package and the fact that for 2014, the team has chosen to take a different direction.

Scott Dixon's car was developing heat and was having trouble getting rid of this problem which thretened to end Scott's run to capture his third championship in ten years (2003, 2008, and 2013). On Lap 299 Dixon came into the pits and stayed a little extra time to clear the radiators of debris. The engine ran hot the balance of the race.

MAVTv 500 Post Race Press Conference - Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Managing Director, Mike Hull | Owner Chip Ganassi Audio File HERE >>>

Mike Hull was asked about how this effected their race, Hull stated (starting at 1:14 of the above linked audio file), "I have to say, as hot as the engine got, Honda did what we wanted them to do what they wanted to do ... and that was to build an engine that didn't break under severe conditions" ... which all begs the question asked later to Chip Ganassi by Motor Press Guild and LMR Marketing Communications' Larry Mason on why the jump to Chevrolet next year? Chip's answer leaves one to wonder if there is something more than, "It was a business decision ...", due to the number of season championships (since 1996 - 9 Honda-powered/1 Toyota-powered) the team was able to earn with the Honda engine partnership.

Hat's off to New Zealander Scott Dixon on his third, very well earned, IndyCar Series season championship and the fact this earned honor now sits with the winningest-active driver in the series with 33 wins, and that he remains the longest tenured driver in the Target Chip Ganassi stable since joining the team mid-way through the 2002 CART season.

One additionally wonders if the Chevrolet way (as opposed to the Japanese way) will be compatible with both TCGR and Scott Dixon ... or if the door is now open for Andretti Autosport to outlast and out race the rest of the field with their new Honda-powered - build an engine that didn't break under severe conditions - Dallara DW12s.

... notes from The EDJE