Pivotal #EdmontonIndy May Prove P2P Strategy Key To Winning

Edmonton Indy race start last year - The secret to the IndyCar engine’s success is how its twin turbochargers boost performance and throttle response. With the ability to reach 12,000 rpm, the power plant is the highest-revving direct injection engine in current racing competition. Image Credit: Edmonton Indy (2011)

Pivotal #EdmontonIndy May Prove P2P Strategy Key To Winning

Going into the 11th race in a shortened 15 race season, the driver’s championship is as competitive as ever. Ryan Hunter-Reay has vaulted into first place after winning three straight races, while the Franchitti, who won his fourth drivers’ championship in 2011, has struggled. He’s in eighth spot, 13 points ahead of Briscoe.

The last two years ended in disappointment for the Penske driver, Will Power, who ended up in P2 on the last race of the season, and up until he lost his left front tire to a Josef Newgarden weakened broken wing section that came off and caused a puncture, he looked as though he would be able to retain the points lead built upon with three season wins of his own.

Last year, Will Power was behind Dario Franchitti and needing a win to get back into contention after loosing points in Toronto. This year, Power is pretty much in the same position but this time his chief rival is Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay who is ahead by 34 points by winning on two ovals and one road course. The Achilles heel for Penske and Will Power in securing a championship has always been ovals. Edmonton represents a must win situation as it did last year for Will Power but all things are not the same.

First off, we find ourselves in the infancy of the DW12 era with new engines. It appears that this new chassis outfitted with the Chevrolet engine, performs a little better than the Honda engine under racing conditions. Of the top five drivers in the points chase, four of the five are powered by Chevrolet engines (P1 – Ryan Hunter-Reay, P2 – Will Power, P3 – Helio Castroneves, P5 – James Hinchcliffe). The only Honda to spoil the “bowtie” party for the championship is Scott Dixon in P5.

Secondly, the IZOD IndyCar Series has decided to add another wrinkle into the mix for Street/Road courses – of which four of the last five races are to be contested. This driver controlled element to performance is called Push-to-Pass or P2P. These new engines are outfitted with a turbo-charger which boosts additional power through compression to the engine and the P2P gives each driver additional boost controlled by a button on the steering wheel for a total of 100 seconds.

Rexall Edmonton Indy Speedway - Edmonton City Centre Airport IndyCar race track configuration detail - pre-2011 in yellow / 2011 configuration in blue [ctrl-click image for "A virtual lap of the Edmonton Indy" video]. Image Credit: GrabBagSports.com (2011)

The reason P2P is very important to a driver’s strategy at Edmonton is because of the unique character of the new layout introduced just last year (so the contending drivers have seen the track before). The track is a 2.25 mile temporary road course set up on an airport runway/tarmac in Edmonton.

The course is unusual in that it tracks counter-clockwise and features 13 turns, a nasty hairpin turn that separates two long straights made from a landing/takeoff runway, and another slightly curved straight that dives into another situation similar to ” Turn 3″ at the end of the only high speed straight in Toronto.
Turn 1 out of the pits and at the end of the long straight past the Start/Finish line (the longest of the new layout). The corner is an unusual left hand power turn (120%) that leads to a speed section with a slight right-hand kink at Turn 2 and a high-speed left/right jig at turns 3 and 4.

The second kinked straight ends at Turn 5 in another hard left-hand turn (curved 180%) that tracks through a curvy section that was used in the previous layout.

Lastly, starting at turns 10 and 11, a long 150 mph straight made from a landing/takeoff runway that ends in a nasty hairpin at turn 13 that starts the process over again with the longest straight (3/4th of a mile – nearly 200 mph) in this course.

Whoever has the best strategy to manage and where to engage the 100 seconds of P2P just may end up having the advantage on this course.

Again, turns #1, #5, and #13 are pivotal to the fortunes (or lack thereof) of these teams and drivers and the  Edmonton Indy is uniquely situated in the season, with just 5 races left, to set the tone to the end – Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Grand Prix of Baltimore, and the season finale at Auto Club Speedway.

… notes from The EDJE

Event Information:

Edmonton Indy, Edmonton, AB, City Centre Raceway, Knockout Qualifications, ending with the Firestone Fast Six – 2:00 to 3:15PM ET Sat. July 21, Race Coverage – 11:00AM to 4:00PM ET Sun. July 22 on NBC Sports

Push To Pass Gives 100 Seconds And Excitement At Honda Indy Toronto

Crystal trophy to be presented to the IZOD IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto Champion. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks via Twitter

Push To Pass Gives 100 Seconds And Excitement At Honda Indy Toronto

Push-to-Pass (P2P) will be re-introduced as a tool for the drivers to use in today's race in the streets around Exhibition Place in Toronto ON, Canada.

The Honda Indy Toronto will have a different version from the one that was introduced by the ChampCar World Series (CCWS) through the Panoz DP01 where a driver could push a button on the steering wheel and get 10 seconds of extra boost delivered to the turbo-powered engine. The driver's were limited to only ten 10-second boosts on the P2P for a total of 100 seconds.

The version that will be used on the DW12's on the 11 turn 1.75 mile track in Toronto will allow the driver to use as much of their 100 second allotment whenever, and however they choose.

If Takuma Sato, for example, wishes to employ the 100 second boost all at one push, all he has to do is keep the button down. Most drivers feel that P2P is best used as a tool saved for the final third of the race but this is not a guarantee of advantage. If the driver to be overtaken also saved his allotment of P2P, all he has to do is push-to-defend and the advantage is neutralized.

In a report at SPEED TV, Helio Castroneves shared another idea on how P2P should be modified to make it more exciting to the on-track action.

"We can see the revs increasing on the computer, but you don't feel it in the car," said Team Penske's Helio Castroneves, who echoed the comments of numerous IndyCar pilots. "It's about two-tenths [of a second] on lap time. The good thing is, Push-to-Pass is back again. But maybe we should plan ahead, especially when we have a two-week break to the next race at Edmonton."

At the behest of the engine manufacturers, the series has re-introduced the system with a modest and measured increase in power, but it's likely the power the button delivers will grow before the end of the season.

For now, and with such a soft increase in performance, Castroneves would like to see a unique anti-Push-to-Pass safeguard system established.

"Maybe we can do something like a delay, so if one guy presses the button, the guy in front or behind him cannot react right away," he suggested. "Then you can make a proper overtake. If I push my button, and the guy I'm chasing then pushes his button, you get nothing out of it. The bottom line is yes, this is for us as drivers, but it's also for the fans. If we can use the button to cancel each other out, maybe we should think about not letting that happen so easy."
[ht: SPEED TV]

Photo of Andretti Autosport - Ryan Hunter-Reay's steering wheel - At present, the Overtake button will not provide the rush of acceleration some where hoping for, but the series will likely tweak its impact in the coming races. Green "Overtake" button on upper-right. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett

The following entries about the Honda Indy Toronto come from “Tweet Deck” tweet-by-tweet with added comments from the author:

Jordan Irvine @IrvineF1
#HondaIndy atmosphere and paddock is just fantastic! What a day so far, and the race hasn't even started yet!!! #Indycar

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Happy Race Day! Catch us on @ABC & TSN2 (Canada) @ 12:30pm ET! Look out for these hot spots at #hondaindy: indycar.com/News/2012/07-J… #indycar2012

Dale Coyne Racing @DaleCoyneRacing
If you see him around the track today, be sure to wish Dale Coyne a #HappyBirthday! #indycar #HondaIndy

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN - The Honda Indy Toronto with P2P begins!

Mouser Racing Team @MouserIndy
Toronto is green! Best of luck to @TonyKanaan and @kvracing! #GoMouser11 #IndyCar

Dario jumps to the front over Will Power - all cars get through the first turns side-by-side then settle into a single file.

Matthew Day @matthewnotmatt
Time for some #Indycar - maybe @dariofranchitti can save some pride for us Brits and win at Toronto

Marcoteers Andretti© @Marcoteers
@FollowAndretti cars are @RyanHunterReay p6 @Hinchtown p16 and @MarcoAndretti p21 #HondaIndy #Toronto #IndyCar2012

Justin Wilson gets past Will Power for a couple of laps ... Power grabs the position back before Franchitti gets to far away.

Jeff Cunningham @Cowboy_Witch
This just in: Will Power is pretty good at Toronto. But you probably already knew that. #hondaindy #IndyCar

Power passes Franchitti for the lead on LAP 6

Deke Weinberg @Deke15
Chilly Willy with the lead! #hondaindy #IndyCar

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Car No. 9 stopped in the runoff in Turn 1. #hondaindy #indycar2012

F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive
Dixon has stopped. #IndyCar

This is big because Dixon was third in points and one of the biggest threats to Will Power maintaining his potential lead - engine broke and oil is spilling out

Simona de Silvestro has pitted and it is not known why ... except she is in a Lotus

Tony DiZinno @tonydizinno
Since it's not listed on T&S, those on reds: Dario, Will, Justin, Seb, Dixon, Helio, Conway, Hinch, Jakes #HondaIndy #IndyCar

Kent Barber @Thummper08
Who ever said that Team Lotus couldn't finish higher in a race than a Ganassi ?? #IndyCar

F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive
Hinchcliffe and Kanaan made contact at turn four. #Indycar

Great in-car camera work - the cars solider on

LAP 12 - Viso in for REDS - stays on lead lap

IndyCar al día @indycaraldiaweb
Ernesto Viso se va a los pits en la vuelta 12. Tiene llantas negras #IndyCar

1 Racing Mind @1RacingMind
Grid position penalty means another confusing event ahead defining differences in driver qualifying results and grid position. #INDYCAR

More pit stops - Briscoe in for REDS

LAP 16 - Will Power tries to check out with a 3.3 second lead on Dario Franchitti

Tagliani in for REDS and fuel

Ryan Brothers @renegade_3
#IndyCar Will Power dominating #Toronto100 #hondaindy on lap17 Franchitti 2nd Wilson 3rd. Tight/skinny street circuit in Toronto

IndyCar Garage @IndyCarGarage
Hinch into the pits at lap 18 - still green #INDYCAR

LAP 18 - Sebastien Bourdais gest around Justin Wilson for P3

LAP 19 - Graham Rahal leaves no room for Charlie Kimball and Kimball is in the tires - backs out and continues

LAP 20 - Top 10 are as follows: Power, Franchitti, SeaBass, Conway (up from P16), RHR, Helio, Rahal, Sato, JR Hildebrand, and Newgarden

Ricardo Arcuri @FaleComCarioca
ow, o Graham Rahal tb nao foi la muito correto nesse lance viu.... #Indycar

Matthew Embury @MattEmbury
Ton of defensive blocking from Graham Rahal there, not a cool move on his own teammate. #indycar

Tony Kanaan is issued a drive through penalty for hitting a tire in the pits on previous pit stop

YELLOW Flag - LAP 22 - Rahal locks tires up and hits the wall - PITS Closed

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Full course yellow. Car 38 of Graham Rahal in the wall at exit of Turn 1. #hondaindy #indycar2012

Race Control: Car #11 has a walk of shame penalty for trying to stick a fifth tyre on his car. #IndyCar

Joshua Rogers @Joshua_Rogers
Is it safe to say that Graham Rahal is the Steve Wallace of #Indycar?

Sal'im McNeill @Salim1luv
Absolutely love the car design, and real racing#indycar

Top 7 cars have not pitted - this may leave Simon Pagenaud in a good position

Pit Lane is open - Dario Franchitti pits first - fuel buckeye gets stuck and gives hime a long pit stop

Tagliani replaces nose piece during pit stop

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
10-Franchitti needed to have his car jacked up and moved closer to pit wall in order to get fuel. That's gonna hurt him. #IndyCar #HondaIndy


 RESTART - GREEN Flag - LAP 29

KV Racing Technology @kvracing
Kanaan moves from 10th to 3rd at the restart!! Barrichello to 6th and Viso 12th #HondaIndy #Indycar2012

LAP 32 - Top 10 - Pagenaud, RHR, Kanaan, Briscoe, Sato, Barrichello, Wilson, Kimball, Servia, and Newgarden

Matt White @MattW1986
Hmmm, cheering for 2 Frenchmen in a series full of brits #indycar

Ashley Noelle @AshNoeModel
Watching #F1 on Fox and #IndyCar racing on ABC from my balcony over the ocean in San Diego.. Today is a good day ❤🏁☀ http://t.co/gr5QjFP

Niko @icthyes
Pagenaud is bossing it #IndyCar

Indy Racing Review @INDYracereview
@simonpagenaud has a 3.42 seconds lead over @RyanHunterReay #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Race with Insulin @racewithinsulin
Charlie makes a pass to reach 7th position on lap 35. #HondaIndy #IndyCar2012

Kai @AndersFinn
Stinks that Dario had that fuel buckeye issue in pit, but happy to see Pagenaud leading. #Indycar

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Lap 35 update: Pagenaud leading, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, Briscoe, Sato follow. #hondaindy #indycar2012

If the race would end with this order, Ryan Hunter-Reay would lead Will Power by 16 points by securing P2 over a P11 finish for Power

Hinchtown officially out of the race - broken engine - bowed out from a P4 position on the track

Niko @icthyes
Massive shame for @Hinchtown #IndyCar

LAP 41 of 85 - Race leader Pagenaud last pitted on LAP 14 - 29 laps on tires and fuel

Lewis Franck @LewisFranck
Got to consider the caution laps produced better mileage when making this next pit stop. @hondaindy #IndyCar

Cambyland @MarkCLynch
A little more yellow and those 7 will only have to stop once more. #Indycar

Martin Pinnau @martinpinnau
Why is Simon Pagenaud listed as a rookie? I remember watching him in Champ Car. #indycar

The merger betweem CCWS and the IRL did not account for a break for those drivers that were unable to make it through the transition - Simon Pagenaud went on to become a American Le Mans Series Champion driving along with teamate/co-driver Gil de Ferran in Gil's last competitive racing season

Great action with Josef Newgarden pulling a nifty move on Oriol Servia for P9 from P10

LAP 49 of 85 - Pagenaud comes in and may have a little problem with the car coming down on the air hose - awaiting to see if he gets a penalty

Power passes Sato in Turn 1 - for P7 and Bourdais gets past Sato as well

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Kanaan on pit road, scuffed reds for him. #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Sato is the main target as Conway passes him with a slick move

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Lap 57 update: Top 5 -- Hunter-Reay, Wilson, Kimball, Newgarden, Power. #hondaindy #indycar2012

Power in the pits ... EJ Viso pulls in and he is out of the race with engine problems

LAP 58 of 85 - Will Power gets contact with Newgarden and has a flat front tire - possible damaged front wing but puts off change to stay on lead lap

DZ @HalfShaftBlues
Did I just hear someone honking a clown horn when RHR hit his pit? #IndyCar

Kashvinder Mann @kashwinner
Power's wing broke, which cut the tyre. How did that got damage in the first place? #IndyCar

Kev @ElusiveKev
Looks like Hunter-Reay really likes this leading thing lately. #hondaindy #indycar2012

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Power comes out 20th, while Ryan Hunter-Reay leads Tony Kanaan by six-tenths of a second. New points leader on the way? #IndyCar #HondaIndy

LAP 60 of 85 - Top 10 - RHR, Kanaan, Pagenaud, Kimball, Wilson, Briscoe, Newgarden, Barrichello, Bourdais, and Servia

nascarcasm @nascarcasm
Roger Penske has just put Hornish on a plane to Toronto to fix Will Power's front wing. Just for the hell of it. #IndyCar #hondaindy

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
77-Pagenaud and 83-Kimball going at it hard for third place! #IndyCar #HondaIndy

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Big movers: Kanaan P2 (from 17th), Kimball P4 (from 13th), Newgarden P7 (from 20th), Barrichello P8 (from 18th). #hondaindy #indycar2012

Colby Martin @Goblowsoup
So saying no to Road America and Michigan is not what I wanted to hear. Phoenix sounds good, but replace Detroit with RA please. #IndyCar

F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive
Third-placed Pagenaud has Kimball, Wilson, Briscoe and Newgarden on his tail tryingto pass. #IndyCar

James Jakes @JamesJakes
20 laps to go. JJ holding P17 PR #HondaIndy #IndyCar2012

Jacob Kraemer @StewCrew14
Pagenaud is in the way and holding up 4 other cars. Kimball is all up in his wing. #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Jeff Cunningham @Cowboy_Witch
@armond_ealey There's so much racing going on that I sometimes have trouble keeping up. #NASCAR #F1 #IndyCar #GrandAm #ALMS

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Car 18 of Justin Wilson hits wall on front stretch. #hondaindy #indycar2012

PRN Motorsport Mag @prnmag
@justin_wilson out of race, engine problems #HondaIndy

17 Laps to go - RHR leads by 5.5 seconds over Kanaan, Pagenaud, Kimball, Briscoe, Newgarden, Barrichello, Bourdais, Servia, and Castroneves - Power is running in P19 and may loose the points lead today

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Wilson has retired due to suspension damage from contact with wall on frontstretch. #hondaindy #indycar2012

Indy Pro Sports @ProIndy
15 to go! We're predicting another win for @RyanHunterReay. RT if you're thinking the same! #hondaindy #indycar2012

Kimball passes two cars in one move on the end of back straight corner - now up to P2 - not bad for being fueled on insulin

AJ @ajslideways
That move by Charlie Kimball was siiiiiiiick. #IndyCar

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Pagenaud goes to the inside of Kanaan, locks up. Kimball sneaks by on the inside line. Heads-up pass by the American! #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Shane Rogers @shagers
You were looking at Kimball, but Newgarden's move on Briscoe was Balls with a capital B. #indycar #hondaindy

Peter Leung @BaronVonClutch
What Diabetes? @charliekimball is a Hella Better Driver. He's up to P2 now. #IndyCar

Ten laps to go and its RHR by 7.6 seconds over Kimball, Pagenaud, Newgarden, Briscoe, Barrichello, Bourdais, Servia, Conway, and Kanaan

Cecilia Rodgers @CeciliaRodgers3
#HondaIndy I truly enjoy this goo.gl/xUAya?FLt1eJ

Fake Charlie Whiting @charlie_whiting
Fantastic. @charliekimball and @racewithinsulin in P2!!!! Team is pumped. Now bring her home, lad. #IndyCar

Newgarden gets BLOCKED and pays the price as he goes into the tires

YELLOW Flag - Newgarden stalls out and this will bunch up the pack - SFR not happy with Sam Schmidt/Hamilton Racing's Pagenaud ... should be a penalty on Simon

Kim Wilson @daisy2gal
I didn't know @SarahFisher knew how to say that word! Not that I blame her! #IndyCar

Tim Blum @dbsdad
Newgarden is, of course, one word. But not to auto correct. #Indycar

Indy Racing Review @INDYracereview
Full course caution for @josefnewgarden into the tires. #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Joaquín Candia @_chudox_
Bandera amarilla, faltan 5, cagó la ventaja de Hunter-Reay, va a estar buena esa relargada cuando falten 3 #IndyCar

Daniel Gazquez Tapia @dangaztap
Sato es 14º #IndyCar y Newgarden 18º

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Five laps to go. BIG RESTART COMING. #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Eric Hamme @NegativeVORP
That might be the first recorded profanity of Sarah Fisher ever. #indycar #hondaindy

ZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Newgarden has continued. #hondaindy #indycar2012

Keyrazy LEDs @KeyrazyLEDs
Pagenaud should get a penalty! @IndyCar @hondaindy #HondaIndy

GREEN, GREEN, GREEN, Restart - LAP 82 - Carnage to Bourdais, Ryan Briscoe, Barrichello, & Franchitti

Pagenaud serves penalty

Ron @rrush59
Was Dario driving with his eyes closed ? WTF ! #HondaIndy

repT.O @repTdotO
Shit just went kray!!! #HondaIndy

James Jakes @JamesJakes
Full course yellow. So much just happened but JJ did a great job avoiding it! Currently P8! PR #HondaIndy #IndyCar2012

SCCGR & NNCGR @CGRTeams
Back to yellow with only 3 laps to go at #hondaindy. @racewithinsulin holds P2.

RACE ENDS under YELLOW Flag

Ryan Hunter-Reay gets his third win in a row here in the middle of the season - up 34 points for the championship over Will Power

Jozef Colomy @JozefColomy
Damnnn 3 in a row? Go @RyanHunterReay #IndyCar

Dayna Winslette @UCTaillights
Three in a row for @RyanHunterReay AND takes over the points lead! WOW!!! #IndyCar

F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive
Hunter-Reay leads home Kimball, Conway, Kanaan, Servia, Castroneves, Hildebrand, Jakes, Sato and Tagliani. #IndyCar

Daniel Gazquez Tapia @dangaztap
Que gran carrera de #IndyCar se ha perdido @Javigarv Oriol Servia finalmente 5º !!

IndyCar al día @indycaraldiaweb
Ryan Hunter-Reay gana el Honda Indy Toronto 2012. Tercera consecutiva del año, nuevo líder del puntaje #IndyCar

Tammy_Madsen @tamiramadsen
Really, #IndyCar? Finish under yellow? Change that rule!

Andy Young @AndyYoungF1
That's a Ryan Hunter-Reay Hat-Trick!! #Indycar

Matt Soleyn @soleynm
#Breaking: Ryan Hunter-Reay wins the #HondaIndy in #Toronto, giving him three straight IZOD #IndyCar wins!

Jenna Fryer @JennaFryer
Second race in a row that ends under yellow. Just feels so flat to me. #IndyCar

Hunter Gunnell @HunterGunnell
#indycar Congratulations RHR!

Christopher Estrada @estradawriting
Tony Kanaan finishes fourth, Oriol Servia comes up fifth. #IndyCar #HondaIndy

Austin @Zappatista
At least the idiots didn't ruin the class of the field. Hunter-Reay with a well deserved win. #IndyCar

Chris Cunningham @CunninghamCE
How about absolutely not? RT @rsanchez4577: @JennaFryer How bout some G W C #IndyCar

TCGR @TCGRTeams
Checkered flag @dariofranchitti p17 @scottdixon9 p25 @hondaindy #IndyCar2012

Fox Sports 1230 WMML @WMML1230
RT @IndyCar: Race ends under yellow. @RyanHunterReay wins third in a row! Kimball and Conway on podium! #hondaindy #indycar2012

Blayne Pereira @Blaynos14
Well most of it was pretty dull, but glad I woke up for the frantic end to the #IndyCar race

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Incident on the restart, several cars involved. Among them Pagenaud, Carpenter, Briscoe. Back to yellow. #hondaindy #indycar2012

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Race ends under yellow. @RyanHunterReay wins third in a row! Kimball and Conway on podium! #hondaindy #indycar2012

Ben Turner @BLT77
Looks like AJ's car will get a podium. I guess that means Supertex won't throw any laptops today or beat on a car with a hammer #indycar

Joaquín Candia @_chudox_
Ganó Hunter-Reay en Toronto, había ganado la última en Iowa también #2AlHilo #IndyCar

Antoine L. @TonioF1
Hunter-Reay wins the race at Toronto #IndyCar

John Haywood @JHay97
Congrats to @RyanHunterReay and @FollowAndretti on the win!!! 3 in a row!! #Epic #IndyCar

Dustin Long @dustinlong
#IndyCar …Ryan Hunter-Reay wins Toronto for 3rd victory in a row. ABC says he'll have take points lead & have a 34-point lead on Will Power.

Peter Leung @BaronVonClutch
.@RyanHunterReay takes the chequered Flag! 'Make sure you wave to the fans!' Mitch Davis tells RHR. #IndyCar @FollowAndretti

Covsupport News Serv @CovsupportNews
Great drive Mike Conway #indycar

AJFoytRacing @AJFoytRacing
YES @Mikeconwayindy !! what a run! Way to go!#hondaindy #indycar

Matt White @MattW1986
Actually, not a bad top 3 #indycar

IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar
Race ends under yellow. @RyanHunterReay wins third in a row! Kimball and Conway on podium! #hondaindy #indycar2012

ENDS

Following his final service stop with 30 laps remaining in the Honda Indy Toronto, Ryan Hunter-Reay was enjoying his Sunday drive on the Exhibition Place street circuit. Hunter-Reay, in the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car, inherited the lead on Lap 57 when JR Hildebrand pitted and upped his margin over Tony Kanaan from .6040 of a second to 4.0794 seconds in the matter of five laps on the 1.75-mile, 11-turn course. Charlie Kimball replaced Kanaan as the protagonist on Lap 72, but the challenger didn't matter. Hunter-Reay pulled away by 7.6 seconds with 10 laps left and -- staying ahead of restart pileups in Turns 1 and 3 with three laps left -- went on to his third consecutive victory. Caption and Image Credit: IICS

An American driver leads in the points for the first time in ... forever! Hats off to Andertti Autosport and Ryan Hunter-Reay for completing a "hat-trick" with three mid-season wins in a row to pull into the points lead for the IICS championship over Will Power.

In the post-race interview, Sebastien Bourdais claims that Charlie Kimball does not deserve to be on the podium because it was Kimball that took Bourdais out of the race with poor driving.

Push-to-Pass had an effect on the race but not as many imagined. Some of the best passing moves on the track happened when those using the P2P came in too hot into a corner and leaving the apex open for following cars to sneak through. Charlie Kimball's pass on two cars was just such a pass.

Unofficial Results - Honda Indy Toronto

Pos.     Driver     Laps     Running / Reason Out
1     Ryan Hunter-Reay     85     Running
2     Charlie Kimball     85     Running
3     Mike Conway     85     Running

4     Tony Kanaan     85     Running
5     Oriol Servia     85     Running
6     Helio Castroneves     85     Running
7     JR Hildebrand     85     Running
8     James Jakes     85     Running
9     Takuma Sato     85     Running
10     Alex Tagliani     85     Running

11     Rubens Barrichello     85     Running
12     Simon Pagenaud     85     Running
13     Josef Newgarden     84     Running
14     Sebastien Bourdais     84     Running
15     Will Power     84     Running

16     Marco Andretti     84     Running
17     Dario Franchitti     84     Running
18     Ryan Briscoe     84     Running
19     Ed Carpenter     84     Running
20     EJ Viso     81     Running

21     Justin Wilson     67     Contact
22     James Hinchcliffe     28     Mechanical
23     Graham Rahal     23     Contact
24     Simona de Silvestro     9     Mechanical
25     Scott Dixon     7     Mechanical

Five more races remain on the schedule - four road/street courses and one super speedway oval - Edmonton Indy, Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Grand Prix of Baltimore, and the season finale at Auto Club Speedway.

... notes from The EDJE


** Article first published as Push To Pass Gives 100 Seconds And Excitement At Honda Indy Toronto on Technorati **

Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

(Image credit: NHRA Media)

NHRA Pro Stock Class Makes History. (Story and Image Credit: NHRA Media)

Erica Enders becomes the first woman in History to win an NHRA Pro Stock Final.

Results for Final Round

JOLIET, Ill. - SUMMIT FastNews - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Pro Stock at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 15th annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries:  W/L  Driver                                     R-Time    E-Time  Speed

 (W) Erica Enders (GK Motorsports Cobalt)        0.034      6.627 207.40

 (L) Greg Anderson (Summit Racing Equipment Camaro 0.036      6.641 208.36

 Weather conditions: air temperature 84 degrees, relative humidity 67 percent, and barometer 29.22 inches, adjusted altitude 3,462 feet.

Anderson is 8 - 1 against Enders in prior events and Anderson is 2 - 0 against Enders in prior final rounds. Enders with the slight starting line advantage and never trailed to get win. She is the first woman to win a Pro Stock Wally. Erica Enders' MOV: 0.0160 seconds (approximately 5 feet).

(Image credit: NHRA Media)

A John Force Racing Team Funny Car does make it to the final round.

First Final Round for Courtney Force ! ! !

Results for Final Round

JOLIET, Ill. - SUMMIT FastNews - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Funny Car at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 15th annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries:  W/L  Driver                                     R-Time    E-Time  Speed

 (W) Jeff Arend (DHL Camry)                      0.083      4.131 309.20

 (L) Courtney Force (Traxxas Mustang)            0.071      4.454 272.67

 7:46 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 84 degrees, relative humidity 67 percent, and barometer 29.22 inches, adjusted altitude 3,462 feet.

This is the first time Arend and Force have faced each other in eliminations and Arend comes into the finals with lane choice. The lanes have been close, so anyone can win. Force is looking to join Enders in getting her first final round win.

Force gets a 0.012 advantage off the line and stays out in front until about two hundred feet out, where the engine starts to mix up the cylinders and loses the momentum.

(Story and Image credit: NHRA Media)

"Cars Land" at California Adventure Opens this week.

If you haven't seen the Movie "Cars", none of this will make any sense. Go get a copy of the DVD today, and watch it at least once, but two or three times will help you understand the story, and all the work that Disney did to build this wonderful town in Orange County, CA. Remember to watch all the way through the credits, even when the screen goes black for a second, keep watching, there is one more scene.

The Way into "Cars Land", this is the way we walked into "Cars Land".
Image credit: DisneyMediaWebsite.

The Cozy Cone, Flo's, Ramone's on Main St. of Radiator Springs.
Image credit: DisneyMediaWebsite.

It’s like stepping right into the “Cars” movie!  Route 66 leads guests at Disney California Adventure Park into Cars Land, a fully detailed, immersive re-creation of Radiator Springs, the setting for the hit Disney - Pixar animated film “Cars.” Guests will be awed by the panoramic vistas of Ornament Valley, experience the thrills of three new attractions and even get to interact with some of their favorite fuel-driven friends.

The debut of Cars Land marks the completion of a five-year expansion at Disney California Adventure, bringing more characters, more adventures and more Disney magic into the park, both day and night.

Get your kicks in Radiator Springs

• The re-creation of Radiator Springs captures the authentic feel of Route 66 with three-dimensional versions of familiar landmarks from the film, including Cadillac Mountain Range in Ornament Valley, Luigi’s Casa Della Tires and Flo’s V8 Café.
• Only in Radiator Springs do guests learn dance moves like the Overdrive, the Reverse and the Hairpin Turn, all part of the fun at “DJ’s Dance and Drive,” one element of the Route 66 entertainment. DJ spins auto favorites such as “Life in the Fast Lane” and “Car Wash.”
• When night falls in Radiator Springs, 16 neon signs in bright, luminous colors light the way along Route 66.
• Signs help tell the story in Radiator Springs, adding humor and life to the town’s four-wheeled residents.
• The “car-acters” of Cars Land welcome guests at three new attractions: Radiator Springs Racers, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi’s Flying Tires.
• The historic Route 66 runs 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Route 66 in Cars Land is approximately 525 feet long and 23 feet wide, rich with inspiration from the actual American highway.
• Cars Land also treats guests to food and merchandise locations inspired by the Radiator Springs landmarks in the film: Flo’s V8 Café, Fillmore’s Taste-In, Cozy Cone Motel, Radiator Springs Curios, Sarge’s Surplus Hut and Ramone’s House of Body Art.
• The fun of the “Cars” theme extends even to the menus of the Radiator Springs roadside restaurants. Flo’s V8 Café serves old-fashioned, breakfast dishes and home-style rotisserie classics for lunch and dinner, including such specialties as a breakfast chicken tamale with scrambled eggs, entrees such as the Veggie-Tater Bake and house-made Pie-O-Rama pies including strawberry-rhubarb, blueberry-peach and apple-cheddar. At Cozy Cone Motel, each food item is a different “cone-coction,” such as “Pop-cone” and “Chile Cone Queso.”

Revving through Cars Land and Ornament Valley

• Cars Land construction began in July 2009.
• The impressive Cadillac Mountain Range in Ornament Valley stands approximately 125 feet tall at its highest peak, the Pinnacle.
• The peaks of the mountain range, from left to right, represent Cadillac tail fins from 1957, 1958, 1959 (the Pinnacle), 1960, 1961 and 1962.
• At nearly 300,000 square feet, the mountain range is the largest rockwork construction in any domestic Disney theme park.
• More than 4,000 tons of steel were used to erect the mountain range and Radiator Springs Racers attraction.
• The team of Walt Disney Imagineers devoted more than 28,000 hours to designing the structural system for the rockwork and Radiator Springs Racers show building.

It’s like stepping right into the “Cars” movie!  Route 66 leads guests at Disney California Adventure Park into Cars Land, a fully detailed, immersive re-creation of Radiator Springs, the setting for the hit Disney - Pixar animated film “Cars.” Guests will be awed by the panoramic vistas of Ornament Valley, experience the thrills of three new attractions and even get to interact with some of their favorite fuel-driven friends.

The debut of Cars Land marks the completion of a five-year expansion at Disney California Adventure, bringing more characters, more adventures and more Disney magic into the park, both day and night.

Get your kicks in Radiator Springs

• The re-creation of Radiator Springs captures the authentic feel of Route 66 with three-dimensional versions of familiar landmarks from the film, including Cadillac Mountain Range in Ornament Valley, Luigi’s Casa Della Tires and Flo’s V8 Café.
• Only in Radiator Springs do guests learn dance moves like the Overdrive, the Reverse and the Hairpin Turn, all part of the fun at “DJ’s Dance and Drive,” one element of the Route 66 entertainment. DJ spins auto favorites such as “Life in the Fast Lane” and “Car Wash.”
• When night falls in Radiator Springs, 16 neon signs in bright, luminous colors light the way along Route 66.
• Signs help tell the story in Radiator Springs, adding humor and life to the town’s four-wheeled residents.
• The “car-acters” of Cars Land welcome guests at three new attractions: Radiator Springs Racers, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi’s Flying Tires.
• The historic Route 66 runs 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles. Route 66 in Cars Land is approximately 525 feet long and 23 feet wide, rich with inspiration from the actual American highway.
• Cars Land also treats guests to food and merchandise locations inspired by the Radiator Springs landmarks in the film: Flo’s V8 Café, Fillmore’s Taste-In, Cozy Cone Motel, Radiator Springs Curios, Sarge’s Surplus Hut and Ramone’s House of Body Art.
• The fun of the “Cars” theme extends even to the menus of the Radiator Springs roadside restaurants. Flo’s V8 Café serves old-fashioned, breakfast dishes and home-style rotisserie classics for lunch and dinner, including such specialties as a breakfast chicken tamale with scrambled eggs, entrees such as the Veggie-Tater Bake and house-made Pie-O-Rama pies including strawberry-rhubarb, blueberry-peach and apple-cheddar. At Cozy Cone Motel, each food item is a different “cone-coction,” such as “Pop-cone” and “Chile Cone Queso.”

Revving through Cars Land and Ornament Valley

• Cars Land construction began in July 2009.
• The impressive Cadillac Mountain Range in Ornament Valley stands approximately 125 feet tall at its highest peak, the Pinnacle.
• The peaks of the mountain range, from left to right, represent Cadillac tail fins from 1957, 1958, 1959 (the Pinnacle), 1960, 1961 and 1962.
• At nearly 300,000 square feet, the mountain range is the largest rockwork construction in any domestic Disney theme park.

(Did you watch the Movie? What does Filmore ask Sarge about the way the traffic light blinks?)
Image credit: DisneyMediaWebsite.


• More than 4,000 tons of steel were used to erect the mountain range and Radiator Springs Racers attraction.

Image credit: DisneyMediaWebsite.

Image credit: DisneyMediaWebsite.

Remember the traffic light in the movie, it does the same thing here at "Cars Land".
Image credit: DisneyMediaWebsite.

The Real Lizzie's (Hackberry General Store) on Route 66 in AZ.

Image Credit: Dicken Wear

• The team of Walt Disney Imagineers devoted more than 28,000 hours to designing the structural system for the rockwork and Radiator Springs Racers show building. (Press release and above images except where noted, credit to Disney Media).

"Cars Land", California Adventure, Anaheim, CA.

Go to these links for news and views about "Cars Land" opening June 15th in Anaheim, CA.

Image Credits: Dicken Wear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDNT-UmvuLA&feature=relmfu

CARROLL SHELBY (1923-2012) Race car driver, car designer made an impact in the automotive world.

DALLAS (AP) Decades after a heart condition forced him to retire from racing, Carroll Shelby still loved to drive muscle cars. Well into his 80s, the legendary car designer spent hours testing his last Mustang Shelby GT500, which sets a new record for horsepower and hits a top speed of more than 200 miles per hour. A one-time chicken farmer, Shelby had more than a half-dozen successful careers during his long life: champion race car driver, racing team owner, automotive consultant and safari tour operator. His fabled Shelby Cobra sports car became an automotive and cultural icon, and he was later credited with injecting testosterone into Ford's Mustang and Chrysler's Viper. When Shelby died Thursday night in a Dallas hospital, he also was one of the nation's longest-living heart transplant recipients, having received a heart on June 7, 1990, from a 34-year-old man who died of an aneurysm. Shelby also received a kidney transplant in 1996 from his son, Michael. ''What made him so unusual is he developed, literally, hundreds of cars,'' said Craig Jackson, chairman and CEO of Barrett-Jackson Auction Company. ''This guy was 89 years old and he was still developing cars.'' Shelby first made his name behind the wheel of a car, winning France's grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race with teammate Ray Salvadori in 1959. He had turned to the race-car circuit in the 1950s after his chicken ranch failed. He won dozens of races in various classes throughout the 1950s and was twice named Sports Illustrated's Driver of the Year. He already was suffering serious heart problems when he won Le Mans and ran the race ''with nitroglycerin pills under his tongue,'' his longtime friend, Dick Messer, former executive director of Los Angeles' Petersen Automotive Museum, once noted. Soon after his win at Le Mans, he gave up racing and turned his attention to designing high-powered ''muscle cars'' that eventually became the Shelby Cobra and the Mustang Shelby GT500. ''He's an icon in the medical world and an icon in the automotive world,'' Messer said. ''His legacy is the diversity of his life,'' he added. ''He's incredibly innovative. His life has always been the reinvention of Carroll Shelby.'' The Cobra, which used Ford engines and a British sport car chassis, was the fastest production model ever made when it was displayed at the New York Auto Show in 1962. A year later, Cobras were winning races over Corvettes, and in 1964 the Rip Chords had a Top 5 hit on the Billboard pop chart with ''Hey, Little Cobra.'' (''Spring, little Cobra, getting ready to strike, spring, little Cobra, with all of your might. Hey, little Cobra, don't you know you're gonna shut `em down?'') In 2007, an 800-horsepower model of the Cobra made in 1966, once Shelby's personal car, sold for $5.5 million at auction, a record for an American car. ''It's a special car. It would do just over three seconds to 60 (mph), 40 years ago,'' Shelby told the crowd before the sale, held in Scottsdale, Ariz. It was Lee Iacocca, then head of Ford Motor Co., who assigned Shelby the task of designing a model of Ford's Mustang that could compete against the Corvette for young male buyers. Iacocca often joked that Shelby was so persistent he gave him the money and Ford V-8 engines to build the Cobra just to get him out of his office. Turning a vehicle he had once dismissed as ''a secretary car'' into a rumbling, high-performance model was ''the hardest thing I've done in my life,'' Shelby recalled in a 2000 interview with The Associated Press. That car and the Shelby Cobra made his name a household word in the 1960s. When the energy crisis of the 1970s limited the market for gas-guzzling high-performance cars, Shelby weathered the downturn by heading to Africa, where he operated a safari company for a dozen years. By the time he returned to the United States, Iacocca was running Chrysler Motors and he hired Shelby to design the supercharged* Viper sports car. *(Editor's Note: The Viper was not Supercharged). ''He was a great friend and we did some really good work together,'' Iacocca said Friday in a statement. Inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1992, Shelby worked in recent years as a technical adviser on the Ford GT project and designed the Shelby Series 1 two-seat muscle car, a 21st century clone of his 1965 Cobra. His 2013 Shelby GT500 has the most powerful production V-8 engine in the world — at 662 horses — and a top speed of more than 200 miles per hour. It is arriving in dealerships now. The model that Shelby test drove sold for $350,000 at a charity auction in January. ''I've always been asked, `What is my favorite car?' and I've always said `The next one,' '' Shelby said, according to Ford's website. ''I'm going to take that back tonight. This is my new favorite car.'' Edsel B. Ford, a member of Ford's board of directors, said Friday in a statement that the company had lost a legend. ''Carroll Shelby is one of the most recognized names in performance car history, and he's been successful at everything he's done,'' Ford said. ''Whether helping Ford dominate the 1960s racing scene or building some of the most famous Mustangs, his enthusiasm and passion for great automobiles over six decades has truly inspired everyone who worked with him.'' He created the Carroll Shelby Foundation in 1991 to provide assistance for children and young people needing acute coronary and kidney care. According to its website, the foundation has helped numerous children get surgery, as well as provided money for research. Shelby was born Jan. 11, 1923, in Leesburg, Texas. During World War II, he was an Army Air Corps flight instructor who corresponded with his fiancee by dropping love letters stuck into his flying boots onto her farm. After leaving the military in 1945, he started a dump truck business, then decided to raise chickens. The poultry business initially flourished, with Shelby earning a $5,000 profit on the first batch of broilers he delivered. He went broke, however, when his second flock died of disease. A friend then invited him to become an amateur racer and his success led to his joining the Aston-Martin team and competing in races all over the world. Shelby had homes in Los Angeles and his native east Texas. Doctors did not immediately release a cause of death. He is survived by his wife, Cleo Shelby; his three children, Patrick, Michael and Sharon; his sister, Anne Shelby Ellison; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Funeral services were not immediately announced.

A Rough And Tumble Round 4 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 Presented By Nestle

Three in a row at Sao Paulo! Congrats @12WillPower! #saopauloindy twitpic.com/9fau1g - Image Credit Penske Racing via TWEET

A Rough And Tumble Round 4 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 Presented By Nestle 

The morning of the fourth round in the IZOD IndyCar Series in Sao Paulo, Brazil started in having the DW12 IndyCars warm-up in light showers with the drivers finding dryer areas of the track to run and post the best times. When this happens in Sao Paulo, people begin to understand why this part of Brazil is known as the "Land Of Drizzle".

The start time was moved up about 15 minutes in order to account for the weather on the Anhembi temporary street circuit (the fourth street/road race course of the 2012 season), which has turned sunny, with the starting grid of the 26 car field to reflect this starting order:

Event: Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 - Round 4
Track: Sao Paulo Street Circuit 2.536 mile(s)
Report: Starting Line Up IZOD IndyCar Series - Tire Designation for Race April 29, 2012

SP -- Car -- Driver -- Name -- C/E/T -- Start Tire

1 12 Power, Will D/C/F Alternate
2 10 Franchitti, Dario D/H/F Alternate
3 9 Dixon, Scott D/H/F Alternate
4 27 Hinchcliffe, James D/C/F Alternate
5 28 Hunter-Reay, Ryan D/C/F Primary
6 38 Rahal, Graham D/H/F Alternate

7 14 Conway, Mike D/H/F Alternate
8 67 Newgarden, Josef (R) D/H/F Alternate
9 2 Briscoe, Ryan D/C/F Alternate
10 26 Andretti, Marco D/C/F Primary
11 11 Kanaan, Tony D/C/F Alternate
12 8 Barrichello, Rubens D/C/F Alternate

13 5 Viso, EJ D/C/F Alternate
14 4 Hildebrand, JR D/C/F Primary
15 83 Kimball, Charlie D/H/F Alternate
16 77 Pagenaud, Simon (R) D/H/F Primary
17 19 Jakes, James D/H/F Primary
18 3 Castroneves, Helio D/C/F Primary
19 25 Beatriz, Ana D/C/F Primary
20 20 Carpenter, Ed D/C/F Alternate

21 78 de Silvestro, Simona D/L/F Primary
22 7 Bourdais, Sebastien D/L/F Primary
23 22 Servia, Oriol D/L/F Primary
24 6 Legge, Katherine (R) D/L/F Primary
25 15 Sato, Takuma D/H/F Primary
26 18 Wilson, Justin D/H/F Primary
(R) Rookie

Pursuant to Rule 14.14.6.4.1, Cars 4, 6, 7, 18 & 19 will start on Primary Tires.
(ht: IICS PDF Report)

NOTES: Qualifying lap times for the No. 18 Sonny’s BBQ car have been voided by INDYCAR following post-race technical inspection. Pursuant to Rule 14.4.13.3 of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series rulebook: As requested by INDYCAR each Car must run either the cameras or dummy equipment as supplied by BSI/INDYCAR.

Justin Wilson, who had qualified sixth in the Dale Coyne Racing car, will start from the rear.

 

Not exactly what you want to see between warmup and race, 2nd engine change in 12 hours! Ayayay! Our guys working hard. Image Credit: Oriol Servia via TWEET

Unapproved engine changes, which incur 10-grid spot penalties, were made to the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car of Takuma Sato (did not participate in qualifying), the No. 7 Dragon Racing car of Sebastien Bourdais (qualified 19th), the No. 22 Lotus DRR car of Oriol Servia (qualified 24th) and the No. 6 TrueCar Dragon Racing car of Katherine Legge (carried over from Long Beach; qualified 25th).

 

GREEN Flag starts the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 -

Everyone gets off to a great start with Will Power maintaining the first position. On the first lap, Newgarden and Hinchcliffe battle hard with Newgarden taking the position.

End of the first lap saw Conway taking the position from Hinchcliffe and Dario Franchitti staying tight on Will Power's wing.

The long, nearly one-mile straight-away featured on this circuit really lets these new DW12's stretch their legs, so much so that during qualifications, Will Power, who won the two previous races here, set a new track record with a lap of 1 minute, 21.4045 seconds at about 3 minutes left in the Firestone Fast Six qualifications round.

At Lap 4 of 75 - The engine wars have been invigorated with the change to the turbo design on the Honda engines - the top six positions are Power-Chevy, Franchitti-Honda, Dixon-Honda, Newgarden-Honda, Rahal-Honda, and Conway-Honda!

Lap 7 of 75 - AJ Foyt's Mike Conway is all over Sarah Fisher Racing's Josef Newgarden to try at taking away the spot as KVRT's Tony Kanaan passes team-mate Rubens Barrichello.


Announcement Note: Bryan Herta Autosport stayed behind from the race in order to prepare for the INDY500. The team has left the Lotus Legion and will be running the Honda engine the rest of the season.

Pit Stops begin on Lap 10 of 75. Pagenaud is in early and has an adjustment to his front wing for more downforce.

Takuma Sato came into the pits too hot and incurs a drive through penalty ... needs a third wing replacement for the weekend.

Lap 13 of 75 - Justin Wilson is one of the big movers starting at the back of the field at P26 up to P18 - Drizzles are beginning to fall so those who waited may be able to have one less stop for rain tires.

Marco Andretti in the pits from P14 and takes on Firestone Reds - drops to P25.

TWEET - The EDJE @theedje -18 laps. 3 commercial breaks. 1 pre-taped segment. Missed passing and pits tops. Awful.

Lap 20 of 75 has Power leading the field by 3.2 seconds ahead of Franchitti, Rahal, Conway, Hunter-Reay, Briscoe, Viso, Barrichello, Carpenter, and the Lotus Dragon Racing of Bourdais.

The Lotus and team-mate to Bourdais at Dragon Racing, Katherine Legge, slaps the wall and damages the right rear of the car.

A wet spot has Ryan Briscoe bringing out the Yellow Flag while under pressure from Rahal.

Full Course Yellow Lap 23 of 75 - Castroneves at P8 is listed as the biggest mover up 10 positions from his start.

TWEET - Formula 1 @F1grid - Sonny's BBQ car has a gearbox clogged with cornbread problem. #IndyCar

TWEET - F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive - Under caution it's Power, Franchitti, Hunter-Reay, Dixon, Conway, Rahal, Pagenaud, Castroneves, Newgarden and Barrichello. #IndyCar

Lap 25 of 75 - Ryan Briscoe's DW12 is on the flatbed truck and is out of the race - storm clouds are gathering with the winds stepping up a notch.

A two stop strategy seems out of the question given the potential of rain and the timing mix of yellows the race is having.

GREEN Flag - Lap 26 of 75 Side-By-Side - Franchitti spins in turn #1 as he was tapped by Mike Conway - Franchitti's car is dead - Full Course Caution!

Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay was strong again (as he was in Round 3 in Long Beach) and kept toward to top of the running order all day during this very entertaining race. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett via SPEED


The shake-out has Power leading RHR, Dixon, Castroneves, Barrichello, Kanaan, Viso, Hildebrand, Hinchcliffe, and Sato round out the top 10. The cheers are going up around the track as the three favorite sons in the race are Helio-P4, Rubens-P5, and TK-P6 in the top 10.

Franchitti is able to get restarted, gets checked out in the pits, and rejoins the field.

Side-By-Side restart Lap 29 of 75 - Everyone gets through Turn 1 but several cars 4-6 collect themselves in Turn 3.de Silvestro taps Newgarden and causes a blockage - two cars are damaged and in the pits - Newgarden and Jakes.

Newgarden rejoins the race - the DW12 is a much stronger and resilient chassis and aero-package. Simona de Silvestro stalled on track.

Top six positions are Power, RHR, Dixon, Kanaan, Barrichello, and Viso. A favorite daughter Ana Beatriz occupies P7.

GREEN Flag on Lap 33 of 75. Everyone through Turn 1, 2, and 3. RHR is all over the back of Power but the string of cars seems stable.

TWEET - Donna Lingley @MissLingley - Finally, we're racing again. Double file restarts on street circuits don't work. #IndyCar

TWEET - Brian J. Wiggins @brian_wiggins - Aussie, American, New Zealander, Brazilian, Brazilian. #Diverse #IndyCar

Lap 37 - SeaBass goes off in the run-off area and needs assistance - a rough day for Lotus Dragon Racing.

Lap 38 - Crossed Flags signify that this race is official ... no matter what happens from now on, if the race is stopped, it counts.

Franchitti is on a charge as Franchitti passed Castroneves for P8. KVRT cars are P4, P5 and P6 (TK, Rubens, and Viso).

Lap 40 of 75 - Top 10 are Power (leading all laps) by 1.6 seconds over Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dixon, Kanaan, Rubens, Viso, Beatriz, Franchitti, Helio, and Sato with the biggest move of the day up 15 positions!

Tony Kanaan goes to the pits (last stop) so everyone moves up one. Franchitti giving fits to Beatriz and loosess a couple of positions. Castroneves has damage to his front wing but continues on after passing fellow country-person, Beatriz.

Lap 45 of 75 ... 30 laps to go:

TWEET - Allen Wedge @AllenWedge - ALmost all of the field is throwing down their fastest laps of the race right now #indycar

Franchitti has moved up plus 16 after restarting from the back of the field. Dario now running at P8. Team-mate Scott Dixon in the pits for his assumed last stop.

Dreyer and Reinblod's Lotus driven by Servia in for final pit-stop, comes out at P17 ... will be running Chevy for the rest of the season.

TWEET - AJFoytRacing @AJFoytRacing - How come Franchitti can improve 10 spots under yellow by ducking into pits before green & no one notices? #saopauloindy #indycar

Sounds like ... sour grapes?

TWEET - F1 Paddock @Formula1Paddock - Rubens Barrichello up to 5th now! #IndyCar

TWEET - Bruno Tarulli @BrunoTarulli34 - 50 vueltas cumplidas en Brasil! #IndyCar

Twenty Laps to go - Power by 2.6 seconds over RHR, Franchitti (oh, yes), Castroneves, and Sato. Pit-stops by leaders and Power has a great stop - Power on cold tires as Dixon takes the position away from Power in Turn 11.

Franchitti - good stop ... does Dixon need to come in?

Hichcliffe and Hildebrand battle with Manica taking the position. Ed Carpenter is running strong in P5 - very good.

Everyone is waiting on Dixon to see if he needs to come in.

15 laps to go and Castroneves goes off into runoff area and drops from lead to P7. The pit-stops continue as the order continues to change.

TWEET - Donna Lingley @MissLingley - Hmmmm, Brazilian tv director cuts away from Helio making a mistake. Helio is Brazilian. Useless! #IndyCar

TWEET - Magnificent Geoffrey @MagnificentGeof - Credit to the TV director, the coverage of this race has been outstanding(ly questionable) #IndyCar

TWEET - Christopher Estrada @estradawriting - Less than 20 laps to go here at #SaoPauloIndy. 9-Dixon leads 12-Power, 28-HunterReay, 5-Viso and 10-Franchitti. #IndyCar #SaoPauloIndy

Viso in the Pits - Good stop. Dixon has a 2.8 second lead but ... needs a splash of fuel?!

Great track action all race long - just great racing all around. Rahal takes P12 away from the Fuzzy's car of Ed Carpenter - big difference between Reds and Primary compound tires.

Josef Newgarden was racy throughout the event but his day came to an end when he got mixed up in a late race multi-car incident. Pictured here, he is followed by Brazilians Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett via SPEED

TWEET - Ross Bynum @therossbynum - Newgarden with fastest lap in race so far...wow. #IndyCar #SaoPauloIndy @SFHRindy @SarahFisher

Lap 60 of 75 has Dixon by 3.1 seconds over Power, RHR, Dario, Helio, Rubens, Sato, Manica, Conway, and JR Hildebrand.

Carpenter spins - Full course caution - Pits currently closed - All cars on Lap 63 track behind caution car - Pits OPEN!

TWEET - Danielle Asphall @DannieAsphall - Man, I'm a ball of nerves right now. #IndyCar #saopauloindy

Scott Dixon in ... fuel ... and out in P13 which sets up a RESTART with Power, RHR, Dario Franchitti, and Helio Castroneves on the front two rows - WOW!!!!!

TWEET - F1 Fanatic Live @f1fanaticlive - Looks like a disaster for Dixon - he gambled on staying out but his lead has been destroyed now. #IndyCar

TWEET - IndyCar Mom @IndyCarMom - I have to say how bad I want @rubarrichello to win so we can gain some #F1 fans. #callmedesparate #willbegforfans #iloveindycar #IndyCar

TWEET - Tim Moran @golic_2004 - Another car hits the wall. Looks like Newgarden... Caution #Indycar

This is the 12th consecutive race that Power has led. Newgarden pulls into the pits - broken, out of the race.

TWEET  - Ivan Renko @Ivan_Renko - Is the IZOD #IndyCar Series called "Formula Indy" in Brazil? I kinda like it.

Lap 67 of 75 RESTART - GREEN  Flag - Side-By-Side - A bunch of cars get balled up in turn 2 - a ton of chassis are just a mess - Full Course Caution!!!

Eight cars involved - Conway hits the wall in Turn 2 as he runs out of room - A call for all of the flatbeds in Sao Paulo to come to the track is put out - RED ALERT In Red Corner!

TWEET  - Tom Rowell @senorsoupe - That restart is why we love banzai Takuma Sato! He seemed to use the force just to get his car slow enough to get through turn 1 #indycar

New top 10 are Power, Hunter-Reay, Sato, Franchitti, Castroneves, Hinchcliffe, Hildebrand, Kimball, Viso, and Barrichello.

The "Formula IndyCars" get all piled up when Mike Conway runs out of room running on the outside of turn 2 and crunches the wall. One car after another had their nose cones collect under the car in front of them until eight cars were stopped and unable to continue. Image Credit: Sini Salminen via TWEET

TWEET - Sini Salminen @SiniF1 - RT @lightmasf1: ooooops! #IndyCar twitpic.com/9fagpq

Lap 71 of 75 - TWEET - Chris Tansley @ChrisTansley - Does the safety car have enough fuel? #Indycar

TWEET  - Austin Brauser @austinbrauser - What are the odds? An 8 car pile up and EJ Viso is not involved! #indycar #saopauloindy

Lap 72 RESTART - GREEN Flag Side-By-Side - Sambadrome turn 1 everyone safely through - Power out positions RHR!

Sato in the mix - tracking RHR - Castroneves being chased by Dario Franchitti. Chevy, Chevy, Honda, Chevy, Honda in top five!

2 Laps to go - Will Power looks strong and may only be beaten if he makes a mistake - no drizzles, clear track, Paul Blevin waves the White Flag!

TWEET - Dan Takyi @D4NT4KY1 - Final lap now! Sato will be third! Sadly Rubens is only 10th after being 3rd at one stage #IndyCar

Helio Castroneves was the highest placing driver of the hometown contingent at P4. He was able to hold off Dario Franchitti and survive a practice crash and a couple of on-track incidents to come back to P2 in season championship points. Image Credit: Marshall Pruett via SPEED

Checkered Flag - Will Power Three-Peats the Sambadrome!!! Wins third race on the season - Dixon, nearest in points, drops positions.

TWEET - IZOD IndyCar Series @IndyCar - It's @12WillPower again! AAR's Hunter-Reay and RLR's Sato finish on podium, Sato's first one! #saopauloindy #indycar2012

TWEET - Matt White @MattW1986 - Good recovery from @dariofranchitti to 5th #indycar

TWEET  - Dave Furst @DaveFurst - If it's a non-oval, its Will Power. It'll be interesting to see how the #IndyCar dynamic changes during the month of May. #Indy500

TWEET - lookingspiffy @lookingspiffy - Good stuff from the #BrazilianMafia today. Most vexed by that last restart, though. #IndyCar

Will Power jumps off of the front nose of his Verizon Team Penske #12 - in interview says he is happy that it did not really rain on the race all day.

Ryan Hunter-Reay - "Will runs such a clean race. I tried to jump him but he was able to keep the position on the restart."

TAKU - "We had a nice race, really - I'm really excited for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing - Fantastic. We finally got a good result going into Indianapolis."

Helio Castroneves started in P20 and ends up P4 as the highest placing Brazilian! "In the end, Takuma made a kamikaze move and was able to hold until the end.

The Twitter, the people were supporting me saying nice things."

TWEET - NBC Sports @NBCSports - Will Power earns his third consecutive #indycar win, taking the Sao Paolo 300. See the stats here: scores.nbcsports.msnbc.com/nascar/leaderb… @IndyCar

Engine Wars Update: Chevy, Chevy, Honda, Chevy, Honda, Chevy, Chevy, Honda Chevy, and Chevy ... Lotus just misses out of a top 10 finish with Wix Filter Dreyer and Reibold Racing's Oriol Srevia posting up at P11 in this team's last race for Lotus this season (will be using Chevrolet-power in their DW12 for the balance of the season). The next closest running Lotus-powered DW12 was McAfee Dragon Racing's Sebastien Bourdais at P18.

It is now on to the season's first oval race at the "Greatest Spectacle In Racing" with the month of May's INDY500!

... notes from The EDJE




** Article first published as "A Rough And Tumble Round 4 Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 Presented By Nestle" at Technorati **