Power dominates Grand Prix of Indianapolis

Will Power

Michael L. Levitt/LAT

Leading 65 of 82 laps, Will Power put on a clinic Saturday on the road course at Indianapolis to win the Grand Prix of Indianapolis over Graham Rahal and Juan Montoya by 1.5 sec. before an estimated 50,000 fans.

It was the 24th IndyCar win for Will Power, the 5th different winner of 2015 and the 16th win for Roger Penske at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Sebastien Bourdais and Charlie Kimball rounded out the top-5.

Will Power dominated the race, but Graham Rahal also drove the drive of his life as the two finished 1-2 in the 2015 Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Juan Pablo Montoya finished third, and maintains the IndyCar season points lead.

Chevrolet powered cars finished in 7 of the top 8 places, and 8 out of the top 10.

The weather forecasts since the opening of the gates called for severe weather, or at least rain, for the afternoon. What little rain that did fall today only lasted a few minutes, and an hour after the race, the heavens opened but for today we got the race in between the clouds, but nary a rain tire was even contemplated for the day.

Power grabs the lead at the start

Scott R. LePage/LAT

Will Power started on the pole alongside of Scott Dixon. IndyCar abandoned the idea of a standing start after last year's near-disaster, but the downside of that is a huge rush down the front stretch into a treacherous Turn 1. Turn 1 is at the end of front stretch, but what little banking is there points the car nose-down as they turn into the corner with no side banking.

Scott Dixon was among the five cars caught up in the melee, spinning and requiring a replacement for both front and rear wings. Dixon, however, put on a driving exhibition as he came back through the field, and finished 10th. Jack Hawksworth and Josef Newgarden also spun in the incident, and both required a restart along with a trip to the pits, and both suffered dismal days.

Hawksworth soldiered on and finished 23rd, some 13 laps down, suffering later with brake issues. Newgarden, last week's winner, came out of the pits just ahead of Will Power, clinging on to avoid being lapped by a clearly superior car. Newgarden never got his yellow flag to rejoin the field, was ultimately lapped, and finished 20th, a lap down.

On lap 4 the green flag flew and stayed out to play for the rest of the day. Will Power led Simon Pagenaud and Sebastien Bourdais to the green flag and the race settled down to a race purist's dream, with the issue decided without the help of penalties or caution flags.

The big winner in the first lap mayhem, however, was Graham Rahal, who advanced 11 spots to 6th place for the restart. By lap 15 he was in 5th place, and due to pit strategy he lead the race on lap 22 (and twice more after). Graham's drive is very remarkable since he drives a Honda, whose aero package gave drivers fits all weekend.

Not only was he able to stretch tires and fuel longer than the Chevrolets, but he put on a late-race charge on Will Power that cut the lead to almost 1 second. Lapped traffic ultimately played havoc with any late race duel, but the result in the end probably reflected both the stronger car as well as the great drives of the two drivers.

After the race, Rahal reiterated that the cars are "pitch sensitive" — that no matter what they try, the cars want to spend the day sideways. The front tires lock up on entry to the corner, and the rear wants to break loose on exit, and no setup plans seem to affect that. Worse yet, the "flagship" team that was to debut the Honda aero kit, Andretti, struggled mightily on its own — finishing 24th (Justin Wilson), 16th (Marco Andretti), 13th (Carlos Munoz) and 11th (Ryan Hunter-Reay). Hunter-Reay was quickly forced into a short pit strategy when his car proved to be a handful early in the race.

However, aside from pit stops, the day belonged to Will Power and the Chevy teams. Honda's only other top-10 finish was by Takuma Sato in 9th, which also was remarkable since he qualified 22nd. There were times when there was close racing in the back of the field as most of the drivers found close racing, especially in positions 2-10 for most of the race.

And within an hour of the end of the race, the skies darkened and rough weather again threatened and at 6:30 the skies opened up…..

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Juan Pablo Montoya leads the IndyCar points total heading into the Indy 500. Team mates Will Power and Helio Castroneves are second and third respectively. Scott Dixon and Graham Rahal (the top Honda driver) are in a dead heat at 144 points but Dixon's win breaks the tie for 4th place.

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Will Power is the 5th winner in 5 races this season, and it is the 25th of his career (144 starts). It is the 177th for Team Penske. He is now tied with Gordon Johncock on the overall win record (records include all prior series to IndyCar, including AAA, USAC, CART, CCWS, and the IRL).

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I caught up with rookie Stefano Coletti before the race. Nice guy with a great sense of humor, and based on his performance so far he has the talent to belong in IndyCar. I asked him about sharing set up information with team mate Sebastien Bourdais, and he told me he really can't share too much setup with him. 'Cause he "has a different driving style." Mostly, he's more aggressive getting into the corners than SeaBass. Wait, someone who is more aggressive than Sebastien?

ANGIE'S LIST GRAND PRIX OF INDIANAPOLIS POST-RACE QUOTES:

ROGER PENSKE (Owner, Team Penske): "It's a credit to the whole team, the guys back at the shop, the drivers have just been outstanding all season. I guess we've got nine poles in a row. What we've got to do is get one coming up next weekend. It's a credit to the reliability. The Chevy engines were strong obviously, you could see that all day. Will Power had one of his best days, never missed a beat and was out front all day long. This bodes well for us as we move into Memorial Day (weekend for the Indianapolis 500)."

BOBBY RAHAL (Co-owner, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing): (About son Graham's second-place finish): "He didn't make any mistakes and you could tell he was driving hard, the pit stops were fabulous and here we are. It shows Alabama (Barber Motorsports Park) wasn't a fluke, doesn't it? This is a kid that's got tremendous talent. He and the engineers are really clicking and I think it's going to get stronger and stronger as the year goes on. This should move us up on the championship. I think we have more points this year than we had all of last year. Everybody's clicking and what this does for your confidence is tremendous and a confident driver is the most powerful weapon you've got in your bag."

WILL POWER (No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, race winner): "The first lap was as fast as the last lap. I was really happy with the tires all day – super consistent, super gripping. Honestly, I think it was staying ahead at the start and the restart and then it was managing that traffic and just the pit sequence, man. My crew did an awesome job and saved enough fuel there at the end with Graham (Rahal) coming hard and it was good to save fuel and go fast. Full credit goes to the Verizon guys. I'm really happy to win here at this awesome facility. I just want to get one two weeks from now. That is what I want. I was just waiting for a yellow or something today because that is how these races usually play out, but if you always put yourself in that position to win, eventually it is going to come. If you keep knocking on a door, it's going to open. That is what happened today. I was very determined to start this month off really well and we got pole and we won. Now, we've got pole to aim for in the '500.' That's the aim. That's what I want. Today was one of the most physical races that I've done. All of that preseason fitness, that's really paid off today."

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, third place): "It was hard because I was hanging in with (Graham) Rahal and I felt like I was as good as him, if not better. Also, the fuel number got really big and I thought, 'we need that number,' so I started backing down just to make sure we would make it, not like last year. We pretty much ran out of gas on the last lap and it really hurt us so for me it was more about backing off and as the stint went on, I started getting better fuel numbers and it was fun. Those last 10 laps with (Sebastien) Bourdais behind, it was really hard. He was pushing really hard, but it makes it exciting. Our Verizon Chevy was really good and we have another good result for Team Penske."

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "I was just trying to make sure I didn't hit anyone – and that I didn't get hit – in that first corner. Just wanted to put the No. 3 Verizon Chevy in a good position there. Unfortunately, I clipped (Scott) Dixon in the right rear when he turned into the corner. Obviously him spinning out put me into the grass and we lost many spots. From there it was a great comeback for the team. The Verizon Chevy was really fast, but that first lap hurt us quite a bit. We were able to recover by having a fast car and by getting great fuel mileage. We learned a lot about our fuel mileage at Barber two weeks ago. Today that paid off big time."

STEFANO COLETTI (No. 4 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): "I am very happy with my first top-10 finish of the year. We had a difficult start to the race when there was an accident in Turn 1 and I had to go through the shortcut but luckily didn't lose any positions. We had a good strategy and I was able to move up a few more places. I had a great battle with Tony Kanaan, passing and re-passing two or three times a lap and managed to hold him off until four laps to go when he unfortunately passed me. We are very happy with the top-10 finish today and I am sure we have more coming our way."

JR HILDEBRAND (No. 6 Preferred Freezer CFH Racing Chevrolet): "We got a good start and I was on the inside. I just dove for the inside and missed all of it, so I passed a lot of cars. That worked to our strategy because we were actually running with the leaders. We got a good restart and just pulled away from a bunch of guys at the beginning of the race. We were just holding steady. We were basically running in the top five when we came in for the pit stop. It felt like I had a wheel loose, but as it turned out there was something mechanically wrong with the car. I came back (in), which ended up being an extra pit stop that took us out of contention. It was a really good job by all of the guys, we ran really strong for a long time today. We struggled a little bit earlier in the week so it's nice to have such a good strong run and run with the boys up front."

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 8 AFS Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "I was optimistic about the race this weekend and the work we've done on the AFS car. The start was tough and we had some damage and had no choice but to come in and change the front wing. It was a shame we didn't get a chance to get after it more than we were able to. We just need to put this behind us and turn our focus to Monday and start preparing the No. 17 car for the '500.' I guess that's all you can do."

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "Well, we had a great Target car today and I was looking forward to gaining some ground in the points after starting on the front row. There's not much you can say about the start. We got turned around from behind and then had damage to both front and rear wings, and had to change both. Tough day for the Target car."

TONY KANAAN (No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing gave me a great car for today's race and we worked really hard to get into the Firestone Fast Six (in Saturday qualifying), so it's unfortunate that the incident on the first lap in the first turn put us so far back. We were just never able to get back to where we started after losing so many positions there. A top-10 finish is always good for the points race with how competitive the field is, but we're just still not finishing where we need to. After five road and street races, I'm definitely ready to get back out there on an oval, especially here at IMS."

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Team Mistic E-Cigs – KVSH Chevrolet): "I'm happy that we finally finished in the top five, but for sure I am a little disappointed because we got up to third after the massacre on Lap 1 in Turn 1 and we finished fourth. The race was all about track position and we got unlucky with traffic. The Circle K Mistic E-Cigs car was really good today, but we just could not pass anyone. We needed clear air and we tried a lot of things to get it, but we could never make it work. The guys did a good job in the pits, but it was just not meant to be. The good thing is I think we found a little something with the red (alternate) tires."

TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): "A very good day. I enjoyed the race. We were fortunate to avoid the first-lap incident. I was very calm to see everything happening in front of me and I was able to make a good jump because of it. After the restart I was gradually losing a little position because the car was sliding a little bit. As the track got better because there was more rubber on it, our car was reacting better so our lap times came back. The boys did a fantastic job to get me out with very quick pit stops and I had a couple of fun overtakes on track and we came back strong for our first top-10 finish – finally! We had a trouble-free, no-mistake race, so our ABC Supply team did a great job."

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Steak 'n Shake Honda, second place): "I thought we had a very consistent car. I felt like when we toned it back a little bit, I could drive it pretty consistently throughout the race and get as close as possible to Will (Power). I didn't know we could beat the Chevys. To be where we are this year, it feels good. It was a tough day, a physical day. A couple of hiccups: Before the last stop I decided to stay out an extra lap, it was my call and it was a bad one because I caught (Scott) Dixon and Gabby Chaves coming out of the pits. That cost us a couple seconds. So we had to make up that time on track and it was tough. … This team has really turned a corner, but those Penske guys are no slouches. It's pretty hard to beat them. I'm very confident in myself and very confident in my team. That's the biggest thing. I have all of the confidence in the world that Honda's going to keep working hard and we're going to get better aero kits and power and we'll be able to challenge these guys even more. The biggest thing after Barber was to carry the momentum into May and now we need to carry that momentum into the '500' and we've got that, so hopefully we can keep it going."

CARLOS HUERTAS (No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "Well, it didn't quite play out for us the way we had hoped. We really stretched the fuel windows to see if we could get one more yellow and make it without that last stop, but it just didn't come. If it had gone our way, we probably could have made it into the top 10, but there was just too much green after the first lap. The car was OK but I just didn't have enough grip."

FRANCESCO DRACONE (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "We had some decent pace in the middle of the race but couldn't maintain it. The engine, at the beginning, was very quiet, maybe just a bit fresh. Then in clean air it seemed to wake up a bit and work better. The pace was fine when in clean air. I guess it would be been nice to be able to run the engine a bit since it was changed just before the race, but it is just unlucky. The end was a bit slower because I drove into the marbles a few times letting the leaders by and then it was really hard to clean off the tires. Overall, it was a small improvement on previous races, but we are still not where we need to be."

LUCA FILIPPI (No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka CFH Racing Chevrolet): "Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. I had a great start, moving up from ninth up to fourth. I was hit from behind and it broke my rear bumper, costing us 2 percent of our downforce for the entire race. I had no pace and no downforce. When we had to come in and change the wing, I lost time there. In the meantime, we had an issue with the radio as well. We were very fast in traffic and able to pass people. It was a very unfair day for us. We easily had a top-five car so this is a shame. Now it's Ed's (Carpenter) turn. I really hope he will finish out the month of May strong in the No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka car."

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 21 Century 21 CFH Racing Chevrolet): "It was just a tough day for the whole team. It doesn't look like we had any luck anywhere in the field for any of our guys. For us, it was a day of attrition. I'm sure a lot of people weren't happy with us trying to get our lap back, but we were still racing the best that we could. If a yellow fell, we could've gotten that so that's the reason we were pushing so hard for two-thirds of the race. It's a shame we couldn't get the opportunity to race today. That's racing, sometimes you have good days and sometimes you have bad ones."

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 22 DeVilbiss Team Penske Chevrolet): "It seemed like it was an electronic problem. The lines were burnt. It's disappointing, for sure, but it was a mechanical problem. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do about it. I just haven't had much luck this year so far. We're going to keep fighting. I'm going to keep pushing. I contrast the two (winning the 2014 race and having mechanical issues in 2015) as when you win it is fun. When you don't win, it is not fun. We were second behind Will (Power) at the start. We had the pace to keep up with him. It just didn't go our way today. With mechanical issues, you just can't really control it. It is what it is. The car went very sudden. The car wouldn't shift anymore. So, it is what it is."

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 25 Andretti Autosport Honda): "It was a tough race today, unfortunately I got caught up in the stack-up down in Turn 1 and ended up breaking off the endplate. I thought we were still fighting away after that incident and we were trying to work out how our strategy would play out. The No. 25 crew was telling me to push and then save fuel, so I stayed pretty close to the pack, but about halfway through the race we had a slight hiccup during our pit stop and we ended up losing a couple of spots. At that point we struggled a little bit to get back in it and ultimately suffered a mechanical issue. It's a frustrating way to end the race, but that's racing so we'll focus on the '500' now and look ahead."

CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 26 AndrettiTV Cinsay Honda): "I think I had a great first lap – I moved from P21 to ninth position. Afterwards, it was just a saving fuel kind of race; I need to work on saving fuel, but I think it was a good recovery. We'll put this difficult weekend behind us, work hard and concentrate on the Indy 500 – that's the big goal for this year."

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 27 Snapple Honda): "It's just so on top of the road – the car is not in the racetrack, I think we are fundamentally missing something. Sort of the worst-case scenario because we lost like 10 seconds in the (pit) stop. We were ahead of Ryan (Hunter-Reay), then came out almost a straightaway behind him. If we would have finished ahead of Ryan, we'd probably be leading the team in points – as bad as that looks, but right now I just have to look at the Indy 500."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): "We had an unfortunate start to the day – got caught out on the start and dropped a few positions when we had the chance to gain about 10 (positions); had to go through the grass and avoid (the incident in Turn 1), so it was a hole to start in to begin with and then we just worked out way up to 10th. We saved fuel all day, which is unfortunate. It's just part of the strategy starting at the back, so we were never really able to attack and go for it. It's kind of a product of the situation, but we definitely need to figure this out. We're struggling to understand where the rest of the speed is."

JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 41 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): "I misjudged the front of the field, there was a tangle at the front and there was a concertina effect. I tried to go left and there was a car there and we obviously touched and then I spun the car to avoid (Scott) Dixon. We were praying for a caution all the way through to bunch the field back up, but then the right rear camber shims fell out so we were done anyway. It's a disappointing day, really."

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, fifth place): "The No. 83 NovoLog Flex Pen Chevrolet was just really fast today and I was consistently hitting the fuel numbers they were giving me. I have to give a lot of credit to the guys on pit lane – they're just so consistently fast. They've been so good all season and we just ran into bad luck in those first four races. We took advantage of the fact that we had a clear pit in and we had some really fast in and out laps. The fact that the car was so quick, all I really had to do was hit the (fuel) number they were giving me. We'll definitely take the momentum from this solid finish into the rest of the month of May."

GABBY CHAVES (No. 98 Angie's List Honda): "The Angie's List car was really good the first half of the race and we were able to keep pace with the lead pack. We got stuck behind the No. 4 car for quite a while, and that cost us a lot of time before switching to the black tires. We struggled to find the pace on the primary tire before going back to our pace on the alternate tire. We keep improving every weekend. We ran strong and had a great time representing Angie's List in their race!"

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