While most of us here in the Circle City were watching Number 12 and the Blue Crew take it to the Seahawks at Lucas Oil Stadium, there was an Indy Car Race going on in Houston Texas that had a real bearing on the outcome of the 2013 IZOD Indy Car series. Actually there were races on both Saturday and Sunday and it turned out to be a major weekend for Scott Dixon and the Target Chip Ganassi Racing Team, but not without cost.
The Saturday race saw Takuma Sato take the pole in the #14 A. J. Foyt Enterprises Panasonic Dallara Honda with a qualifying speed of 97:305 mph. This was the first pole a Team Foyt car had won since 1999 and it was ironic that it occurred in their home-base city of Houston. Dixon put his #9 Target Ganassi Dallara Honda in third starting position. In between the two racers was Dixon and Ganassi Racing’s most recent nemesis, Will Power, who was piloting the #12 Verizon Dallara Chevy for Penske Racing. However, it was Helio Castroneves who Dixon had his eye on. The championship point leader going into the weekend had completed every lap of competition in the 2013 series, resulting in only one win but with point-collecting finishes in every race he competed in. The Shell/Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston was 90 laps in length. Dixon quickly took the lead and held it to take the checkered flag and the win. However, mechanical problems kept Castroneves out of the running and he finished ten laps down with no points collected. The win brought Dixon within 8 points of passing Helio for the lead. Swiss driver Simona De Silvestro finished second in the race, which is by far her best finish in any Indy Car event. She was at the wheel of her #78 KV Racing technology/Nuclear Energy Dallara Chevy. She definitely lived up to her nickname, which is the “Iron Maiden,” in this race.
The Sunday race qualifying session was rained out so the starting positions were determined by point standings which meant Castroneves would start from the pole with Dixon next to him. The race was again a 90 lap event at Reliant Park which is actually a temporary 1.7 mile course set up in parking area of the complex where the Houston Astrodome is located. The Dome has been closed since 2008 but Reliant Park is still used for outdoor sporting venues. Race number II got the green flag on a standing start and Helio jumped into the lead. It soon became obvious that there were serious problems with the Penske car as smoke was coming out the back and liquid could be seen leaking from the undercarriage. It turned out that Castroneves’ gear box was broken and he was forced to pull into the pits on lap 11. Teammate Will Power was out in front and he and Dixon duked it out for the lead for the rest of the race. Castroneves rejoined the race on the leader’s 46th lap which meant he was 35 laps down and out of serious contention. Power’s job the last few races has been to try to keep Dixon from winning races. While Power doesn’t have a chance for the championship he did hold on to win and Dixon finished second. His second place finish, coupled with the fact that Castroneves earned no points in either of the races finally put him in the lead for the Indy Car Championship with one race to go. Cause for great celebration for team Ganassi, right?
Well, unfortunately, the celebration was subdued to say the least. On lap 88, with two laps to go, while Power was fighting off Scott Dixon for the lead, farther back in the field Dixon’s teammate and close friend Dario Franchitti was jockeying for finishing position from 11th place. It hasn’t been a very successful 2013 racing for the three time Indy 500 winner from Scotland and this race really was the worst for him. Going into turn 6 and trying to slip by Takuma Sato, who had his #14 car sliding out of control, Franchitti ran into the Japanese driver and sent him spinning into the fence. Franchitti was propelled up and over the retaining fence with his car disintegrating and hurling pieces of metal on to the fans on the other side. The video was horrifying with comparisons to the fatal crash of Dan Wheldon being made. Fifteen spectators were injured, but not seriously, thankfully. Franchitti was alert and talking to hospital personnel but suffered a concussion, a spinal fracture that will not require surgery and an ankle fracture that did. His racing year is over, though.
There is one race left at Fontana, California. It’s a 500 mile event and it will most likely come down to the wire. This is the third leg of the new open-wheel racing triple crown. With Tony Kanaan winning the 500 at IMS in May, even though Dixon won the Pocono 400, there can be no triple crown winner even if Dixon takes the win. After his Indy win, Kanaan has faded from the hunt. Castroneves, despite his many racing success, has never won an IZOD Indy Car Championship and desperately wants to add an IZOD title to his trophy case. He has been the most consistent driver on the circuit this year and even with only one win, he had completed all 2003 laps of competition in the series until this last weekend. Dixon and Ganassi racing were not competitive in the first half of the season due to power problems with their Honda engines but in the second half of the season they have been able to compensate and get back to winning. Dixon has made a serious sprint to get to the point lead with some skillful and intense driving. Dixon’s team owner, Chip Ganassi, is ending the team’s relationship with Honda Engines at the end of the 2013 season and will switch to the more powerful Chevrolet engines in 2014.
So it’s down to the wire at the MAVTV 500 mile race at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on October 19. It’s highly probable that the engine in Helio Castroneves car will have to be replaced for the race because of the gear box problems. That means a ten position demotion in starting position no matter where he starts. Whatever his starting position, he’ll have to drive to win the 2013 IZOD Indy Car Championship. Dixon will be very tough to beat even with Helios’s teammate Will Power dogging him, and since the race is on a Saturday, you can watch racing action and not worry about missing Peyton Manning’s return to Lucas Oil Stadium with the Broncos to meet Andrew Luck and the Colts on Sunday evening. Any way you look at it, the weekend of the 19th is going to be a big one for all of us sports fans.
snicewanger@yahoo.com