Tag Archives: Auto Club Speedway

PCA Grand Prix Region – ACS, Fontana

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Despite a heavy downpour just as the first run group was getting settled in, and threat of rain throughout the day, the PCA Grand Prix Region put on a successful and fun Time Trial and Driver’s Education event at the Auto Club Speedway Infield Course on November 1.  The Infield Course at ACS is great place for drivers who are learning their craft to make a first step to a real race track.  Besides being easily accessible from just about anywhere in SoCal, the facilities at Auto Club Speedway are fantastic, and the infield course is an interesting track that’s a safe place to learn and progress.  With a wet track, it’s a fabulous place for everyone – even the most experienced pilots – to practice their car control skills.  For those of us who failed to rent a garage, we also got to practice our keep dry skills.

PCA Grand Prix Region

The PCA Grand Prix Region did a nice job getting the event started on time despite the changing weather conditions.  Driver’s Meeting and orientation safety briefing held, first timers and other students paired up with experienced instructors, the track went hot just as really dark clouds were rushing in from the west.  Even though the track was often quite wet with a big puddle in the ‘playground’ section of the track (in this track map, the area between Turn 5 and Turn 7), there were few off track excursions or other incidents.

PCA Grand Prix Region

PCA Grand Prix Region

In addition to being PCA Grand Prix Region event, the Time Trial portion was a PCA Zone 8 event, which meant it contributed to the overall Zone 8 Time Trial championship.  Zone 8 is composed of 13 Porsche Club of America regional clubs in SoCal, Southern Nevada, and Arizona.

PCA Grand Prix Region

 

An excellent event left smiles all around, especially the beginners getting acquainted to a real race track and those who improved their positioning the Zone 8 championship.

Many more pics are available here.

For those who spend time at the track, I found a great new product that is the best I’ve ever used for cleaning up my car after an event: MOTHERS 09224 R3 Racing Rubber Remover – 24 oz.

Congrats to Will Power, IndyCar Champ

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For the third year running, the IndyCar Champion was crowned at the season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.  And after finishing IndyCar runner-up three times, it was finally Will Power’s time to take the crown.

Will Power

Will Power came to Auto Club Speedway with a lead of 51 points over Penske Racing teammate Helio Castroneves and 81 points over Simon Pagenaud.  Helio’s pole reduced the lead to 50 points entering the race, and with the finale awarding double points – up to 103 with all the bonuses – Power’s lead was anything but secure, especially with his starting position on the last row.

In the first 10 laps, Pagenaud was losing places while Power gained a few as his teammates Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya ran at the front.

At the halfway point, Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay was leading from Montoya and Castroneves.  Power was running 7th in the thus far caution free race.  Hunter-Reay was steadily pulling away from Montoya just before pit stops around lap 140.  On lap 145, just after most had cycled thru the pits, Castroneves lead Tony Kanaan and Montoya.

On lap 175, Ryan Hunter-Reay spun, bringing out the first caution – a record run of green flag laps.  On the ensuing green, Will Power drove aggressively to the front from 5th like a man possessed.  He took the lead on lap 189.

On laps 198 thru 200, the Ganassi Racing pair of Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon both passed Power.  Late pit violations for Helio Castroneves and Ryan Hunter-Reay put them both out of race contention and also ended Helio’s title hopes.  On Will Power’s last stop, a mistake was made on his front wing adjustment that made his car very difficult to handle.  Since Helio’s penalty essentially eliminated him from championship contention and Pagenaud had gradually lost several laps throughout the night, Power was able to nurse his car home while Tony Kanaan took his first and well-deserved win on the last race of the season.

We’re lucky in SoCal to host two of North America’s premier open wheel races – the Grand Prix of Long Beach and the season ending 500 miler.  For the third year in a row, we were treated to an exciting finale that crowned the IndyCar season Champion.  Not sure I am a fan of ending the season so early – it seems like we should be seeing these guys for at least another month.  That makes the off-season just that much longer as well.  I can’t wait until Long Beach in the Spring!

SoCal Speed!

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Spring brings racing to Southern California, and several of the season’s best events happen over the next couple of weekends.

SoCal

First of all, this weekend we have the Porsche Club of America (PCA) 13th Annual California Festival of Speed at Auto Club Speedway.  The Festival of Speed is the largest Porsche event in the Southwest, and it really does have something for everyone: Cup Races, Time Trials, Autocross, Concours, Vendors, & a Swap Meet.  More info including schedule and map on the calendar here: California Festival of Speed.

Next weekend the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship (TUSC) and IndyCar come to SoCal for the 40th Grand Prix of Long Beach – a massive weekend celebration of SoCal speed.  Long Beach is really a can’t miss event for motorsports fans.  Check out what SoCal’s Bill Auberlen of BMW Team RLL has to say about the party that is Long Beach here on the TUSC site.  Information, tickets, schedule, map, fan guide and much more can be found here: Grand Prix of Long Beach.

So far, aside from some really horrible officiating calls that have directly effected the race results, the unification of ALMS and Grand-Am under the TUSC banner has worked out quite well.  In particular, the series seems to have gotten the balance of power between the former ALMS LMP2 cars and the former Grand-Am DP cars just about right.  No surprise, the racing the in the GT classes has been particularly exciting and competitive.

IndyCar welcomes fan favorite Juan Pablo Montoya back to open wheel racing with Team Penske with teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves.  The competition between the Penske guys, Team Ganassi (Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Briscoe, & Charlie Kimball), and Andretti Autosport (Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe, and Carlos Munoz) should be particularly close this year.  Sadly, we’ll be missing the 2009 Grand Prix of Long Beach winner, Dario Franchitti, who retired in the offseason due to injuries sustained in the Houston race last year.

Also next weekend, the Porsche Owners Cup will be running a Cup Race and Time Attack weekend at Willow Springs.

2013 MAVTV 500 Wrap – Power & Dixon

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IndyCar put on a great show for the last race of the season – the MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.  Even with Scott Dixon entering the weekend with a 25 point lead, his championship battle with Helio Castroneves was still in doubt until late in the contest.

IndyCar has chosen an excellent race and venue for the season finale with the MAVTV 500 – a big track with multiple lines that’s tough on both drivers and cars.  In both of the last two seasons, the outcome wasn’t decided until late in the race, and ultimately in neither case did the season champion actually win the race.  If you’re anywhere near Fontana, CA, you really should see this spectacle in person.  Access to Auto Club Speedway is easy; with a paddock or infield pass, you can get very close to the action during practice and qualifying sessions; and the venue itself is a good place to watch a big race, in this case the MAVTV 500.

Will Power drove a great race to the top step of the podium.  If he drove such a race last year, he’d have been the reigning champion coming into this year’s race.  Scott Dixon drove a smart race – content to run in fairly open spaces mid pack for much of the race, saving fuel, and staying out of trouble.  Helio Castroneves clearly had to be aggressive, and he nearly pulled off a come from behind championship win.  He was competitive for the win throughout most of the race, meaning Dixon couldn’t afford to play it too safe.

Congratulations to Scott Dixon, 2013 IndyCar Champion!

MAVTV 500 Qualifying – IndyCar Championship

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MAVTV 500 Qualifying

On a perfect SoCal day at Auto Club Speedway, the MAVTV 500 qualifying session set the stage for Saturday’s IndyCar championship battle.  Scott Dixon comes to the race with a 25 point lead, having erased a 49 point deficit to Helio Castroneves during the Grand Prix of Houston double-header.  Castroneves had a disastrous weekend in Houston while Dixon shined.

Castroneves’s teammate WIll Power denied both title contenders the single point pole position bonus by posting the fastest time during the MAVTV 500 qualifying.  When Power went out, Castroneves was on provisional pole with Dixon still to go, so Power had to set his best time to prevent Dixon from taking pole.  Power bumped Castroneves to second, and Dixon ended up qualifying seventh.  AJ Allmendinger, driving a third Team Penske car set the third fasted time after not having raced an IndyCar since his horrible weekend at Detroit in June.  Castroneves will have two strong wing men as he attempts to claw back the points he lost in Houston and win the season championship.

MAVTV 500 Qualifying

Alex Tagliani, subbing for the injured Dario Franchitti, will be Dixon’s teammate this weekend in the #10 Target car.  Tagliani actually won a CART race at Auto Club Speedway more than ten years ago.

MAVTV 500 Qualifying

Defending IndyCar series champ, Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won the 2012 title at this very race continued a challenging year by qualifying fifteenth.

MAVTV 500 Qualifying

The final results for the MAVTV 500 qualifying:

Pos  Driver               Team/Engine      Speed
 1.  Will Power           Penske/Chevy     220.775
 2.  Helio Castroneves    Penske/Chevy     219.677*
 3.  AJ Allmendinger      Penske/Chevy     218.894
 4.  Sebastien Bourdais   Dragon/Chevy     218.513
 5.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi/Honda    217.986
 6.  James Jakes          Rahal/Honda      217.979
 7.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi/Honda    217.979*
 8.  Marco Andretti       Andretti/Chevy   217.958
 9.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter/Chevy  217.932
10.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher/Honda     217.871*
11.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti/Chevy   217.798
12.  Tony Kanaan          KV/Chevy         217.566
13.  Alex Tagliani        Ganassi/Honda    217.419
14.  Carlos Munoz         Andretti/Chevy   217.050
15.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti/Chevy   216.898
16.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt/Honda    216.447
17.  Oriol Servia         Panther/Chevy    216.213
18.  Graham Rahal         Rahal/Honda      216.106*
19.  JR Hildebrand        Herta/Honda      215.967
20.  Tristan Vautier      Schmidt/Honda    215.207
21.  Simona de Silvestro  KV/Chevy         214.679
22.  Sebastian Saavedra   Dragon/Chevy     213.262*
23.  Justin Wilson        Coyne/Honda
24.  Pippa Mann           Coyne/Honda
25.  Takuma Sato          Foyt/Honda

* 10 spot grid penalty pending

MAVTV 500 qualifying

More pics from MAVTV 500 Qualifying

Detailed information on the MAVTV 500

12th Annual California Festival of Speed

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California Festival of Speed – Day 1, 04/05/13

The Porsche Club of America (PCA) and the Porsche Owners Club (POC) joined forces for the 12th Annual California Festival of Speed, which began today at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.  The first day was primarily a practice day as racers rolled out their cars for the first of three days on the track.  Saturday and Sunday promise warmer and sunnier weather as well as lots of activities – both on and off the track.  Saturday’s schedule features four races including a 60 minute enduro.

Here’s a few shots from todays action:

More here.

California Festival of Speed – Day 2, 04/06/13

Now this is what the SoCal sports car scene is supposed to be like!  The 12th Annual California Festival of Speed has to rank as one of the best – certainly the best in recent years.  Full grids, lots of vendors, great cars, and beautiful weather drew Porsche and sports car enthusiasts in the many hundreds from across the southwest.  In addition to Porsches, a couple of Audi R8s and Lotus Exiges also competed on track.  Auto Club Speedway was host to a big, happy, sports car celebration featuring the best amateur Porsche racers in the West.

California Festival of Speed

Fifty Years of the Porsche 911

Aside from the racing, one of the most popular attractions was the Fifty Years of 911 parade and display.  Some of my favorites included:

Chiffonweiss 1978 930 Turbo
California Festival of Speed

1980 911SC Coupe
California Festival of Speed

1987 Sunroof Coupe
California Festival of Speed

1998 TT S Coupe
California Festival of Speed

California Festival of Speed – The Races

Three Sprint Races, a 60 minute Enduro, and Time Trial practice kept lots of people in the seats on top of the corporate boxes in the Auto Club Speedway infield.  In the Blue, Green, and Enduro races, the grid was composed of many classes of cars and drivers from both the PCA and POC.  Overall results:

Blue Sprint Race

  1. Drake Kemper
  2. Mike Monsalve
  3. Roger Lai

Green Sprint Race

  1. Craig Ames
  2. Chip Romer
  3. Daniel Davis

Pirelli GT3 Cup Race

  1. Jim Walsh
  2. Kevin Woods
  3. Jesse Menczer

Enduro Race

  1. Chip Romer
  2. Tom Haacker
  3. Frederick Chin / Elliott Skeer

Detailed results by class can be found on the PCA San Diego Region results web page.

Time Trial grid:
California Festival of Speed

California Festival of Speed – Day 3, 04/07/13

Sunday brought warmer weather, four more races, and the Time Trial.

Blue & Green Combined Race start:
California Festival of Speed

California Festival of Speed

Blue Sprint Race

  1. Drake Kemper
  2. Bob Mueller
  3. Roger Lai

Green Sprint Race

  1. Craig Ames
  2. Chip Romer
  3. Bob Rodriguez

Blue & Green Combined Race

  1. Chip Romer
  2. Dan Aspesi
  3. Jesse Menczer

Blue & Green Combined Race action:

California Festival of Speed
California Festival of Speed
California Festival of Speed

 

What a great weekend of racing at a super facility!  Both PCA and POC will be back to Auto Club Speedway in the next month, and HSR West will have their Historic Sportscar Festival there in June.  Look for details on the Calendar.

California Festival of Speed

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California Festival of Speed

The 12th Annual California Festival of Speed, the largest Porsche event in the Southwest, comes to Auto Club Speedway April 5th thru 7th.  With participation from Porsche Club of America (PCA), who is also the event host, the Porsche Owners Club (POC), and Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA West, this Festival of Speed promises to be one of the biggest and most exciting in recent years.

In addition to the PCA Cup Race and Time Trial, this year’s California Festival of Speed will also include POC Cup Racers and Time Trialers, a PCA Enduro, a PCA Zone 8 Concours, a Taste of Autocross, a celebration of 50 years of the 911, a Porsche Corral, swap meet, and of course, a Vendor Row.

On Friday, the California Festival of Speed features practice session for all groups, track tours, and a Pirelli GT3 Cup Race.  Saturday’s schedule includes more practice and qualifying, PCA/POC Sprint Races, another Pirelli GT3 Cup Race, and a 60 minute Enduro to close out the day.  Sunday brings three more sprint races, Pirelli GT3 Cup Race, and a Time Trial to close the weekend.

Check the calendar for detailed information, the event schedule for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and a free parking coupon.

Here is the track map for the Auto Club Speedway configuration used for the California Festival of Speed.

A handy web page for Schedule, Track Map, Time Trial entrants by PCA Class, & Results

NASCAR Racing Experience – Auto Club Speedway

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NASCAR Racing Experience

Driver registration and check-in.

NASCAR Racing Experience rolled into Fontana and the Auto Club Speedway last weekend for a couple of days of speed and fun for drivers, riders, and fans.  Touring several of the country’s prominent NASCAR venues, NASCAR Racing Experience makes real NASCAR vehicles available to drive or ride in an educational, safe, and quite open – for instance, passing is allowed – environment.  These aren’t replicas or look-alikes; they are the real cars driven by guys like Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jr., and Jeff Gordon.  What a cool idea.  Imagine a baseball fan being able to walk into the dugout, picking up a bat used by one of his heroes, and taking batting practice at Dodger Stadium, Petco Park, Yankee Stadium, or Fenway Park.

NASCAR Racing Experience

Cars in the hot pit lane.

Families and friends were all smiles as drivers were belted into their cars for a few laps around the two mile banked oval track.  After climbing out, the drivers were ear-to-ear grins as they went on to collect their certificates, souvenir licenses, t-shirts, and other goodies.

NASCAR Racing Experience

Cars in the hot pit lane ready for track time.

Piggy backing with NASCAR Racing Experience was the Mario Andretti Racing Experience, which is a similar track program using open wheeled Indy cars.  Although the two programs have somewhat different schedules, they are often at a particular track over the same period.  Both programs offer various levels of track time from a single 8 minute session at the low end up to four 8 minute sessions at the maximum.  What a way to build fan loyalty, excitement, and commitment!  I spoke to several drivers who were given the experience as gifts, and it was just the beginning of their motorsports involvement as a participant…

After touring other tracks for the next few months, both with be back at Auto Club Speedway in late March.

POC Auto Club Speedway – Racing in the Heat

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POC Auto Club Speedway

Kevin Roush and Eric Oviatt into Turn 1 at Auto Club Speedway.

The POC Auto Club Speedway weekend was an exercise in dealing with extreme, 100+ degree temperatures at a favorite SoCal track.  Over one hundred drivers braved the intense late summer heat in Fontana for a great weekend of racing and time trials including a one hour enduro on Sunday afternoon.  The Porsche Owners Club (POC) was returning to Auto Club Speedway (ACS) for the first time since its Tribute to Le Mans event and two weeks after the IndyCar Championship race at the same venue.  The weekend’s activities featured two race groups, Red and Orange and two time trial groups, White and Yellow.

POC Auto Club Speedway – Saturday Events

Red Cup Race

In the Red Cup Race, Dan Aspesi jumped into the lead early on and took the overall honors as well as the GT2 class title and a best lap time of of the race at 1:43.120.  An early spin by Jesse Menczer put him back in the pack and playing catch up most of the race to take second in GT2.  Kevin Roush took the third spot in GT2.  Bill Dawson came in second overall while winning the GT1 class from Dan Davis in second..  Loren Beggs was third overall and won the GTC-4 class.  Doug Baron won the GTC-3 class while finishing fourth.  In the hotly contested GT3 class, Eric Oviatt won what became a two car battle from Duane Selby after John Gordon dropped out after 1 lap with engine troubles.  Vali Predescu won GT4, and Chas Wirken won R4 in his beautiful Cayman R.

Orange Cup Race

Mike Monsalve took first in the Orange Cup Race along with the V3 class and fastest lap of the race at 1:50.220.  Second and third the race and the V3 class were Steve Alarcon and Athan Aronis, respectively.  Monsalve led from the pole, and Alarcon kept it close for the first half of the 12 lap race with Monsalve stretching out his lead until the last lap when Alarcon closed to within 0.156 seconds.  Dwain Dement in his new, blue, Boxster based V3 machine was running well and making some nice passes between Turns 4 and 5 before he dropped out from third with raising oil temperature to let the V3 season class leaders have at it.  A total of eight V3 cars finished on the lead lap in this popular and competitive class.  Regan Steadman won GT5; Jason Huang won CSX; Brad Keegan won JP; Mark Foley won BSR; Keith Hulley won IP; Peter Busalacchi won GSR; and Carolyn Pappas won GT6.

POC Auto Club Speedway – Sunday Events

On Sunday, we were treated to a couple of particularly exciting battles – the GT3 contest within the Red Cup race and the grueling one hour JE Pistons Enduro.

Red Cup Race

POC Auto Club Speedway

Kevin Roush & Eric Oviatt in GT3 Class Battle in Red Cup Race.

In the Red Cup Race, pole sitter Jesse Menczer took the overall win, GT2 class win, and fastest lap of the race at 1:43.619.  Dan Aspesi, Saturday’s winner, took second.  Early in the race Jesse and Dan traded the lead multiple times.  Doug Baron took third overall as well as the GTC-3 class win.  In GT3, we were treated to a fantastic battle between Eric Oviatt and Kevin Roush that was wasn’t over until the last lap with multiple passes throughout.  Eric and Kevin put on a clinic of close, clean, and exciting racing with Oviatt holding off Roush by just a couple of ticks at the flag.  See Eric’s in car video below:

Steve Vandecar won GT4 from Kip Waterhouse by less than a second; Chas Wirken won R4.  Loren Beggs in GTC-4 retired after 4 laps while running third overall.

Orange Cup Race

POC Auto Club Speedway

Orange Cup Race Leaders.

The usual V3/R5 suspects were running at the front of the Orange Cup Race.  Mike Monsalve won his second race of the weekend as well as the class from second on the grid.  Steve Alarcon took pole and finished second by 2.409 seconds while setting fast lap of the race at 1:50.665.  Bob Thacker finished third overall and in the V3/R5 class.  Athan Aronis, who typically runs near the front of this group accidentally released his harness buckle and lost a couple of laps getting himself buckled back in.  Regan Steadman won GT5 with Paul Young second; Richard Yochum won V4; Brad Keegan took another JP win with Brent Gokbudak second.  Drake Kemper won BSR with Mark Foley second and Nathon Johnson third; Jason Huang won CSX; Keith Hulley won IP; Carolyn Pappas took GT6; and Peter Busalacchi won GSR.

POC Auto Club Speedway

Orange Cup racers in the Auto Club Speedway infield.

JE Pistons Enduro

By the time the field gridded up for Sunday afternoon’s JE Pistons Enduro, the heat had taken its toll on cars and drivers resulting in a slightly smaller than expected grid.  However, that did not diminish the competition or excitement of the race.  I have to really hand it to the guys who raced for an hour in the still nearly 100 degree heat after a full two days of practice and racing.  In a really tough break, Jae Lee of ‘Gang of One’ lost the fire in his machine at Turn 1 on the final lap.  Paul Young of ‘Dead Pets Racing’ took the win in his 911.  Seems like Paul is making a habit of this.  Doug Baron finished second, and Nathon Johnson took third.

POC Auto Club Speedway

Start of JE Pistons Enduro.

 

POC Auto Club Speedway

Green Flag Flies To Start JE Pistons Enduro Race.

More pics here.

POC Auto Club Speedway – Time Trial

Amazingly, even with brutal heat and a pretty slick track, multiple class track records fell on this POC Auto Club Speedway weekend.  On Saturday, Brandon Griffith, who set fast time of the day on both days, broke the GT2 class record by nearly 7 seconds at 1:41.783!  Unreal.  Also on Saturday, Steve Radenbaugh set the GT4 class record at 1:54.308 and Chet Kolley set the CSX class record at 1:56.434.  On Sunday in GT4, Bob Mueller broke Steve Radenbaugh’s Saturday time with 1:53.074.  Also on Sunday, Paul Young set a new GT5 class record at 1:57.639 – yes, that’s the same Paul Young who took second in class in the Orange Cup Race and won the Enduro overall.  Great job Paul!  Troy Evarts set a new LS class record at 2:02.751.  Congratulations to all the new record holders and class winners

Another POC Auto Club Speedway event is days away with a combined Performance Driving Series (PDS) and Time Trial (TT) event.  See the calendar for more info.

Ryan Hunter-Reay Is 2012 IndyCar Champion

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IndyCar Champion

Early in the MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana

Gripping Fontana Race

After an exciting and surprising 500 mile race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Ryan Hunter-Reay is the 2012 IndyCar Champion, and Ed Carpenter won his second ever IndyCar race.  Hunter-Reay entered the race 17 points adrift of leader Will Power.  When Power spun and crashed at Turn 2 on lap 55, Hunter-Reay had his opening – he needed to finish sixth or better to overtake Power and become the first American IndyCar Champion in 6 years.

Power Somehow Rejoins Race

After a simply amazing effort by the Team Penske Crew, Will Power returned to the track on lap 123.  The #12 Verizon car was severely damaged by the lap 55 crash, and the team had to replace the entire rear end plus many other parts to make the car track ready.  Other crews were ‘high-fiving’ the Penske crew members in a mix of awe, amazement, and respect.  I’ve never seen a car so badly damaged return to a race.  Power was able to turn a dozen laps before retiring, and this was enough to move him ahead of E.J. Viso.  Now Hunter-Reay needed to finish fifth or better to be the IndyCar Champion.

 Battle for MAVTV 500 Win and IndyCar 2012 Championship

After Will Power retired, there were two races ongoing – one for the MAVTV 500 win and one to become IndyCar Champion.  In the former, there were 24 lead changes after Power’s crash.  JR Hildebrand ran really well on the high part of the track early in the race.  Unfortunately he had a brush with the wall, which necessitated a repair that put him several laps down and out of contention.  In the middle part of the race, the lead was exchanged multiple times between the likes of Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Alex Tagliani, and Ed Carpenter.  As the race wore on, it was apparent that nobody was clearly dominant, and that promised an interesting finish.

IndyCar Champion

Beautiful Sunset at MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana

Carpenter Wins With Gutsy Drive

Ed Carpenter was competitive throughout, led the most laps overall, and drove a great race to win the MAVTV 500.  The victory was the second of his IndyCar career.  Tony Kanaan spun into the Turn 4 wall bringing out a red flag on lap 242 to preclude a parade finish under yellow.  Dario Franchitti who had taken the lead from Carpenter on lap 237 would lead from the restart and take the white flag, but Carpenter had a strong run thru Turn 2 from high on the track and passed Franchitti down the backstretch just as Takuma Sato crashed out bringing out a yellow flag for the last half lap.  What a finish!

Hunter-Reay A Worthy IndyCar Champion

Ryan Hunter-Reay is certainly a deserving IndyCar Champion, winning more races than anyone including three in a row during the summer stretch and a win in the penultimate race in Baltimore setting up the showdown in Fontana.  In the run up to the finale, Hunter-Reay also turned down a deal to race with Team Penske and signed a new contract with Andretti Autosport.  For Will Power, this makes the third year in a row that he finished second while going into the final race with a strong chance to win.  It was also the third year in a row that a crash in that final race ruined his chances to win.  Congratulations to Ryan Hunter-Reay, IndyCar Champion for 2012.