Racing
John Oreovicz, Autos, Open-Wheel 8y

Will Power rides good luck back into title fight

IndyCar

TORONTO -- Sometimes, a seemingly insignificant event can have a big impact on a race or even a championship.

 

When Josef Newgarden crashed on the 58th lap of the Honda Indy Toronto, the ramifications extended far beyond potential damage to the young American driver's already-injured right wrist and the probable end to his challenge for a first Verizon IndyCar Series title.

 

Newgarden might have been feeling physical pain, but it was nothing compared to the mental anguish that Scott Dixon was going through. Dixon was leading the 85-lap Toronto race when Newgarden crashed; Dixon was scheduled to make his final stop as soon as he made it around to the pits, eager to extend his advantage over IndyCar championship leader Simon Pagenaud, who was running second.

 

The full-course caution called for Newgarden's wreck wrecked Dixon's race. The pits were closed, the Pace Car came out, and the field was stacked up. Will Power had just entered the pits for his final stop when the yellow flag flew, and as a result, the Australian was essentially handed his 28th career Indy car race win on a platter.

 

Power hadn't been a factor all day, running third for most of the race behind Dixon and Pagenaud. But because the two leaders hadn't stopped when the crucial caution for Newgarden flew, they were put at an insurmountable disadvantage.

 

After leading 56 of the first 59 laps, Dixon had to work hard to pass enough cars to come home in eighth place, one position ahead of Pagenaud. On a day when Dixon stood to gain on Pagenaud in the championship chase even if the Frenchman finished second, he was instead left to ponder what might have been.

 

Of course, Toronto had a much greater effect on Newgarden's championship hopes. He arrived in Canada second in the standings and left in fifth.

 

But Dixon was the man poised to make the biggest gain up north, and it didn't happen due to, for the most part, circumstances out of his control.

 

It's often said that IndyCar's policy of initially closing the pits under yellow for safety reasons helps a driver as often as it hurts him. That doesn't make the sting any easier for those on the losing end.

 

Dixon uncharacteristically refused to comment after the race, and his former teammate (and four-time IndyCar Series champion) Dario Franchitti knows why.

 

"Judging by the conversation I had with him, he's just frustrated with the timing of that yellow," Franchitti told ESPN.com. "You can always look back at what you could have done different, but he got caught out there.

 

"It's great when it goes your way, but it's frustrating when it doesn't, and obviously he had a dominant car," he continued. "Clearly, when you close the pits, there's people that gain from it and there are people that get screwed. I've definitely been on both ends of it, and that's about as mad as I've ever seen Scott. Through no fault of his own, he's not getting the results or the points he deserves."

 

With five races remaining in the IndyCar championship (including the resumption of the rain-delayed Texas race on Aug. 27), Dixon lies fourth in the standings, 83 points behind Pagenaud. The new threat to the Frenchman is from his Penske teammate Power, who has closed to within 47 points despite missing the first race of the season with concussion-like symptoms that were later diagnosed as a severe sinus infection.

 

Power has won three of the last four IndyCar races run to completion and he is suddenly the closest pursuer in Pagenaud's mirror. Making things even more interesting from an intra-team standpoint, Penske drivers Pagenaud, Power (-47) and Helio Castroneves (second place Sunday, 72 points behind Power) are currently 1-2-3 in the standings.

 

Dixon is 83 points back, with Newgarden now 88 behind.

 

Power wasn't under any illusions that he was going to win the race unless something crazy happened. But it did.

 

He's lost more than one race in Toronto in the past when he's been leading and someone else brought out an untimely yellow. So there was a sense of redemption for the man from Toowomba.

 

"I'm the one that's been pushing in the series to leave the pits open so people who have done a good job, like Dixon was doing, don't literally get a drive-through [penalty]," Power said. "But today that worked out for us in the last stop. The team called me in just at the last minute. Perfect timing. I can't tell you how many times it has gone the opposite way for me at this place, and many other places.

 

"I was so stoked to see yellow lights as I was going into pit lane. It's not often you catch a yellow like that."

 

Dixon's pain at Toronto was intensified because of the championship implications of what happened. But races that run clean and green from start to finish are such a rarity; the IndyCar Series has earned its "anything can happen" reputation.

 

"It's tough, for sure," said James Hinchcliffe, who parlayed the Newgarden yellow into a fuel-saving strategy that netted him a career-best third place in his home race. "But it's the nature of IndyCar racing. It's what kind of throws us these off results every once in a while.

 

"Will has been on the losing side of that one a bunch of times and he caught it today."

 

Championship leader Pagenaud had as much right as Dixon to be aggravated. He was shadowing the race leader's strategy and cut Dixon's lead from nearly eight seconds to less than two, with both set to pit the lap that Newgarden crashed.

 

Pagenaud ended up finishing right behind Dixon in ninth place, losing only a couple points to the four-time series champion.

 

"Great car, great weekend, great everything, but unfortunately, that yellow caught us out," Pagenaud said. "We were going to pit that lap and it ruined our day, basically. Just fate. That's IndyCar. The last stint with Dixon and I would have been a good show, for sure.

 

"We haven't had much luck lately, so it will probably turn my way in the near future."

 

Dixon can never be counted out, but a more interesting battle now shapes up between Penske teammates Pagenaud and Power. The Australian has been getting the results of late, but the Frenchman hasn't lost any of the speed he's shown all year long despite seeing his points advantage slashed.

 

If the Penske men running 1-2 focus too much on each other (while not forgetting teammate Castroneves), Dixon and Chip Ganassi Racing could still steal another title.

 

"It's good to get this momentum for the team going forward for the rest of the championship," Power said. "Five to go, all good tracks for me.

 

"If we can close that gap going into Sonoma, we can do this. We can win this championship. Absolutely."

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