Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing shows off the hardware and hat he won in Texas by being first at the line in the Firestone 550. This is Wilson's first win on an oval track. Image Credit: IICS
Firestone 550 At 1.5-Mile Texas Motor Speedway, Tweet-By-Tweet
Welcome to
the second oval and seventh race of the sixteen race 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series (IICS).
This race was looked at with an added amount of anticipation filled with
concerns surrounding racing on a tight 1.5-mile oval racetrack since the last
race of the 2011 season.
In the wake
of the circumstances that ended up ending Dan Wheldon’s race career and life at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, short race tracks with catch-fencing that had its
poles exposed to the direction of the track, tracks that were purpose-built for
closed bodied NASCAR style door-to-door pack racing combined with the
high-stakes/speed open-wheel series were deemed too dangerous to have on the
schedule.
It came to
the surprise of many team owners and drivers alike that having a race on the
2012 schedule at Texas was incautious and ill-advised since this track carried many
of the construct characteristics of Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
It was felt
by series management the new Dallara DW12, with its purpose designed
anti-interlocking bodywork and rear wheel guards, that just a change in the
specifications of a rear-wing wickerbill would bring the cars into a safer
configuration than the old Dallara DP09’s run in the previous years of the
series. This would have the effect of reducing the downforce on the cars and
reduce the possibility of the drivers having to race in a pack and thus
reducing the level of contact incidents.
Concerns
aside, here is how the drivers will be lining up to take the CHECKERED Flag after
qualifications – overview excerpted and edited from Tony
DiZinno at Racer.com:
Alex Tagliani claimed pole position for the
fifth race of the IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Canadian achieved an average of
215.691mph across his two qualifying laps at the wheel of the Bryan Herta
Autosport entry to put himself just ahead of Ganassi's Dario Franchitti. The
average difference between the pair in terms of lap time was 0.0102 seconds.
"Since we got back together with Honda,
we flew under the radar," said Tagliani, whose team started the season
using Lotus engines. "I think we're there. It's looking good for the rest
of the year. Since Indy, we're really strong."
Graham Rahal was third-fastest ahead of
fellow Ganassi driver Scott Dixon, with Penske's Will Power heading the
Chevrolet runners in fifth. The Australian had been in contention for pole
position with his first lap of 216.041mph, but lost out badly on his second lap
when he hit the hard limiter.
Pos
Driver Team/Car Speed
1. Alex
Tagliani Herta DW12-Honda 215.691
2.
Dario Franchitti Ganassi
DW12-Honda 215.646
3.
Graham Rahal Ganassi
DW12-Honda 215.554
4.
Scott Dixon Ganassi
DW12-Honda 215.331
5. Will
Power Penske DW12-Chevy 215.116
6.
James Hinchcliffe Andretti
DW12-Chevy 214.920
7. Tony
Kanaan KV DW12-Chevy 214.701
8. Mike
Conway Foyt DW12-Honda 214.458
9.
Marco Andretti Andretti
DW12-Chevy 214.424
10. Takuma Sato Rahal DW12-Honda 214.196
11. Simon Pagenaud Schmidt DW12-Honda 214.082
12. Ryan Briscoe Penske DW12-Chevy 214.060
13. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR DW12-Chevy 213.957
14. Rubens Barrichello KV DW12-Chevy 213.949
15. Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti DW12-Chevy 213.927
16. EJ Viso KV DW12-Chevy 213.444
17. Helio Castroneves Penske DW12-Chevy 213.402
18. Charlie Kimball Ganassi DW12-Honda 212.833
19. Justin Wilson Coyne DW12-Honda 212.136
20. Ed Carpenter Carpenter DW12-Chevy 211.643
21. James Jakes Coyne DW12-Honda 211.245
22. Katherine Legge Dragon DW12-Chevy 210.543
23. Simona de Silvestro HWM DW12-Lotus 204.066
24. JR Hildebrand Panther DW12-Chevy 202.596
25. Josef Newgarden Fisher DW12-Honda
Four drivers
will receive a 10 position grid line up penalty for engine changes – AJ Foyt
Racing’s Mike Conway, Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Takuma Sato, Sarah Fisher
Hartman Racing’s Josef Newgarden, and HVM Racing’s Simona de Silvestro.
The
following entries are entered in a “live blog” form of journaling using a
combination of direct entries and 140 character (or less) entries - known as “Tweets”
- found on the social media communications web portal TWITTER:
Autosportradio.com
@Autosportradio
RT
@JennaFryer: New #IndyCar bulletin: A rear wing wicker up to a maximum of 1/8”
height and full span may be used.
IndyCar
Garage @IndyCarGarage
@99forever
crowd looks very similar to last and will still be the 2nd highest Attended
oval all yr. At least 70k strong here #IndyCar
Stephen M.
@sbmellen
Wow, look at
all the empty #IndyCar seats in Texas. Disappointing. @willbuxton
@PeterDWindsor @circuitamericas
Jeff Roberts
@ENGPHOTO
#AJFoytJr:
Boys and girls start your engines. #Firestone550 #IndyCar
HVM's Simona
de Silvestro - No fuel pressure on the 10 position Lotus/Judd - new engine -
will miss the start of the race - same problem for Rubens Barrichello
James Black
@16AndGeorgetown 27s
"We
have one update finally [from Lotus/Judd] and then something like this happens,
which is annoying," says Simona de Silvestro. DNS from fuel pressure issue
rg @rg_here
Green green
green! #Indycar
Alex
Tagliani is able to make his pole position to work - first four begin to pull
away from Power in P5 (Dixon, Franchitti, and Rahal)
Four Hondas
cover the front of the field followed by six Chevys
Curt Cavin
@curtcavin
I think we
can see there's separation of cars. #indycar BTW: There hasn't been pack racing
here for some time.
Andy
@Gabbahey122475
Good shit by
@curtcavin . Read it! RT @curtcavin: A rare column. #indycar
tinyurl.com/d757hgd
As predicted
on Motorsports Unplugged Radio this morning, Ganassi would be hard to beat but
as a team, Andretti Autosport, if they hook-up could control the race.
LAP 20 of
228 - Top 10 - TAGS, Dixon, Rahal, Power, Andretti, RHR, Hinchtown, Kanaan,
Briscoe, and Pagenaud.
Trouble with
Tagliani and he drops to P4 at around 207mph - Dixon assumes the lead
LAP 31
YELLOW Flag - Charlie Kimball smacks the wall in a single car incident - racing
hard with EJ Viso
This helps
Franchitti get back on the lead lap after unplanned pitstop for adjustments put
him one lap down
THE PACER
MANIAC @TheSandman21 48s
Yeah,
#indycar just had a crash while @NBCSN was on break... Think its time to go
back to the race guys...
Commercials
breed cautions
LAP 35 - Has
the top 10 be Dixon, Rahal, Power, Andretti, Tagliani, Hinchcliffe, Kanaan,
RHR, Briscoe, and Pagenaud - all cars comeinto the pits – it’s crazy down there
In the pits,
TK gets wing damage - Power back in the pits with right rear tire problems -
Pagenaud overshoots pit - TK back for a new nose and front wing - Franchitti back
in for suspension adjustment
LAP 40 - Restart
- GREEN Flag
Top five
shuffled - Dixon, Rahal, Hinchcliffe, Andretti, and Briscoe
Tagliani
looking racy again in P7 - Sato passes TAGS for P6
Pagenaud
serves a pitstop penalty for speeding in the pits
LAP49 - Kanaan
is hooked up - nose change had him at the back on same lap as leaders at P21 has
moved back up to P13
The
Firestone tires last really good for 10 laps then they go away
IndyCar
Garage @IndyCarGarage
The aero
changes have eliminated pack racing , no question #IndyCar
LAP 58 -
Dixon and Rahal are together within 1 sec. and the two are almost 6 seconds ahead
of the field
YELLOW Flag
- Takuma Sato hits the outside then the inside walls
LAP 66 of
228 - RHR in the pits for engine problems - everyone else except Franchitti in
the pits for tires
JR
Hildebrand started P23 and has worked his way up to P4 on this last pitstop
Christopher
Estrada @estradawriting
83-Kimball
blames 5-Viso for taking air off his car and causing it to crash. Calls Viso
"completely unpredictable." #IndyCar #Firestone550
aka_robyn
@aka_robyn
Well, now
that Barrichello and Sato are both out, who do I root for... Justin Wilson!
#IndyCar
Curt Cavin
@curtcavin
.@edcarpenter20
from 12th (I think) to fifth on the stop. #indycar
Restart
LAP73 of 228 - Field is Dixon, Rahal, Hinch, JR, Ed Carpenter, Wilson, Marco,
TK, and Suprize ... Servia!
It's
official, Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport out of the car and out of the
race ... not good for points - out with an injector issue
The DW12s
seem to be involved in a bit of "pack racing" as most cars are
holding station
All the
DW12s like riding on the bottom
Christopher
Estrada @estradawriting
Robin Miller
just passed along Ed's complaints/apology to the fans, then goes: "Doesn't
look boring from here." #IndyCar #Firestone550
Oriol Srevia
is bitten with a fuel pump problem so he joins the FP club with de Silvestro,
and Barrichello
Helio Castroneves
is finding success at the top of the track along with Justin Wilson ... both
are moving up - Wilson overtakes Helio for P5 and Helio on P6 – both are coming
up on Ed Carpenter
LAP 100 of
228 - it's Dixon, Hinchcliffe, Rahal (who almost loses it), oops Wilson then
Rahal, Carpenter, Castroneves, TK, EJ Viso ... yeah, he's still shiny side up,
Marco, and Power
We are now
running laps at 197mph because this is the longest GREEN Flag session in the
race at over 43 laps
Wilson takes
over P2 from Hinchcliffe and now sets sail for Dixon who is ahead of him by
.888 seconds
Marco's car
is not working ... Hinchcliffe is also in and the Andretti Autosport teams are
at a loss as to why their cars are going off
Marco is out
of the car!
LAP 120 and
108 LAPS remain - Pitstops on GREEN Flag
and the order begins to shuffle
Justin
Wilson assumes the lead as Dixon and many others come into the pits - Helio has
four pitstops but still in the hunt – Marco Andretti’s car is back out on the
track
Wilson gets
ready to come in - in the pits - for pitstop number three - good stop
LAP 130 of
228 - field set with Dixon, Hinchcliffe, Carpenter, Power (looking strong),
Wilson, Castroneves, WOW-EJ Viso, Briscoe, and OOPS!
YELLOW Flag
for #5 KVRT's EJ Viso - go figger! The car just stopped so the body work is … OMG!
intact!
Scott Dixon
come into the pits originally by himself ... then followed by P6 Power on back
after only 15 laps on the tires
Helio gets
balked by Newgarden who stops in Helio's pit - loses places
Breakthrough
Racing @breakthruracing
RT
@curtcavin: No contact between Helio and Newgarden. I think Newgarden was in
his way. He nearly lost a lap. #indycar
EJ Viso in
interview - the electronics went off and the car stopped – I want to thank the
team for a competitive car
LAP 138 -
Restart - GREEN Flag - Hinch leads the field but Dixon in P4 starts to move
along with the Penske cars of Power and Briscoe just behind
LAP 142 -
Dixon takes the lead from Hinch, Power all over Hinch and Briscoe and takes
over P2
LAP 146 -
Briscoe and Kanaan are now taking their shots at the Andretti Autosport Go
Daddy car, Both get by on now LAP 149
LAP 150 –
Top 9 has Dixon, Power, Briscoe, Kanaan, Hinchtown, Carpenter, Wilson, JR, and
Rahal - TIRES ... a fresh set of Firestone TIRES just may decide who wins in
the end ... pitstop timing and TIRES
Justin Wilson driving the red & white Sonny's BBQ Honda-powered DW12
side-by-side with the Go Daddy Chevrolet-powered DW12 of James Hinchcliffe under the
lights at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday night. Image Credit: AP
Scott Dixon
has been the class of the field - Kanaan is the only non-Penske/Ganassi car to
have anything for the field so far
LAP 162 - Hinchcliffe
comes in on a GREEN Flag - Ed Carpenter
is expected to be next
We are now
32 laps on the tires and are going around at 203mph - new tires go 213mph
LAP 170 - Will
Power gets past Dixon for the lead - Dixon had to check up on another lapped car
YELLOW Flag
- Scott Dixon hits the wall and brings out the fourth caution of the race -
spun because of dirty air - WICKERBILLS kill moving the mushroom off of the
track and helps to cause single car spins
NOTE: PENSKE
Racing occupy three of the top four positions
LAP 177 -
pitstops are over - teams calculate to stay on the same tires to the end but
they will be just hanging on at the end
Top 10 in
the field is Power, Briscoe, Kanaan, Castroneves, Wilson, Rahal, Hildebrand,
Hinchcliffe, Pagenaud, and Carpenter
Interview
with Dixon (paraphrased) - traffic really unsettles the car so one has to work
with the weight jacker and keep chasing the set-up. Power passed me and then
the car just got away
LAP 184 of
228 - Restart - GREEN Flag
Briscoe and
Power side-by-side and Kanaan gets cut out - Castroneves giving problems with
Kanaan
Kanaan has a
hurt wing and he comes in for a second replacement with Barrichello's wing
LAP 190 -
its Power, Briscoe, Castroneves, Rahal, and Wilson at the top
Wilson is
the only team with a new set of sticker Blacks in the pits
Will Power
gets a BLACK Flag penalty for blocking [on Kanaan] and has to drive through -
field now Briscoe, Rahal, Castroneves, Wilson, Hinchcliffe, Hildebrand,
Pagenaud, Will Power a lap down, Tagliani, and Jakes
LAP 200 -
Rahal passes Briscoe and now Wilson shags Briscoe all at the same time that
Power tries to get his lap back ... on the track - he gets shut out
Hinchtown
passes Castroneves while Marco Andretti who is six laps down clogs Helio's line
Rahal,
Briscoe, and Wilson are the strength of the field all within 100's of each
other on lap times
LAP 210 of
228 - Top three cars are with 2.5 seconds of each other at 206mph - Rahal is
using the middle groove and washing up and down in the corners to maintain
speed - Graham Rahal is looking strong for these last now 15 laps
Wilson is
getting racy and takes the position from Briscoe - P2
Justin Wilson
is about 2.5 seconds behind Graham Rahal and tracking him down
LAP 218 of
228 - Ten laps to go - Ganassi Racing's Rahal in a strong lead - tires may go
away but right now Rahal is going 2mph per lap faster than P2 Wilson
LAP 222 –
encounters lapped traffic but Wilson is back up to 212mph but may not have
enough race left to catch him
Two laps
remain - Rahal scraps the wall - car slows
- Dale Coyne Racing's Wilson passes Rahal – now on his WHITE Flag lap -
Got a break on lap 226
Justin
Wilson's Sonny's BBQ Honda-powered DW12 is viewed as not being able to win on
ovals takes the Firestone550 with a steady drive
Finishing
top 10 - Wilson, Rahal, Briscoe, Hinchcliffe, Hildebrand, Pagenaud (last on
lead lap), Castroneves, Power, Pole-Sitter Tagliani, and James Jakes
The top 10
was bookended by the Brits!
Justin Wilson celebrates his first oval track win on the front stretch at Texas Motor Speedway. Image Credit: AP
10 gallon hats off to Justin Wilson and the Dale Coyne Racing Sonny's BBQ sponsored, Honda-Powered, wickerbilled DW12
Colin
Warnock @justin_wilsonPR
RT
@SkyIndyCar Huge congratulations to @justin_wilson everyone at Sky IndyCar so
happy for him. #ovalexpertnow #indycar
Heather
Thomas Leo @HeatherTLeo
“@CrashGladys:
A BBQ car wins in Texas - how appropriate!!! #indycar @TXMotorSpeedway @IndyCar
@IndyCarPR Congrats @justin_wilson!!!”
Christopher
C. Dyson @ChrisDyson16
Will and
Tony were pretty gracious, all things considered.
Christopher
Estrada @estradawriting
2-Briscoe:
"It was tough out there tonight, and it was exactly what we asked for. No
complaints." #IndyCar #Firestone550
Edmund Jenks
@TheEDJE
Pageneaud
has 100 points over Rubens and Newgarden - Honest question, is the rookie of
the year battle in #IndyCar already over? #Firestone550
Bill Zahren
@pressdog
Too bad we
had the freak out about "pack racing" at Texas months before we had
anything but supposition to go on.
Allen Wedge
@AllenWedge
Will Power
"that was the best racing I have ever had at an oval"
Female
Racing News @FemaleRacing
Totes agree
Will Power.. great racing!!!
GEICO Racing
11 @GEICORacing11
Checkered
flag waves here @TXMotorSpeedway & @TonyKanaan is relegated to a
disappointing 11th place finish. Tough night. #Firestone550
Mario
Andretti @MarioAndretti
Congratulations
@justin_wilson and @DaleCoyneRacing. Great job!
Allen Wedge
@AllenWedge
Seriously, I
don't care about aerokits anymore, This new package has given us 5 great races
so far this year! #indycar
Tony DiZinno
@tonydizinno
Bummed to
miss end of #IndyCar race. Congrats @justin_wilson that's awesome!
Panther
Racing @PantherRacing
.@JRHildebrand:
"The setup is still an engineering project, but as a driver it's super
nice to have a lot more input into what's going on."
Pippa Mann
@PippaMann
Really hope
#Indycar goes back to Texas next year after the race today!!
#WhetherImJustAFanOrADriver And that says a lot!!!
Holly
Wheldon @hollywheldon
@GrahamRahal
Great job today Graham xxx
Gustavo
Yacaman @GustavoYacaman
Agree with
@TonyKanaan 100% stupid moves like that are simple dangerous at those speeds.
SpeedFreaks
@SpeedFreaks
@AJDinger
@justin_wilson Soooo true!!! Justin is winning the coolest hardware in 2012!
#Rolex24 & #Firestone550 Watches, Cowboy hats & guns!
Nytewynd18
@Nytewynd18
@RyanLewisRacing
@alex_lloyd @cjeffduncan I agree with Hinch, I'd rather worry about the cars
being in one piece than worry about the driver
Panther
Racing @PantherRacing
A stellar
fifth-place finish by @JRHildebrand and the @PantherRacing crew after being a
lap down TWICE and starting 23rd. Impressive.
Erica Gordon
@erica_g
Soooo
#IndyCar racing is pretty awesome. Can't wait til @MKE_IndyFest next weekend!
#IndyFest
 |
| Road course expert, Justin Wilson takes his first oval track win at Texas Motor Speedway in the Firestone 550. Image Credit: IICS |
OFFICIAL RESULTS - FIRESTONE 550
Pos. Driver
Laps Running
/ Reason Out
1 Justin Wilson 228
Running
2 Graham Rahal 228
Running
3 Ryan Briscoe 228
Running
4 James Hinchcliffe 228 Running
5 J.R. Hildebrand 228
Running
6 Simon Pagenaud 228 Running
7 Helio Castroneves 227 Running
8 Will Power 227 Running
9 Alex Tagliani 227
Running
10 James Jakes 227 Running
11 Tony Kanaan 227 Running
12 Ed Carpenter 227 Running
13 Josef Newgarden 226 Running
14 Dario Franchitti 225
Running
15 Katherine Legge 224 Running
16 Mike Conway 224 Running
17 Marco Andretti 222
Running
18 Scott Dixon 173 Contact
19 E.J. Viso 129
Mechanical
20 Oriol Servia 89 Mechanical
21 Ryan Hunter-Reay 66 Mechanical
22 Takuma Sato 63 Contact
23 Charlie Kimball 29
Contact
24 Rubens Barrichello 0 DNS
25 Simona de Silvestro 0 DNS
Allen Wedge
@AllenWedge
IndyCar fans
need to send HUGE thank you to @NBCSN went commercial free for final 30ish
laps, and ran late to get us proper interviews
Tony
@PopOffValve
I think
@justin_wilson won because I had barbecued pork ribs for dinner.
#yeahiwillgowiththat
Tony
@PopOffValve
Going to
sign off and savor this race evening. Kudos to @IndyCar, @RBINDYCAR,
@justin_wilson, and @eddiegossage.
… notes from
The EDJE
** Article first published as Firestone 550 At 1.5-Mile Texas Motor Speedway, Tweet-By-Tweet on Technorati **
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