Castroneves Wins in Kentucky

SPARTA, Kentucky - Helio Castroneves led only a miniscule portion (7 laps) of the Kentucky Indy 300, but it was the most important part: the end. As late as Lap 165, Castroneves was running tenth, but by Lap 200, he was in first, winning Saturday night’s IZOD IndyCar Series race by outsmarting the rest of the field.

For the second consecutive week, the race winner has been determined by pit strategy.

Due to a miscommunication on Lap 89, Castroneves’ race strategist Tim Cindric was forced to bring Castroneves in on Lap 92 to take a load of ethanol.

That last pit stop occurred under caution after rookie Simon de Silvestro failed to get down to the white line when her car fell off-pace. In the pre-race drivers’ meeting, Brian Barnhart, President of Competition and Racing Operations for the Indy Racing League told drivers that they were to go to the bottom of the track if being lapped was imminent.

While dropping down, de Silvestro made contact with the No. 22 car of E.J. Viso who was attempting to get around de Silvestro on her left side. Before ending their night early, the two collected Ryan Briscoe in Turn 3, ending his night as well.

Castroneves’ off-sequence stop set him up for another off-sequence stop on Lap 147. Thereafter, he conserved fuel-- at times driving at 207 mph while the field leaders turned laps at 217 mph-- knowing that those upfront would need to take a splash of ethanol in the final laps. And when they did, Castroneves made his move.

“I remember in 2008, [at Kentucky Speedway] I ran out of fuel and finished in second. his time it paid off for Team Penske. We were loose in the beginning, but at the end it was meant to be,” said Castroneves.

Explaining his strategy he continued, “I tried to stay steady and [save] fuel. All of a sudden, [Tim Cindric] says, ‘Try to make this number.’ I was like, ‘That’s going to be impossible, man.’ He was already thinking to make a number that would be very difficult. But when we pitted the last time, he just said, ‘You’ve got to make this number because we have nothing to lose, and it’s definitely going to pay off.’”

The win is the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner’s first at Kentucky Speedway.

Robyn Lynne Schechter