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View Full Version : Power wins at Milwaukee to extend IndyCar championship lead



bigbadbrother
08-18-2014, 03:09 AM
AP

Pole-sitter Will Power fended off Juan Pablo Montoya to win Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile, giving a huge boost to Team Penske's chances for the IndyCar season title.

The 33-year-old Australian added to the slim lead he had in the standings over teammate Helio Castroneves. A Penske driver has finished second each of the previous four seasons and five of the last six.

Power raced to his third victory of the season, and his first on an oval. He has said his top priority is to win a title for Penske.

Montoya, another Penske driver, finished second. Tony Kanaan was third.

Power's victory ended Ryan Hunter-Reay's two-year winning streak at the Mile. Hunter-Reay won the Indianapolis 500, but his championship hopes took a hit after exiting following 168 laps with mechanical problems.

Hunter-Reay was third in the standings entering the race. His day had started on a high note after signing a three-year extension with Andretti Autosport to stay in the No. 28 car.
Hunter-Reay inks three-year extension with Andretti; Hinchcliffe closing in on deal

The day belonged to Power, who was in familiar territory after also having led the standings with three races to go in 2012 and 2010. Power crashed in the finale both years.

Once again, Power is in control going into this season's final two races in California-- next week at Sonoma and the following week in Fontana.

Plus, he proved doubters wrong who said he couldn't win on ovals.

"Yes! I love winning on ovals! I love winning on ovals!" he yelled on his radio after taking the checkered flag.

Power led by 2 seconds late before Montoya was able to shave about a half-second from the lead around lap 238.

Soon, Power and Montoya were the only two cars on the lead lap, with traffic ahead. It could have provided Montoya with a prime opportunity to get by.

Instead, Power started pulling away again and won by 2.7 seconds.

"We asked him today to drive on an oval like he would on a road course," team president Tim Cindric said about the fuel strategy Power used Sunday.

1 #12 Will Power Team Penske 1 250 229 Running 54 4
2 #2 Juan Pablo Montoya Team Penske 3 250 4 Running 41 1
3 #10 Tony Kanaan Chip Ganassi Racing 2 250 14 Running 36 1
4 #9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 11 250 0 Running 32 0
5 #67 Josef Newgarden Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing 5 250 0 Running 30 0
6 #8 Ryan Briscoe Chip Ganassi Racing 4 250 0 Running 28 0
7 #77 Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Peterson Motorsports 16 250 0 Running 26 0
8 #7 Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports 15 249 0 Running 24 0
9 #20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing 7 249 3 Running 23 1
10 #98 Jack Hawksworth Bryan Herta Autosport 17 249 0 Running 20 0
11 #3 Helio Castroneves Team Penske 8 249 0 Running 19 0
12 #11 Sebastien Bourdais KV Racing Technology 18 249 0 Running 18 0
13 #25 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport 9 249 0 Running 17 0
14 #15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 14 249 0 Running 16 0
15 #14 Takuma Sato A.J. Foyt Enterprises 10 248 0 Running 15 0
16 #83 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing 6 248 0 Running 14 0
17 #19 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing 12 248 0 Running 13 0
18 #17 Sebastian Saavedra KV Racing Technology 21 246 0 Running 12 0
19 #27 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport 13 244 0 Running 11 0
20 #18 Carlos Huertas Dale Coyne Racing 22 243 0 Running 10 0
21 #28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport 19 168 0 Mechanical 9 0
22 #34 Carlos Munoz Andretti Autosport 20 130 0 Contact 8 0