You’d think that not being behind the wheel for much of the season would be a hindrance, but not for the Indianapolis native (IndyCar’s only owner-driver also happens to be the step-son of controversial former Indy Racing League boss Tony George) who has the ability to strap in and come right up to speed.
Saturday night on the daunting high banks of the Texas Motor Speedway was no different, and IndyCar proceedings ended with Carpenter standing in Victory Lane, having managed to hold off Australian Will Power and the rest of the IndyCar pack for his first victory of the season, two weeks removed from an ultimately-disappointing 98th Indianapolis 500 run.
Really, though, this race should have been Power’s to own. He dominated large chunks of the 600-kilometere affair that boasted less pack racing than we’ve become used to at Texas, but his car wasn’t as strong in traffic as Carpenter’s proved to be, and the eventual winner used that to his advantage, getting around Power on Lap 183 of 248. Carpenter was scarcely headed after that.
A final round of pit stops was an opportunity for Power to get back to the lead, but a pit lane speeding penalty dropped him back to sixth, and it seemed as though the Queenslander’s chances of winning at Texas for the first time had fallen by the wayside. Then, fortuitously for the current IndyCar Series points leader, Takuma Sato’s engine let go, and the field bunched up.
What followed was a Lone Star State-style shootout, which saw Power coming with a head of steam, scything through the pack, collecting up the Target Chip Ganassi Racing pair of Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan inside the final two laps, and his team-mate, Juan Pablo Montoya off the final corner of the race, for a finish that at least guaranteed him another good points haul.
Carpenter, though, would not be headed. It was perhaps a lucky break for him that Power’s drive through penalty dropped him back in the pack, for the late-race speed that the Australian showed – comparable to the opening of the race, when he was by far the fastest guy on the 1.5-mile tri-oval – would have certainly posed a challenge to Carpenter, had Power not had to come from so far back.
Really, it was a two-horse race, either Ed or Will Saturday night in Texas. No other driver was close, and although Power may look at the event as a missed opportunity, a second-place finish is certainly better than what might have eventuated had the Sato-induced caution not brought him back to the field. You take what you can get – and the difference in points between second and, say, sixteenth, might prove to be very valuable at season’s end.
Notable was Montoya’s third place finish, his first IndyCar Series podium since returning from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the beginning of the year. It’s been a long time coming for the Colombian, though his good run at Indianapolis ended with a pit road speeding penalty. JPM has been faster than his results thus far would suggest, and now that he’s got a taste of the podium, expect more as the series enters the mid-summer stretch.
From the good to the bad, and things didn’t get much worse than the plight of Andretti Autosport. After a terrific opening lap, where he sliced through the field like they were standing still, Marco Andretti was out of the race by the second, slowing dramatically down the back straight. Indianapolis 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay suffered similar misfortune towards the middle of the race.
The frustrating thing was that both drivers were saddled with very fast cars, and although none of us can predict how the race would shake out for them, it isn’t much of a stretch to predict that they would at least be around, fighting for the top spots.
Andretti Autosport’s other two cars weren’t a factor: James Hinchcliffe suffered bad handling issues all night, finishing four laps down, and impressive rookie Carlos Munoz came home in mid-pack, in thirteenth. After a great weekend at Indianapolis, capped by RHR’s memorable victory (and double helping of IndyCar Series points), Andretti Autosport has endured two shocking weekends, at Detroit and Texas.
Contrasting that was the run for Simon Pagenaud. Quietly, the rapid Frenchman, who won the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the first Sunday in May and is a proven winning commodity in sports cars, sits quietly in fourth in points, and, for some nice synergy, finished fourth on Saturday night in Texas.
We’ve never doubted Pagenaud’s ability behind the wheel, but that speed combined with a great car week-in-week-out from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, has made him a serious championship challenger. In some ways Pagenaud is developing like Power did: he’s always been a threat at road and street circuits, and is now becoming a threat on ovals.
And, of course, it’s Power who leads the Verizon IndyCar Series points standings by thirty-nine markers over his teammate, Helio Castroneves (who finished a distant eight at Texas) as we prepare for another double header weekend, this time on the streets of Houston, Texas, for the Shell Grand Prix in three weeks.
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