2012 Trackside - IZOD IndyCar Series Media Site - IndyCar.com

Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle – Sunday, April 29 at Streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Will Power hopes a shower of April victories can lead to a quart of milk in May.
The Team Penske driver won the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle to score his
third consecutive victory of the season and the third in a row at the Anhembi circuit.
Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, held off Hunter-Reay on a Lap 71 restart
and won by 0.9045 of a second. Takuma Sato, who started 25th because of an unapproved Honda engine
change and overcame a Lap 12 pit lane speed violation penalty, earned his first IZOD IndyCar Series
podium finish.
Power is the first driver since Scott Dixon in 2007 to win three consecutive races (Watkins Glen,
Nashville, Mid-Ohio).
Power inherited the point when Dixon pitted under caution on Lap 64, held off Hunter-Reay on
the Lap 67 restart, which quickly turned into a Turn 1 parking lot that collected, among others, Dixon.
Recognizing possibly his final opportunity to overtake Power, Hunter-Reay moved to the outside in Turn
1 of the Lap 71 green flag.
Helio Castroneves overtook front-row starter Dario Franchitti on that restart to finish fourth.
Franchitti's No. 10 Lexar Media car for Target Chip Ganassi Racing was bumped from behind on a Lap
26 restart in Turn 1 to drop to 22nd.
James Hinchcliffe, JR Hildebrand and Charlie Kimball -- rookies in 2011 -- finished ahead of E.J.
Viso in ninth and Barrichello in 10th.
96 th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race – Sunday, May 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Reigning IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti became the 10th driver with three or
more Indianapolis 500 wins, holding off charges from Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott
Dixon, Takuma Sato and Tony Kanaan over the final five laps to win the 96 th Indianapolis 500.
Franchitti won under caution as Sato's No. 15 Rahal Letterman Racing car made slight contact
with the left side Franchitti's No. 50 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car while running side-by-side for the
lead on the white flag lap. The contact shot Sato's car up the track and into the Turn 1 SAFER Barrier,
bringing out the yellow flag.
Franchitti led teammate Scott Dixon and Kanaan under the twin checkered flags to cap a wild
race featuring the new car-engine package. There were a record 34 lead changes among 10 drivers.
A few minutes later, in Victory Circle, Franchitti looked to the sky as a salute to Dan Wheldon.
A few minutes afterward, he and wife Ashley Judd were joined on the victory lap by Susie
Wheldon, who earlier in the weekend accepted the Champion of Champions ring and "Baby Borg" trophy
on behalf of her husband.
Kanaan, seeking his first victory in his 11th 500 Mile Race and driving the No. 11 car ("my
favorite number") for KV Racing Technology, had taken the lead on a Lap 184 restart.
Oriol Servia jumped from the 27th starting spot to finish fourth and pole sitter Ryan Briscoe was
fifth. James Hinchcliffe, who started from the middle of the front row, finished sixth and Justin Wilson
also had an Indy-best seventh-place finish. Charlie Kimball overcame a practice crash a week earlier to
finish eighth, and Townsend Bell was ninth. Three-time winner Helio Castroneves was 10th and Rubens
Barrichello was the highest finishing rookie in 11th.