IndyCar Kansas 300: A Little Finesse, a Little Luck

The Indy Racing League Kansas 300 proved that on an oval track, finesse and experience trump enthusiasm, and that luck as well as strategy can be deciding factors.

The Indy Racing League has finally completely unified; the last separation, the simultaneous races at Long Beach and Twin Ring Motegi, are done. From now on, all IRL races will include all drivers—both IRL veterans, and Champ Car teams making the transition to IRL.

This played a part in the outcome at Kansas, as the IRL drivers' experience at racing on oval tracks helped the IRL vets finish faster and safer—except where too much enthhusiasm and too little experience on the part of some newer drivers caused the IRL vets to crash.

The race seemed like a sure win for the Chip Ganassi-Target cars of Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon. The pair led most of the race, running easily and apparently not worrying about fuel consumption. Dixon led every lap up until the second yellow flag came out on lap 46, and then resumed the lead after the field sorted itself out after pit stops.

Tony Kanaan, in the Andretti Green-7-11 car, ran a steady third, unable to catch the leaders but able to match their lap times.

Dixon and Wheldon qualified one-two, so it was no surprise to see them leading. Tony Kanaan had a miserable qualifying session, being able to run only a few laps at a time before he had to come in for adjustments. Eventually, Kanaan decided to borrow teammate Danica Patrick's settings for tire pressure, shocks, and wings, and apparently her settings worked wonderfully for him.

Danica, unfortunately, could not get her car to work for her. Despite qualifying third, she had serious handling problems, and spent most of the race struggling along in midfield. These cause of these handling problems was later to be revealed, but too late to help Danica, who is still looking for a second win after her success at Motegi.

Early Drama

The race was not without drama. On lap 45, Will Power got loose when he miscalculated the effect that the turbulence of a passing car would create. He spun off into the wall, ending his day.

As the field came into the pits, taking advantage of the yellow flag to get tires and fuel, Marty Roth in the Roth Racing-Cirrus car entered pit lane too fast and had to get hard on the brakes. He locked up his rear wheels and slid into Thomas Schecter's pits, bulldozing crew chief Simon Morely along the track. Miraculously, Roth's car pushed Morely right onto the Schecter car's front wing and stopped there, leaving Morely shocked and shaken but somehow uninjured.

Schecter, who is returning after a year's hiatus to drive for the Luczo-Dragon Racing team, later had a coming-together with HVM Racing driver E.J. Viso.

Schecter was passing Viso on the outside, and Viso, apparently, decided to contest the pass by trying to speed up. As Schecter was halfway past, Viso slid up the track slightly—possibly because he underestimated the effect a tiny bit of added speed would have on a car traveling 200 miles an hour—and ran his right front tire into Schecter's left rear, sending both cars spinning across the infield. Schecter's left front suspension broke while crossing the infield, sidelining him for the day, while Viso was able to continue.

Incidents like this show where the Champ Car drivers, like Viso, are simply not up to speed when it comes to oval track racing. IRL Oval veteran Danica Patrick told reporters that she had also had a few close calls with Viso during the race. As she put it, "There is a lot of etiquette in oval racing that needs to be learned," and which only experience could bring.

Yellow-Flag Shuffle

As lap 150 approached, teams started preparing for cars to come in for scheduled pit stops.

Indy cars get between 50 and 52 laps per tank of fuel, so every fifty laps or so teams need to determine pit strategy—if it is a two-car team, should both cars pit together? If the car is leading, should it wait until the second-place car pits, follow it in, and try for a quicker stop? Can the car go another full lap, two laps, three?

Coming up towards the final stop, the Ganassi cars looked to be running flat-out, while Tony Kanaan turned his fuel mixture a bit lean to extend his range slightly, gambling that something might happen.

Scott Dixon's crew scrambles to get his car refueled and fitted with fresh rubber. (Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)

On lap 152, race leader Scott Dixon dropped onto the apron and drove into the pits, the first car to come in. In a twist so dramatic it might have been scripted, Tony Rice's rear suspension broke at just that moment, sending him smashing into the wall and bringing out a full-course yellow.

Because Dixon was already in the pits, he was obligated to take a full pit stop. However, no other cars were allowed to pit.

Under IRL rules, the pits are closed for the first two laps after a yellow flag. Before this rule was implemented, drivers, seeing a full-course yellow, would try to scramble for the pits, often diving across traffic multiple lanes of traffic at 200 miles an hour, then standing on the brakes, trying not to crash into the pit wall

To prevent this, IRL instituted the pit-closure rule. Under this rule, drivers who are not able to complete another lap after the yellow are allowed to come in for a quick splash of fuel, allowing them to keep circulating until the pits officially open. However, they need to come back in for a full stop even if that splash of fuel was enough to finish the race.

Rice's accident happened just after Dixon came in, so Dixon had to do a full pit stop. This, however, cost Dixon the lead, as second-place driver Dan Wheldon was still racing when the yellow came out.

All of the other leaders had to come in for splash-and-go, and their teams then had to calculate how much fuel they could get into the cars how fast, and how many tires they could change in that amount of time, to give each driver the best advantage once the race went green.

At first it appeared Wheldon would have an advantage, because he had already come in for a splash, so a full refuel would not take as long as it would for a car that had not needed the extra splash of fuel. However, it ended up not making a difference.

Danica Patrick drives the #7 Motorola Andretti Green Racing Dallara Honda alongside team mate Marco Andretti in the #26. Danica DNF'd due to mechanical failure, while Andretti finished for the first time this season. (Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)

As it turned out, the full-course yellow lasted until lap 173, so fuel ceased to be an issue—all the leaders were told to adjust their cars for full power, as every car had enough fuel to finish. Power replaced economy as the determining factor in the race.

When Danica Patrick came in for her final stop, her crew could not get the right rear tire off her car. When the tire finally came off, the wheel studs came off with it, ending her race. After finally winning at Motegi last week and hoping so much for success at Kansas, her race was one of constant frustration ending in deep disappointment.

Then, on lap 172, just before the restart, Tony Kanaan reported a strange vibration in his right rear wheel; in light of teammate Danica Patrick's problems, this could have presaged disaster. However, Kanaan was able to finish the race without incident.

The Final Dash

The green flag came out on lap 173, and Wheldon and Kanaan restarted cleanly, pulling away from the pack.

Scott Dixon had dropped back to seventh place because of getting caught in the pits under green; he now had to work his way past the six fastest cars to regain his place in the lead.

Dixon displayed driving masterful driving skills, carving his way back though lapped traffic and slower cars in his bid to retake the lead. His car seemed exceptionally stable in the turbulence as he darted high and low, looking for openings in traffic. Dixon's team told him over the radio, "Pick them off one at a time" and that is what he did.

Dan Wheldon in the #10 Ganassi Racing-Target car comes up on Tomas Scheckter drives the #12 Luczo Dragon Racing Dallara Honda. Schecter was eventually pushed off the course, by E.J. Viso, while Wheldon went on to win. (Darrell Ingham/Getty Images)

By lap 183, Dixon had worked his way into third place. But Wheldon and Kanaan were running in line, drafting for greater speed, while Dixon had to run alone. Race leader Dan Wheldon was turning laps in the 211-212 mph range, which Kanaan and Dixon were able to equal, but not beat.

Kanaan, realizing he could not pass Wheldon, settled in behind, waiting for Wheldon to make an error, or perhaps to get caught up in lapped traffic.

Instead, it was Wheldon who was able to lose Kanaan in slower traffic. On lap 198 Kanaan got boxed in by slower cars after Wheldon snuck through cleanly, allowing Wheldon to open enough of a gap that Kanaan simply did not have time to catch up for a last-gasp challenge.

Dixon took third, and series leader Helio Castroneves barely edged out Marco Andretti for fourth. Andretti DNF'd the past three races, so fifth place was probably as satisfying to him as the win was to Wheldon.

Castroneves earned enough points to retain the series lead, with Dixon, Wheldon, and Kanaan right behind him. Despite some disappointing finishes, Danica Patrick earned enough points to finish in the top five.

From Kansas, the teams go to the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway to start testing and practicing for the Indy 500 on May 25.