Dan Wheldon, driving for Target-Chip Ganassi racing, won the Iowa Corn 250 Indycar race with a combination of talent and strategy, but the greatest victory came through generosity.
Race day was Wheldon's birthday, so the win could be seen as a gift. But the win pales bedside the gift Target-Ganassi Racing gave to the flood-battered people of Iowa: drivers Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon donated all of their prize money from the race to the Iowa Red Cross to help flood victims.
The Indy racing League donated $60,000 to the Iowa chapter of the American Red Cross, and Andretti-Green Racing donated $10,000 raised through an online auction. Other drivers in various supporting events also donated to help flood victims.
Demanding Track
The Iowa Speedway is a very short track, only 7/8 of a mile long. There isn't a flat stretch of track anywhere on the oval—the corners are banked at 12-14 degrees (getting steeper towards the outside edge,) the front straight at ten degrees and the back straight at four degrees.
G-forces are extremely high at Iowa, nearly five G's in the corners, which a lot of strain on the drivers. It is also a tough track for the car—suspension parts get a serious stress test, and any imperfection could lead to failure. During the race, three drivers—Mika Duna, Darren Manning and Buddy Rice—dropped out because their cars were getting increasingly hard to turn.
Passing had been notoriously difficult at Iowa. However, IndyCar changed its mandated wing settings this year, switching to a wing providing less downforce but more speed, hoping to open up the competition. As it turned out, their decision worked perfectly.
This year cars were lapping in about seventeen seconds, topping 180 mph. Cars were able to run three wide down the straights on occasion, and passing, while still a matter of patience rather than courage, was much easier this year.
Saturday's qualifying was cancelled due to rain so cars were lined up according to team owner points. This put Scott Dixon driving for Commit Target Chip Ganassi Racing on the pole, with Helio Castroneves for Team Penske, Dan Wheldon for Target Chip Ganassi, Tony Kanaan for 7-Eleven Andretti Green Racing,Ryan Briscoe for Team Penske, and Danica Patrick fro Motorola Andretti Green Racing filling the first three rows.
Because the cars were lined up by team owner points, some of the faster cars were back in the pack. Pole-sitter Scott Dixon told reporters, "We just really didn't have the speed. We worked a lot on race setup to try to help the car because I had some issues with the rear end, but even when we went to new tires, we didn't seem to pick up much speed."
Demanding Racing
The race opened with a fantastic duel between Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan. By lap 15, Kanaan had pushed by on the outside—a process that took several laps.
Helio wasn't content with second—he feinted high, dove low and challenged Kanaan for several laps, but didn't have the speed. By lap 23 Kanaan managed to open a slight gap.
Meanwhile the rest of the pack was stretched out well behind. By lap 25, Kanaan was lapping the back of the pack.
On lap 39, Scott Carpenter crashed, bringing out a yellow flag. The right rear pushrod, which actuates the spring and shock absorber, snapped going into turn 2, putting Scott into the wall.
Castroneves had been complaining of understeer before the yellow; when he came in to the pits under yellow, he told his crew not to change anything—he would use onboard adjustments to fine-tune the car. (Indy cars have onboard adjustments for "weight-jacking"—small adjustments in spring rates for each wheel—and fuel mixture, ranging form maximum power to maximum conservation.)
Apparently his adjustments worked, because after the restart, Castro took the lead back from Kanaan.
With ninety laps done, the order was Castroneves with Kanaan challenging, few lengths gap back to Dan Wheldon, with Marco Andretti right on Wheldon's tail.
A.J. Foyt IV, who started in 23rd position, was making an amazing run, getting up to ninth place by lap 95.
Danica Patrick, far and away the most popular driver in the series, was back in twelfth place, struggling with understeer. Her season has been a trial—except for her winning effort at Twin Ring Motegi, she has had mechanical or set-up problems in every race.
Around lap 100, Jaime Camara Goiania ran out of gas on the track, bringing out a yellow. On the ensuing pit stop, Castroneves' crew had problems changing his right rear tire. Kanaan, and Andretti got out of the pits first, putting Castroneves back into third place.
On lap 135, Andretti was able to take the lead from Kanaan. Possibly Kanaan was opting to conserve fuel rather than contest the lead so early in the race.
After a yellow on lap 93, the order was Casroneves, Kanaan, Hunter-Reays, and Andretti.
The Strategizing Starts
With 63 to go Enrique Bernoldi spun, bringing another yellow.
Danica Patrick, Dan Wheldon, and Hideki Mutoh stayed on the track, hoping they could conserve enough fuel to finish, while race leaders might have to pit for a splash-and-go. By staying out, these drivers advanced to the front of the pack, becoming race leaders so long as they didn't run dry.
With fifty-three laps to go Moraes spun, bringing out another yellow, favoring the drivers who opted not to pit for fuel earlier. Now they could turn up the power and race hard, while still not having to make a final fuel stop.
Then with 39 laps to go Tony Kanaan spun hard into the wall at turn number 2.
When asked if his car broke or he lost control, Kanaan responded, "Hard to say. I think, really, I just lost it. I am going to be sore tomorrow."
Commenting on the difficulty of the track, Kanaan told reporters, "The race was more intense mental than physical. This a hard track physically, but we were racing so close it was harder mentally."
At lap 235 the order was Dan Wheldon, Hideki Mutoh, Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon and Danica Patrick. On lap 240, A.J. Foyt IV passed Danica.
Andretti was going hard at Mutoh, trying to get past him to then attack Wheldon. Mutoh, an Indycar rookie, drove with great maturity, staying calm despite the pressure.
That ended up as the final order, with Dan Wheldon winning his second race of the season. It was Mutoh's best finish, and A.J. Foyt IV's best finish as well.
Wheldon, wining on his birthday, thanked team owner Chip Ganassi for the win. Asked about his effort to aid the flood victims, Wheldon replied, "I hope I put a smile on their faces."
Wheldon explained that he knew that his team's donations weren't much but hoped that the spirit of giving would encourage the flood victims and "help them be positive—hopefully what Scott and I have done, donating our prize money, will help."