Scott Dixon Penalty A Mistake By IndyCar

IndyCar race official Beaux Barfield has explained how human error and a computer glitch led to Target Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon being wrongly issued a penalty at last weekends Milwaukee IndyFest, after it was initially believed the Kiwi jumped a restart on lap 103. The restart in question was actually aborted moments later, after leader Helio Castroneves went too soon.

The confusion was caused because the timing and replay system at race control was out of sync with the live events by roughly 36 seconds, by which time the actual restart had commenced after the initial aborted attempt the previous lap. Beaux Barfield then made the error of pausing the replay, failing to realize that the pictures in question were out of sync with the live on track events.

“I take responsibility for it being the wrong call, and certainly have my issues with it moving forward, about how we prevent such things happening in the future,” Explained Beaux Barfield. “It was a technical issue, certainly a little bit of human error, but painful nonetheless. Once a penalty is served, I can’t jump back in there and undo it. They were told exactly what happened, the Ganassi team, Chip himself, Mike Hull, Scott Dixon, were very gracious. They appreciated my candor; explaining to them truthfully what happened.”

The mistake thus ruined Scott Dixon’s chances of victory at the Milwaukee IndyFest, after the Kiwi started the race way down in 21st position after a grid penalty due to an engine change. He was in 3rd position when issued the fateful penalty, and subsequently finished the race in 11th position.

“I really don’t know what happened on the restart where we got penalized.” Said Scott Dixon after the race. “I think the one they waved off was the one we got out of line when EJ Viso was trying to restart at 20 mph. I was in first gear and when it went green, I went. It’s a shame for the Target team and that punishment is pretty harsh.”

Scott Dixon is currently 3rd in the Driver’s Championship, with 239 points to his name. After his less-than-successful result at Milwaukee, James Hinchcliffe was able to move ahead of Dixon after finishing the race 3rd overall.

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Milwaukee IndyFest To Return In 2013

Only moments before issuing the command to start engines for Saturday’s Milwaukee IndyFest, president and CEO of Andretti Sports Marketing, Michael Andretti, announced that the IZOD IndyCar Series would return in 2013. This announcement comes months after the Milwaukee Mile looked in danger of being removed from the IndyCar schedule back in February.

With street and road courses greatly outweighing oval courses on the 2012 IZOD IndyCar schedule, the Milwaukee Mile was the latest oval that looked likely to be dropped after 2011. However, after Michael Andretti assumed promotion of the event with his company Andretti Sports Marketing, the Milwaukee IndyFest looks set to be a recurring event on the IndyCar schedule.

The 2013 Milwaukee IndyFest is scheduled for June 14-15th, and tickets can already be purchased at the tracks official website: http://www.MilwaukeeIndyFest.com/.

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Ryan Hunter-Reay Storms To Victory At The Milwaukee IndyFest

Ryan Hunter-Reay has taken his first IndyCar victory of the 2012 season, after a stunning victory at the 2012 Milwaukee IndyFest ahead of Tony Kanaan and James Hinchcliffe after a frenetic 225 laps around the Milwaukee Mile. Will Power remains in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, as Hinchcliffe moves up to 2nd ahead of Scott Dixon.

The race was unfortunately delayed due to rain, however once the shower had passed over the Milwaukee Mile the race was able to get going. At the start Dario Franchitti flew into the lead from pole, opening up a considerable gap to Hunter-Reay in 2nd. Further down the order, Will Power was picking his way precariously through the pack after his grid penalty. The Championship leader made minor contact with Katherine Legge on lap 19, as Josef Newgarden peeled off into the pits with with fuel pressure issues. This then resulted in a drive-through penalty for the IndyCar rookie, who drove over a tyre gun upon exiting his pit.

On lap 65 Dario Franchitti joined many on entering pit road under green flag conditions, thus handing the lead down to Helio Castroneves. Only moments after making his stop, Simona de Silvestro brought out the first full course caution as the Swiss Miss spun her Lotus-powered car on track. Under yellow flag conditions, the top four of Castroneves, Hinchcliffe, Dixon and Power peeled off into the pits to make their first pit-stops.

As the race returned to green flag conditions, EJ Viso led away at the front. Whilst the Venezuelan driver enjoyed his time out front, Target Chip Ganassi team-mates Franchitti and Dixon came perilously close as the Kiwi finally made a move stick on his British team-mate.

The race was run under green flag conditions for only 16 laps before Justin Wilson brought out the second caution as his engine expired in spectacular fashion with smoke billowing out of the rear of his car. Upon stopping at the side of the track, Wilson’s car then proceeded to catch fire at the rear, as the Briton frantically jumped out of his car.

Whilst the safety car controlled the race at the front, the majority of the field pitted under caution. Castroneves returned to the front, as the Brazilian driver failed to pit with the rest of the pack. The restart was aborted for one extra lap, as the cars failed to line-up correctly.

As Castroneves led at the front, albeit without pitting, a further caution was caused only moments later when Takuma Sato collected James Jakes as both drivers ended up slamming out of the race and into the wall. JR Hildebrand also retired with a separate mechanical issue on his car.

The race once again restarted on lap 122, as Helio Castroneves continued his dominance at the front. Scott Dixon’s race was ruined after IndyCar officials handed the Kiwi a harsh drive-through penalty for allegedly jumping the restart. However, out on track Ryan Hunter-Reay simply glided past the Penske of Castroneves as the Brazilian’s tyres began to wear out. As the race continued under green flag conditions, many front running drivers were forced to make green flag pit-stops, however on lap 182 the fourth full course caution was caused as light rain began reportedly falling at certain points on the track.

This brief caution lasted only a handful of laps, as Hunter-Reay continued to lead at the front as the race was resumed on lap 192. However, it was only two laps later when a shocking development occurred when reigning Series Champion Dario Franchitti was seen in the wall, bringing out the fifth full course caution. Only moments beforehand Franchitti was seen rubbing wheels with Ryan Briscoe, as the Australian driver failed to notice the Briton on the inside. Further replays suggested that Franchitti’s incident was caused by a failure on the car, possibly suspension related.

Once the race was resumed on lap 201, it was ran incident free until the end as Ryan Hunter-Reay soared to his fourth IndyCar career victory. This was also the first win for an American driver in the 2012 season, the first since Ed Carpenter at last years Kentucky Indy 300.

The IZOD IndyCar fraternity now gears up for another back-to-back race weekend, as next weekend the teams and drivers head to the Iowa Speedway for the 2012 Iowa Corn Indy 250. Marco Andretti won last years race, ahead of Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon.

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Dario Franchitti Secures Pole For 2012 Milwaukee IndyFest

Dario Franchitti has stormed to his second pole position of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar season for the Milwaukee IndyFest, only +0.1157 seconds quicker than fellow countryman Justin Wilson. The reigning Series Champion clocked a combined time of a 43.3100, and will line-up in pole for the first time since Long Beach back in April.

Although Justin Wilson qualified 2nd, after his superlative victory last time out at Texas, the Briton will unfortunately endure a 10-place grid penalty due to an unscheduled engine change prior to the weekend’s events. This therefore promotes Dallas-born Ryan Hunter-Reay to 2nd position on the grid, with an all-Brazilian second row of Rubens Barrichello and Helio Castroneves close behind.

Championship leader Will Power qualified 4th, however he too has been hit with a 10-place grid drop. The Australian driver also completed an unscheduled engine change, and will therefore line-up 14th on the grid alongside Alex Tagliani, who secured pole last time out for the Firestone 550 at Texas.

The session ran to the traditional oval qualifying rules, in which each driver individually completes a warm-up lap followed by two timed laps. This then creates an average lap speed and combined aggregate times which subsequently determines the grid. The qualifying session ran incident free, although Castroneves had to back off extensively on his second timed lap after the Penske driver ran loose and hit the engines rev limiter.

“I am very pleased as much as I am surprised.” Explained Dario Franchitti, “That’s quite a turnaround from practice. Practice is one thing, qualifying is another and then there is the race. I expect tomorrow is going to be tough, especially at the end of a full stint on those Firestone tires. It’s going to be a long [and] exciting day tomorrow and hopefully the Cottonelle car will be up front at the end of the afternoon. This is always an interesting track and we’ll see if we can get it done.”

Mike Conway, Takuma Sato, Josef Newgarden and Ryan Briscoe have also had to suffer 10-place grid penalties, making the grid look slightly different to how qualifying ended. Dario Franchitti won last year at Milwaukee, and will undeniably be striving to do so again this year.

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IndyCar Rookie Josef Newgarden Quickest In Milwaukee Practice

IndyCar rookie Josef Newgarden has ended the first practice session for this weekend’s Milwaukee IndyFest fastest, only a fraction quicker than the Penske of Helio Castroneves. This weekend’s race is the first of the season on a short-oval, a week after the race around the daunting 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway.

The top five was rounded out by EJ Viso, last weekend’s pole-sitter Alex Tagliani, and JR Hildebrand. Last years Milwaukee Mile winner Dario Franchitti only managed 11th, just behind his team-mate Scott Dixon whereas Championship leader Will Power finished a lowly 19th.

Both Will Power and Scott Dixon will endure 10-place grid penalties for tomorrow’s race, after they both changed their engines prior to the race weekend due to engine related issues at the Iowa mid-week test. However, with passing relatively easy around the 1-mile oval, both drivers should gradually rise to the top as the race progresses.

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Will Power & Scott Dixon Issued Grid Penalties For Milwaukee IndyFest

Championship leader Will Power and his nearest rival Scott Dixon have both been issued 10-place grid penalties for this weekend’s Milwaukee IndyFest, after both drivers suffered engine related blowouts during testing at the Iowa Speedway.

Scott Dixon, who won the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, suffered his engine related issue during the morning period of the test, whereas the Penske of Will Power suffered his issue later in the day. The rules of the IndyCar Series stipulates a mileage minimum before drivers may change their engines, and neither Power nor Dixon had reached those yet.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing’s Josef Newgarden will also take penalties at this weekend’s Milwaukee IndyFest. The two drivers failed to refit their Indy practice engines when their racing engines recently expired, resulting in the penalties issued out.

However, these penalties won’t damage their chances of a competitive race result at this weekend’s race, as the nature of the Milwaukee Mile makes overtaking relatively easy. Last year’s Milwaukee 225 winner was Dario Franchitti, who stormed to victory ahead of Graham Rahal and Oriol Servia.

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