Kanaan Scores
SONOMA, Calif. (AP) — Tony Kanaan took advantage of teammate Dan Wheldon’s misfortune to move into the lead, then ran away from the rest of the field Sunday to win the Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix at Infineon Raceway.
Kanaan beat Buddy Rice by 1.182 seconds — about eight car-lengths — for his second IRL IndyCar win of the season, completing a sweep for Andretti Green Racing on Sunday. Owner Michael Andretti’s son, Marco, won the Menards Infiniti Pro Series earlier in the day.
It was Wheldon’s broken fuel pump that allowed Kanaan to take the lead on the 53rd of 80 laps.
“I have had bad days and he capitalized a lot on them,” Kanaan said of Wheldon, the IndyCar points leader.
Kanaan averaged 91.040 mph around Infineon’s 12-turn, 2.26-mile track in the first IRL race held on a road course.
IndyCar, Auto Racing, Sports
1. (3) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 80, $105,000.
2. (6) Buddy Rice, Panoz-Honda, 80, $87,250.
3. (10) Alex Barron, Dallara-Toyota, 80, $74,750.
4. (12) Patrick Carpentier, Dallara-Toyota, 80, $58,600.
5. (4) Tomas Enge, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, $53,400.
6. (15) Kosuke Matsuura, Panoz-Honda, 80, $47,100.
7. (9) Scott Dixon, Panoz-Toyota, 80, $45,800.
8. (21) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 80, $44,600.
9. (11) Vitor Meira, Panoz-Honda, 80, $44,600.
10. (17) Jeff Bucknum, Dallara-Chevrolet, 80, $43,300.
11. (18) Roger Yasukawa, Dallara-Honda, 80, $41,900.
12. (19) Scott Sharp, Panoz-Honda, 80, $40,700.
13. (8) Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda, 79, $39,600.
14. (13) Giorgio Pantano, Panoz-Toyota, 78, accident, $38,100.
15. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Toyota, 77, $36,900.
16. (14) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Chevrolet, 57, suspension, $35,700.
17. (5) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Toyota, 56, $34,400.
18. (7) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 52, fuel pump, $44,400.
19. (1) Ryan Briscoe, Panoz-Toyota, 20, accident, $43,100.
20. (16) Danica Patrick, Panoz-Honda, 19, accident, $31,900.
21. (2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Toyota, 19, accident, $31,900.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 1 minute, 15.9187 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 1.1826 seconds.
Winner’s Average Speed: 91.040 mph.
Caution Flags: Four for 13 laps.
Lead Changes: Six among five drivers.
Lap Leaders: Briscoe 1-16, Herta 17-32, Enge 33-45, Kanaan 46-50, Wheldon 51, Herta 52, Kanaan 53-80.
Point Standings: 1. Wheldon, 517. 2. Kanaan, 438. 3. Hornish Jr., 421. 4. Franchitti, 395. 5. Sharp, 366. 6. Castroneves, 360. 7. Meira, 349. 8. Herta, 338. 9. Carpentier, 319. 10. Scheckter, 317.
