Photo Credit: John Cote/IndyCar
Over the course of the final 14 laps, the lead would change hand on six different occurrences, including the top-three running three-wide for the top spot at one point. In the end, though, Juan Pablo Montoya would power by Will Power on the outside going into turn one with three laps to go, holding off Power the rest of the way to the checkered flag.
“It was fun,” Montoya commented. “Our Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet was good all day. These guys at Team Penske did an amazing job. When I came through the field, I knew I had a good car. That fight there at the end… that was awesome.”
For Montoya, it marks his second victory in the Greatest Spectacle of Racing.
“This is what racing in IndyCar is all about – awesome racing all the way down to the wire,” he added. “It was just awesome. This is what racing and IndyCar is all about.”
It wasn’t an easy victory for the driver of the No. 2 Verizon Chevrolet as he was 30th early in the race after being run into under caution by Simona de Silvestro and having to replace the rear wing due to right rear damage.
The victory for Montoya gives Roger Penske a sweep of the month’s event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as Power won the Augie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis earlier this month.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Penske said. “To see those two guys out here… Ganassi was so strong all day long and they had a smart driver in (Scott) Dixon. Our guys stayed in there, and Montoya coming from all the way in the back… I’ll tell you, you give that guy the bit and put it in his mouth – as you know, he doesn’t give up. I’m just so thrilled for everyone who works for us, all the people who support us and all these race fans that here, what a great day.”
Power would cross the finish line in the second spot to give Penske a sweep of the top two spots. Charlie Kimball managed to make his way by Scott Dixon in the late stages of the race, completing the podium. Scott Dixon, who led the most laps over the afternoon, finished fourth with Graham Rahal rounding out the top-five.
Marco Andretti finish sixth, followed by Helio Castroneves, JR Hildebrand, Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud. Pagenaud ran up front in the top-five throughout the day with his Penske teammates.
The race would not go cleanly without incidents, as there were a couple of cautions throughout the day. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Takuma Sato and Sage Karam tried to go three-wide through turn one on lap one, with Sato and Karam coming together, resulting in Karam making heavy contact with the wall.
“I don’t know what he was thinking,” Karam commented. “Ryan and I were already two-wide and I knew he had a run and he went out there three-wide. It’s way too early to do that.”
Bryan Clauson saw his day come to an end after hitting the wall on lap 65, while Ed Carpenter and Oriol Servia made contact and hit the wall together at lap 113. Under that caution, there was contact on pit road between one of the cars and a pair of crew members. James Davidson was released from pit road, making contact with Pippa Mann as she has someone to her outside, and then bounced into a pair of crew members on Tristan Vautier’s team. Greg Senerius, the chief mechanic and right front tire changer, was “treated, checked and released” from the infield medical center. Meanwhile, Daniel Jeng was taken to hospital for a right ankle injury. It marks the second time this year that a member of Dale Coyne Racing has been hit on pit road.
Tony Kanaan ran up front throughout the first half of the race, but would make heavy contact with the wall at lap 153.
“We missed it, obviously,” he said. “It got real loose and unfortunately we lost it. Can’t thank my guys enough. We were strong all day. It was the last stop so we were going to go for it. I’d rather go for it than finish third or second. I feel bad for the sponsors, for the team. But hey, for the critcs, we proved that we don’t flip a car every time we crash so there ya go.”
A big wreck would happen with 23 laps to go when Jack Hawksworth would make contact with Sebastian Saavedra, with Stefan Coletti then hitting Saavedra. Coletti and Hawksworth climbed out under their own power, while Saavedra was helped to a safety vehicle.
Conor Daly, who was looking for a strong run in his second Indianapolis apperance, would not start the event due to a pre-race fire.
1. (15) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 200, Running
2. (2) Will Power, Chevrolet, 200, Running
3. (14) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 200, Running
4. (1) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 200, Running
5. (17) Graham Rahal, Honda, 200, Running
6. (8) Marco Andretti, Honda, 200, Running
7. (5) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 200, Running
8. (10) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 200, Running
9. (9) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 200, Running
10. (3) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 200, Running
11. (7) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 200, Running
12. (31) Ryan Briscoe, Honda, 200, Running
13. (24) Takuma Sato, Honda, 200, Running
14. (23) Townsend Bell, Chevrolet, 200, Running
15. (16) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 200, Running
16. (26) Gabby Chaves, Honda, 200, Running
17. (20) Alex Tagliani, Honda, 200, Running
18. (19) James Jakes, Honda, 200, Running
19. (18) Simona de Silvestro, Honda, 200, Running
20. (11) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 200, Running
21. (6) Justin Wilson, Honda, 199, Running
22. (25) Pippa Mann, Honda, 197, Running
23. (27) Sebastian Saavedra, Chevrolet, 175, Contact
24. (28) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 175, Contact
25. (29) Stefano Coletti, Chevrolet, 175, Contact
26. (4) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 151, Contact
27. (33) James Davison, Honda, 116, Mechanical
28. (32) Tristan Vautier, Honda, 116, Mechanical
29. (13) Oriol Servia, Honda, 112, Contact
30. (12) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 112, Contact
31. (30) Bryan Clauson, Chevrolet, 61, Contact
32. (21) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 0, Contact
33. (22) Conor Daly, Honda, 0, Mechanical
