Marco Andretti ended a 79-race drought by winning the very competitive IndyCar Iowa Corn 250 Saturday night.
Andretti, whose first and only other race win came when he was a19-year-old rookie, has long faced the accusation that all he had was a famous name, not his family’s racing skill. The 24-year-old Andretti Autosport driver proved all his detractors wrong in the strongest possible way by beating the fastest drivers in the sport.
Andretti told Versus that relief was his strongest feeling after the win.
“We’ve been in a position to win a lot of races we’ve come up short, so it’s more, I think, relieved is the word,” he explained. “I never doubted the team, never doubted myself. I always said as soon as the stars were aligned and a little bit of luck goes my way that we'd be sitting here [Victory Lane.]
“I’m going to be looking to make a habit of this, that’s for sure. You know, it definitely gets the monkey off our back a bit because we can quiet a lot of my doubters at the same time. It feels so good.”
Andretti, whose first and only other race win came when he was a19-year-old rookie, has long faced the accusation that all he had was a famous name, not his family’s racing skill. The 24-year-old Andretti Autosport driver proved all his detractors wrong in the strongest possible way by beating the fastest drivers in the sport.
Andretti told Versus that relief was his strongest feeling after the win.
“We’ve been in a position to win a lot of races we’ve come up short, so it’s more, I think, relieved is the word,” he explained. “I never doubted the team, never doubted myself. I always said as soon as the stars were aligned and a little bit of luck goes my way that we'd be sitting here [Victory Lane.]
“I’m going to be looking to make a habit of this, that’s for sure. You know, it definitely gets the monkey off our back a bit because we can quiet a lot of my doubters at the same time. It feels so good.”
Battles For the Lead
Series leader and three-time champion Dario Franchitti lead the first 150 laps of the race in his Target-Ganassi car, sponsored by Suave for this race, leading Andretti’s Venom-Energy-Drink-sponsored car, Tony Kannan’s KV Racing-Geico machine, teammate Scott Dixon, and Takuma Sato.
The racing behind Franchitti was close and hard-fought, but no one could catch the flying Scot until Marco Andretti worked his way into second d on lap 152. Five laps later, Andretti passed Franchitti, who fought right back to retake the lead four laps after that.
The racing behind Franchitti was close and hard-fought, but no one could catch the flying Scot until Marco Andretti worked his way into second d on lap 152. Five laps later, Andretti passed Franchitti, who fought right back to retake the lead four laps after that.
The pair dueled until lap 183, when both headed for the pits. Just as they reached their pit stalls, Takuma Sato’s Lotus Sponsored KV car smacked the wall exiting Turn Two.
The Venom crew got Andretti back on track ahead of Franchitti, but the young driver was far from safe. Another veteran, former teammate Tony Kanaan, was right on his tail. Kanaan took the lead a couple laps after the Lap 200 restart; Andretti took it back on lap 209.
Kanaan passed Andretti three laps later and seemed to be securely ahead for the next 20 laps. Then, when Kanaan wasn’t looking, Andretti shot by on the inside.
The Venom crew got Andretti back on track ahead of Franchitti, but the young driver was far from safe. Another veteran, former teammate Tony Kanaan, was right on his tail. Kanaan took the lead a couple laps after the Lap 200 restart; Andretti took it back on lap 209.
Kanaan passed Andretti three laps later and seemed to be securely ahead for the next 20 laps. Then, when Kanaan wasn’t looking, Andretti shot by on the inside.
Kanaan tried to retake the lead but Andretti, who had learned race tactics from Kanaan, was ready for the move. The AA-Venom driver left just too little room for Kanaan to safely pass.
Andretti held solidly a car’s width from the bottom of the track. He didn’t move sideways, so he couldn’t get called for blocking, but he left no margin for error, and Kanaan was too wise to squeeze underneath and risk wrecking both cars.
Kanaan had to lift off the throttle, and that dropped him back so far he didn’t have enough time to set up another attempt before the checkered flag waved.
In the post-race press conference on Indycar.com, Kanaan explained it this way:
“You can’t say it’s a block because he gave me space for a car, but coming into Turn One that tight, all the way on the white line, there was no way I was going to turn. I was going to actually start to wash up a little bit. And what he did, he just stayed there; he didn’t give me any space, so I had to lift.
Andretti held solidly a car’s width from the bottom of the track. He didn’t move sideways, so he couldn’t get called for blocking, but he left no margin for error, and Kanaan was too wise to squeeze underneath and risk wrecking both cars.
Kanaan had to lift off the throttle, and that dropped him back so far he didn’t have enough time to set up another attempt before the checkered flag waved.
In the post-race press conference on Indycar.com, Kanaan explained it this way:
“You can’t say it’s a block because he gave me space for a car, but coming into Turn One that tight, all the way on the white line, there was no way I was going to turn. I was going to actually start to wash up a little bit. And what he did, he just stayed there; he didn’t give me any space, so I had to lift.
“He did exactly what he needed to do to win the race.”
Next: Power Problems
Power Problems
Iowa is a very short oval, on 7/8 of a mile around, with progressive 12-to-14-degree banking. It is a challenging track, because the speeds are high, the G-loads are high, and drivers are turning two-thirds of each lap.
The track is made even more challenging by a big bump at the exit of Turn Two, which collected five drivers in the course of the race, including then-championship points leader Will Power.
Power’s problems started after a yellow flag on lap 24. Power pitted and as he was leaving, Charlie Kimball, who had the next stall in line, cut right across power’s nose, damaging the car.
The track is made even more challenging by a big bump at the exit of Turn Two, which collected five drivers in the course of the race, including then-championship points leader Will Power.
Power’s problems started after a yellow flag on lap 24. Power pitted and as he was leaving, Charlie Kimball, who had the next stall in line, cut right across power’s nose, damaging the car.
Power went out and re-pitted under yellow for some fast repairs, but the car wasn’t right.
Power soldiered on until lap 90, when he hit the bump badly and his car snapped around and slammed the wall backwards at 170 mph.
“Yeah, it rang my bell a bit,” “I probably shouldn’t have been out there in a damaged car. I was trying to tell them it needs to be fixed.
“They just sent me out and [Hildebrand] came across my bow and that was that—bent the steering and broke the front wing,” a subdued-looking Power told Versus. “That’s what, I guess, caused, the accident—I had to put so much lock in to turn the car and it caught me out.
“Once again, we screwed ourselves in the pits like we always do. We’ve got to stop that.”
Power had seemed unstoppable this season, with three wins and a healthy points lead. He lost that at Iowa; Dario Franchitti now has a 20-point lead.
Power had an equally strong season in 2010, but lost to Franchitti because of strategy and pit stop errors at ovals tracks.
The Izod IndyCar series heads to Canada next for the Honda Indy Toronto on July 10. Tickets are available through the Honda Indy Toronto ticket webpage.
The race will are live at 2 p.m. ET on Versus.
