Championship Tightens As Dario Wins

The good news for Will Power at Chicagoland this past Saturday evening is that he proved he has learned how to hang up front with the best of them on ovals: The bad news is that his fuel strategy didn't allow him to be there in the end when it mattered the most.

Power's Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe lead a good portion of the early going as several cars diced for position in a tight pack behind him. Power & eight others would lead at various points through the course of the race as the various pit strategies played out. In the end, it would be Ganassi Racing's gamble on a 'fuel only' last stop for Dario Franchitti - leaving him to nurse his tires through a double stint - that put him at the point as the race wound down.

“That was our only shot,” team boss Chip Ganassi said. “We put him out front and Dario did the rest.”

With Power finishing down in sixteenth, Franchitti was able to close his points defecit on the championship leader by 36 points, bringing it down to just 23 with three races remaining in the season.

Here are the complete race results: http://www.indycar.com:8080/var/assets/PEAKAntifreeze&MotorOilIndy300BoxScore.pdf

Earlier in the day, James Hinchcliffe held off Pippa Mann to win the Firestone Indy Lights Series race.

The next stop for the IndyCar Series will be this Saturday evening at Kentucky Speedway.

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Apologies for the dealy in posting this recap: It has been a BUSY last few days for me!