Kanaan takes second straight at Milwaukee
This time, Helio Castroneves thought he had it made on the Milwaukee Mile.
He was out front and pulling away on the track that has disappointed him time and again throughout his IndyCar career. Then, without warning and just 25 laps from the finish of Sunday’s race, the rear wing on his Team Penske Dallara collapsed, sending Castroneves into the wall and giving Tony Kanaan his second straight Milwaukee win in West Allis, Wis.
“I had the race won,” said Castroneves, who led four times for a race-high 126 laps. “It’s a shame that something so odd happened there at the end.”
That gave the lead to Kanaan his fellow Brazilian and longtime friend, who stayed out front the rest of the way to record the ninth win of his IndyCar career, and perhaps the most unexpected one.
Castroneves was so far ahead when he crashed that Kanaan didn’t even see what caused the spinout.
“I didn’t even know they had a wing problem until I made it to Victory Lane,” Kanaan said. “I only saw Helio spinning and crash.”
Dan Wheldon wound up third, followed by Scott Dixon, Vitor Meira, Scott Sharp, Ed Carpenter and Danica Patrick, the last driver on the lead lap.
JGR persuing Earnhardt?
Joe Gibbs Racing is negotiating to bring Chevrolet back next season and might be talking with Dale Earnhardt Jr. to come along for the ride.
From the possible signing of Earnhardt, NASCAR’s hottest free agent, to overtures made by Toyota, racing team president J.D. Gibbs has plenty to consider over the next few weeks.
Without naming teams, Earnhardt said on Friday that he’s visited some of the top teams in NASCAR. Gibbs declined to comment if JGR is one of the teams that Earnhardt visited.
But Earnhardt also said he wants to keep driving Chevys, so that certainly would give JGR every reason to stay with the manufacturer.
NHRA
Brandon Bernstein took the Top Fuel points lead, winning the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kansas, for his third victory in four events.
Bernstein beat J.R. Todd in the final at Heartland Park Topeka with a quarter-mile run of 4.582 seconds at 320.51 mph. Todd finished in 4.667 at 299.86.
Mike Ashley raced to his first Funny Car victory, and Pro Stock star Greg Anderson won for the fifth time in eight events this season. Ashley beat Jim Head with a 4.896-second run at 310.70 mph.