Kanaan captures win at Kansas Speedway
The pole and the crowd might have belonged to Danica Patrick. The trophy – and the last word – went to Tony Kanaan.
“You guys wanted Danica to win? Sorry,” Kanaan said after his Indy Racing League victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan. “You got to wait until next time.”
A 1-2-3 qualifying effort by Patrick and Rahal Letterman Racing teammates Buddy Rice and Vitor Meira led some to believe the team might dominate the Argent Mortgage Indy 300 – as it did here last year, when Rice edged Meira in the second-closest IRL finish in history.
Instead, Patrick’s first career pole proved to be the highlight of her day. The 23-year-old rookie, only the second woman in league history to start from the pole, struggled with mechanical problems all day and finished ninth on the 1 1/2 -mile tri-oval.
Kanaan edged Andretti Green teammate Dan Wheldon by .012 seconds – the sixth-closest finish in league history – for his first victory of the season and the fifth of his career.
“I don’t hear anybody talking about Rahal Letterman now, so who cares? They can talk all they want,” said Kanaan, the defending series champion. “The race is finished when the checkered flag drops, and now they’re going to have to talk about us.”
Patrick said she did everything she could to win.
“It would have been nice to finish up front, where I think the car was fast enough to finish, but I worked so hard today,” Patrick said. “I basically raced side by side for 200 laps. I did all that I could.”
Dario Franchitti, another Andretti Green racer, was fourth, followed by Tomas Scheckter, Scott Sharp, Darren Manning, Helio Castroneves, Patrick and Rice.
Patrick, who joined Sarah Fisher as the second woman to win a pole after qualifying first Saturday, lost the lead to Rice on the opening lap and dropped to fifth on the second. She got as high as fourth late in the race, after falling as low as 15th, but never challenged for the lead.
Formula One
Fernando Alonso had such a commanding lead at the French Grand Prix in Magny Cours, France, he slowed at the finish line and waved to his fans in the stands. As he passed the throng of blue-and-yellow supporters, he held up five fingers – one for each of his victories this season.
In a dominant display from the pole position, Alonso won for the fifth time in 10 races, beating Kimi Raikkonen and seven-time champion Michael Schumacher to widen his lead in the Formula One points standings.
Raikkonen, who started 13th, finished 11.8 seconds behind Alonso in his McLaren-Mercedes. Although he had the third fastest qualifying time, the Finn was penalized 10 spots for changing his engine following its failure during Friday’s practice.