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2017 Rainguard Water Sealers 600

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United States 2017 Rainguard Water Sealers 600
Race details
9th round of the 2017 IndyCar Series season
DateJune 10, 2017
Official nameRainguard Water Sealers 600
LocationTexas Motor Speedway
CoursePermanent racing facility
1.455 mi / 2.342 km
Distance248 laps
360.8 mi / 580.8 km
Pole position
DriverCharlie Kimball (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time23.3131 + 23.2730 = 46.5861
222.556 mph (358.169 km/h)
Fastest lap
DriverTony Kanaan (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time226.930 mph (365.208 km/h)
23.0816 (on lap 232 of 248)
Podium
FirstWill Power (Team Penske)
SecondTony Kanaan (Chip Ganassi Racing)
ThirdSimon Pagenaud (Team Penske)

The 2017 Rainguard Water Sealers 600 was the ninth round of the 2017 IndyCar Series season, contested over 248 laps at the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Charlie Kimball started from the pole position, the first of his career. Will Power of Team Penske won the race, leading 180 of the 248 laps. The race was marred by numerous crashes that left only six undamaged cars and by issues with blistering tires that forced the series to call for competition cautions and mandatory tire stops every 30 laps in the latter stages of the race.

Report

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Background

[edit]

Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) oval located in Fort Worth, Texas. The track has been hosting IndyCar Series races since 1997.[1]

Following a series of incidents in 2016 with weepers (water penetrating on the pavement after rain) that caused the 2016 INDYCAR race to have been postponed initially one day, and then to late August, ten weeks and the November 2016 NASCAR race with a long delay caused by weepers while attempting to dry the track, in January 2017 during the NASCAR media tour, Texas Motor Speedway announced it would alter the circuit while installing a new French drain system to send rain water down pipes to fix the problem. Turns 1 and 2 were widened by 20 feet (6.1 m), while the banking was also lowered from 24 to 20 degrees.[2] Driver Ed Carpenter noted, "The track is absolutely different. The reshaping of Turns 1 and 2, with the width and the change in banking, definitely make the track more challenging to get the balance the same from Turns 1 and 2 to 3 and 4."[2]

Entering the race, Dale Coyne Racing rookie Esteban Gutiérrez was forced to sit out the race due to INDYCAR's regulations on driver experience in regards to high-speed ovals, with Tristan Vautier replacing him for the round.[3] Gutiérrez's advisor, former driver Adrián Fernández, agreed, "Texas is one of the most difficult ovals to just come and race, so I would say he should step away from it until he has proper time testing on ovals."[4][5] Harding Racing also returned to the series for the first time since the Indianapolis 500 with driver Gabby Chaves.[6]

Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing entered the race leading the Drivers' Championship point standings with 303, while Hélio Castroneves and Takuma Sato followed in second and third with 295 and 292 respectively.[7]

Practice and qualifying

[edit]

Two practice sessions and qualifying were held on Friday, June 9. The first practice session took place in the afternoon and was delayed by rain. Dixon set the fastest lap time with his teammate Charlie Kimball and Alexander Rossi following in second and third.[8] In qualifying, Kimball secured his first career pole position with a two-lap time of 46.5861 seconds (222.556 mph),[9] in the process setting a new track record. His teammate Dixon qualified alongside him on the front row. Rossi, Tony Kanaan, and Vautier rounded out the top five. Carlos Muñoz, for the second race in a row, set no time, this time due to failing to reach tech inspection in time to be eligible to make a run, forcing him to start last again.[10] In the post-qualifying practice session, Carpenter clocked the fastest single lap time (224.682 mph), ahead of Dixon and Rossi.[11]

Race

[edit]
Start of the race
Hélio Castroneves and Takuma Sato after colliding in pit lane
Cars on pit lane during the red flag
Josef Newgarden after crashing
Will Power leading during a late caution

The race was held on Saturday, June 10. At the start, Kimball jumped into the lead of the race, with the top five positions staying the same.[12] The top five remained the same drivers until around lap 20, when Team Penske drivers began working their way to the front of the field, including Josef Newgarden and Power. Up front, though, the battle for the lead was between Kimball and Vautier, with Vautier finally getting clear of Kimball on lap 29, as Newgarden, Power, and Ed Carpenter followed suit. Racing was interrupted by caution for the first time on lap 37, when Rossi lost control of his car and crashed in turn 3 after making contact with the Ganassi teammates Dixon and Kanaan.[12] It was the first of many crashes during the night. During the caution, the field took the opportunity to make pit stops, with Newgarden winning the race of pit road ahead of Power and Vautier. As cars left the pit lane, James Hinchcliffe lost control of his car, causing him to spin and collect the cars of Castroneves and Sato, though all three were able to continue on after repairs. Kimball, after his strong start to the race, encountered mechanical issues during his pit stop and was forced to retire, leaving him with a 21st-place finish.[12] The pit stops also saw a rash of penalties, as race leader Newgarden and J. R. Hildebrand were hit with pit-lane speeding penalties and Hinchcliffe was penalized for the incident he had caused. Once the chaos of the pit stops had finished, Power held the lead over Vautier, Dixon, Carpenter, and Simon Pagenaud.[12]

Racing resumed on lap 48, with Power maintaining his lead despite attempts by both Vautier and Dixon to get around him. However, by lap 66, attacks on Power's lead began to dissipate as his teammate Pagenaud moved into second place. Behind them, Castroneves began to make a move toward the top of the field, moving into the top five only 10 laps later. During this stint, some drivers, most notably Newgarden, began suffering from tire blistering, causing concerns about tire durability. These concerns seemed to come to light on lap 91, when the right-front tire on Castroneves's car failed, causing him to crash heavily in Turn 2.[12] Pit stops once again occurred, with Power maintaining his lead over Pagenaud, Dixon, Kanaan, and Mikhail Aleshin. During the caution, Hinchcliffe, Newgarden, and Sato were all able to get back onto the lead lap after losing it in the chaos of the first caution. Racing resumed on lap 103, but almost immediately the race went back under caution as Carpenter and Vautier touched, sending Carpenter into a spin in turn 1. This caution was very brief, and racing resumed on lap 108.[12]

A lengthy green flag period followed the restart, with Power leading the way. Behind him, positions in the top five changed often, as Pagenaud, Dixon, Kanaan, Vautier, and Hildebrand battled for positions. On lap 139, caution flew again, this time for debris. The leaders once again took advantage of the caution to make pit stops, but Max Chilton elected to stay out, placing him in the lead of the race. On lap 149, racing resumed, with Chilton able to briefly hold his lead before Power once again moved past him to resume command of the race. On lap 152, Kanaan moved wide coming towards turn 3, making contact with Hinchcliffe, who had Aleshin outside of him.[13] Hinchcliffe then spun, causing a large crash that took out himself, Aleshin, Carpenter, Hildebrand, Vautier, Ed Jones, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Muñoz in an incident compared to The Big One at similar pack-racing NASCAR races.[14] Carpenter and Hildebrand would eventually return to the race course, but several laps down. The incident forced the race to be red flagged to allow for clean-up. During the red flag, INDYCAR and Firestone officials, in response to continuing issues with blistering tires, elected to have competition caution periods and mandatory tire stops after 30 green flag laps for the remainder of the race. Also during the red flag period, officials assessed a stop and 20-second hold penalty to Kanaan for his role in the eight-car pileup, which, once the race restarted, put him two laps down.[15]

After 30 minutes of clean-up, racing finally resumed on lap 159. The top four was a battle between Power, Pagenaud, Dixon, and Newgarden. However, Newgarden, who had been suffering the worst issues with blistering, pit two laps before the mandatory stops, placing him at the tail end of the field and, despite just changing tires, was still forced to change tires at the competition caution.[12] During the mandatory stops, Dixon managed to get past Power, placing him in the lead, while Pagenaud, Sato, and Graham Rahal emerged behind them. During the caution, Kanaan managed to regain one of his laps, putting him only one lap behind the leaders.[12]

Racing resumed once again on lap 198, where Power almost immediately moved back around Dixon to once again take the lead of the race. Caution came out again only three laps later, as Newgarden attempted to complete a three-wide pass in turn 3, which resulted in him hitting the wall in turn 4.[12] Racing resumed on lap 210, with Power maintaining his lead, while second place became a battle between Pagenaud, Dixon, and Sato, with Dixon emerging ahead. This caution also put Kanaan back onto the lead lap. On lap 225, the final competition caution of the race came out, with the top five staying the same after the mandatory pit stops. The final restart of the race came at lap 229, with Dixon quickly moving to the outside of Power to challenge for the lead. The two switched the lead several times, while behind them, Pagenaud, Sato, Rahal, and Kanaan pulled up behind the duo and also began challenging for first. With five laps to go, Sato attempted to pass Dixon in the dogleg on the front-stretch, but clipped the grass,[12] sending him into a spin and collecting Dixon and Chilton.[16] Conor Daly also spun in the incident, but did not hit anything, though the incident caused him to drop a lap.[17][non-primary source needed] Chilton was able to complete two more laps before heading into the pit lane.[18] With so few laps left, the race ended under caution, with Power taking his second victory of the year and his second win at Texas Motor Speedway.[19] Kanaan, despite his role in two incidents, came across the line in second, while Pagenaud took the final step of the podium. Only three other drivers finished on the lead lap; Rahal in fourth, Chaves in fifth, and Marco Andretti in sixth.[12][20]

Post-race comments

[edit]

Power was overjoyed to have earned the victory, saying, "Over the moon to win here. My second home and my wife [are] from here, so we spend a lot of time down here, so [it's] just an amazing feeling."[1] Kanaan apologized for his role in causing the largest accident of the night: "I'm going to apologize to [Hinchcliffe] for what happened - I just got up a little too high. We paid the price for my mistake. We got a penalty, paid the penalty, and we were able to finish second. ... I'm not going to lie, I'm glad it's over."[21] Pagenaud called the race, "a lot of fun. It got a little crazy at the end. I tell you, it is just incredible how close we can race against each other. Good fun, good night, awesome working with Will. That is Team Penske, we all work together, you guys don't believe us, but we do and we showed it tonight."[21]

The race became controversial for being a pack race, which contributed to the size of the accidents that occurred. Power was unsurprised by the nature of the race, "I told the series...'This will be an absolute pack race.' I didn't say whether that was good or bad, but I absolutely knew it would be a pack race."[22] Kanaan called on the series to change the style of racing to avoid pack races in the future: "I don't think we should be doing this the way it is. We should be coming to Texas. The fans are great. This track is awesome. But I think we should change the format a little bit. How? I don't know; we've got to figure it out."[23] Dixon argued that additional testing could have prevented the pack racing from occurring.[24]

Sébastien Bourdais, who was still recovering from injuries sustained in qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, described it as a "bullshit" race, explaining, "Back in the days, particularly when Dan Wheldon died, we told ourselves that we would never do that style of racing again. And actually, as far as I'm concerned, Texas last weekend is not even the first time we've done it since then. We’ve done it at Fontana in 2015 and in a couple of other places."[25] However, he also maintained that he held no ill will against the speedway, saying, "It's got nothing to do with that track, and it's not any track owners' responsibility to define our racing for us. It’s down to us to bring the right package."[25]

In the points standings, Dixon maintained the points lead, while Pagenaud moved back up to second place. Power, with his win, moved back into the top five after dropping out in the Detroit races.[1]

Results

[edit]
Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying

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Final qualifying classification
Pos No. Name Lap 1
Time 		Lap 2
Time 		Total
Time 		Avg. Speed
1 83 United States Charlie Kimball 23.3131 23.2730 46.5861 222.556 mph (358.169 km/h)
2 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon W 23.3090 23.2854 46.5944 222.516 mph (358.105 km/h)
3 98 United States Alexander Rossi 23.3129 23.2969 46.6098 222.442 mph (357.986 km/h)
4 10 Brazil Tony Kanaan W 23.3444 23.3569 46.7013 222.007 mph (357.286 km/h)
5 18 France Tristan Vautier 23.3724 23.3721 46.7445 221.801 mph (356.954 km/h)
6 8 United Kingdom Max Chilton 23.4391 23.3365 46.7756 221.654 mph (356.718 km/h)
7 7 Russia Mikhail Aleshin 23.4168 23.3937 46.8105 221.489 mph (356.452 km/h)
8 26 Japan Takuma Sato 23.4254 23.3917 46.8171 221.458 mph (356.402 km/h)
9 12 Australia Will Power W 23.4551 23.4002 46.8553 221.277 mph (356.111 km/h)
10 3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves W 23.4549 23.4167 46.8716 221.200 mph (355.987 km/h)
11 15 United States Graham Rahal W 23.4656 23.4581 46.9237 220.954 mph (355.591 km/h)
12 1 France Simon Pagenaud 23.4861 23.4609 46.9470 220.845 mph (355.416 km/h)
13 28 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay 23.4881 23.4883 46.9764 220.707 mph (355.193 km/h)
14 20 United States Ed Carpenter W 23.5503 23.4728 47.0231 220.487 mph (354.839 km/h)
15 27 United States Marco Andretti 23.6220 23.4373 47.0593 220.318 mph (354.567 km/h)
16 5 Canada James Hinchcliffe 23.5912 23.5352 47.1264 220.004 mph (354.062 km/h)
17 2 United States Josef Newgarden 23.5776 23.5611 47.1387 219.947 mph (353.970 km/h)
18 21 United States J. R. Hildebrand 23.7018 23.6494 47.3512 218.960 mph (352.382 km/h)
19 19 United Arab Emirates Ed Jones R 23.8529 23.8566 47.7095 217.315 mph (349.735 km/h)
20 88 Colombia Gabby Chaves 24.0515 24.0461 48.0976 215.562 mph (346.913 km/h)
21 4 United States Conor Daly 24.0886 24.0180 48.1066 215.521 mph (346.847 km/h)
22 14 Colombia Carlos Muñoz – – No Time No Speed
Source:[26][27]

Race

[edit]
Final race classification
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired1 Pit
Stops 		Grid Laps
Led 		Pts.2
1 12 Australia Will Power W Team Penske Chevrolet 248 2:32:31.0118 9 9 180 53
2 10 Brazil Tony Kanaan W Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 248 +0.1978 10 4 1 41
3 1 France Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 248 +0.3740 9 12 35
4 15 United States Graham Rahal W Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 248 +0.8112 11 11 32
5 88 Colombia Gabby Chaves Harding Racing Chevrolet 248 +1.8984 9 20 30
6 27 United States Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Honda 248 +4.1632 12 15 28
7 4 United States Conor Daly A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 247 +1 Lap 10 21 26
8 8 United Kingdom Max Chilton Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 245 +3 Laps 10 6 8 25
9 9 New Zealand Scott Dixon W Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 243 Contact 9 2 12 23
10 26 Japan Takuma Sato Andretti Autosport Honda 243 Contact 12 8 20
11 20 United States Ed Carpenter W Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 224 Contact 11 14 19
12 21 United States J. R. Hildebrand Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 215 +33 Laps 9 18 18
13 2 United States Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 201 Contact 10 17 6 18
14 5 Canada James Hinchcliffe Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 151 Contact 4 16 16
15 7 Russia Mikhail Aleshin Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda 151 Contact 3 7 15
16 18 France Tristan Vautier Dale Coyne Racing Honda 151 Contact 3 5 15 15
17 19 United Arab Emirates Ed Jones R Dale Coyne Racing Honda 151 Contact 3 19 13
18 14 Colombia Carlos Muñoz A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 151 Contact 3 22 12
19 28 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 151 Contact 3 13 11
20 3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves W Team Penske Chevrolet 90 Contact 5 10 10
21 83 United States Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 41 Mechanical 0 1 26 11
22 98 United States Alexander Rossi Andretti Herta Autosport Honda 36 Contact 0 3 8
Source:[28][29]

1 Race finished under caution.[12]

2 Points include one point for leading at least one lap during a race, an additional two points for leading the most race laps, and one point for Pole Position.[30]

Standings after the race

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Drivers' Championship standings
Rank +/– Driver Points
1 New Zealand Scott Dixon 326
2 2 France Simon Pagenaud 313
3 Japan Takuma Sato 312
4 2 Brazil Hélio Castroneves 305
5 3 Australia Will Power 286
Source:[1]
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Rainguard Water Sealers 600". IndyCar.com. Fort Worth, Texas: Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. June 10, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Malsher, David (June 7, 2017). "Carpenter admits to unknowns after Texas track revisions". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  3. ^ "Gutierrez forced to skip Texas IndyCar round". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. June 6, 2017. Archived from the original on July 8, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  4. ^ Malsher, David (June 5, 2017). "Fernandez believes Texas is too soon for Gutierrez's oval debut". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved December 18, 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ Malsher, David (June 7, 2017). "Vautier gets surprise call-up for Coyne in Texas". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  6. ^ Malsher, David (June 6, 2017). "Chaves expects tougher second race for Harding". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  7. ^ "2017 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix #2". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  8. ^ Malsher, David (June 9, 2017). "Texas IndyCar: Dixon fastest in opening practice". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved December 18, 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Malsher, David (June 9, 2017). "Texas IndyCar: Kimball takes pole, Honda dominates, Vautier stars". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved June 10, 2017.
  10. ^ Robinson, Mark (June 9, 2017). "Kimball sets Texas track record to win first career pole". IndyCar.com. Fort Worth, Texas: Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  11. ^ Malsher, David (June 9, 2017). "Texas IndyCar: Carpenter puts Chevrolet on top in final practice". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Malsher, David (June 11, 2017). "Texas IndyCar: Power wins after crash-strewn race". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  13. ^ Ayello, Jim (June 10, 2017). "James Hinchcliffe's response when blamed for IndyCar crash: 'That's adorable'". The Indianapolis Star. Fort Worth, Texas: Gannett Company. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  14. ^ Barnes, Joey (June 11, 2017). "Texas 'big one' roughs up cars, feelings". IndyCar.com. Fort Worth, Texas: Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  15. ^ Manchota, Jon (June 10, 2017). "Will Power wins crash-filled IndyCar race at TMS; pack racing leads to controversy, harsh words". The Dallas Morning News. Fort Worth, Texas: A. H. Belo. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  16. ^ Davison, Drew (June 10, 2017). "Will Power wins wreck-filled IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The McClatchy Company. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  17. ^ Race Report: RAINGUARD Water Sealers 600 A. J. Foyt Racing
  18. ^ Will Power takes victory in crazy Rainguard Water Sealers 600 Motorsport Week
  19. ^ Hawkins, Stephen (June 11, 2017). "Power wins wild IndyCar race at Texas". Associated Press. Fort Worth, Texas: AP Sports. Associated Press. Archived from the original on April 16, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  20. ^ Pruett, Marshall (June 10, 2017). "Power wins Texas wreckfest". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. Archived from the original on 2017-06-11. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  21. ^ a b "Texas IndyCar: Top 10 quotes after race". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. June 11, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  22. ^ Malsher, David (June 11, 2017). "I knew it would be a pack race," says Power after wild Texas round". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  23. ^ Malsher, David (June 11, 2017). "Kanaan apologizes for triggering eight-car wreck". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  24. ^ Malsher, David; Klein, Jamie (June 14, 2017). "Dixon says more testing at Texas could have helped prevent pack race". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  25. ^ a b Malsher, David (June 14, 2017). "Injured Bourdais happy to not be part of "bullshit" Texas race". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  26. ^ "Qualifying Results" (PDF). imscdn.com. June 9, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  27. ^ "Race Report: 2017 Rainguard Water Sealers 600". theapexracing.co. TheApex.racing LLC. June 7, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  28. ^ "OFFICIAL BOX SCORE" (PDF). imscdn.com. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  29. ^ "Indycar 2017 Texas". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  30. ^ "Verizon IndyCar Series Championship Points". Indycar.com. Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. Archived from the original on July 5, 2017.


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