Power takes late splash of gas for IndyCar victory

MADISON, Ill. – Will Power took a splash of fuel late in Saturday night’s IndyCar race, allowing him to go wide open to the checkered flag and not only give team owner Roger Penske another win at Gateway Motorsports Park but keep his championship hopes alive.

Power had regained the race lead with eight laps to go, and his job the rest of the way was to hold off Alexander Rossi, who had conserved fuel for about 70 laps to give him a chance.

The Andretti Autosport driver wound up second, just ahead of series leader Scott Dixon, to trim into his points lead with two races left at Portland and Sonoma.

Power is a bit farther back but can’t be discounted, especially given the double points at the season finale and his prodigious talent on road courses. He won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis this year, just before his big oval breakthrough at the Indy 500, and his victory at Gateway was the 35th of his career – moving Power into a tie with Bobby Unser for seventh on the career list.

Simon Pagenaud was fourth and Zach Veach, who led a race for the first time, was fifth.

It was the first race for IndyCar since Robert Wickens was involved in a terrifying wreck last Sunday at Pocono. His car touched had Ryan Hunter-Reay’s early in the race, sending the Canadian driver spinning into the catch fence and obliterating his car.

Wickens underwent surgery to insert titanium rods and screws to stabilize his spine, and he had another procedure later in the week to his extremities. But while his prognosis is still unclear, his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team announced shortly before the green flag that Wickens was breathing without medical assistance and had talked to his family for the first time since the wreck.

Team owner Sam Schmidt elected to field only James Hinchcliffe’s car this week, though Wickens’ close friend and fellow Canadian was dealing with injuries of his own. Hinchcliffe was hit in the hands by debris from Wickens’ crash, breaking a finger and resulting in some swelling.

Hinchcliffe struggled with handling all night and wound up ninth.

The race was shaping up as a fuelmileage competition all along on the 1.25-mile oval, with some teams trying to make it the 248 laps on three stops. But when Ryan Hunter-Reay, who’d been running third at the time, lost power to bring out the caution it appeared fuel strategy wouldn’t matter.