Sun Jun 22 15:52:43 2008

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Wheldon's strategy pays off in Iowa

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Newton, IA (Sports Network) - Dan Wheldon went the last 90 laps, 37 under caution, without a pit stop to capture Sunday's Iowa Corn Indy 250 at the Iowa Speedway. The No.10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver crossed the finish line 0.1430 seconds ahead of Hideki Mutoh.

The victory was Wheldon's second of the season and 15th of his IndyCar career.

Marco Andretti, Scott Dixon and AJ Foyt IV completed the top-five.

The strategy started when the caution flag came out with 62 laps to go. Most of the leaders took pit stops except for Wheldon, Mutoh and Danica Patrick. The drivers who did stop had different strategies as well. Dixon and Tony Kanaan took over fourth and fifth after the final stops by taking fuel only.

The race went back to green with 48 laps to go and it seemed like Kanaan, running in third, had a good shot at winning. But that all changed very quickly. Kanaan hit the wall hard in turn two to bring out the caution flag with 38 laps remaining.

After a long caution period due to debris on the track, Wheldon led the field to the restart with 24 to go. Patrick and Helio Castroneves had bad restarts and fell back.

Now it became a matter of Wheldon holding off Mutoh, Andretti, Dixon and Foyt IV.

Wheldon, celebrating his 30th birthday, did a solid job of fighting off Mutoh. He maintained a 0.2-second margin as the laps dwindled.

The 21-year-old Andretti tried to make a late charge to take over second and hopefully battle for the win. But Mutoh held off his AGR teammate. That battle helped Wheldon cross the finish line for the win.

Since qualifying was rained out, Dixon led the field to the green flag for 250 laps of high-speed racing. But Dixon, Kanaan and Castroneves each took turns leading the race early on.

After a round of pit stops and a lengthy caution period, Castroneves took the outside lane going into turn three to pass Kanaan for first during the restart on lap 51.

Meanwhile, Wheldon drove in the third spot followed by Andretti and Ryan Briscoe. Dixon, running in seventh, battled to stay in the top-10.

The pace slowed down on lap 103 when the second caution flag flew. The leaders took their second stops of the afternoon under the caution period.

Kanaan won the race off pit road and was followed by Wheldon, Andretti, Castroneves and Briscoe. Castroneves dropped four spots due to problems with his crew getting a new right-rear tire on his car.

During the lap 111 restart, Wheldon lost numerous spots and fell back to ninth. Kanaan held onto first and led Andretti, Castroneves, Briscoe and Dixon. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Foyt IV made their way into the top-five, as Dixon and Briscoe dropped back.

The seventh lead change of the afternoon came on lap 135 when Andretti got past Kanaan. Andretti quickly built his margin to half-a-second.

Mario Moraes brought the caution flag out on lap 157. Andretti led the leaders down pit road for service. Kanaan led Castroneves, Andretti, Hunter-Reay and Wheldon when the stops were complete.

The race went back to green on lap 166 and Castroneves was fast to grab the inside lane and duck under Kanaan to take back the lead. Hunter-Reay, Andretti and Dixon settled in behind to round out the top-five.

Castroneves led the most laps, 92, but this race was won with strategy. When Enrique Bernoldi spun lap 188 that's when Wheldon, Mutoh and Patrick took their winning gamble.

Wheldon and Dixon gave their winnings to the Iowa flood relief.

Dixon leads Castroneves by 48 points in the point standings. Wheldon, with the win, follows in a close third with 49 points.

The next race the series is set for Saturday night, June 28th at the Richmond International Raceway.