Belterra Casino Indy 300 Race Report
Circuit: Kentucky Speedway (1.5 mile oval), Sparta, Ky.
2003 Winner: Sam Hornish Jr. (Chevrolet) 197.897 mph average speed
Weather: Mostly sunny, warm, 81 degrees F
Race Results:
Ps. |
St. |
Driver |
Team |
Engine |
Chassis |
Laps |
Average Speed/Notes |
1 |
4 |
Adrian Fernandez |
Fernandez Racing |
Honda |
Panoz G-Force |
200 |
180.588 mph average |
2 |
1 |
Buddy Rice |
Rahal Letterman Racing |
Honda |
Panoz G-Force |
200 |
-0.058 seconds |
3 |
11 |
Dan Wheldon |
Andretti Green Racing |
Honda |
Dallara |
200 |
-0.172 seconds |
4 |
10 |
Kosuke Matsuura |
Super Aguri Fernandez |
Honda |
Panoz G-Force |
200 |
-0.336 seconds |
5 |
2 |
Tony Kanaan |
Andretti Green Racing |
Honda |
Dallara |
200 |
-0.976 seconds |
6 |
5 |
Dario Franchitti |
Andretti Green Racing |
Honda |
Dallara |
200 |
-1.016 seconds |
7 |
7 |
Vitor Meira |
Rahal Letterman Racing |
Honda |
Panoz G-Force |
200 |
-1.282 seconds |
8 |
14 |
Ed Carpenter |
Cheever Indy Racing |
Chevrolet |
Dallara |
200 |
-1.356 seconds |
9 |
21 |
Bryan Herta |
Andretti Green Racing |
Honda |
Dallara |
200 |
-1.770 seconds |
10 |
8 |
Darren Manning |
Target Chip Ganassi |
Toyota |
Panoz G-Force |
200 |
-1.997 seconds |
11 |
17 |
Alex Barron |
Cheever Indy Racing |
Chevrolet |
Dallara |
200 |
-2.145 seconds |
12 |
6 |
Helio Castroneves |
Team Penske |
Toyota |
Dallara |
200 |
-7.904 seconds |
19 |
12 |
Mark Taylor |
Access Motorsports |
Honda |
Panoz G-Force |
199 |
Running |
Fernandez Finds Victory Circle in Kentucky, Honda Clinches 2004 IRL Manufacturers'
Championship Taking control over the final 50 laps, Adrian Fernandez held off
a pack of fellow Honda-powered competitors to claim his first Indy Racing League
IndyCar Series victory Sunday at the Belterra Casino Indy 300. The win also
clinched Honda's first IRL Manufacturers' Championship in the company's
second year of IndyCar competition.
Starting fourth in his first event at Kentucky Speedway, Fernandez ran in the
lead pack until the second round of pit stops, when a jammed wheel gun led to
a long pit stop and dropped him to 10th as the 200-lap race reached its mid-point.
Working his way up to sixth after the last round of pit stops, the Mexican made
a bold move to the front of the field on a Lap 148 restart, passing Buddy Rice
for the lead on Lap 152 and he was never again headed despite a frantic final
10 laps when both Rice and Dan Wheldon challenged Fernandez.
It was the tenth consecutive IndyCar victory this season by a Honda-powered
driver and the best combined result for the company since the Indianapolis 500,
when Honda drivers also finished first through seventh. Fernandez is the fifth
Honda driver to post an IRL victory this season.
Indianapolis 500 winner Rice finished second, trailing by less than six hundredths
of a second at the checkered, followed by Twin Ring Motegi and Richmond winner
Dan Wheldon. Rookie points leader Kosuke Matsuura, making his own late charge
to the front, finished fourth for his best result to date and the best ever
IndyCar Series finish for a Japanese driver.
Already a three-time winner this year, Tony Kanaan led 126 laps today, but
fell slightly off the pace with an undetermined problem in the closing laps.
But the Andretti Green Racing driver hung on to finish fifth, and maintains
a 50-point lead in the drivers' championship standings over Rice.
Milwaukee race winner Dario Franchitti was another Honda driver to run among
the leaders throughout the race, crossing the finish line in sixth, just ahead
of Rahal Letterman Racing's Vitor Meira, who made it a clean sweep of
the top seven positions for Honda. Bryan Herta survived a refueling problem
during his final pit stop to finish ninth, with rookie Mark Taylor 19th for
Access Motorsports.
Drivers' Championship (after 11 of 16 races) |
1. Tony Kanaan |
433 points (3 wins) |
9. Adrian Fernandez |
246 (1 win) |
2. Buddy Rice |
383 (3 wins) |
10. Scott Dixon |
243 |
3. Dan Wheldon |
346 (2 wins) |
11. Darren Manning |
236 |
4. Helio Castroneves |
298 |
12. Alex Barron |
226 |
5. Sam Hornish Jr. |
283 (1 win) |
13. Kosuke Matsuura |
210 |
6. Dario Franchitti |
266 (1 win) |
. |
. |
7. Vitor Meira |
256 |
. |
. |
8. Bryan Herta |
249 |
19. Mark Taylor |
145 |
Manufacturers' Championship: |
Rookie of the Year: |
1. Honda |
107 (10 wins) |
1. Kosuke Matsuura |
210 |
2. Toyota |
76 (1 win) |
2. Ed Carpenter |
165 |
3. Chevrolet |
59 |
3. Mark Taylor |
145 |
Adrian Fernandez (#5 Telmex/Quaker State Fernandez Racing Honda) Started 4th,
finished 1st, first IRL victory, first IndyCar victory for a Mexican driver:
"Right from the start of the race, I didn't want to hold back and Tony
[Kanaan] was charging hard. We have the same Honda engine, and Honda has given
us a fantastic engine. I knew he was going to be strong; he has been strong
all year. At that point, I didn't want to just keep burning fuel, so we settled
a little bit. Unfortunately, we had a bad pit stop when an air gun broke and
we lost a lot of positions. The key moment was at 150 laps, when we had the
last pit stop under yellow, I think I was in sixth place. I knew I had to be
very strong, very aggressive to get to the front, and that's what I did. I charged
very hard in Turn 2, we were four-high or something like that. I was just hoping
my car would stay there. There was a big bump there, but the car held on and
I never lifted and managed to pass everybody. Buddy [Rice] was very strong.
But my car was so well-balanced the last few laps that I managed to stay on
the inside and stay to the end. I didn't know how strong Buddy was going to
be in the final laps, but I'll tell you what, I was not going to give him any
space at all. I wanted to beat all the other Hondas, because Honda has been
the best of the year, and I'm so glad to have one of them and to help them clinch
the Manufacturer's Championship this weekend. "When you know your competitor
has as good of an engine as you, you know you have to beat them, because if
you finish behind all of them, you know you're not doing a good job. So we proved
the team is getting better and better, and we beat the best of the best, and
that feels great. Especially with Kosuke [Matsuura] finishing fourth, that was
fantastic for him. Kosuke is one of the best drivers we have had, and he's a
great character. He just lacks experience, but he's catching up very quickly
and he is starting to understand why we do things sometimes the way we do and
why you need to use your head sometimes and why you need to be patient sometimes
and things like that. For him to finish fourth today and push the way he was
pushing, I could see in the mirror and he was making me very happy."
Robert Clarke (vice president and general manager, Honda Performance Development):
"It has been a fantastic year for Honda in the IRL. Although dominating
results like today's might make it seem otherwise, this has been a highly
challenging year for HPD, with programs for the 'old' 3.5-liter
engine at the start of the season, the utilization of the new 3.0-liter engine
starting at Indianapolis, and the construction of HPD's new facility in
California all taking place in the same time frame. This achievement is a tribute
to the tremendous hard work and dedication of all our associates at HPD, our
teams and drivers, and our technical partners."
Buddy Rice (#15 Argent/Pioneer Rahal Letterman Racing Honda) Started 1st, finished
4th: "It was a good day for us. We made some changes before the race and
that helped the car. The Fernandez group did an excellent job. I'm very
happy that Honda clinched the Manufacturers Championship. Adrian was on the
bottom line at the end of the race and that was the ideal spot. It was difficult
to get around him. With the lighter banking, you can't get an outside
run on someone, like, say, at Texas. But overall, we gain some points on Tony
[Kanaan] and we'll have a good car at Pikes Peak next week. At the start
of the race, we had to wait and see how things were going to play out. Fernandez
us didn't surprise with his pass. He was strong all day and that team
has the same package as ours - Honda and G Force. It was tight on fuel
for everyone and we had to wait to make any moves until we had a full fuel mixture.
I got squeezed a little when I tried to go three wide and fell back. That was
the only time I tried that move. I know there were other guys that tried it
too and it didn't work for them. Overall, we'll keep running up
front and gaining points. We have five more races to play out the championship
and we'll see what is there at the final race at Texas. Today was a good
race for us. This track is much smoother that last year and I think that is
why you saw really good racing today."
Dan Wheldon (#26 Jim Beam/Klein Tools Andretti Green Racing Honda) Started
11th, finished 3rd: "It's a good result for us. I'm slightly
disappointed because I lost some ground on Buddy [Rice] for the championship,
but I gained a little on Tony [Kanaan]. Now we'll have to refocus our
efforts and dig down deep in the next five races. My car was good today, particularly
on restarts. But Adrian [Fernandez] and Buddy were both very strong all day.
In the last few laps we'd all fan out, but no one could gain any ground
on anyone else. They would hold down the low side and it was very, very difficult
to get around on the high line. It was exciting, though. I certainly was excited
in the middle of it all!"
Kosuke Matsuura (#55 Panasonic/ARTA Super Aguri Fernandez Racing Honda) Started
10th, finished 4th, best ever result for a Japanese driver in IndyCar racing:
"I'm very happy with our fourth place finish, and very happy for
Adrian [Fernandez] with his win today. Adrian helped me a lot for the race.
We were talking at the [IRL] autograph session last night, and he gave me some
good advice and also some things to think about with the car. We decided to
change the setup on my car to match his. The first 150 laps were only 'okay',
but I worked with the weight-jacker and we were able to improve the car for
the end. I want to say 'thanks' to Adrian and the whole team, and
congratulations to Honda for the Manufacturers' Championship."
Tony Kanaan (#11 7-Eleven Andretti Green Racing Honda) Started 2nd, finished
5th, continues to lead the drivers' championship: "Something happened.
We lost a lot of speed for some reason after the last restart, and we didn't
know what was wrong. It wasn't fuel. Something happened to the car, and I didn't
know what it was and a lot of people are going to look at it. It was at full
throttle. We finished with the car we had. It was good, But I just got behind
those other guys but couldn't catch them. It was a long day, so when you come
back to buy a result like this with all of the struggles, it's pretty good."
Vitor Meira (#17 Centrix Financial Rahal Letterman Racing Honda) Started 7th,
finished 7th: "In clean air, I had a very good car. It was really fast.
But with a lot of cars around me, it was difficult to turn the car. It just
kept pushing. We might had a little too much mechanical grip today. I thought
for a while I could run with Buddy and we stayed together for some time today.
But at the end, the car wasn't as good as I would have liked. But we had
good pit stops today for the Centrix team and we were in position to get to
the top three. We got some more points and we are working hard to get to the
top five in the standings. I'm very happy for the Honda guys and they
clinched the Manufacturers Championship today. That is very impressive this
early in the season. That shows how prepared and strong they have been all season.
Now that Adrian won a race I would like to get one too. He drove a great race
today and I want to congratulate him. We'll be ready for the Colorado
race. That is Centrix home area and we want to put on a good performance for
them."