MOTORSPORT: IndyCar title in sight for Power

Power won this morning at the Milwaukee Mile, one of the oval tracks that for much his career have been his nemisis. It was his third win this season and his 24th in IndyCar.

Only two races remain now. Both are in California – next weekend on the Sonoma road course, then a week later at Fontana, a superspeedway. The two races comprise 700 miles – or 1120 kilometres – of racing. And Power has won three times at Sonoma and last year was victorious at Fontana, so his form is good.

There is one catch though – the last race will carry double points, just to complicate things. So 100 points for the race win at Fontana, instead of the usual 50.

Power went to Milwaukee four points ahead of one of his Team Penske teammates, Brazilian Helio Castroneves, but came away 39 points in front after Castroneves finished only 11th in today’s race.

Power dominated at Milwaukee, leading 229 of the 250 laps, finishing ahead of his other Penske teammate, Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Brazilian driver, Tony Kanaan.

His fellow podium placegetters pummeled Power’s head with cream puffs and he needed medical help to clean his ears.

Australia’s other full-time IndyCar driver, Ryan Briscoe, was sixth for Ganassi.

While Castroneves is Power’s closest challenger and equally keen to deliver team owner Roger Penske’s first IndyCar title since 2006, four other drivers remain mathematical chances for the title – Frenchman Simon Pagenaud, American 2012 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay (a retirement at Milwaukee today after winning there the past two years), Montoya and New Zealander Scott Dixon.

Penske has won the IndyCar championship 12 times, but his last winner of the series title was Sam Hornish Junior eight years ago.

Power was runner-up in 2010, ’11 and ’12, twice crashing in the title-deciding race, while last year Castroenves was the bridesmaid. The Brazilian has delivered three of Penske’s record Indianapolis 500 victories, but – like Power – has never clinched the IndyCar crown.

Power, 33, from Toowoomba, is feeling the most complete racer he’s been since making his career in America after earlier competing in Europe.

The Milwaukee victory means he has now won on all types of ovals in the US. The Mile is one of the short oval tracks, while in 2011 he won one half of a double-header on the high-banked, mid-sized Texas Motor Speedway and at the end of last season there was the victory at Fontana.

“Oh, man, I love winning on ovals,” Power said as he flashed across the finish line today.

“I really enjoy the ovals – it’s great fun… Just a perfect day. Led a lot of laps, the car was really good.

“This is the first year that I can say to myself that I am a better all-round driver. I guess it just comes with age," he said.

Power declared the three-car Penske team “a well-oiled machine right now” after having been toppled by the Ganassi and Andretti Autosports teams in recent seasons.

While Montoya appears content, in his first year back in Indy racing after several seasons in NASCAR with Ganassi, to let his Penske teammates fight out the IndyCar title, Castroenves won’t be handing it to Power on a plate.

“We are not giving up at all,” Castroneves said.

“There are two races to go, with the big one at Fontana paying double points … still a lot of racing left.”

The title is there for Power’s taking but he has to make sure he takes it.

“I’ve been in this situation before. The difference is I don’t have a weakness anymore.
“It’s just a matter of executing on a weekend,” he stated.

Brabham misses out on Lights victory
Australian Matthew Brabham was denied victory in the Indy Lights round at Milwaukee when he lost the lead he had built up at a late restart.

Brabham, the 20-year-old grandson of late triple Formula One world champion Sir Jack Brabham, had a lead of more than 8sec before Brazilian Luiz Razia spun into the wall, sparking a caution period and bunching the field up.

Zach Veach, the American teammate of Brabham in the Andretti Autosports Lights team, seized the lead on the restart and stayed ahead for remaining four laps to take the chequered flag 0.86sec ahead of the Australian. Colombian-America series leader Gabby Chaves was third.

“I got really lucky with that restart,” Veach said.

“If we didn’t have the restart Matt would have walked away with the victory – he did a really good job in the race.”

Jeff Gordon goes on his winning way
Veteran Jeff Gordon notched his third win of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup season at Michigan International Speedway.

Gordon, eyeing a fifth Cup title, with only three races remaining before the The Chase over the final 10 rounds begins at Chicagoland next month, held off fellow Chevrolet driver Kevin Harvick and the Penske-Ford of Joey Logano.

Australia’s Marcos Ambrose finished 12th in his Richard Petty Ford.

Triple champion Tony Stewart sat out a second race since the sprintcar incident in which he hit and killed 20-year-old Kevin Ward.