Happy Birthday, Old Man

Just to combat the rumors, Dan Wheldon was born on June 22, 1978, which makes him 30 years old today. That date nullifies the pre-race prank Wheldon pulled on ABC pit reporter Vince Welch when he claimed he was only 26.

Today, it was not age, but experience that allowed the 30-year-old Brit to win the Iowa Corn Indy 250 for his second victory of the season.

When Enrique Bernaldi’s spin brought out a caution on lap 187, Wheldon’s team strategist Barry Wanser opted to play the fuel mileage game and stay out while all the leaders pitted for fuel and tires. AGR teammates Hideki Mutoh and Danica Patrick also elected to roll the dice in the fuel strategy game.

The gamble paid off as Wheldon led the final 63 laps and stormed past the checkered flag two car lengths ahead of runner-up Mutoh. Wheldon was blessed with several caution periods which equated to 36 laps of yellow during his final run, which allowed him to stretch his fuel mileage to the finish.

Mutoh’s AGR teammate Marco Andretti settled for third while Wheldon’s teammate and current point leader Scott Dixon came home in fourth.

But the big shocker in Iowa was the performance of Vision Racing’s A.J. Foyt IV. Foyt IV looked like a hardened veteran on the 7/8 mile track. His striking and well-timed passes helped Foyt IV finish in the top-five for just the second time in his IndyCar career.

Foyt IV was not the only unusual suspect who threatened to steal the show. Ryan Hunter-Reay was headed to his first top-3 finish of the season, but he settled for eighth when he was victimized by Wheldon’s, Mutoh’s, and Patrick’s fuel strategy gamble. But, Hunter-Reay did get the last laugh when he referenced Andretti’s poor tactics at Texas two weeks ago.

“It was nice to see that I could go under Marco Andretti and get by him without him pinching me.”

That will surely raise the eyebrows in the AGR stable.

So, who were the winners and losers at Iowa?

First and foremost, the real winners will be the citizens of Iowa. After being completely ravaged by floods the past two weeks, they are about to receive some well-deserved aid courtesy of Chip Ganassi Racing. Both Wheldon and Dixon agreed before the race to donate all of their winnings to the Iowa Red Cross.

Dan and Scott, hats off.

The biggest on-track winner was Dixon. Despite not leading a race for just the second time this season, Dixon worked his way back into contention after an abysmal start that saw him drop to ninth place after 90 laps. He managed to increase his point lead as his top competitors buckled.

The other big winner of the weekend has to be 11th-place finisher John Andretti, who once again outshined his boss, Marty Roth. Roth failed to even start the race after a practice crash on Saturday. Andretti was running in seventh place with 100 laps remaining which proves the equipment is competitive, but the car owner and driver Roth simply is under-qualified.

Marty, it is time to step out of the cockpit and give rookie Jay Howard the opportunity he deserves.

The two biggest losers of the weekend have to be Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan. Dixon’s lead grew to 48 points over Castroneves after Spiderman suffered a blown tire in the closing laps and finished 14th. Despite leading a race-high 92 laps, Castroneves, who recently became an uncle for the first time, finished outside of the top-five for the first time all season.

Kanaan likewise lost ground to Dixon when he slammed hard into the turn 2 wall with 39 laps left while running in third place. Kanaan also took his turn running up front as the Brazilian, still seeking his first win of the season, led 71 laps. He remains in fourth place in the title hunt, but his deficit now stands at 100 points with nine races left.

What did we learn from today’s race?

We learned that Marco Andretti can in fact race clean. He easily could have nudged Mutoh in the closing laps, but he held his line and settled for third place, which earned him a minute amount of respect from me, but he still has a long way to go.

In closing, I want to send a personal congrats and thank you to the entire Chip Ganassi organization for putting the state of Iowa first in their desperate time of need. The IRL needs more gratifying stories such as this to bolster the respect and support for the series.

Today, I have never been more proud to be an IndyCar fan.