Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia

Texas finish proved it was a race worth waiting for

Operative words about the Firestone 600 Texas race: “He was smart enough.”

James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda

James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda

IndyCar Series

James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda, Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Damage to race winning car of Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske Chevrolet
Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet in trouble
Restart: James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda leads
Race winner Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Race winner Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda with his wife, Courtney Force
Race action
Race winner Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda

That was Tony Kanaan, commending Graham Rahal for his final-lap move that gave Rahal his first race win of the year and fourth of his career. Rahal gave Honda its second victory of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season, the first coming at the 100th Indianapolis 500 with rookie Alexander Rossi.

As soon as the checkered flag fell, though, criticism from “respected” journalists concerning this race on the 1.455-mile Texas Motor Speedway high banked oval began. Too much pack racing, some said. Somebody’s going to get killed here, said others. It’s way too dangerous for the Indy cars, stuff is going to fly into the stands, they’re lucky nobody ended up against the wall and dead.

Every time the IndyCar series holds an exciting oval race, naysayers come out of the woodwork.

There was as much of a furor last year at Fontana, when Rahal won the MAVTV 500 on Auto Club Speedway’s 2-mile banked oval. The race ended with Ryan Briscoe pirouetting through the infield grass on the front straight and walking away from the incident, forcing the end of that 500-miler to come under caution.

In both contests, the baying concerned pack racing - which didn’t really take place - as well as the accidents that occurred and contributed to final results. This time the Texas race did finally end with a checkered flag, held solely on its own by starter Paul Blevins. It was also the tightest finish ever recorded at this track, with a margin of victory at 0.0080-second, essentially the blink of an eye.

The sprint to the finish

The post-caution dash from green flag at lap 240 to the checkered flags at lap 248 was one that inspired plenty of wide-eyed excitement. Initially there were four cars involved, all trying to reach those flags before anyone else. Points leader Simon Pagenaud elected to race smart and protect his 28-point lead over 2014 champ and Team Penske teammate Will Power; he came in fourth. Power finished eighth.

The race became a three-man effort between Rahal, Canadian James Hinchcliffe and 2004 champion/2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan. Rahal led only one lap on Saturday night; the last one, the one that mattered. He collected his first victory since Mid-Ohio last August, quite a drought. Hinchcliffe, who had the lead for 76 days after rainout June 12th forced this August 27 conclusion, led 188 laps of the total race meeting, an amusing simile because the second half of the race went for a total of 188 laps.

For his awesome records at Texas, Hinchcliffe became the first loser, yet was magnanimous in defeat. Of course having “Dancing with the Stars” to look forward to starting September 12, he can afford to be a good loser. It’s been a long time since Hinch won a race - going back to New Orleans in 2015 - but after his flirtation with death at Indianapolis month, it appears Hinchcliffe knows a win will come if he continues to perform as he has so recently. He’s eighth in the standings heading into Watkins Glen this weekend.

Winner Graham Rahal led only the final lap and is the 14th Indy car driver to do so. “I had a really good car all night; it was a matter of trying to bide our time a little bit and dial it in slightly. We just needed to add some front wing and then, once we did that, the car really came to us. I didn’t really change anything after the first or second stop,” he said.

The perfect conditions

The conditions were great for this kind of in-your-face finish to a race. “The sun was further down at the start of the race (a little better for your visual) and [it was] a good, clean green race for the most part,” Rahal explained. “It was a great event, a lot going on, geez, four-wide and pretty nuts. But it’s also a lot different than what it used to be. It’s not just flat-out easy pack racing anymore. You were just lifting a heck of a lot in traffic, but the way these cars suck up nowadays, the draft is huge, so it just makes the racing awesome,” Rahal continued.

He summed it all perfectly. Because the cars were set up for a daytime race the teams began in June, “Obviously the sparks were crazy. One time going through [turn] 4, it looked like somebody just put a camera right between my eyes and set it off, because the flash was so bright right in my face. But it was pretty cool and a lot of fun for everybody.”

So to those people that believe Indy cars should get off the Texas Motor Speedway oval, off Iowa, Phoenix, Pocono and anywhere but Indianapolis, please remember this: when the drivers enjoy racing tightly and respectfully with their peers, it’s the best show in the world. And that’s what 20 Verizon IndyCar Series drivers gave the hardy souls in attendance and all those TV-watchers in the completion of the Firestone 600 on Saturday night.

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Hinchcliffe to appear on Dancing with the Stars
Next article Enerson to return for final two IndyCar races

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia