INDYCAR: Power continues climb with Toronto win

Will Power and Team Penske strategist Tim Cindric turned a likely win for Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon on Sunday into a major upset on the streets of Toronto.

The Ganassi squad scored a masterful pole position on Saturday by keeping Dixon out for one extra lap, but the same ploy backfired in the Honda Indy Toronto as the team left their man out one lap too many when a late-race caution ruined Dixon's plans and punched Power's ticket to Victory Lane for his third win in the last four races.

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Dixon stretched his lead to almost eight seconds over Penske's Simon Pagenaud, saw it whittled down to a single car length while attempting to lap backmarkers as the race reached Lap 45 in the 85-lap contest, but was in full command. With the Turn 5 curbing breaking up, IndyCar called for a yellow to address the issue as the Holmatro Safety Team cleaned up the debris, and Dixon was able to pull out another gap on Pagenaud when the green flag flew.

Josef Newgarden’s untimely crash and subsequent yellow on Lap 58, however, is where the race went from a procession to high drama when Cindric called Power into the pits for his final stop moments before the caution came out.

That move – either brilliant or lucky – turned the tables on Dixon and Pagenaud, who were scheduled to pit the next lap and were caught out behind the safety car. Once they pitted, Power and Castroneves, who also made it in before the yellow, moved to the front as the previous leaders were shuffled behind and outside the top 10.

"The team called me in just at the last minute. Perfect timing," said Power, whose third Toronto win ties him with Dario Franchitti and trails only Michael Andretti's seven victories at the track. "I can't tell you how many times it has gone the opposite way for me at this place and many other places. But I was so stoked to see yellow lights as I was going into pit lane. It's not often you catch a yellow like that."

The win moved Power up to second in the standings behind Pagenaud, who lost a healthy chunk of his championship lead.

"Obviously we have been playing catch-up all year, but every race [my team is] executing," Power said. "We are getting great strategies, great cars. We just have to keep chipping away, chipping away at this and see if we can have a shot at this.

"I don't know what the points situation is right now, all I know is that we have to keep finishing ahead of the No. 22 [Simon Pagenaud] if we want a shot at the title."

Of the drivers who were dealt outcomes that felt overly harsh, Newgarden was hit by Juan Pablo Montoya, pitted to have his rear wing and wheel pod assembly replaced, charged from last to 12th, but then lost it all when he flew over the Turn 5 curb. The steering wheel ripped from his hands and broke the right-front suspension on the exit wall.

"It was my fault, I should have never hit that curb and I'd been avoiding it all day so it's on me," said Newgarden, who finished last and dropped from second to fifth in the championship. Asked if he'd re-injured his hand or broken right clavicle, the 25-year-old replied: "No, I'm fine. I'm just mad at myself."

INDYCAR confirmed Newgarden was checked and will be re-evaluated Monday before being cleared to race.

Castroneves traveled quite far to finish second after he shadowed Dixon in the early laps, fell out of contention after cutting a tire and rallied back to stand on the podium.

"I know we didn't win, but the car was strong," Castroneves said of his caution-assisted comeback drive. "We got a little break under yellow to put us back in the fight."

After starting sixth and spending most of the afternoon being passed in a series of forceful moves, Hinchcliffe stretched his fuel, helped by cautions that allowed his SPM Honda to reach the finish without a third stop, and earned an unexpected visit to the podium.

"It was a great day to have a good day. We finally caught a lucky break in Toronto,” he said. “It was awesome; there will be a party in Hinchtown tonight, for sure."

Tony Kanaan initially led after the mid-race caution was cleared, but with his third stop looming, it was only a matter of time before Power inherited a lead he would never relinquish. The Brazilian would finish fourth and deliver Ganassi its top finish of the day.

The longest haul belonged to A.J. Foyt Racing’s Takuma Sato, who motored from 20th to fifth. The Japanese driver avoided all of the usual Toronto carnage and was rewarded with his best finish since Long Beach.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' Mikhail Aleshin continued his momentum from Iowa by leading Honda’s charge for most of the race before settling for sixth. KVSH Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais tried to turn a bold strategy of starting on the slower Firestone Blacks and finishing the rest of the race on faster reds, but it didn’t pan out as he fell back and finished seventh.

A disconsolate Dixon charged from 13th to eighth at the checkered flag.

"Obviously not the result that we wanted today for Team Target after starting on pole and leading all those laps in the first few stints," Dixon said. "It was looking like it was going to be our race all afternoon but the timing of how everything worked out just took it away from us. It was just about as frustrating of a race as you can have."

Pagenaud finished directly behind Dixon in ninth. Marco Andretti, who started 22nd and last, must have been shocked to claim 10th ahead of his three teammates.

Outside the top 10, many tales of misfortune could be found.

Three drivers left frustrated after qualifying found more disappointment on the opening lap of the race as Graham Rahal suffered a cut tire after being hit from behind by Ryan Hunter-Reay. The knock also brought Charlie Kimball into the incident, where he ended up stalled and sideways, and with Hunter-Reay's front wings stuffed into his sidepod. The trio would resume after pitting for repairs and would finish 11th (Kimball), 12th (Hunter-Reay) and 13th (Rahal).

Dale Coyne Racing’s Conor Daly, the feel-good story of qualifying, started seventh and fought valiantly, but his team’s odd decision to try and improve track position by failing to change tires on his last stop left the rookie without the requisite grip to hold onto a solid result. Daly was credited with 15th, one spot behind his returning teammate Luca Filippi.

The driver who started fourth ended up winning in the pits. The polesitter, who had the field covered and led the most laps, fell down to eighth through bad luck or bad timing. The championship leader went from a surefire podium and a healthy dose of points to ninth and a shortened gap to his rivals. The three drivers that ran into each other on Lap 1 and stopped for repairs of varying lengths came home nose to tail 84 laps later, and a driver who often triggers crashes on tight street courses was error-free on his way to finishing fifth.

It was a bizarre day in Toronto, to say the least.