FORT WORTH, Texas — Dario Franchitti should have been able to really celebrate winning for the first time in Texas. Instead, he lost ground in IndyCar Series points by losing a lottery that could wind up costing him another championship.
After Franchitti’s dominating victory on the 1 1/2-mile, high-banked track, there was still another race in major open-wheel racing’s first doubleheader in 30 years. When starting positions for the Saturday night finale were determined by a blind draw during a gameshow-like production between races, Franchitti was 28th on the starting grid and points leader Will Power was third.
“We should never have been in that position,” Franchitti said. “To have a championship in the IndyCar Series, drawing the grid out of a hat is a joke. Through no fault of our own, we started 25 places behind Will. Will, he took advantage of it. ... We had a massive handicap.”
While three-time series champion Franchitti was able to work his way through the field for a seventh-place finish, the points differential created by the luck — or bad luck — of a draw for the second race could be critical by the end of the season.
Power got to Texas in his Team Penske car with a 16-point lead over Franchitti. The gap was trimmed to seven points after Franchitti won the opener of the Firestone Twins 275s, with Power finishing third. That tripled to 21 after Power won the second 114-lap race.
To put that in perspective for the championship chase, Franchitti won his title last year over Power by five points. In 2009, Franchitti finished only 11 points ahead of Target Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon, the runner-up in both races Saturday night.
“There’s enough variables out there,” Franchitti said. “We don’t need to be throwing dice to be deciding grid positions.”
Even though he benefited the most, Power agreed.
“It was going to be very unfair to someone. It happened to Dario,” Power said. “In a tightly fought championship, you just can’t have that. If it comes down to five points at the end of the year, Dario will look back at this race and say, ’If I started where I should have, I would have had those five points.”’
Texas has hosted some of the closest and most exciting races in IndyCar history. Track president Eddie Gossage and his crew added another twist this year with the doubleheader and using the blind draw instead of inverting the order of finish from the first race.
Indeed, drivers came on stage in inverted order between races to choose from 30 tires to spin to reveal their starting spots.
There were only three tires remaining when Power got on stage. Power celebrated as though he had already won the race when he drew the No. 3 starting spot, leaving only 18 and 28 for the Ganassi drivers. Dixon drew No. 18, relegating Franchitti to the second-to-last row.
“Obviously the draw definitely helps. ... It was lucky,” Power said. “But if they started where they finished, it would have been a very fierce battle all the way through.”
The blind draw took Franchitti from elation to frustration.
“If they inverted it, I would have started two places worse off,” Franchitti said. “I would have been fine with that, because we all would have been in the same boat. Actually, the fans would have gotten a better show. Will, myself, Dixie, all those guys trying to get out to the front takes out the complete element of chance, which we don’t need.”
Franchitti qualified second for the opener, when he got his 28th victory to move into 10th place alone on the career list, breaking a tie with Fort Worth native and three-time Indy 500 champion Johnny Rutherford.
While Franchitti liked the idea of racing twice in one day, he obviously would prefer to see some changes before doing it again.
“They have to balance the sport and entertainment aspect,” Franchitti said. “If we did this as kind of a stand-alone (event) without championship implications, then it would be ’have at it.’ ... But this race was a championship round. It’s a shame. Again, it’s a shame. To win here at Texas for the first time in front of a great crowd, I should be celebrating about that.”
Gordon wins at Pocono
LONG POND, Pa. — Jeff Gordon is pushing 40, far removed from the cocky kid who shot to superstardom and helped put NASCAR on the mainstream map.
At any age, Gordon still knows how to win.
Don’t put the rocking chair on the front porch quite yet. Not when Gordon still burns out near the finish line, stamps his name alongside the sport’s greats in the record book, and believes a fifth Cup championship is a realistic goal.
Gordon moved into a tie for third on NASCAR’s Sprint Cup career victories list, winning for the 84th time when he took the checkered flag Sunday at Pocono Raceway. His 84 wins tie him with Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for most in Cup history, and he tied Bill Elliott with five wins on the 2 1/2-mile triangle track.
“There’s no doubt, I’m blown away with what I’ve accomplished,” Gordon said.
It’s a career for the ages — and the aged.
Gordon won in February at Phoenix International Raceway and has multiple victories in a season for the first time since 2007. Gordon’s victory at Phoenix ended his drought at 66 races without a win. This 11-race winless stretch was just a blip compared to that miserable skid.
Gordon used to not drive more than a month without a win. He reached double-digit victories in three straight seasons (1996-98) and seemed a lock to hit 100 victories by 35 and put himself behind only Richard Petty on the all-time list.
Petty leads with 200 wins and David Pearson is second with 105.
Gordon’s won races with a moustache and a mullet, and his hair tinged with a touch of grey. He won them as the most feared driver on the planet in the ’90s, then sporadically in recent years. He celebrated as a “Rainbow Warrior” and a family man.
This victory was a bit more special for Gordon, who turns 40 in August. His first order of business once he hopped out of the car was a kiss from his daughter, Ella.
Gordon’s wife and two children are his greatest gift.
But the pairing he needed most was with Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Alan Gustafson. Team owner Rick Hendrick’s off-season decision to shake up his organization has proved an overall success for the organization — he also placed Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the top-six at Pocono. Gordon and Gustafson have the No. 24 Chevrolet in fantastic shape for a spot in the Chase for the championship.
Gordon is known in the sport as “Four-Time” because of the Cup titles he won in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001. Wins have been harder to get for Gordon as his career stretches into its 20th season. He posted winless seasons in 2008 and 2010 and, even in the years he qualified for the Chase, was never a true threat to bring home the title.
“We were living at the peak of the mountain there for a number of years,” Gordon said. “It was awesome. When you’re there, you know you’re going to get knocked off eventually. You can’t always stay on top.”
Johnson, once his protege and late-night running buddy, surpassed Gordon and has won the last five championships.
The race on the mountaintop belonged to Gordon.
Gordon entered the race having led a record 918 laps at Pocono Raceway. He added 39 to the total Sunday.
“When you see what he’s done in his career, not just this decade, not just in the 2000’s, but all the way back to the ’90s, he’s a true legend in this sport,” Kurt Busch said.
Busch, the polesitter, was second and Kyle Busch third.
Kyle’s Busch fun was short-lived. NASCAR announced his No. 18 Toytota failed postrace inspection because the left-front end was too low. His car will be taken to NASCAR’s research and development centre.
Johnson and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five. Earnhardt continued his rebirth with a sixth-place finish. It capped a great day for Hendrick Motorsports — first, fourth and sixth.
Gordon first won at Pocono in 1996. He won again in 1997 and 1998, then a rain-shortened race in 2007.