Power claims IndyCar win at Texas

[June 12, 2017]  FORT WORTH, Texas -- Will Power emerged victorious Saturday night in a wild IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

The Rainguard Water Sealers 600 ended under caution with only nine cars running. Tony Kanaan finished second and Simon Pagenaud was third.

The race ended under caution after Indianapolis 500 champion Takuma Sato made contact with Scott Dixon.

There was one big crash earlier in the race as the cars ran in one pack. Three cars were side by side approaching Turn 3 when it appeared Kanaan, who was on the bottom, moved up and made contact with James Hinchcliffe.

Hinchcliffe's car then bounced off Mikhail Aleshin's and that started a chain reaction that collected Tristan Vautier, rookie Ed Jones, Ed Carpenter, JR Hildebrand, Carlos Munoz and Ryan Hunter-Reay. No one was injured.

Kanaan was penalized for blocking and avoidable contact. In serving the penalty, Kanaan fell two laps off the pace, but he made them up because of several mandatory cautions as IndyCar tried to manage increased tire wear.

On Lap 37, Alexander Rossi found himself in the middle of Dixon and Kanaan approaching Turn 3. Rossi lost control, spinning relatively slowly toward the outside wall. Contact ensued, knocking last year's Indianapolis 500 winner out of the race. He was not injured.

More action followed on the pit stop under caution. Hinchcliffe spun near the exit of pit road, forcing contact with Helio Castroneves and Sato. Neither Castroneves nor Sato suffered much car damage and were able to make repairs without losing a lap.

Hinchcliffe wasn't so fortunate. He was flagged for avoidable contact, necessitating a drive-through pit road as his penalty. That cost him a lap to the field.

After serving the penalty, Hinchcliffe came storming through the field, getting to the back of the lead car. It was then that the caution came out for Castroneves' crash in Turn 2, and in the cycle of stops that ensued Hinchcliffe got his lap back.

NASCAR XFINITY Series driver Brad Keselowski (22) celebrates after winning the Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Castroneves wasn't injured.

On the restart, Carpenter had light contact with Vautier on the front straightaway. Carpenter made a long spin toward Turn 1 and saved it. All cars trailing him avoided contact.

On Lap 200, Josef Newgarden tried to go three-wide in Turn 4, and that didn't work. He lost control and somehow kept the car close to the wall and those trailing avoided hitting him.

NOTES: Charlie Kimball won the first pole of his IndyCar Series career, edging Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon, but his run at the top lasted only 28 laps. Soon after relinquishing the lead to Tristan Vautier, Kimball's Honda began leaking oil. During the pit stop after Alexander Rossi's crash, a significant amount of oil dropped in the pit box and the crew was forced to push the car behind the wall. Vautier was subbing for the injured Sebastien Bourdais, who crashed last month in qualifying at Indy. ... After five consecutive weeks of competition, including three weeks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar is due for an off weekend. The next race is June 25 at the Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

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