Detroit becomes a Dual deal

[meteorite]

Begun last year, Indycar is doing a repeat of its doubleheader race weekends, this year's offering being, this weekend, the Dual in Detroit, with the first race running today (Saturday). How smart this decision was just one week after Indy, to put driver bodies out twice on a road circuit beaten up by the worst winter since 1880 is open to question, but everyone seemed to survive the first round, though how many assaults on the safety barriers could be attributed to fatigue - who knows?

In any case it was basically a lottery, with finishing positions decided mostly by luck. The top four positions all went to drivers who used three-stop strategies, especially when yellow flags for track incidents played into their needs. A notable beneficiary was Graham Rahal, whose car wouldn't handle competitively on the soft optional compound tires but was arguably the fastest on the track with the harder tread. Cautions let him make the changes on and off (all cars must run at least two green laps on each of the tire options) and let him take on enough fuel he never had to conserve. Will Power got the breaks well enough to hold off Graham in the final laps, but just barely. Others - well, it takes two to make contact but it's not always both at fault. Nor is the non-offending party the one who escapes with least damage, either. Chance lays a big role.

So what happened and who won? Here is Indycar's summary:

POWER TAKES OPENING ROUND OF BELLE ISLE DOUBLEHEADER

DETROIT (Saturday, May 31, 2014) - Will Power overtook race leader Ryan Briscoe on a Lap 60 restart and then held off Graham Rahal over a 10-lap sprint to win Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Dual 1.

"(Rahal) was really pushing me at the end and it was a great victory for Roger, the (crew) guys and Verizon," said Power, who started 16th in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car and tied Tommy Milton for 18th all time with his 23rd Indy car victory.

Rahal, driving the No. 15 National Guard car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, started a season-best ninth and recorded his best finish since placing second at Long Beach in April 2013. Rahal closed to within .3308 of a second behind the race winner, but had to settle for a runner-up finish.

"We've been fighting awfully hard to just finish where we have been finishing and so to finally get a result like this it means more than words," said Rahal, who was the first to retire from the Indianapolis 500 six days earlier. "As we look forward to (Dual 2 on June 1), I think we can do one better and we really learned a lot today and a lot that is going to help us."

Tony Kanaan finished third -- his 66th career podium and best street/road course finish since Baltimore in 2011 - to post his best finish of the season, as did Justin Wilson in fourth. Verizon P1 Award winner Helio Castroneves, who led a field-high 30 laps, finished fifth.

Qualifications for Race 2 -- split into two groups of 12 minutes of track time each - are at 10 a.m. (ET) June 1 and will set the starting lineup for the 70-lap race at 3:30 p.m. (ET) on ABC.

Both races on the 2.36-mile, 13-turn street circuit carry full points. Power moved to within three points of front-runner and Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, who finished 16th, in the championship standings.

Verizon IndyCar Series

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans

DETROIT - Results Saturday of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 2.35-mile Detroit Belle Isle, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (16) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
2. (9) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
3. (8) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
4. (19) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
5. (1) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
6. (2) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
7. (11) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
8. (12) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
9. (20) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
10. (18) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
11. (10) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
12. (6) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
13. (7) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
14. (13) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
15. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
16. (21) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 69, Running
17. (22) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 68, Running
18. (15) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 66, Running
19. (3) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 65, Running
20. (14) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 36, Contact
21. (4) Mike Conway, Dallara-Chevy, 14, Contact
22. (17) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 4, Contact

Race Statistics

Winners average speed: 90.138
Time of Race: 01:49:29.9323
Margin of victory: 0.3308
Cautions: 4 for 17
Lead changes: 10 among 7 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Castroneves 1 - 16
Rahal 17 - 25
Andretti 26
Power 27 - 29
Aleshin 30 - 31
Castroneves 32 - 45
Dixon 46
Power 47 - 53
Rahal 54
Briscoe 55 - 59
Power 60 - 70

Point Standings: Hunter-Reay 288, Power 285, Castroneves 254, Pagenaud 219, Andretti 213, Munoz 186, Montoya 170, Bourdais 160, Wilson 155, Dixon 152.

[meteorite]

But Sunday was a little different...

There were still yellow flag caution periods, but this time they did not greatly affect the flow of the race. All the teams build their race strategies around the assumption that certain of these events will happen, and even have statistical charts showing the history of past races with the number and times of most cautions for those who want to play the higher statistical probabilities. Of course on-course mechanical failures, the earning of penalties, fumbling fingers in the pits, and much more can still play a major part. But in many Indycar races, the team that guesses right best has an edge. Today (Sunday) it was Team Penske. Here's Indycar's report:

CASTRONEVES COMPLETES DUAL IN DETROIT SWEEP FOR TEAM PENSKE

DETROIT (Sunday, June 1, 2014) -- Helio Castroneves climbed the fence at Belle Isle again -- 14 years after his signature victory celebration was born following his first Indy car win in 2000 in the Motor City.

Castroneves' climb on June 1 was in honor of his 29th Indy car victory after winning Dual 2 of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans by 1.6836 seconds over teammate Will Power.

Castroneves, who started third in the 70-lap race in the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske car, completed a sweep for engine supplier Chevrolet and Team Penske in the first of three Verizon IndyCar Series doubleheader weekends this season. His victory tied Rick Mears for 11th on the all-time list.

"Indy 500. It just clicked something. It just made us hungry and here I am in Victory Circle where I won my first race. It's great energy again. I wanted it so bad," said Castroneves, who a week earlier came just short of joining Mears, A.J. Foyt and Al Unser as the only four-time winners of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. "More than anything, I want this championship."

Castroneves, the fifth different winner in seven races this season, moved to second in the standings -- 19 points behind Power. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who amassed 126 points in winning the Indianapolis 500, dropped to third with a disappointing pair of races that carried full points.

Power, who held off Graham Rahal's No. 15 National Guard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car by .3308 of a second to win the opening race on the 2.36-mile, 13-turn street course, was runner-up for his fifth top-five finish in the seven races.

Charlie Kimball advanced 17 positions to place third for his best finish of the season and Scott Dixon drove from last on the starting grid to fourth. James Hinchcliffe finished fifth.

So the final results were:

Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Dual 2

DETROIT - Results Sunday of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 2.35-mile The Raceway at Belle Isle Park, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
2. (8) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
3. (20) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
4. (22) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
5. (2) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
6. (7) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
7. (16) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
8. (6) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
9. (17) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
10. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
11. (4) Mike Conway, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
12. (13) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
13. (15) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 70, Running
14. (19) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
15. (12) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
16. (18) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 70, Running
17. (10) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 69, Running
18. (1) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 69, Running
19. (21) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 61, Electrical
20. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 58, Contact
21. (14) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 43, Contact
22. (9) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 9, Contact

Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 93.211
Time of Race: 01:45:53.3410
Margin of victory: 1.6836
Cautions: 4 for 13 laps
Lead changes: 7 among 7 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Sato 1 - 10
Hinchcliffe 11 - 20
Conway 21 -24
Power 25 - 26
Aleshin 27
Castroneves 28 - 33
Hawksworth 34
Castroneves 35 - 70
Point Standings: Power 326, Castroneves 307, Hunter-Reay 299, Pagenaud 247, Andretti 227, Munoz 210, Montoya 187, Dixon 184, Wilson 173, Bourdais 170.