Hunter-Reay Wins at Iowa

RHRAfter dominating at Pocono last weekend, Tony Kanaan came up a few laps short on fuel and had to deal with that frustration.

Saturday night at Iowa, it was déjà vu for the Ganassi driver. After starting on the front row, Kanaan dominated the Iowa Corn Indy 300, only to lose it with three laps remaining. That’s when Ryan Hunter-Reay, on new tires, shot by the Brazilian and cruised to victory lane. It was the first win for the 2012 IndyCar series champion since winning the Indianapolis 500 in May.

Josef Newgarden finished in second place, after starting in 21st position. Kanaan, who finished third, led 247 of the 300 laps on Saturday night, but Hunter-Reay won the one that mattered the most. Scott Dixon and Ed Carpenter rounded out the top five. With the win, Andretti Autosport has now won the last five races at Iowa, and six of the eight races there.

After a late caution for an incident between Carpenter and Juan Montoya, Hunter-Reay and Newgarden elected to put on new tires. To say the gamble paid off would be a massive understatement. It was heartbreak again for Chip Ganassi, who still hasn’t tasted victory lane with any of his cars this year. For the second straight week, Kanaan looked like he was about to get his first win for his new boss, but luck has not been on his side. For what it’s worth, all four Ganassi cars did manage to finish in the top ten.

Click here for the unofficial results of the Iowa Corn Indy 300

It appeared as though the two men tied for the championship lead, Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Will Power, were going to have top five finishes. Ironically, they both had issues in the closing laps and fell towards the rear. Helio finished in eighth, and Power came home in the 14th spot. Sebastian Saavedra had the drive of the race going, until he slapped the wall on lap 161. He was running in third position at the time, after starting in 17th position.

Up next for IndyCar is a trip north of the border, for a pair of races on the streets of Toronto. The Honda Indy Toronto races will run on Saturday and Sunday, both starting at 3 PM ET. This is the third and final double header event on the 2014 schedule. Castroneves leads Power by 9 points in the championship standings. With his 14th career win tonight, Hunter-Reay moves up to third, just 32 points behind the Team Penske drivers.

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