TORONTO — Will Power knew when to be aggressive and when to play it safe Sunday in the wreck-filled Honda Indy Toronto.
After patiently avoiding early trouble, the IndyCar leader boldly passed Justin Wilson on the outside off a restart with 14 laps left, and then held off Dario Franchitti for his second consecutive victory and fourth of the season.
“As I predicted, it was a very wild race,” Power said.
Power then gambled and won with the race on the line, moving past Wilson on the outside on the first turn after the fifth of six caution periods. Power pulled away, while Wilson spun out a few turns later and dropped from contention.
All four of Power’s victories have come on street or road courses. He won two weeks ago at Watkins Glen and swept the season-opening races in Sao Paulo and St. Petersburg.
Capps ends NHRA win drought.
SONOMA, Calif. — Popular funny car driver Ron Capps ended a one-year winless streak with his victory at the 23rd annual NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
Capps’ team owner, Don Schumacher, switched crew chiefs — bringing in John Medlen to replace Ed McCulloch — in June and in the three races since the move, Capps reached the quarterfinals in Norwalk, the final round in Seattle and the winner’s circle in Sonoma.
“It’s all confidence, and confidence is built on success,” said Capps (4.169, 296.44), who defeated Jack Beckman (4.210, 298.93) in the final round for his first win since the Mopar Mile-High Nationals in July 2009.
The win was the 31st for Capps, who moved into fifth place in the funny car standings.
The other winners were Larry Dixon (top fuel), Jeg Coughlin (pro stock) and Michael Phillips (pro stock motorcycle). Dixon beat Tony Schumacher to remain perfect in final rounds this season.
The Associated Press
