Power claims maiden oval victory

Power, who drew grid spot three in the ballot, took the lead from polesitter Tony Kanaan (KV) on lap 41 after a lengthy battle, and then had to hold off a charging Scott Dixon over the closing laps to secure the victory.

"I've been trying to nail this for so long," the Penske driver said. "I'm so happy. It's a great race and it was good fun. It was a good battle with Tony at the start, and when it was time to go, I went."

Power finished 0.9446 seconds clear of Dixon (Ganassi), who put in a great drive to second after drawing grid slot 18. Third was Ryan Briscoe, who survived an early trip across the grass while avoiding another car, with Penske team-mate Helio Castroneves just behind him.

Race one winner Dario Franchitti did an excellent job of damage limitation in finishing seventh after starting from 28th, although the Scot remained critical of the lottery grid system being used in a points-paying race.

"We got hosed tonight, and if we lose the championship by that many points, I'll be pissed off," the Ganassi driver said.

Fears of a race blighted by caution periods proved unfounded, with the entire distance being completed under racing conditions.

Results - 114 laps:

Pos  Driver               Team                    Time/Gap
 1.  Will Power           Penske               48m08.9739s
 2.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi                + 0.9466s
 3.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske                 + 4.6524s
 4.  Helio Castroneves    Penske                 + 9.5738s
 5.  Tony Kanaan          KV                    + 14.3723s
 6.  Marco Andretti       Andretti              + 16.9488s
 7.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi               + 18.4374s
 8.  Danica Patrick       Andretti              + 18.5558s
 9.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti              + 21.7976s
10.  EJ Viso              KV                    + 24.0923s
11.  Vitor Meira          Foyt                  + 24.6397s
12.  Takuma Sato          KV                       + 1 lap
13.  Paul Tracy           Dragon                   + 1 lap
14.  Alex Tagliani        Sam Schmidt              + 1 lap
15.  Oriol Servià         Newman/Haas              + 1 lap
16.  Ed Carpenter         Sarah Fisher             + 1 lap
17.  Mike Conway          Andretti                 + 1 lap
18.  JR Hildebrand        Panther                  + 1 lap
19.  James Hinchcliffe    Newman/Haas              + 1 lap
20.  Jay Howard           Sam Schmidt              + 1 lap
21.  Justin Wilson        Dreyer & Reinbold        + 1 lap
22.  Ana Beatriz          Dreyer & Reinbold        + 1 lap
23.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi                 + 2 laps
24.  Alex Lloyd           Dale Coyne              + 2 laps
25.  Davey Hamilton       Dreyer & Reinbold       + 2 laps
26.  Wade Cunningham      Sam Schmidt             + 2 laps
27.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM                     + 3 laps
28.  James Jakes          Dale Coyne              + 3 laps
29.  Sebastian Saavedra   Conquest                + 3 laps

Retirements:

     Graham Rahal         Ganassi                 104 laps