Nazareth: Sharp strategy pays off

Sharp hit the front thanks to a strategy gamble paying off at the very end. Cold weather and numerous yellow flags were the main points of focus of this race which was run for almost half its distance under caution.

Sharp's Kelley Racing team took a gamble around half distance when they passed on making a pit stop when a light shower of rain fell. Sharp planned to be in the lead if the race had to be stopped early, but the bad weather held off and the race continued.

Now he was on a different fuel strategy to the Penske duo Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves, who consistently ran at or near the front all day. A late-race yellow when rookie George Mack spun gave Penske the chance to make its final stops, but with rain threatening once again, the duo stayed out in case they could benefit from an early finish.

But once again, the race continued and de Ferran lost out when his car began to splutter for fuel at the death. Sharp pounced and held off an opportunistic Felipe Giaffone to the flag. De Ferran limped home third, ahead of Sarah Fisher who drove well on her IRL return as a sub for Robbie Buhl. Castroneves was fifth.

With series leader Sam Hornish Jr causing a collision with Bobby Lazier early in the race, de Ferran has closed the points gap to just five points. Tomas Scheckter was another to cause a crash when he made an optimistic move on Jaques Lazier. Both hit the wall hard and were airlifted to hospital, but escaped serious injury.

Scott Sharp Dallara-Chevrolet 225
Felipe Giaffone G-Force-Chevrolet 225
Gil de Ferran Dallara-Chevrolet 225
Sarah Fisher G-Force-Infiniti 225
Helio Castroneves Dallara-Chevrolet 225
Alex Barron Dallara-Chevrolet 225
Eddie Cheever Dallara-Infiniti 225
Billy Boat Dallara-Chevrolet 225
Anthony Lazzaro Dallara-Chevrolet 225
Shigeaki Hattori Dallara-Infiniti 225