The 2010 Honda Indy Edmonton was an IndyCar race that took place on July 25, 2010, at Edmonton City Centre Airport in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was the 11th round of the 2010 IndyCar Series, the third Edmonton Indy in the series, and the race's sixth anniversary (including three years on the Champ Car World Series (CCWS) schedule). Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon won the 95-lap race after starting third. Team Penske's Will Power finished second, and Dixon's teammate Dario Franchitti finished third.
Going into the race, Power, the defending Indy Edmonton champion, led the Drivers' Championship. Power took pole position by posting the fastest qualifying lap. Power led for the majority of the race, but was passed by teammate Hélio Castroneves with 18 laps left. On the race's final restart, lap 92, Power attempted to retake the lead from Castroneves, but the latter defended his position and was penalised with a drive-through penalty. He declined to serve the penalty and was demoted to tenth place, while Dixon was awarded the victory.
During the race, there were four cautions and four lead changes among three different drivers. It was Dixon's second win of the season and his 23rd of his career. With six races remaining in the season, Power's lead in the Drivers' Championship increased to 50 points over Franchitti and 71 points over Dixon.
Background
The Honda Indy Edmonton was confirmed as part of the Indy Racing League's (IRL) 2010 schedule for the IndyCar Series in December 2009, after Edmonton City Council voted to keep the race on the calendar despite losing $9.2 million in the previous two seasons. It was the third year in a row that the race was held in the series, and the sixth Edmonton Indy since 2005, when it was a Champ Car World Series (CCWS) event for three years. It was the second consecutive round held in Canada, following the Honda Indy Toronto the previous week. Tire supplier Firestone brought the black-sidewall "Primary" and red-banded "Alternate" tire compounds and grooved rain tires to the race.
Prior to the race, Team Penske driver Will Power led the points standings with 377 points, with Dario Franchitti 42 points back in second and Scott Dixon third. Ryan Briscoe was fourth with 292 points, and Ryan Hunter-Reay was fifth, six points behind. Having dominated the 2009 Indy Edmonton, Power said he felt he could repeat the success and believed it would be "very competitive" in the qualifying session and "very tough" in the race. Franchitti said he wanted to return to championship contention after retiring with a gearbox problem in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 and hoped for a good performance in Edmonton with seven races remaining in the season (two on road courses and four on oval tracks) after the race. Power's teammate Hélio Castroneves said it was going to be difficult to catch up to his teammate because of his recent form but that "we just need to go out and win a couple races and see what happens."
Practice and qualifying
There were three one hour practice sessions on Friday and Saturday morning preceding the race. Franchitti was fastest in the first practice session with a time of 1:03.0885; Dixon was second and Power third. Castroneves was fourth-fastest, ahead of Justin Wilson, Paul Tracy. Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, E. J. Viso and Takuma Sato in positions two to ten. The session was stopped twice: once for Milka Duno, who lost control of her car and collided with the turn ten tire barrier, damaging her front wing, and again for Bertrand Baguette, who spun after hitting a chicane kerb and driving through an advertising hoarding. In the second practise session, Power set the day's fastest time of with a lap of 1:01.6689, followed by teammates Briscoe and Castroneves. Franchitti finished fourth, Sato fifth, and Dixon sixth. Wilson, Viso, Tracy, and Tony Kanaan rounded out the top ten. Three caution flags came out; Baugette crashed, Duno stalled after she spun and Tomas Scheckter slid into a tire barrier.
In the final practice session, Castroneves set the fastest lap time of 1:01.6642, ahead of Team Penske teammates Power and Briscoe. Hideki Mutoh was fourth, Dixon fifth, and Tracy sixth. Wilson was seventh fastest, Kanaan eighth, Marco Andretti ninth, and Sato tenth. Several drivers experienced high-speed spins without causing damage to their vehicles, prompting the display of caution flags. Tracy and Alex Tagliani both spun in the first turn, causing a stoppage; Tracy narrowly avoided colliding with Baguette, who was exiting the pit lane.
Qualifying used the standard road and street course system, with the field divided into two groups. All cars were divided into two groups of twelve, with the top six from each group qualifying for the "Top 12" session. The "Firestone Fast Six" were formed from the fastest six runners in this session. The fastest driver in the final session took pole position, with the remaining competitors lining up in session order, regardless of qualifying times. (Fast Six from one to six, Top 12 from seven to twelve, and Round 1 from 13 to 24, with Group 1 drivers in the odd-numbered grid positions and Group 2 drivers taking the even-numbered starting positions). Duno was barred from qualifying because her practice lap times did not meet the required performance standards, but she was permitted to start the race. Power led the first group of twelve runners, nearly three-tenths of a second faster than teammate Briscoe, with Castroneves third. Other drivers who advanced to the second qualifying session were Franchitti, Wilson, and Raphael Matos, who secured his best qualifying result of the season with 10th. Simona de Silvestro set her fastest lap of the day in the second group of twelve drivers. The other top six competitors were Hunter-Reay, Dixon, Viso, Mutoh, and Scheckter, who advanced to the second qualifying round. Power set the fastest lap time in the Top 12, beating teammate Castroneves and Dixon. Briscoe, Franchitti, and Viso finished fourth to sixth, making up the other half of the Fast Six. With a time of 1:00.7126, Power secured his sixth pole position of the season, his eighth in the IndyCar Series and 13th in top-level Indy car racing. Castroneves, who had the pole position until Power's lap, joined him on the grid's front row. Dixon and Franchitti of Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) finished third and fourth, respectively, with Briscoe taking fifth ahead of Viso.
Qualifying classification Bold text indicates the fastest lap of each group. + Qualifying results Driver Team Group 1 Group 2 Top 12 Fast 6 1 12 Team Penske 1:00.9285 1:01.0731 1:00.7126 2 3 Team Penske 1:01.5903 1:01.2138 1:00.7891 3 9 Chip Ganassi Racing 1:01.8583 1:01.2329 1:01.2395 4 10 Chip Ganassi Racing 1:01.7341 1:01.3530 1:01.2481 5 6 Team Penske 1:01.2556 1:01.2349 1:01.3799 6 8 KV Racing Technology 1:01.9084 1:01.4394 1:01.6122 7 78 HVM Racing 1:01.7385 1:01.5438 8 37 Andretti Autosport 1:01.8249 1:01.5596 9 22 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:01.7594 1:01.5887 10 2 De Ferran Dragon Racing 1:01.8319 1:01.7015 11 06 Newman/Haas Racing 1:02.0307 1:02.1935 12 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1:02.1022 1:02.9751 13 5 KV Racing Technology 1:01.9181 14 32 KV Racing Technology 1:02.1324 15 15 KV Racing Technology 1:02.3264 16 26 Andretti Autosport 1:02.1465 17 34 Conquest Racing 1:02.4191 18 19 Dale Coyne Racing 1:02.2203 19 77 FAZZT Race Team 1:02.5240 20 36 Conquest Racing 1:02.5193 21 7 Andretti Autosport 1:02.5795 22 4 Panther Racing 1:02.7397 23 14 A. J. Foyt Enterprises 1:02.7511 24 11 Andretti Autosport no time 25 18 Dale Coyne Racing no time
Warm-up The drivers took to the track at 10:00 AM (UTC−06:00) for a 30-minute warm-up session. Power set the fastest lap of the session of 1:01.8397. Dixon was second-fastest. Team Penske teammates Castroneves and Briscoe completed the top four.
Race The race began at 4:00 p.m. local time, and was televised live in the United States on Versus. The weather was sunny and mild at the start of the race, with air temperatures ranging from and track temperatures ranging from . Power maintained his lead into the first turn. Duno spun off the track at the start, but no caution was issued. De Silvestro passed Viso for sixth place on the same lap. Power led Castroneves at the end of the first lap, with Dixon, Franchitti, Briscoe, de Silvestro, Viso, Hunter-Reay, Wilson, and Matos completing the top ten. The top five drivers began to distance themselves from the rest of the field. Tracy collided with the rear of Matos' car in turn two on lap two, sending Matos spinning into the infield grass and the latter driving cautiously to the pit lane with a flat left-rear tire. Scheckter's front wing was damaged on lap 10, prompting him make a pit stop for a replacement nose cone. After starting 15th, Tracy drove aggressively and moved to 10th by the 20th lap.
Briscoe passed the CGR drivers on lap 29 after they were delayed by slower cars. Four laps later, green-flag pit stops began. Wilson spun under braking on the 36th lap at the end of the backstretch at turn ten due to a right-rear shock absorber failure and drove slowly to his pit box to repair damage to his vehicle. On lap 39, Danica Patrick attempted to pass Baugette on the inside, but lost control of her car and ran wide into the infield grass, rejoining the circuit in 17th without damaing her suspension. On lap 46, Andretti's front wing separated while baulking four cars, and Scheckter ran wide as the four cars passed Andretti. On the following lap, Alex Lloyd spun into the grass and stalled his engine, necessitating the event's first full course caution. During the caution, Andretti made a pit stop for a replacement front wing. The race resumed on lap 51, with Power leading Castroneves, Briscoe, and Dixon. Soon after, going into turn 11, de Silvestro was hit from behind by Viso, who overheated his brakes and crashed into the turn one tire barrier, prompting the second caution. On the same lap, Viso avoided hitting teammate Tracy (who took evasive action).
Viso received a drive-through penalty and rejoined in tenth place. On the lap 54 restart, Power maintained his lead. The third caution of the race was issued shortly after the restart when Kanaan made light contact with the side of Tagliani, who spun in turn three. Mario Romancini was blinded by smoke from the incident and was hit by the recovering Tagliani. Both cars were severely damaged and retired; Kanaan was able to continue without apparent damage. At the lap 58 restart, Power led the field. Briscoe fell behind the two CGR drivers, while Tracy moved to sixth place, passing Hunter-Reay. The second (and final) round of green-flag pit stops began on the 63rd lap; Tracy and Hunter-Reay made pit stops over the next five laps in the hope that a caution flag would be displayed, allowing them to lead the race. After the pit stops, Power (on the Alternate tires) remained the race leader over Castroneves and Dixon.