The 2016 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix was the second round of the 2016 IndyCar Series season and the first oval race of the season. It took place on April 2, 2016, at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The race marked the return of open wheel racing to the course, as IndyCar had not visited Phoenix since 2005. Team Penske driver Hélio Castroneves grabbed pole position for the race with a two lap time of 38.2604 seconds. In the process, he set a new single lap track record with a time of 19.0997 seconds. One incident occurred in qualifying when Carlos Muñoz spun and crashed in turn one during his attempt. Two other drivers, James Hinchcliffe and Takuma Sato, made no qualifying attempts due to damage sustained in practice incidents.
Hélio Castroneves led the opening 39 laps of the race before a right-front tire puncture ruined his race. Juan Pablo Montoya inherited the lead and led to lap 95 before suffering the same fate as his teammate Castroneves. From there, Scott Dixon inherited the lead and led the remaining 155 laps, giving Dixon his 39th win and tying Al Unser for 4th in most career IndyCar victories. Simon Pagenaud finished second, moving him into the lead of the championship standings. Graham Rahal would prove the biggest mover in the race, charging up from a lowly 19th place start to finish in fifth place. Rahal was also the highest placed Honda in the race. Despite having little oval experience, Max Chilton surprised as the highest finishing rookie, coming across the line in 7th.
A total of six caution flags flew during the race, all due to spins or contact. The first came on lap 50 when Luca Filippi spun coming off of the first turn. He did not make contact with the barriers. The second came on lap 120, when Carlos Muñoz hit the wall at the exit of turn four. Muñoz would retire from the race due to the damage to his car. Shortly after the restart from the second yellow, the third caution came on lap 134 when Josef Newgarden and Charlie Kimball made contact in the first turn, sending Kimball into a spin. Kimball was given a drive through penalty for avoidable contact for the incident. Lap 146 saw the next caution when Sébastien Bourdais went wide in turn three and brushed the outside wall in turn four. After finally having another significant green flag period, caution waved again for the fifth time of the race on lap 198, when Ed Carpenter drifted wide and slapped the outside wall in turn four, making him the second retirement of the race. The final yellow would come out on lap 248 and force the race to finish under yellow flag conditions after Alexander Rossi brushed the wall in turn four.
Report Key Meaning R Rookie W Past winner
Qualifying Pos No. Name Lap 1 Time Lap 2 Time Total Time Avg. Speed (mph)13 Hélio Castroneves W19.099719.160738.2604192.324210 Tony Kanaan W19.204619.218238.4228191.51132 Juan Pablo Montoya19.237519.214538.4520191.366483 Charlie Kimball19.227819.253538.4813191.220520 Ed Carpenter19.264719.305338.5700190.78069 Scott Dixon19.356319.295638.6519190.376721 Josef Newgarden19.367519.341838.7093190.09488 Max Chilton R19.363619.370538.7341189.972912 Will Power19.463719.316038.7797189.7491022 Simon Pagenaud19.446419.352638.7990189.6541127 Marco Andretti19.468019.450838.9188189.0711228 Ryan Hunter-Reay19.465319.475038.9403188.966137 Mikhail Aleshin19.625019.515939.1409187.9981498 Alexander Rossi R19.682119.680439.3625186.9391511 Sébastien Bourdais19.814819.631239.4460186.5441619 Luca Filippi19.844219.756239.6009185.8141741 Jack Hawksworth19.822419.942939.7653185.0461818 Conor Daly R20.022619.912139.9347184.2611915 Graham Rahal20.362120.570240.9323179.7702014 Takuma SatoNo TimeNo Speed2126 Carlos MuñozNo TimeNo Speed225 James HinchcliffeNo TimeNo SpeedOFFICIAL BOX SCORE
Race results Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Pit Stops Grid Laps Led 19 Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet2501:49:38.38553615553222 Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet250 +0.682531040312 Will PowerTeam PenskeChevrolet250 +1.72643935410 Tony Kanaan WChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet250 +1.95893232515 Graham RahalRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda250 +2.527231930621 Josef NewgardenEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet250 +2.7457572878 Max Chilton RChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet250 +2.99143826811 Sébastien BourdaisKVSH RacingChevrolet250 +3.94915152492 Juan Pablo MontoyaTeam PenskeChevrolet250 +4.45484356231028 Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda250 +5.214331220113 Hélio Castroneves WTeam PenskeChevrolet250 +8.03244139211283 Charlie KimballChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet250 +9.336654181327 Marco AndrettiAndretti AutosportHonda250 +10.0918411171498 Alexander Rossi RAndretti Herta AutosportHonda250 +13.0555414161514 Takuma SatoA. J. Foyt EnterprisesHonda249 +1 Lap520151618 Conor Daly RDale Coyne RacingHonda249 +1 Lap51814177 Mikhail AleshinSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda248 +2 Laps41313185 James HinchcliffeSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda248 +2 Laps622121941 Jack HawksworthA. J. Foyt EnterprisesHonda246 +4 Laps617112019 Luca FilippiDale Coyne RacingHonda243 +7 Laps416102120 Ed CarpenterEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet195Contact2592226 Carlos MuñozAndretti AutosportHonda116Contact2218OFFICIAL BOX SCORE
Notes Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps, and 1 point for Pole Position.
Race finished under caution
Source for time gaps:
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Simon Pagenaud 83 5 2 Scott Dixon 79 2 3 Juan Pablo Montoya 74 1 4 Ryan Hunter-Reay 56 4 5 Tony Kanaan 54
Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References
External links Official Pit Stop Data Official Race Broadcast