Honda Car Forum

Circuit: The Milwaukee Mile (1.0-mile oval) West Allis, WI

2006 Winner: Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green Racing Honda) 133.513 mph average

Weather: Partly sunny, mild, 78 degrees F

Race Results:

Kanaan Masters The Milwaukee Mile

Tony Kanaan maintained his unofficial title as "Master of the Milwaukee Mile", posting his second consecutive victory on the short oval, taking advantage of problems encountered by Helio Castroneves to win Sunday's ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt 225.

Starting from the inside of the second row, Kanaan ran in the lead pack for most of the afternoon, but Team Penske's Castroneves appeared to be in control of the race as it entered its final stages. But the failure of a rear wing mount on Lap 201 sent Castroneves into the wall and out of the race. From that point, Kanaan was in perfect position to take over at the front, and he led the remaining 24 laps for his second win of 2007.

It was the first "short track" event of the 2007 IndyCar Series season, and once again the Honda Indy V-8 engine performed perfectly, with no mechanical problems reported from any of the 18 drivers and teams running in Milwaukee.

Kanaan's Andretti Green Racing teammate, Dario Franchitti followed up his Indianapolis 500 triumph last weekend with a second-place run to take over the championship points lead after six of 17 races. Dan Wheldon survived a wheel-banging incident with Danica Patrick, as the pair battled over fourth place on Lap 88.

Wheldon continued to run strongly after the contact, but was passed by Franchitti on Lap 215 to finish third. Patrick was forced to pit for right front suspension repairs, dropping her off the lead lap and down to 14th position, but was able to both regain the lead lap and recover for eighth at the checker.

Like Castroneves, Sam Hornish Jr's rear wing mount also apparently failed late in the race, costing the second Team Penske driver a possible top-three result, but after a precautionary pit stop he persevered to finish ninth.

Former Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice led 37 laps for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in his strongest showing of 2007, but slid out of the groove and made contact with the Turn 2 wall on Lap 69 to end his day.

The IndyCar Series now heads south to Fort Worth, Texas and back to a 1.5-mile super speedway for the June 9 Bombardier Learjet 550K at Texas Motor Speedway.

IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship (after 6 of 17 races)

Tony Kanaan (#11 Andretti Green Racing Honda) Started 3rd, finished 1st, second win of 2007, second consecutive Milwaukee race win, 9th career IndyCar victory: "There's never an 'easy' win here, I had to charge the entire race. It seems like you're always in traffic, and it certainly keeps you focused. I love it! A 1-2 finish for Andretti Green here today, coupled with Dario's win at Indy last week and now he's leading the points championship. It's been a great weekend for us, no doubt about it. But Texas is next week, and we have to keep up the pressure. That's what makes this series so tough, and so rewarding to win."

Dario Franchitti (#27 Andretti Green Racing Honda) Started 10th, finished 2nd, has finished 7th or better in every race this season, takes over IndyCar Series championship points lead: "It was an eventful day, especially at the end, but everything worked out well for us and it's great to have the [championship] points lead. The car had a lot of understeer at the start, but we were able to make it better at every stop and by mid-race it was quite good, especially on our own. At the end it got really crazy. I saw Helio [Castroneves] in the fence, twas able to get past Dan [Wheldon] on a restart and then I saw Sam's [Hornish Jr.] rear wing falling off! Everything seemed to be happening right in front of me today!"

Robert Clarke (President, Honda Performance Development) on today's race: "It was another successful weekend for Honda, with 100% reliability throughout the weekend in our first short-track event of the year. It's good to have Milwaukee back on it's 'traditional' date. It makes for a great shift from the high speeds at Indianapolis to the tight confines of a mile oval. I'm happy for Tony Kanaan and the Andretti Green organization. Tony had a very fast car at Indy, and it was some cruel luck that kept him from victory circle there. So today's win was a bit of poetic justice."