Franchitti's gamble pays off in Chicago

A strategy gamble put Dario Franchitti in position to win Saturday at the IndyCar PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil 300 in Joliet, Ill. And thanks to an uncharacteristic pit stop blunder by Team Penske for points leader Will Power, Franchitti still has a chance at the championship.

Franchitti's crew saved time on their final pit stop by choosing not to change tires, putting him out in front for a late-race restart.

Power still had a shot at the win - until he started running out of fuel with five laps to go and had to make an extra pit stop. He finished 16th, opening the door for Franchitti in the championship race.

"It's going to be a fight," Franchitti said. "I think it's going to be a fight to the wire."

Power came into Chicagoland leading by 59 points with four races to go. Going into next Saturday's race at Kentucky Speedway, Franchitti has whittled Power's lead to 23 points.

"It's going to be interesting, these last three," Franchitti said.

Dan Wheldon finished second, followed by Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan.

Danica Patrick finished 14th.

Power's crew apparently didn't get enough fuel in the car to make it to the end of the race during their last scheduled pit stop. It almost certainly cost them a top-three finish, and now his team has to hope it doesn't end up costing them the championship.

"That was just a mistake that we couldn't afford," Power said. "This obviously makes things tougher for the championship, but we're still in front and we proved how competitive we can be on the ovals. We'll move on and we will work harder next week at Kentucky."

Beginning with Chicagoland, the final four races of the season all are on oval tracks, and Power is considered a stronger driver on road courses than he is on ovals.

So he was encouraged by his strong driving performance, even if it didn't get him a good finish.

"I never thought I could race ovals like that," Power said in a postrace television interview.

But when it comes to racing on ovals, Power might still have some respect to earn among fellow drivers. Wheldon admitted he spent more time working with Franchitti because the veteran was more predictable in the pack.

"It was difficult to drive with Will," Wheldon said. "He was not giving me any room at all."

Franchitti appreciated Wheldon's help.

"Dan was great," Franchitti said. "Just pushed me along a little bit."

Power hardly was racing conservatively to protect his points lead, going three-wide for the lead with Wheldon and Andretti with about 50 laps to go.

With Power in the lead and Andretti stuck to his rear wing, Alex Lloyd spun out with 31 laps to go, bringing out a caution. That allowed all the leaders to make their final pit stop.

Franchitti's crew gambled by only taking fuel and opting not to change tires, gaining eight spots in the pits and sending him out in the race lead. Franchitti didn't know what his crew had planned when he went on to pit road, and said his crew didn't make the call until he was a few pit stalls from stopping.

Power had a quick stop, but his crew knew right away that they might not have put enough fuel in the car to make it the rest of the way. Now Franchitti senses he has a shot at the title.

"It's far from over," Franchitti said.

Patrick was one of five female drivers in the race.

"I just didn't have enough speed to stay with the lead pack," Patrick said. "It's tough to end the event like this because we were really competitive and I thought we'd have more out there tonight."

It was a strong outing for Sarah Fisher, who briefly led near the race's halfway point and was able to hang in the top five for several laps - something Franchitti's crew might have noted before they decided to stay out on old tires. She slipped back in the pack when she had to make a pit stop on lap 113 and finished 15th.

Milka Duno finished 19th, Simona de Silvestro finished 23rd and Ana Beatriz finished 24th.

At Chicagoland Speedway

Joliet, Ill.

Lap length: 1.5 miles

(Starting position in parentheses)

(All cars Dallara-Honda)

1. (2) Dario Franchitti, 200, Running.

2. (7) Dan Wheldon, 200, Running.

3. (5) Marco Andretti, 200, Running.

4. (9) Ryan Hunter-Reay, 200, Running.

5. (13) Tony Kanaan, 200, Running.

6. (4) Helio Castroneves, 200, Running.

7. (23) Justin Wilson, 200, Running.

8. (15) Scott Dixon, 200, Running.

9. (24) Vitor Meira, 200, Running.

10. (6) Graham Rahal, 200, Running.

11. (1) Ryan Briscoe, 200, Running.

12. (20) Bertrand Baguette, 200, Run..

13. (8) Hideki Mutoh, 200, Running.

14. (12) Danica Patrick, 200, Running.

15. (25) Sarah Fisher, 199, Running.

16. (3) Will Power, 199, Running.

17. (21) Mario Moraes, 199, Running.

18. (28) Davey Hamilton, 199, Running.

19. (26) Milka Duno, 197, Running.

20. (11) Ed Carpenter, 179, Mechanical.

21. (14) Alex Lloyd, 162, Running.

22. (29) Jay Howard, 161, Mechanical.

23. (27) Simona de Silvestro, 150, Mech.

24. (22) Ana Beatriz, 88, Mechanical.

25. (19) Alex Tagliani, 85, Contact.

26. (10) Takuma Sato, 80, Contact.

27. (16) E.J. Viso, 80, Contact.

28. (17) Tomas Scheckter, 4, Contact.

29. (18) Raphael Matos, 4, Contact.

NATIONWIDE

Marcos Ambrose won the pole for the NASCAR Nationwide Napa Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

Ambrose turned a fast lap of 97.079 mph to edge French Canadian star Jacques Villeneuve's 96.924 mph. Joey Logano, who finished second at Watkins Glen to Ambrose three weeks ago, qualified third at 96.650 mph, while defending race winner Carl Edwards was fourth at 96.344 mph. Series points leader Brad Keselowski will start eighth in today's race (11:20 a.m., ESPN2).

At Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Montreal, Canada

Lap length: 2.709 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (47) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 97.079.

2. (32) Jacques Villeneuve, Toy., 96.924.

3. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 96.65.

4. (60) Carl Edwards, Ford, 96.43.

5. (09) Boris Said, Ford, 96.345.

6. (38) Jason Leffler, Toyota, 96.33.

7. (98) Paul Menard, Ford, 96.191.

8. (22) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 96.157.

9. (33) Max Papis, Chevrolet, 96.111.

10. (18) Brad Coleman, Toyota, 96.021.

11. (27) Andrew Ranger, Dodge, 95.908.

12. (81) Mike McDowell, Dodge, 95.509.

13. (00) Pat Carpentier, Toyota, 95.375.

14. (16) Colin Braun, Ford, 95.343.

15. (88) Ron Fellows, Chevrolet, 95.323.

16. (07) Robby Gordon, Chev., 95.244.

17. (7) J.R. Fitzpatrick, Chevr., 95.056.

18. (66) Steve Wallace, Toyota, 94.925.

19. (62) Bre. Gaughan, Toyota, 94.68.

20. (99) Trevor Bayne, Toyota, 94.533.

21. (26) Parker Kligerman, Dod., 94.191.

22. (23) Alex Kennedy, Chev., 94.171.

23. (6) Rick Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 94.093.

24. (12) Justin Allgaier, Dodge, 94.037.

25. (35) Tony Ave, Chevrolet, 93.949.

26. (11) Brian Scott, Toyota, 93.948.

27. (97) Joe Nemechek, Chev., 93.919.

28. (43) Justin Marks, Ford, 93.575.

29. (10) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, 93.308.

30. (24) D.J. Kennington, Ford, 93.236.

31. (87) Paulie Harraka, Chev., 93.103.

32. (34) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 93.098.

33. (01) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 93.094.

34. (59) Kyle Kelley, Chevrolet, 93.092.

35. (05) Vic Gonzalez Jr., Chev., 92.942.

36. (15) Michael Annett, Toyota, 92.735.

37. (40) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 92.666.

38. (89) Brett Rowe, Chevrolet, 92.593.

39. (82) Tomy Drissi, Dodge, 92.46.

40. (28) Kenny Wallace, Chev., 92.039.

41. (70) Mark Green, Chevrolet, 91.123.

42. (21) Morg. Shepherd, Chev., 89.957.

43. (36) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 90.872.

Failed to Qualify

44. (41) Stanton Barrett, Chev., 92.189.

45. (31) Kevin O'Connell, Chev., 91.095.

46. (61) Pierre Bourque, Ford, 90.131.