2010 Cafes do Brasil Indy 300: Dixon Wins the Season Finale

Scott Dixon won the 2010 Cafes do Brasil Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida on 2 October 2010, the season finale of the IndyCar Series. Danica Patrick took second, only 0.0011 seconds clear of her Andretti Autosport teammate Tony Kanaan. Dario Franchitti secured the championship by five points over Will Power despite finishing eighth on the day.

Who won the 2010 Cafes do Brasil Indy 300?

Dixon, who had started second for Chip Ganassi Racing, completed the 200 laps in front and collected 272,500 dollars. The victory was his third of 2010 and the 24th of his career. He led 47 laps in total, far fewer than Franchitti's 128, but he was in front at the moments that mattered most.

Patrick's finish was the most dramatic of the day. She held her teammate off over the closing five laps, and on lap 200 she used her push-to-pass button to go around Kanaan on the inside into the first corner. Kanaan had already served a drive-through penalty earlier in the race for a fuel hose incident, which cost him ground.

Ryan Briscoe was fourth, with Helio Castroneves fifth and Vitor Meira sixth. Marco Andretti finished seventh, Franchitti eighth, and Dan Wheldon and Graham Rahal completed the top ten.

A 0.0011-second margin behind Dixon and a five-point title win made the 2010 season finale a close one.

Why did the title depend on this race?

Only Franchitti and Will Power could still win the championship before the race. Power led the standings with 587 points, and Franchitti was 12 points behind. Franchitti needed pole, the most laps and the win, and Power had to finish second for Franchitti to take the title.

A tie on points would have gone to Power, who had won five races to Franchitti's three. Franchitti therefore needed to finish at least 13 points ahead of Power in the final tally, and the stakes were clear to every driver on the grid.

Franchitti took pole with a two-lap time of 50.1532 seconds, which cut his deficit to 11 points. He later collected two bonus points for leading the most laps when lap 118 was completed, reducing his deficit to nine. Power's retirement later in the race would settle the matter in Franchitti's favour.

Why was Homestead the final race of its kind?

Homestead-Miami Speedway was left off the 2011 calendar. IndyCar chief executive Randy Bernard announced the decision by email on 8 September 2010, saying the track's owners and the series were not aligned in their objectives. The Miami Herald reported that the track's owner, International Speedway Corporation, had three other circuits that were expected to be removed from the 2011 schedule.

The track's president wanted the race to stay, but he said it could not continue after the series raised the sanctioning fee by 30 percent. Bernard said the series would welcome a return in the future, but he blamed the organisers for failing to promote the event properly.

The 2010 race was the tenth consecutive year the event had been held in the series. It was also the 15th running overall, once the five years it spent on the Championship Auto Racing Teams schedule were counted.

How was the grid set?

Franchitti won the pole, with Dixon alongside him on the front row. Twenty-seven drivers qualified, and each was given two laps, with the times added together. The pole winner also earned one point towards the drivers' standings. Power was third, Briscoe fourth and Dan Wheldon fifth. Justin Wilson, Ed Carpenter, Kanaan, Takuma Sato and Castroneves filled the next five places.

Patrick was the highest-placed woman in qualifying. Five women drove in the event in total: Patrick, Sarah Fisher, Simona de Silvestro, Milka Duno and Ana Beatriz. Beatriz had replaced Mike Conway in the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car, a change announced only eight days before the race.

After qualifying Franchitti said the car had been beautifully balanced by his crew chief, and that he felt his first timed lap had been good. He added that he could now relax a little, having reduced the gap to Power.

What happened in the opening laps?

Around 14,000 spectators watched under clear and mild skies. Air temperatures ranged from 80 to 87 degrees Fahrenheit (27 to 31 degrees Celsius), and the track sat between 85 and 89 degrees Fahrenheit (29 to 32 degrees Celsius), so the start was run in warm conditions.

Franchitti held the front at the start, and Dixon sat in his slipstream as the Ganassi pair pulled away from the others. Castroneves climbed from tenth to fifth by lap ten, while Kanaan gained three places to run third as Power dropped back. Kanaan then passed Dixon for second.

The first caution came on the 36th lap, when Moraes stopped with a mechanical fault in an unsafe section of the track at turn two. The second followed on the 45th lap, after Beatriz slowed on the apron to let the field through and then hit the outside wall at turn four. Patrick had to scramble for space to avoid the stricken car.

How did the lead change in the middle laps?

Briscoe passed Franchitti for the lead on lap 43, only for Franchitti to reclaim it on the next lap, and the pair traded the lead through the middle stint. Kanaan emerged as the fastest car on the track and moved into the leading group.

Franchitti ended up leading 128 laps, more than any other driver. Dixon took the lead on the 62nd lap, and Kanaan passed him for it seven laps later. Power's race broke up on lap 135, when he lost control at turn four while attempting to lap Hunter-Reay. His suspension wishbone was bent, and his team needed five minutes and six seconds to repair the car.

Power rejoined and completed 143 laps before retiring in the pit lane with suspension damage. That left Franchitti needing to finish at least tenth, so he began to save fuel.

What decided the closing laps?

Dixon took the lead on lap 152 and was challenged by Marco Andretti. Andretti tried a move on his right and could not complete it, so he steered left and passed Dixon for the lead on lap 158. Franchitti slipped to fourth after a fourth caution on lap 166.

Chip Ganassi Racing then changed its strategy by asking Franchitti to pit for fuel and tyres, while Dixon stayed on track. Dixon, Castroneves, Kanaan, Patrick, Wheldon and Meira decided against another stop, and Dixon led the restart after two false starts. The green flag was waved on lap 183, and Dixon pulled away while the two Andretti cars fought.

Patrick pressed her teammate hard on the last lap. She used push-to-pass on the inside into the first turn on lap 200 and, despite minor contact with Kanaan, she finished second by 0.0011 seconds. Briscoe, Castroneves, Meira and Andretti were fourth to seventh.

What was the final order?

How did the drivers react?

Dixon said the win was exactly what his team needed to finish the season, and that he had seen early on that Power was struggling. Patrick said second felt like a win for her, and she thanked the crew for a strong end to a season that had its high and low points.

Franchitti said the result showed how much the Target team had given him, and that the success felt great to share. Franchitti reflected on his titles and said he would simply enjoy the moment, promising a fuller answer on the season later. Power was disappointed to lose the title by a small margin for the third year in a row, and he promised to return stronger in 2011. Kanaan apologised to Patrick for the wheel contact late in the race.

How did practice shape the weekend?

There were two practice sessions on the Saturday before the race. In the first, Power set the fastest time at 25.0824 seconds, with Dixon and Briscoe close behind. Franchitti, Castroneves and Wheldon were also in the leading group, and a late caution was shown for an inspection of the track.

The second session was held at night, and Briscoe set the pace with a lap of 25.3160 seconds. Castroneves was 0.0794 seconds slower in second, and Vitor Meira improved on his qualifying result to finish third. Franchitti and Wheldon completed the top five, and the session showed that the Penske and Ganassi cars were close on pace.

Who drove for the smaller teams?

Ana Beatriz took over the No. 24 car from Mike Conway, who sat out after the major accident he suffered at the 2010 Indianapolis 500. It was Beatriz's fourth race of the season, after earlier starts at Sao Paulo, Indianapolis and Chicago.

Sebastian Saavedra, an Indy Lights driver and a Formula BMW race winner, drove the No. 36 car for Conquest Racing. He became the sixth person to race for the team in 2010, a sign of how often the smaller entries changed hands during that season.

How did the teams and rookies react?

Team owner Chip Ganassi said he did not consider team orders for Dixon, because everyone at the team understood how much the title mattered. Meira was pleased with his sixth place and said it was good to finish the season on an up note.

Alex Lloyd was delighted to take the Rookie of the Year title. He said the season had its low points, but that the team had pulled everything together by the end, and he felt the year had been a good one overall.

Briscoe ended the year fifth in the championship with 482 points, after finishing fourth in the race itself.

Where did the championship finish?

Franchitti won the Drivers' Championship by five points over Power, becoming the first back-to-back champion since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2001 and 2002. It was his third title, and the fourth for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon finished third with 547 points, Castroneves fourth on 531 and Briscoe fifth on 482. Power finished five points back.