Beyond the Flag
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IndyCar: Top 5 strangest races since 2010

By Asher Fair

FORT WORTH, TX - AUGUST 27: James Hinchcliffe, driving the #10 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda leads the pack late in the race during the Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on August 27, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ralph Lauer/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway)
FORT WORTH, TX - AUGUST 27: James Hinchcliffe, driving the #10 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda leads the pack late in the race during the Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on August 27, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Ralph Lauer/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway) /
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EDMONTON, AB – JULY 25: The start of the Indy Car Series Honda Indy Edmonton on July 25, 2010 at Edmonton City Centre Airport in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, AB – JULY 25: The start of the Indy Car Series Honda Indy Edmonton on July 25, 2010 at Edmonton City Centre Airport in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

#5 – 2010 Honda Indy Edmonton

The 2010 Honda Indy Edmonton was actually a fairly normal race. But the sequence of events involved in the ending of the 95-lap race around the 14-turn, 1.973-mile (3.175-kilometer) Edmonton City Centre Airport street circuit in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada makes it one to remember for how strange it was.

Will Power led 76 of the race’s first 77 laps, as he only failed to lead lap 35 as a result of the fact that he came into the pits one lap before Scott Dixon, who led that lap, did. Helio Castroneves inherited the lead from his Team Penske teammate on lap 78 and went on to win the race without ever relinquishing the lead.

But he ended up being scored in 10th place with Dixon as the race winner.

On the race’s final restart with three laps remaining, Castroneves led Power to the green flag. Heading into turn one, Power attempted to pass Castroneves on the outside. Defending his position, Castroneves moved toward the middle of the track, forcing Power even more to his outside and allowing Dixon to take second place.

With under two laps remaining in the race, Castroneves was issued a drive-through penalty for blocking Power because he supposedly “changed lanes” to defend his position. He did not serve this penalty and ended up being given a 30-second time penalty instead, relegating him to a 10th place finish.

Here is a video of the controversial finish to this race (begins at 1:50:00).