IndyCar: Will Power wins rain-shortened 2019 ABC Supply 500

Will Power secured his first victory of the 2019 IndyCar season by winning the rain-shortened and controversial ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.

Team Penske’s Will Power entered the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway winless in the 2019 IndyCar season, but he entered the race having won it twice in the last three seasons and having finished in second place in it last year.

For the third time in the last four seasons, Power conquered the “Tricky Triangle”, but he never did it quite like he did this afternoon.

Power started this 128-lap rain-shortened (from 200) race around the three-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Pocono Raceway oval in Long Pond, Pennsylvania in fifth place in his #12 Chevrolet. While he won the race after it had been red-flagged for rain, he officially won it by 5.4688 seconds over Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in second in his #9 Honda.

More from IndyCar

The race’s first green flag lap was frighteningly reminiscent of last year’s.

Three veteran drivers, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato, Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe were all once again involved in a five-car wreck going into turn two that involved a rookie driver, this time Chip Ganassi Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist, getting into the fence.

Fortunately, Rosenqvist’s #10 Honda did not get completely up into the fence like the #6 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda of rookie Robert Wickens did last year, leaving Wickens paralyzed from the waist down.

Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi was involved in today’s wreck, whereas Dale Coyne Racing rookie Pietro Fittipaldi was involved in last year’s. In fact, the wreck took place after Rossi had a poor start and Sato tried to cut across him between turns one and two, at which point Hunter-Reay was on the inside of a three-wide battle.

Here's how drivers saw the Lap 1 incident at @PoconoRaceway. #ABCSupply500 // #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/Kv4C25557p
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) August 18, 2019

This incident has sparked all kinds of comments from fans and drivers alike regarding (1) Sato and (2) whether or not Pocono Raceway should remain on the schedule moving forward. Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured this year.

This wreck also caused a lengthy 45-minute red flag period for fence repairs, just like last year but shorter, that ultimately played a role in no more than 128 of the laps being completed before the bad weather rolled in.

Hinchcliffe, Hunter-Reay and Rossi all came back out onto the track later after their cars were repaired and they served 10-lap penalties for having their cars worked on during a red flag period.

Meanwhile, Power won the race after being on both ends of the strategy spectrum. He made a pit stop before a timely caution flag period took place to move from the back end of the top 10 to second place, and he fell from the front of the field toward the mid-pack after an untimely caution period began before he had the opportunity to make his next pit stop.

Behind Power and Dixon were Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud, Dale Coyne Racing rookie Santino Ferrucci and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who started the race from the the pole position, in third, a career-high fourth and fifth place in their #22 Chevrolet, #19 Honda and #2 Chevrolet, respectively.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Carpenter tied his season-high finish by finishing in sixth place in his #20 Chevrolet. Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan’s Sebastien Bourdais finished in seventh in his #18 Honda. A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Tony Kanaan finished in a season-high eighth in his #14 Chevrolet.

Rounding out the top 10 in their #15 Honda and #23 Chevrolet were Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal and Carlin’s Charlie Kimball in ninth and a season-high 10th place, respectively.

This race featured a total of 12 lead changes among four drivers. Aside of Power, who led 31 laps, three other drivers led at least one lap of the race. Pagenaud led more laps than anybody else in the field with 64 laps led. Dixon and Newgarden also led.

This race also featured a total of four caution flag periods for 23 laps. The two caution flag periods aside of the first and last one took place as a result of single-car wrecks involving Ed Carpenter Racing’s Spencer Pigot and Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta on lap 40 and lap 74, respectively.

When the race was called, 16 drivers were classified as running, including the top 15 and Rossi in 18th place in his #27 Honda. The top 12 finishers finished on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2019 ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.

Race Results
1st – Will Power
2nd – Scott Dixon
3rd – Simon Pagenaud
4th – Santino Ferrucci
5th – Josef Newgarden
6th – Ed Carpenter
7th – Sebastien Bourdais
8th – Tony Kanaan
9th – Graham Rahal
10th – Charlie Kimball
11th – Conor Daly
12th – Marcus Ericsson
13th – Zach Veach
14th – Matheus Leist
15th – Marco Andretti
16th – Colton Herta
17th – Spencer Pigot
18th – Alexander Rossi
19th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
20th – James Hinchcliffe
21st – Takuma Sato
22nd – Felix Rosenqvist

Next. Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time. dark

IndyCar is set to return to action following this bizarre race in less than one week, as the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 24. This race is set to be broadcast live from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Illinois on NBC Sports Network beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.