2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships

The 2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships[2] was the 15th and final showdown of the 2012 IndyCar Series season. The event took place on September 15, at the 2.000-mile (3.219 km) Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. It was the first IndyCar race at this facility since 2005, the first 500-mile open-wheel race outside Indianapolis since the CART-sanctioned 2002 The 500 at Fontana (the planned 2003 CART race was canceled due to wildfires in the area), and the first 500-mile IndyCar Series race outside Indianapolis.[3]

United States 2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships
Race details
Race 15 of 15 in the 2012 IndyCar Series season
DateSeptember 15, 2012
Official nameMAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships
LocationAuto Club Speedway, Fontana, California
CoursePermanent racing facility
2.000 mi / 3.219 km
Distance250 laps
500.000 mi / 804.672 km
Weather98 °F (37 °C), fair skies[1]
Pole position
DriverMarco Andretti (Andretti Autosport)
Time216.069 mph (347.729 km/h)
Podium
FirstEd Carpenter (Ed Carpenter Racing)
SecondDario Franchitti (Chip Ganassi Racing)
ThirdScott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing)

The race, originally scheduled for 400 miles (200 laps), as was the case for the 2002–05 IndyCar races at Auto Club Speedway, reverted to the classic 500 mile, 250-lap distance used at the Ontario Motor Speedway for major races and both the six CART FedEx Championship Series races (1997–2002) and the first 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup races (1997–2010) held at Auto Club Speedway. Attendance at the event was estimated to be 25,000 to 30,000 people.[4]

Report

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Qualifying

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Marco Andretti took his first pole position since Milwaukee in 2008 with a two lap average speed of 216.069 mph (347.729 km/h).[5] Over half the field incurred 10-place grid penalties for engine changes, most for an unapproved engine change – engines must clock 1850 miles before they be changed without penalty – however both championship contenders Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay incurred a penalty for exceeding the five engine limit for the year, both of whom fit their sixth Chevrolet engine.[6]

Classification

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Starting grid

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Row Inside Outside
1 26   Marco Andretti 216.069 2   Ryan Briscoe 216.058
2 11   Tony Kanaan 214.877 4   J. R. Hildebrand 214.719
3 20   Ed Carpenter 214.684 8   Rubens Barrichello 213.527
4 6   Katherine Legge (R) 213.308 22   Oriol Servià 212.533
5 10   Dario Franchitti 211.999 17   Sebastián Saavedra 210.619
6 5   E. J. Viso 210.134 19   James Jakes 208.056
7 12   Will Power 215.940 67   Josef Newgarden (R) 215.919
8 9   Scott Dixon 215.391 98   Alex Tagliani 215.226
9 3   Hélio Castroneves 214.409 38   Graham Rahal 214.015
10 27   James Hinchcliffe 213.726 77   Simon Pagenaud (R) 213.282
11 15   Takuma Sato 213.222 28   Ryan Hunter-Reay 212.773
12 83   Charlie Kimball 211.531 14   Wade Cunningham (R) 209.526
13 18   Justin Wilson No Speed 78   Simona de Silvestro No Speed
Newgarden, Dixon, Tagliani, Rahal, Hinchcliffe, Pagenaud, Sato, Kimball,
Cunningham, Wilson and de Silvestro penalized 10 places for unapproved engine change
Power, Castroneves and Hunter-Reay penalized 10 places for exceeding five-engine limit

Race results

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Ed Carpenter, winner of the 2012 MAVTV 500
Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points1
1 20   Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 250 2:57:34.7433 5 62 52
2 10   Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 250 + 1.9 s 9 15 40
3 9   Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 250 + 2.6 s 15 25 35
4 28   Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 250 + 3.0 s 22 0 32
5 3   Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 250 + 4.2 s 17 2 30
6 38   Graham Rahal Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 250 + 5.4 s 18 0 28
7 15   Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 249 Contact 21 6 26
8 26   Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 249 + 1 lap 1 3 25
9 6   Katherine Legge (R) Dragon Racing Chevrolet 249 + 1 lap 7 0 22
10 83   Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 249 + 1 lap 23 0 20
11 4   J. R. Hildebrand Panther Racing Chevrolet 248 + 2 laps 4 56 19
12 19   James Jakes Dale Coyne Racing Honda 248 + 2 laps 12 10 18
13 27   James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 247 + 3 laps 19 0 17
14 14   Wade Cunningham A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 246 + 4 laps 24 0 16
15 77   Simon Pagenaud (R) Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports Honda 246 + 4 laps 20 0 15
16 67   Josef Newgarden (R) Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda 244 + 6 laps 14 1 14
17 2   Ryan Briscoe Team Penske Chevrolet 244 + 6 laps 2 2 13
18 11   Tony Kanaan KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 240 Contact 3 47 12
19 22   Oriol Servià Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet 231 + 19 laps 6 0 12
20 98   Alex Tagliani Team Barracuda – BHA Honda 229 Contact 16 21 12
21 17   Sebastián Saavedra Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 118 Electrical 10 0 12
22 8   Rubens Barrichello KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 107 Mechanical 6 0 12
23 18   Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Honda 80 Mechanical 25 0 12
24 12   Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 66 Contact 13 0 12
25 5   E. J. Viso KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 65 Mechanical 11 0 10
26 78   Simona de Silvestro HVM Racing Lotus 16 Mechanical 26 0 10
OFFICIAL BOX SCORE
[7]
Notes

1 Points include 1 point for pole position and 2 points for most laps led.

References

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  1. ^ "Hunter-Reay Wins IZOD IndyCar Series Title as Carpenter Wins MAVTV 500". Auto Club Speedway. September 15, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  2. ^ "MAVTV - IZOD IndyCar Series Finale Now: MAVTV 500". August 10, 2012. Archived from the original on September 20, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
  3. ^ Miller, Robin (1 October 2011). "INDYCAR: 2012 Schedule Revealed". Speed Channel, Inc. Retrieved 8 June 2012.
  4. ^ Peltz, Jim (September 17, 2012). "IndyCar Series finale makes for great show in Fontana". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
  5. ^ Lewandowski, Dave (September 14, 2012). "Hunter-Reay to start near rear of field in title race". IndyCar Series. IndyCar. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  6. ^ Lewandowski, Dave (September 14, 2012). "More than half of the field to incure grid penalty". IndyCar Series. IndyCar. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  7. ^ "Official Box Score" (PDF). indycar.com. Indycar. 2012-09-16. Retrieved 2012-09-17.


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2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore
IndyCar Series
2012 season
Next race:
2013 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Previous race:
2005 Toyota Indy 400
MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships Next race:
2013 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships