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Despite the opening lap smash up, the race stayed green the rest of the day. Fuel mileage would become an important factor, as well as smart pitting. Teams had to ensure their cars would not go back out in traffic, scuttling their out-laps.
Will Power was a man possessed all day long. Power’s 2015 has gotten off to a rocky start. He finished 2nd at St. Pete, but bad pit timing in NOLA, bad luck in qualifying at Long Beach (coupled with getting caught behind a stalled Filippi on the first round of pit stops), and crashing into Takuma Sato at Barber, have all conspired to push the 2014 series champ down the standings. Power’s luck at Indy as not been the best and he needed a good race to put his season back on track.
Pagenaud ran in the top three all day long and was poised to end on the podium, his first as a Penske driver. Unfortunately a mechanical problem was discovered in his final pit stop and he would be the first car to DNF.
Juan Pablo Montoya had a quiet, but successful day. He kept his nose clean and ended up a solid 3rd, further stretching his points lead. Juan is on a roll, having won in St. Pete and leading the points chase ever since, with a combination of good driving, luck, and consitency.
The feel-good story of the day was once again Graham Rahal. Rahal was on a charge, taking his good fortune from the Lap 1 incident and making the most of it. His team pushed him all the way up to 2nd with excellent pit work after his first stop. He would lead a handful of laps throughout the day and after his final pit stop, set his sights on leader Will Power. Power was in fuel saving mode, while Rahal was on a charge, closing to within 1.5 seconds of Power by the end of the race.
But Rahal's charge wasn’t enough. Power kept the perfect mix of speed and mileage and would take the checkered flags, winning the second annual Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Rahal would later say even if he had caught Power, Will was just too quick to pass. Power lead 65 of the 82 laps, utterly dominating the event.
