Ryan Hunter-Reay wins for Andretti at the Milwaukee Mile

Ryan Hunter-Reay put his Team DHL-Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevy in DHL Victory Lane for Andretti Autosport at the Milwaukee Mile and said "Happy Father's Day" to the camera, that he wouldn't be there without his dad. He wouldn't have been there without owner Michael Andretti, whose Andretti Sports Marketing took over promoting the event when IndyCar's initial schedule omitted the track where his family saw so many victories.

"It's amazing. First of all, thank you to all of the fans for coming out, filling a great number of seats in here. What a race. I know we would all have liked to see a little more passing, but from the car it was so busy, just trying to hang on to it. But getting a win for DHL and Sun Drop, it's unreal." Hunter-Reay said. "The script is perfect. This is an Andretti Sports Marketing event. Michael loves the sport and does a lot for it. Milwaukee and IndyCar go hand-in-hand. This is the oldest racing facility in the country and we just won. It's awesome."

Hunter-Reay took the lead on Lap 142 when Helio Castroneves got loose and the No. 28 easily held off second-place finisher Tony Kanaan. James Hinchcliffe passed Oriol Servia on the high side with eight to go and finished third. EJ Viso followed in fifth.

Michael Andretti
Photo by Lisa  Janine Cloud/Skirts and Scuffs

"It's Milwaukee, man. That's why we love coming here, it's always a good show. And you know the rain delay through us for a bit of a loop. That first ten was a bit stale, there was no two grooves. We had to take some time to build that, but after that first stop it went good ol' fashioned Milwaukee. It was great short track racing, cars were falling off, guys were having to drive it."said Hinchcliffe. Obviously Ryan here in winner's circle and another crop on the podium in a race that Michael took over and brought back to life, it means a lot for everybody. "

The IZOD IndyCar Series' third consecutive race on an oval provided solid racing after an hour-long rain delay. Dario Franchitti led the field to the green flag and dominated the early part of the race, but as cautions and pit stops slowed the race, he fell back and with 31 laps to go slammed into the SAFER Barrier, making his bid to repeat as series champion doubtful.

Scott Dixon had a fast car, but was assessed a pass-through penalty for jumping the restart on Lap 103. However, neither Dixon nor anyone in the booth could see where he'd done anything wrong. Dixon managed  to work his way back up to 12th. Dixon said, "I really don't know what happened on the restart where we got penalized. I think the one they waved off was the one we got out of line when EJ Viso was trying to restart at 20 mph. I was in first gear and when it went green, I went. I don't know what the issue was but I'm really looking forward to the explanation from INDYCAR. It's a shame for the Target team and that punishment is pretty harsh."

Other victims of the Milwaukee Mile:
Simona de Silvestro, whose car suffered damage when she spun on Lap 66. "I just made a mistake. TK (Tony Kanaan) passed me and Oriol (Servia) tried to tuck behind him, and I just got in the marbles. It's just unfortunate. Sometimes you make mistakes; that's what happens."

Rookie Josef Newgarden's engine was sputtering, prompting an early pit stop. He ran over the air hammer on the way out of the pits, and instead of serving a stop-and-go penalty, took the car behind the wall. He rejoined the race around Lap 95.

Last week's winner Justin Wilson exited the race when the Honda engine that caused him to start the race with a 10-position penalty gave way.

James Jakes and Takuma Sato made contact, Lap 108, putting both drivers out of the race. "I just think Takuma got low on the inside and was loose and I was caught on the outside, and he just came straight in the side of me." Jake said. "I haven't seen a proper replay yet, but there you go, you can see it there on the TV. Maybe his banzai moves are a little bit too much at times."

JR Hildebrand had mechanical issues at the same time, stopping on the track at the same time as Jakes and Sato's wreck.

Finishing order 

1	Ryan Hunter-Reay	225	Running
2	Tony Kanaan	225	Running
3	James Hinchcliffe	225	Running
4	Oriol Servia	225	Running
5	EJ Viso	225	Running
6	Helio Castroneves	225	Running
7	Alex Tagliani	225	Running
8	Ed Carpenter	225	Running
9	Graham Rahal	225	Running
10	Rubens Barrichello	225	Running
11	Scott Dixon	225	Running
12	Will Power	225	Running
13	Simon Pagenaud	224	Running
14	Ryan Briscoe	224	Running
15	Marco Andretti	224	Running
16	Mike Conway	224	Running
17	Charlie Kimball	224	Running
18	Katherine Legge	220	Running
19	Dario Franchitti	193	Contact
20	Takuma Sato	107	Contact
21	James Jakes	106	Contact
22	JR Hildebrand	105	Mechanical
23	Justin Wilson	93	Mechanical
24	Simona de Silvestro	62	Contact
25	Josef Newgarden	48	Mechanical

IZOD IndyCar Top Ten

1. Will Power   274
2. James Hinchcliffe   243
3. Scott Dixon   239
4. Ryan Hunter-Reay   233
5. Helio Castroneves   231
6. Simon Pagenaud (R)   216
7. Dario Franchitti   205
8. Tony Kanaan   200
9. Ryan Briscoe   193
10. Oriol Servia   173