IRL IndyCar® Series teammates work together on and off the track to create and confirm their most competitive car setups possible for race day. But “May the best man win” also is understood.
Such was the case July 4, when Rahal Letterman Racing garage neighbors Buddy Rice and Vitor Meira hooked up in a 10-lap duel to the checkered flag in the Argent Mortgage Indy 300.
Traveling at more than 205 mph after 199 laps, the difference between winning and losing came down to about 7 inches. And the winner was ... Rice, in the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Racing Argent/Pioneer Panoz G Force/Honda/Firestone, who beat Meira to the finish line by .0051 of a second - the second-closest finish in IndyCar Series history.
The crowd at sold out Kansas Speedway watched an early and extended fireworks show.
“It’s fun being able to race like that and being part of a historical moment, especially on the Fourth of July weekend,” said Rice, an Arizona native who sat on the MBNA pole at 210.141 mph. “This is an American series, so it’s nice to be able to carry the colors for the U.S. in our home country.”
The teammates were at or near the top of the pack the entire race. Rice led 83 laps and Meira - who previously led only eight laps at Texas last October - led 37. It was on a Lap 186 restart after 11 caution laps that they began their side-by-side race to the finish.
On Lap 189, Rice led by .0004 of a second. On Lap 193, Meira was thwarted on high-line pass attempts in Turn 2 and down the backstretch. On Lap 195, Meira put the nose of the No. 17 Rahal Letterman Racing Team Centrix Panoz G Force/Honda/Firestone ahead of Rice’s car. On Lap 198, team co-owner Bobby Rahal was biting his lip.
As they took the white flag, Meira had nosed ahead again. Coming out of Turn 4, with the crowd on its feet, it still looked like anyone’s race.
“I knew Vitor was there the whole time, but I thought I got him right at the line,” said Rice, who added to his Indianapolis 500 victory. “I knew what Vitor had on that restart. Sometimes you run against other people you’re not exactly sure what their strong points are just yet. But Vitor, it was going to be the same.”
The only closer IndyCar Series race was at Chicagoland in 2002 when Sam Hornish Jr. beat Al Unser Jr. by .0024 of a second.
Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner who moved his open-wheel operation to the IndyCar Series this season, said he couldn’t ask for anything more.
“The success that we’re having as a team is, in my mind, because of the cooperation and the real teamwork that Buddy and Vitor exhibit,” he said. “Nobody’s playing games. It’s truly a team.
“As I say, boy, 1-2, what more can you ask for?”
All the while after the restart, Tony Kanaan in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone was stalking in third place.
“I knew they wouldn’t make a mistake,” said Kanaan, the IndyCar Series points leader who started on the outside of the front row and finished 0.2015 of a second behind in third. “I think the right way to win is passing those guys, it’s not expecting them to make any mistakes.
“In the last 10 laps, I think they did a great job. They kept controlling the pace. Buddy was lifting to keep Vitor on the outside. I was trying to stick my nose in it, which is the biggest part of my body, trying to find a hole there. It didn’t work out.”
The runner-up finish - his second in a row - was well-received by Meira, who was added to the Rahal Letterman Racing team in a second car for the Indy Japan 300 in April. In his other races, he has finished 17th, sixth and sixth.
“The last 10 laps was like a hundred,” said Meira, who topped the speed chart in the final morning practice session. “Of course, I wanted to win. Of course, I was going to be happier if I won. Sometimes you win, sometimes you do mistakes, sometimes you don’t. Buddy did everything right."
Meira's opportunity for the victory might have been quashed midway through the race when his clutch slipped and the car stalled during a pit stop on Lap 107. He held a 5.4-second lead on Rice on the previous lap. But he quickly rejoined the leaders.
“From our part, we did not do everything perfectly," Meira said. "Anyway, I’ll take it anytime. Winning is always better. But it’s a 1-2 for the team.”
Andretti Green Racing’s Dario Franchitti finished fourth and Bryan Herta fifth. Franchitti, who qualified ninth, started from the back of the field because his crew changed the engine in the No. 27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone after qualifying. Herta, the 2003 race winner, moved from the 10th starting position.
“It was a great day for the ArcaEx car,” Franchitti said. “We started back in the back and worked our way up front. My ArcaEx guys did a great job in the pits today and another top-five finish isn’t too bad.”
