2011 Kentucky Indy 300

The 2011 Kentucky Indy 300 was the twelfth running of the Kentucky Indy 300 and the seventeenth round of the 2011 IndyCar Series season. It took place on Sunday, October 2, 2011. The race contested over 200 laps at the 1.480-mile (2.382 km) Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky.

2011 Kentucky

Race details
17th round of the 2011 IndyCar Series season
Date	October 2, 2011
Official name	Kentucky Indy 300
Location	Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Kentucky
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.480 mi / 2.382 km
Distance	200 laps 296 mi / 476.366 km
Weather	76 °F (24 °C), overcast
Pole position
Driver	Will Power (Verizon Team Penske)
Time	24.2910
Fastest lap
Driver	Ed Carpenter (Dollar General/Sarah Fisher Racing)
Time	24.3847 (on lap 73 of 200)
Podium
First	Ed Carpenter (Dollar General/Sarah Fisher Racing)
Second	Dario Franchitti (Downy/Chip Ganassi)
Third	Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing)

This would ultimately be the last classified race of Dan Wheldon's career. In the following race, Wheldon would be involved in a 15-car accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which would claim his life. The race was abandoned, and therefore was not classified as an official race. Buddy Rice and Vítor Meira were also in this and the next race, after which they made no more IndyCar starts, making this the final classified race of their careers as well. This was also the final classified race for the Newman/Haas Racing.

Grid

Dan Wheldon, whose only race to date in the 2011 IndyCar series had been his win at the Indianapolis 500, replaced Alex Tagliani in the Sam Schmidt Motorsports #77 car.^[1]

Row	Inside		Outside
1	12	Will Power	38	Graham Rahal
2	06	James Hinchcliffe (R)	67	Ed Carpenter
3	4	J. R. Hildebrand (R)	26	Marco Andretti
4	9	Scott Dixon	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay
5	2	Oriol Servià	83	Charlie Kimball (R)
6	10	Dario Franchitti	27	Mike Conway
7	78	Simona de Silvestro	7	Danica Patrick
8	17	Wade Cunningham (R)	3	Hélio Castroneves
9	44	Buddy Rice	6	Ryan Briscoe
10	82	Tony Kanaan	24	Ana Beatriz (R)
11	14	Vítor Meira	5	Takuma Sato
12	59	E. J. Viso	19	Alex Lloyd
13	34	Dillon Battistini (R)	22	Townsend Bell
14	18	James Jakes (R)	77	Dan Wheldon †
15	30	Pippa Mann

† Did not qualify.

Results

Pos[2]	Name	Laps	Start (Moves)
1	Ed Carpenter 67	200	4 (+3)
2	Dario Franchitti 10	200	11 (+9)
3	Scott Dixon 9	200	7 (+4)
4	(R) James Hinchcliffe 06	200	3 (-1)
5	Ryan Hunter-Reay 28	200	8 (+3)
6	Oriol Servia 2	200	9 (-3)
7	(R) Wade Cunningham 17	200	15 (+8)
8	Ryan Briscoe 6	200	18 (+10)
9	Buddy Rice 44	200	17 (+8)
10	Danica Patrick 7	200	14 (+4)
11	Townsend Bell 22	200	26 (+15)
12	Graham Rahal 38	200	2 (-10)
13	(R) Charlie Kimball 83	200	10 (-3)
14	Dan Wheldon 77	200	28 (+13)
15	Takuma Sato 5	200	22 (+7)
16	Vítor Meira 14	200	21 (+5)
17	Tony Kanaan 82	200	19 (+2)
18	Mike Conway 27	200	13 (-5)
19	Will Power 12	200	1 (-18)
20	(R) JR Hildebrand 4	199	5 (-15)
21	(R) James Jakes 18	198	27 (+6)
22	Pippa Mann 30	197	29 (+7)
23	EJ Viso 59	192	23 (0)
24	(R) Ana Beatriz 24	Ret	20 (-4)
25	Simona De Silvestro 78	Ret	13 (-18)
26	Alex Lloyd 19	Ret	24 (-2)
27	Marco Andretti 26	Ret	6 (-21)
28	(R) Dillon Battistini 34	Ret	25 (-3)
29	Hélio Castroneves 3	Ret	16 (-13)

Italics indicates the pole sitter

Bold indicates the podium

References

1. "This Week's Racing". Courier-Post. 2011-09-30. 4D. Retrieved 2018-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
2. 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series - Kentucky Indy 300 [Full race], retrieved 2022-05-30

Previous race: 2011 Indy Japan: The Final	IndyCar Series 2011 season	Next race: 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship
Previous race: 2010 Kentucky Indy 300	Kentucky Indy 300	Next race: N/A