2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships
# 2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships

The 2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships 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.

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.

## Report

### Qualifying

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). 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.

## Classification

### Starting grid

| Row | Inside | Inside | Inside | Outside | Outside | 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

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Laps Led | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 ||||||||||

**Notes**

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

