Power cruises to IndyCar triumph in Toronto
Australia's Will Power continued his IndyCar charge on Sunday with a victory in the Toronto Grand Prix, his third victory in four races.
Circumstances conspired in the Penske driver's favor when he was on pit road for his final service stop when the caution flag came out.
Because Power hadn't lost a lap while making the stop, his car cycled to the front when race leader Scott Dixon and others made their stops.
When the caution lifted and racing resumed, Power was lying second -- but front-runner Tony Kanaan didn't have enough fuel to maintain his lead and Power sailed to a 1.5-second victory over Brazilian Penske team-mate Helio Castroneves.
James Hinchcliffe, a native of the Toronto area, finished third while Kanaan settled for fourth ahead of Japan's Takuma Sato.
Power's 28th career victory pulled him closer to team-mate Simon Pagenaud of France, who now leads the series by 47 points with five races remaining.
Pagenaud was trailing Dixon at the time of the untimely caution, forcing him deep into the pack when he stopped under caution. At the restart, Dixon was 13th and Pagenaud was 14th when moments earlier they had been first and second.
They finished eighth and ninth, respectively.
"We did need a break," said Power, who won on the streets of Exhibition Place for the third time. "That was a great call (to pit). Just a fantastic day."
Power said he saw the caution laps flashing on his dash as he approached his pit box, and he thought, "man, when does this ever happen for us?"
Castroneves also benefitted from the caution, which was called after Josef Newgarden bounced off the wall.
Already nursing a sore right wrist from a June 12 crash at Texas Motor Speedway, Newgarden lost control of his steering wheel when his car ran over a curb.
Newgarden had climbed to second in the standings, 73 points behind Pagenaud, after a July 10 win in Iowa, but Sunday's outcome saw him drop to fifth in the championship chase.