LONG POND - After he qualified fourth Saturday for the Pocono IndyCar 400 Fueled by Sunoco at Pocono Raceway, Will Power said he was hoping for a top-5 finish in Sunday's IZOD IndyCar Series race.
He got it, placing fourth behind the Ganassi Racing trio of Scott Dixon, Charles Kimball and Dario Franchitti.
"It was a good day and a good finish," Power said. "The boys gave me some great pit stops today and it was really important for us to score some good points and continue to make up ground in the championship."
It has been an uncharacteristically slow season for the driver of the No. 12 Penske Chevrolet, who has finished second in the point standings each of the last three seasons. Sunday marked just his third top-5 finish and he has finished outside the top 15 six times. Despite winning three poles, Power hasn't won since April 29, 2012, in Brazil.
"I really like this track here at Pocono," said Power, who is now ninth in the point standings. "It seemed like it was a good crowd and we gave it all we had out there. A very physical race but a good result for us in the end."
Local man honored
Panther Racing named Staff Sgt. Michael Kacer of Throop as its honorary "Hometown Hero" for the race. Beginning in 2008, the program highlights an extraordinary soldier from the host state's National Guard.
Kacer joined the Pennsylvania National Guard in 1999 and was wounded in Afghanistan, which resulted in the amputation of his left arm. He retired from the military but still represents the Army in the military paralympics competition.
Fifth is best
Josef Newgarden finished fifth, tying his IZOD IndyCar Series career-best finish, set earlier this season at Brazil.
"What a great team effort," Newgarden said. "They did a killer job; they work really hard. We have some great engineers, great mechanics. It's an incredible group and they showed exactly what they've been putting in for our program. It's good to get representative results, and for today we got a great one."
Trouble from the start
Sebastian Saavedra started 18th but a stuck throttle forced him into the pits after the first lap and ended his day after running just two.
"We ran into exactly the same issue as in qualifying with our throttle getting stuck as soon as we turned on the car," Saavedra said. "With that, we couldn't race. So we came in to change the throttle and that was the end of our day. It's been a very tough season for us and we cannot seem to catch a break. All we can do is stay focused with a positive attitude and see what happens next."
Poconotes
Jeff Gordon, a six-time NASCAR winner at Pocono, watched the race with his son, Leo. "To be back here in Pocono with the Indy cars, how could we miss that?" Gordon said. "It's so cool. I'm being here as a race fan and enjoying it." ... Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford drives the pace car for the IndyCar Series. He won at Pocono in 1974. Sunday, he and his wife, Betty, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at the track. ... Roger Rominski, a student at the Scranton School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children, signed the national anthem, which was sung by Stroudsburg native Christian Porter, who was a contestant this year on the NBC show "The Voice." ... Firestone Racing selected a more durable right-side tire specification for the Pocono race weekend after several cars blistered right-rear tires during a test at the track June 25. The new tire specification ran issue-free all weekend.