Dario Franchitti won an IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday, but you wouldn't know it from his comments at the end of the night.
We got hosed tonight. And I hope we don't get hosed for the championship by these points or I'll be pissed.
Franchitti was upset because, after he won the first race, TMS used a random draw process during halftime, described by observers as having a game show feel, to determine the start positions of the second race. Franchitti started just where he would have if race officials had simply inverted the first race finish order, but overall points rival Will Power drew the third position.
Power outdueled Scott Dixon for the win in the second race, and though Franchitti worked his way to a tenth-place finish in the second race, Power picked up points on him during the weekend. He had led Franchitti by seven points heading into the weekend.
The weekend was not only notable for the IndyCar's first doubleheader event in 30 years. A caution-free second race (the first IndyCar race at TMS without a caution) had the second fastest closed course race average speed in history at 206.64.