page_title: 2010 Cafés do Brasil Indy 300
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: 2010 Cafés do Brasil Indy 300 / Background
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Homestead-Miami Speedway. Svenska: Homestead Miami Speedway.
context_page_description: The 2010 Cafés do Brasil Indy 300 was an IndyCar motor race held in front of approximately 14,000 people on October 2, 2010, at the Homestead–Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. It was the 17th and final round of the 2010 IndyCar Series, the final annual edition of the event in the IndyCar Series, and the 15th anniversary of the running of the race. Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon, who started from the second position, won the 200-lap race. Andretti Autosport's Danica Patrick finished second and her teammate Tony Kanaan took third.
  Dixon's teammate Dario Franchitti won the pole position by posting the fastest two-lap effort in qualifying. He led the first 42 laps until Ryan Briscoe passed him on lap 43 but retook the position on the next lap. Franchitti led for a total of 128 laps, more than any other driver. He later opted to drive conservatively after his championship rival Will Power crashed in an unsuccessful attempt to lap Ryan Hunter-Reay on the 135th lap. Dixon took the lead on lap 152, and led a total of 47 laps en route to his third victory of the season — the 24th of his career.
context_section_description: The Cafés do Brasil Indy 300 was confirmed as part of the Indy Racing League's (IRL) 2010 schedule for the IndyCar Series in July 2009. It was the tenth consecutive year the race was held in the series, and the 15th running of the Cafés do Brasil Indy 300, counting the period from 1996 to 2000 when it was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) event. The Cafés do Brasil Indy 300 was the 17th (and final) race scheduled for 2010 by the IRL, and was held on October 2, 2010, in Homestead, Florida, at Homestead–Miami Speedway. It was the second round held in Florida, following the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in March. Tire supplier Firestone brought three types of tire to the race: two dry compounds (black-sidewall "Primary" and red-banded "Alternate") and grooved rain tires.
  At this late stage of the season, Team Penske driver Will Power was the points leader with 587 points, with Dario Franchitti 12 points behind in second. Hélio Castroneves was third with 501 points; Scott Dixon was fourth, and Ryan Briscoe was fifth. 53 points were available for the season's final round which meant Franchitti could win the championship. In the event the two drivers were tied on points, Power would be the champion having won five races to Franchitti's three. Franchitti needed to score 13 more points than Power to win the title.
  After finishing third at the previous round in Motegi, Japan, Power said he was confident he could approach the final race more aggressively and believed it was the first time in his career he had the necessary equipment to win races, and was in a position to do so on oval tracks. Franchitti, who was familiar with Homestead-Miami Speedway, revealed he would not alter his plan and went to the track to win the race; he acknowledged that eliminating the 13-point deficit would not be easy. He also noted the high number of entries for the race had the potential to affect the championship battle, "I think the other guys on the track, they've got their own reasons. They're trying to win the race the same as any other race. And as long as I think they race with the same respect that they have all season, then I think we'll be OK. There's a couple of cars that I think really ... certainly one that's difficult enough to run a consistent lane. So I don't think you can expect much more."
  On September 8, IndyCar Chief Executive Officer Randy Bernard announced via e-mail that Homestead–Miami Speedway would not hold a race in 2011. While he praised the track, the objectives of the track's owners and the series were "not aligned", and the IRL elected to omit Homestead-Miami Speedway from its calendar. The Miami Herald reported the track appeared to suffer management-wise because it was owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation which had three other circuits expected for removal from the 2011 season. Homestead–Miami Speedway's president Matthew Becherer said that he wanted the IndyCar race to remain, but could not do so after the series raised the event's sanctioning fee by 30 percent. Bernard said while the series was receptive to returning to the track in the future, he blamed the organizers for failing to promote IndyCar.
  There were two driver changes for the race. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced eight days beforehand that Ana Beatriz would fill in for regular driver Mike Conway in the team's No. 24 car. Conway had been able to return to full fitness following a major accident in the Indianapolis 500 in May but chose not to compete at Homestead–Miami Speedway because he wanted to regain his strength and focus on the 2011 season. It was Beatriz's fourth race of the season having previously taken part in the rounds at São Paulo, Indianapolis and Chicago. She was one of five women to compete in the event along with Danica Patrick, Sarah Fisher, Simona de Silvestro and Milka Duno. Conquest Racing employed Indy Lights driver and Formula BMW race winner Sebastián Saavedra to drive their No. 36 car, becoming the sixth person to race for the team in 2010.
caption: Homestead-Miami Speedway, where the race was held.
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