Hunter-Reay wins Toronto IndyCar race

Toronto -- Ryan Hunter-Reay is now on a three-race IndyCar winning streak after capturing Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place.

Hunter-Reay not only tied Will Power for the most race wins this season, he passed the Team Penske driver for the series points lead. Hunter-Reay leads by 34 points with five races left.

Hunter-Reay, an Andretti Autosport driver, also won at Milwaukee and Iowa, both ovals.

Power, who also won three races in succession earlier this season, finished 15th after a cut tire forced him to pit and fall a lap behind.

The combination of factors left Hunter-Reay unsure how to proceed but sure of this much:

"It really shows that this team can (excel) on all types of tracks," Hunter-Reay said. "We know we can compete for this championship."

Said Hunter-Reay's team owner, Michael Andretti, "Just keep doing what you're doing; don't change anything."

That means being late to the Thursday engineering meeting for the fourth consecutive race weekend, Andretti joked.

Among U.S. drivers, Hunter-Reay, born in Dallas but living in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., became the first since 2006 to lead the IndyCar standings (the last was Sam Hornish Jr.) and the first to have a three-race winning streak (the last was A.J. Allmendinger).

Charlie Kimball of Camarillo, Calif., finished a career-best second to give America its second t 1-2 IndyCar finish in three races. The last 1-2 U.S. finish was two weeks ago at Iowa (Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti), but that was the first time it happened since Hornish and Marco Andretti accomplished it in the 2006 Indianapolis 500.

Kimball, a diabetic, had never finished better than eighth, and in this case he emerged from a wild final green-flag lap.

For starters, Sebastien Bourdais slid into the tire barrier while alongside Kimball. That was at Turn 1, and the initial contact came from Mike Conway bumping Kimball into Bourdais. Two corners later, Ryan Briscoe got collected with reigning series champion Dario Franchitti, and there was a bunch-up of Justin Wilson, Simon Pagenaud and Ed Carpenter just past them.

The race ended under caution, as the Iowa race did.

Conway finished third, the first podium for A.J. Foyt Racing since Vitor Meira in Brazil in 2010.

Scott Dixon's championship hopes took a hit when his Honda engine failed early in the race, and the problem will carry over to the July 22 race in Edmonton. He will incur a 10-spot penalty at the start of that race for exceeding the maximum number of engines permitted in a season (five).

Dixon's Ganassi Racing teammates struggled, too. Graham Rahal saw Kimball, another Ganassi driver, slip past heading to Turn 3, but they were still side-by-side as the corner arrived. Light contact dumped Kimball into the tire barrier, although the hit was light enough for him to roll back and continue.

Rahal didn't take damage from that incident, but he hit the wall a few laps later when he locked the brakes stalking Helio Castroneves.

"That was my fault," Rahal said.

Franchitti's trouble came on the first pit stop, when he didn't stop close enough to the fueling rig for the hose to connect. The crew had to raise the car and physically move it closer to the pit wall before the fuel could be put in. Franchitti returned to the race in 20th place.

James Hinchcliffe of nearby Oakville, Ontario, suffered a mechanical failure despite the Chevrolet being new in the Andretti car this weekend. Andretti thought Hinchcliffe was in position to finish second.

Power had contact with rookie Josef Newgarden, which led to a broken front wing for Power. Power was able to drive with it for a few corners, but it folded under the left front tire, cutting it. He pitted once just for tires, then again for a new wing after getting lapped by Hunter-Reay. He never recovered.

Tony Kanaan, who was slapped with a penalty for hitting Oriol Servia's tire on a mid-race pit stop, finished fourth with Servia fifth. Castroneves finished sixth, his best on the 1.75-mile Toronto street circuit.