What We Learned: It's pronounced "Sa-owng" Paulo

In Portuguese, the tilde'd "a" followed by an "o" results in an "-owng" sound (you could also picture it in your brain as being the same way that Larry McReynolds pronounces the word "song"). "Sao," of course, is the Portuguese equivalent of "San," which is Spanish for "Saint." So the city's name is actually "Saint Paul" in English.

This impromptu language lesson is meant to distract you from the fact that the ratings for the ITAIPAVA Sao Paulo Indy 300 on VERSUS will be examined under a microscope. The reason? BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN SEE SOMETHING THAT SMALL!! *rimshot*

The race finally did get underway this morning before anyone was really awake (and finished before anyone was really awake too), so at least the weekend wasn't a total writeoff. Plus, if you ended up showing up for the rescheduled event, you probably got really good seats.

Our quick judgments after the jump...

#FTW

• Kudos to Sao Paulo, who collectively elected to hold the rescheduled INDYCAR race this morning even though it kept a major traffic artery closed. Incredibly, there were still quite a few fans that showed up for the race... probably more than tuned in for the broadcast on VERSUS.
• Will Power essentially has a non-expiring reservation for this list until we get to ovals. He won the race from the pole - although it was his crew's crafty pit strategy that really did the heavy lifting this time.
• Takuma Sato is fast. There's no questioning that. He showed he's got a giant pair of stones to go with his speed with an exceptional outside pass of Power to take over the lead late in the going. A strong finish even after a late pit stop lost him the lead is a positive sign for him and KV Racing. Kudos also to Simona de Silvestro, who set the fastest lap of the race, and EJ Viso, who finished the whole race without wrecking (although he did get a blocking penalty).
  
• Can anyone stop the juggernaut that is Dario Franchitti? The guy puts his car into the runoff-area tires and still comes back to finish fourth and stay within spitting distance of the championship lead. He certainly has the angel on his shoulder (and we're not talking about Ashley jumping up for a piggyback ride).

#FTL

• Race Control gets a giant raspberry for its inexplicable indecision towards the end of the day on Sunday. It was clear that the race would not restart because of torrential rain and impending darkness - yet the brain trust kept everyone waiting, announcing a postponement only to rescind it moments later, then making the teams (the actual competitors) the last to know what was going on. Fail.
• Ryan Hunter-Reay... boy, is this guy bipolar in his performances or what? Hunter-Reay spent two days in the spin cycle and took over the top spot in the race to see who could have the most incidents in a single race weekend from EJ Viso. A weekend to forget.
• Sebastien Bourdais must be wondering why he decided to go IndyCar racing again after finishing dead last in Brazil. He's not the only one wondering.
• And where would this list be without Helio Castroneves, who seemed determined to get his weekly wreck in no matter the circumstances. Another first lap, another incident for Helio. Of course, this week's excuse is pure Milli Vanilli so he'll probably escape any sort of penalty. But you have to wonder... will this case of the yips keep him from winning Indy again this year?