The ensuing yellow, however, saw the majority of the contenders opt to pit for fuel and tyres, but Andretti remained on course, confident that the cautions would fall for him later on. The AGR driver lead Ernesto Viso, Bell and Patrick at the top of the order, before Kanaan resumed in fifth after winning the race of pit-road. The next yellow came too soon for Andretti, when Hunter-Reay was nerfed out by Mario Moraes just two quick tours after the restart, and only Patrick, Hideki Mutoh and Dixon - twice, the second to try and cure a handling deficiency that had plagued him all night - took the opportunity to stop. Manning and Briscoe, meanwhile, swelled the number of runners by returning in pursuit of vital points.
Viso resistance in second did not last long, but Andretti again made the most of the clear track to pull away in the lead, eventually stretching his fuel over 100 laps before being forced to pit under the longest green of the night so far. With a lap of Richmond taking just over 14 seconds to complete, the AGR car went a lap down, and it was sometime before he was able to get the deficit back.
Typically for a driver who can't buy a break at the moment, the remainder of the field was given the opportunity to make their final stops under caution, as Camara's breakthrough performance came to a sad end exiting turn four on lap 217. Kanaan won the race to rejoin the track - albeit after nosing ahead of Castroneves at pit exit - and the die was cast for the rest of the race.
The fourth AGR car wasn't so lucky, Mutoh breaking a half-shaft as he gunned the throttle to rejoin, but the remainder of the fild would have made it to the chequer had Briscoe and Carpenter not decided to peel off when it became obvious that they could not gain any further ground after their downtime.
