| Country: | USA |
| Race: | MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships |
| Date: | September 15 |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Official Name: | MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships |
| Race No: | 15 |
| Season No: | 15 |
| Series: | IndyCar Series |
| Location: | Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, California |
| Course: | Permanent racing facility |
| Course Mi: | 2.000 |
| Course Km: | 3.219 |
| Distance Laps: | 250 |
| Distance Mi: | 500.000 |
| Distance Km: | 804.672 |
| Weather: | 98°F, fair skies[1] |
| Pole Driver: | Marco Andretti |
| Pole Team: | Andretti Autosport |
| Pole Time: | 216.069mph |
| Pole Country: | USA |
| First Driver: | Ed Carpenter |
| First Team: | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| First Country: | USA |
| Second Driver: | Dario Franchitti |
| Second Team: | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Second Country: | GBR |
| Third Driver: | Scott Dixon |
| Third Team: | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Third Country: | NZL |
The 2012 MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships[2] was the 15th and final showdown of the 2012 IndyCar Series season. The event took place on September 15, at the 2miles Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. It was the first IndyCar race at this facility since 2005, the first 500-mile open-wheel race outside Indianapolis since the CART-sanctioned 2002 The 500 at Fontana (the planned 2003 CART race was canceled due to wildfires in the area), and the first 500-mile IndyCar Series race outside Indianapolis.[3]
The race, originally scheduled for 400 miles (200 laps), as was the case for the 2002–05 IndyCar races at Auto Club Speedway, reverted to the classic 500 mile, 250-lap distance used at the Ontario Motor Speedway for major races and both the six CART FedEx Championship Series races (1997–2002) and the first 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup races (1997–2010) held at Auto Club Speedway. Attendance at the event was estimated to be 25,000 to 30,000 people.[4]
Marco Andretti took his first pole position since Milwaukee in 2008 with a two lap average speed of 216.069mph.[5] Over half the field incurred 10-place grid penalties for engine changes, most for an unapproved engine change – engines must clock 1850 miles before they be changed without penalty – however both championship contenders Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay incurred a penalty for exceeding the five engine limit for the year, both of whom fit their sixth Chevrolet engine.[6]
| Row | Inside | Outside | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 |  Marco Andretti | 216.069 | 2 |  Ryan Briscoe | 216.058 | |
| 2 | 11 |  Tony Kanaan | 214.877 | 4 | J. R. Hildebrand | 214.719 | |
| 3 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | 214.684 | 8 | Rubens Barrichello | 213.527 | |
| 4 | 6 |  Katherine Legge (R) | 213.308 | 22 |  Oriol Servià | 212.533 | |
| 5 | 10 | Dario Franchitti | 211.999 | 17 |  Sebastián Saavedra | 210.619 | |
| 6 | 5 |  E. J. Viso | 210.134 | 19 | James Jakes | 208.056 | |
| 7 | 12 | Will Power | 215.940 ‡ | 67 | Josef Newgarden (R) | 215.919 † | |
| 8 | 9 |  Scott Dixon | 215.391 † | 98 |  Alex Tagliani | 215.226 † | |
| 9 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves | 214.409 ‡ | 38 | Graham Rahal | 214.015 † | |
| 10 | 27 | James Hinchcliffe | 213.726 † | 77 |  Simon Pagenaud (R) | 213.282 † | |
| 11 | 15 |  Takuma Sato | 213.222 † | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 212.773 ‡ | |
| 12 | 83 | Charlie Kimball | 211.531 † | 14 | Wade Cunningham (R) | 209.526 † | |
| 13 | 18 | Justin Wilson | No Speed † | 78 | Simona de Silvestro | No Speed † | |