Dixon Outruns Franchitti for Win at Richmond

RICHMOND, June 27 -- In the buildup to Saturday night's race at Richmond International Raceway, Dario Franchitti had put the rest of the field on notice that he was back.

Two years ago, Franchitti won at Richmond and eventually claimed that season's IndyCar Series championship. A year later, he left open-wheel racing for NASCAR, a move that was considered a failure. Franchitti returned this season, and it has recently appeared that history could be repeating itself.

But his Target Chip Ganassi teammate, Scott Dixon, made a statement of his own on Saturday. Dixon held off Franchitti to win the SunTrust Indy Challenge. It was his 19th career victory in the IndyCar Series, tying Sam Hornish Jr. for most in series history.

"I'd definitely like one more so we can have that record outright," said Dixon, who passed Franchitti to seize the lead at lap 139 thanks to savvy fuel strategy. "Achievements like that are something you can look back on and really treasure."

With his second-place finish, Franchitti snatched the season points lead with a total of 279. Dixon moved into second place with 278.

Their showing continued a season of success for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, and it was an especially sour night for Team Penske, the other team to dominate this year. Penske drivers Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves crashed in separate wrecks and neither finished.

The accidents affected the makeup of the race, and they will reverberate in the points standings. Briscoe, who was the points leader, was knocked down to third with 253 points. Castroneves stayed in fourth with 225.

"Any time you can make a gain on the Penskes, you've definitely got to take that and try to run with it," Dixon said. "It's not too often they make mistakes like they did tonight."

Graham Rahal finished in third, Hideki Mutoh finished fourth and Danica Patrick came in fifth.

It was Dixon's third win, but lately he has not trended upward or commanded the same attention as Franchitti, who was the series' hottest driver after moving into second with a win at Iowa last Sunday.

On Friday, Franchitti claimed the pole here. Starting position is critical at Richmond, the shortest track in the IndyCar Series at three-quarters of a mile. And it helps avoid some of the clutter. Last year, there were 102 laps raced under caution and the record field of 26 cars was reduced to 12 by the end.

This year's field was pared to 20 cars. But only 27 laps into the race, there was a major shake-up when Briscoe skidded into the wall as he came out of the second turn.

"I am not sure exactly what happened," Briscoe said. "I was fighting some understeer and it just looks like, I don't even know, I was just coming back to the throttle and it snapped on me. It took me totally by surprise."

There was another surprise 248 laps into the race, when Castroneves scraped against the wall along the backstretch.

But Franchitti's pole position did not lift him to Victory Lane. In the end, Dixon's fuel strategy that paid off. During a yellow caution flag, Franchitti needed to pit because he was running on fumes. The pit lane was not open for a full change, so Franchitti was required to pit again. That allowed Dixon to take the lead when the race restarted.

"Tonight was a big gain for us," Dixon said, "and it could be a pivotal point in the season."