Kanaan Wins at Belle Isle; Patrick Career Best Second

Dario Franchitti takes a three-point lead over Scott Dixon.

Danica Patrick, driving the No. 7 Team Motorola car, advanced nine positions to finish a career-best second.

DETROIT - If the Lap 87 running order would have remained through the finish of the inaugural Detroit Indy Grand Prix presented by Firestone, Tony Kanaan's victory would have kept him in the IndyCar Series championship hunt until the green flag of the season finale Sept. 9.

But "if" became the operative word when the anything can happen axiom came to the forefront late on the demanding 2.070-mile, 14-turn Belle Isle circuit.

Oh, Kanaan claimed his fifth victory of the season. But a bizarre twist of events and carbon fiber with two laps remaining gave the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven driver renewed life in his drive for a second series title.

Andretti Green Racing teammate Dario Franchitti takes a three-point lead over Scott Dixon into the 200-lap race on the 1.5-mile, high-banked Chicagoland Speedway oval. Kanaan is 39 points to the rear. It's the second consecutive season that the points lead has changed hands with two races remaining and again with one race remaining.

Racing for position entering T13 of Lap 88, Dixon's car and the second-place No. 15 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car driven by Buddy Rice made contact. Dixon's car spun at the exit of the turn, blocking the racing surface. Franchitti's car made light contact with Dixon's No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car. But with an assist from the Delphi Safety Team, Franchitti was able to continue and finish sixth.

Dixon finished two spots behind, which would have produced a dead heat heading to Joliet, Ill. Franchitti's advantage comes from picking up the three bonus points for leading the most laps (27).

"I wasn't trying to pass Buddy," said Dixon, who entered the fifth road/street course race of the season with a four-point lead over Franchitti. "I was in a good position and would not have risked it. He ran out of fuel. I sideswiped Buddy but tried to keep going. I was just trying to stay ahead of Franchitti for valuable points. I would never have done anything intentional to jeopardize our race.

"Heading to Chicago, the points situation is a lot tighter than I wish it was. Today was a good battle for the Target team and Chicago should be a better one, especially for the fans."

Danica Patrick, driving the No. 7 Team Motorola car, advanced nine positions to finish a career-best second. Darren Manning, driving the No. 14 ABC Supply Co. car for A.J. Foyt Racing, posted a season-high fourth place. Kosuke Matsuura in the No. 55 Panasonic Panther Racing finished fifth.

Pole sitter Helio Castroneves, who led 26 laps, was involved in a crash with the No. 2 Vision Racing car driven by Tomas Scheckter on Lap 68 and finished 14th.

The cars of Sam Hornish Jr., Sarah Fisher and Vitor Meira retired on Lap 31 when they were involved in a Turn 1 incident on a restart (stalled car of Ed Carpenter in Turn 8). The cars of Patrick and Manning, also involved, were able to continue. Hornish's No. 6 Team Penske car rejoined the race on Lap 45.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, who started fifth, was the first to exit on Lap 24 with a clutch issue in the No. 17 Team Ethanol car for Rahal Letterman Racing. A gearbox issue in the No. 26 NYSE car cost Marco Andretti, who retired three laps later.

"(We've experienced this) a couple times this weekend already, which is very disappointing for the NYSE boys," Andretti said. "Unfortunately, again it's just one those years. The car was alright but I was struggling and the cables started to go right away. I was fighting it all day. It was not fun."

Story by: Dave Lewandowski

Courtesy: indycar.com

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