DARIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. What an EPIC last lap.
A battle through a 17-race season for the IndyCar Series championship came down to the final two laps. Just the way the sanctioning Indy Racing League, spectators at Chicagoland Speedway, fans worldwide and contenders would want it set up.
Scott Dixon led Dario Franchitti by half a car-length as they crossed the start/finish line for the white flag. But as they ran side-by-side along the backstretch, Dixon's car gasped for fuel.
Game, set and match.
Franchitti overtook Dixon in Turn 3 and went on to the victory and his first career championship. Franchitti, who led Dixon by three points entering the 200-lap race, won by 13 points. Had Dixon prevailed, he would have won by two points.
"I was drafting (Dixon) and going for the slingshot, and just as I pulled out I saw him slow down," said Franchitti, who also was low on fuel as he and Dixon both pitted last on Lap 148. "I almost hit the back of him. We shot up the track and that was it."
Sam Hornish Jr. finished thrid and Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves was fourth. Scott Sharp closed fast for fifth place.
Franchitti is the third consecutive Indianapolis 500 winner who also wound up as series champion. He delivered the third series title for Andretti Green Racing, a series record. It is the seventh time that the title points margin has been 20 points or less.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
theRacingLine.netSportsCarArchives.comEdited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2007 12:49AM by DaveEllis.