Tony Kanaan pulled away on a restart with three laps remaining to win the Purex Dial Indy 200 on March 23 at Phoenix International Raceway, his first IRL IndyCarTM Series victory.
MBNA Pole winner Kanaan held off the No. 3 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves by .9328 of a second at the finish. It was the second time in as many races this season that the winning margin has been less than one second.
Kanaan averaged 100.073 mph in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone in a race slowed by caution periods 10 times for 73 laps. He earned $118,300 and took the points lead, 84-75, over Castroneves.
Felipe Giaffone finished third in the No. 21 Hollywood Mo Nunn Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone, with two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. fourth in the No. 31 Corteco Dallara/Toyota/Firestone after starting 20th. 1998 series champion Kenny Brack rounded out the top five in the No. 15 Pioneer/Miller Lite Dallara/Honda/Firestone.
The final caution period in the race was triggered when Kanaas teammate Michael Andretti and Gil de Ferran crashed in Turn 1 on Lap 187. Andretts No. 7 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone and de Ferras No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Toyota/Firestone touched as de Ferran tried to dip under Andretti in Turn 1 for a pass for fifth place.
Both cars hit the outside wall hard. Andretti was unhurt, watching the final two laps of the race and witnessing his first victory as a team owner from the infield medical center.
de Ferran was admitted to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix with a concussion and a minor fracture of his lower back. He is awake and alert.
The final restart took place at the tail end of Lap 198, setting up slightly more than a two-lap showdown for the lead between Kanaan, defending event champion Castroneves and Giaffone.
But Kanaan made quick work of that tense situation, judging the restart perfectly and pulling away over the final two trips around the 1-mile desert oval.
Kanaan took the lead for good on Lap 160 after a wild restart duel with Castroneves.
Castroneves pulled side-by-side with Kanaan, and the two nearly touched twice while drag racing down the front straightaway as the green flag flew to resume racing. But Kanaan pulled ahead midway between Turns 1 and 2 to keep the lead for good. That lead grew to 2.1 seconds over Castroneves on Lap 180.
Still, there was uncertainty whether Kanaan could go the distance without a pit stop because his last stop came on Lap 110.
But three caution periods in the final 35 laps slowed the field enough that Kanaan could stretch his fuel mileage and didt need to stop. He drove the final 90 laps on one tank of methanol fuel in a strategy devised by team co-owner Kim Green.
Kanaan faced a stern challenge from Sarah Fisher with around 60 laps remaining. Fisher, who started 14th, kept her No. 23 Team GM Upromise/Raybestos Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone within a second of Kanaan for nearly 10 laps about three-quarters of the way through the race.
But Fishes challenge ended on a pit stop on Lap 154 when her left-front wheel wast fully fastened to the car. She had to return to the pits so the wobbling wheel could be replaced. Fisher ended up eighth, one of nine cars on the lead lap at the finish.
Early in the race, Kanaan fell out of the top 10 when he stalled his car during an early pit stop. But it took little time for him to return toward the front.
There were five accidents besides the incident between Andretti and de Ferran due to close-quarters racing on the tight, tricky 1-mile oval at Phoenix. Tora Takagi, two-time defending series champion Sam Hornish Jr., rookie Scott Mayer and 2002 Indianapolis 500 Bank One co-Rookie of the Year Tomas Scheckter were unhurt in separate incidents.
Rookie Roger Yasukawa was admitted to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix for observation after crashing on Lap 100 in his No. 55 Panasonic ARTA Dallara/Honda/Firestone. He is awake and alert.
Horniss day ended early in the No. 4 Pennzoil Panther Dallara/Chevrolet/Firestone, as he crashed between Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 32. He placed 21st.
Scott Dixon, who entered the race as the points leader, didt last much longer. He pulled into the pits for good with a gearbox problem on the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone on Lap 43 and was credited with 20th place.
The next IRL IndyCar Series race is the Indy Japan 300 on April 13 at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan. Is the first overseas race in series history.
