Dixon wins Road Runner Turbo Indy 300

Scott Dixon added some more hardware to his trophy case. Dixon won today’s Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway by .7104 of a second over Helio Castroneves, his first win at the 1.5 mile tri-oval.

Dixon led 134 laps of the 300 mile race. It was his first victory of the season, putting him at fourth in the overall IndyCar Series standings.

“Definitely very happy that the win has catapulted us to fourth place in the championship,” said Dixon. “That’s definitely exciting. It’s still very tight and we’re still within a shot to win this championship.”

During yesterday’s qualifying session, Castroneves was penalized for driving below the white line and started at the back of the pack for today’s race. By lap 95, he had moved into fifth place, with Dixon and Ryan Briscoe in first and second, respectively.

Briscoe won the race off pit lane on lap 99, allowing him to take the lead ahead of Dixon. Briscoe pitted ahead of the yellow on lap 153, allowing Dixon to regain the lead with Castroneves and Kanaan in second and third, respectively.

This was Castroneves’ second race back after a six-month hiatus from the sport.

“I was trying to get the rhythm back, restarts, all these kinds of little things and details that sometimes you can’t see on TV, but I was trying to make sure that everything was running smooth,” said Castroneves.

Tony Kanaan, the 2005 winner, finished third, vaulting him to first in the overall IndyCar Series season standings. Dan Wheldon, winner of the past two IndyCar Series races at Kansas

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 resumes tomorrow, Monday, April 27 at 10:00 a.m. Tickets from Saturday will be honored.

posted 4/26/2009