Franchitti wins Sonoma Grand Prix

[August 24, 2009]  SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Dario Franchitti hoisted a celebratory glass of red wine to his lips in a long-awaited moment for the IndyCar driver at Infineon Raceway.

Such is tradition for the winner in a race set in the heart of Sonoma County's wine country.

Franchitti finally won on a challenging course where he's been so close before, leading from start to finish to capture his first Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday in the final road course race of the year.

And the Scotman's victory sent the IndyCar points race into a serious sprint for the finish.

"Great to finally get one here at Sonoma," Franchitti said in the winner's circle.

Franchitti took the pole and led all 75 laps, topping runner-up and new points leader Ryan Briscoe on the way to his fourth victory of the year. Franchitti and Briscoe avoided a multiple-car crash early in Lap 1 on the tough 12-turn, 2.303-mile road course. Rookie Mike Conway finished third.

"I couldn't do anything behind Dario. It was really difficult," Briscoe said.

Scott Dixon, the points leader coming in and Franchitti's teammate with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, finished a disappointing 13th after stalling in the wreck. He fell into third place in the points race at 477.

At least seven cars crashed in an accident heading into Turn 2 of the race, including '07 Sonoma champion Dixon after he started 10th. There's a quick 104-foot elevation gain from the starting line to Turn 2. Debris was strewn all over the track.

Franchitti, who moved into second in points at 493 and four behind Briscoe, became the first flag-to-flag winner in an IndyCar race since Dixon did so in 2003 for 206 laps in a rain-shortened event at Richmond.

"The Firestones were pretty much as good on the last lap as they were on the first," Franchitti said. "It was a great day. I guess it wasn't too eventful for everybody out there. I was just trying to be inch-perfect, not make any mistakes and keep everybody in the rearview mirror."

All the top drivers know the 2009 title will come down to the wire with three races to go. The four points separating Briscoe and Franchitti ties the closest margin in IRL history with three weeks remaining. The race also was that close in 2002.

This marked the 13th time in 14 races that the points leader has changed.

"It's so difficult with the competition level," Franchitti said of holding the lead. "It's not that nobody wants to. ... It's so competitive you can't afford mistakes. We've all made them this year and we've all had bad luck as well."

Briscoe hopes he can change this pattern and maintain his narrow lead.

"It's incredible. What is it, 13 lead changes in 14 races?" he said. "I've never heard of anything like it before. Hopefully I can change that."

Defending champion Helio Castroneves, the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner of Team Penske who started third, dropped out in Lap 67 because of suspension problems. Graham Rahal was done after 30 laps because of mechanical problems, a tough outcome considering he qualified sixth.

Rahal broke a drive shaft during the opening-lap wreck but came back before later falling out for good.

Franchitti had experienced a couple of near misses at Infineon -- he placed second in 2006 and third in '07 after starting on the pole that year. Franchitti led late in that 2007 race but his car was damaged with eight laps to go in a collision with then-teammate Marco Andretti coming out of the pits. Dixon moved into the lead and went on to win.

Franchitti, who was coming off a third-place finish at Mid-Ohio, had a smooth race a day after he went into the dirt midway through his final qualifying run because of trouble downshifting but still held on to take the pole. This marked his seventh top-three this season.

Franchitti's strategy was to stay out longer than those chasing him before going to the pits for the first time. He went in on Lap 28, a lap after Briscoe.

"The pole position yesterday really set up today and allowed us to control the race. That was important," Franchitti said. "We seemed to be good on starts and restarts today. I just kind of controlled the pace from the front, saved a lot of fuel."

Danica Patrick, the 11th qualifier, was part of the opening-lap accident and fell a lap down. She placed 16th.

Conway avoided most of the damage but was hit from behind and punctured a tire, which dropped him well back in the pack early.

"Everyone kept kind of choking up on the inside so I went to the outside into 2," Conway said. "I was kind of gaining positions and I think someone hit the back of Hideki (Mutoh), because he slowed down on the inside and it looked like I was going to get around him but then I just got hit from behind. It was annoying but luckily we got back through the field."

Dixon worked his way back into the top 10 but got hung up on the final turn of the last lap. IndyCar officials penalized Marco Andretti for avoidable contact with Dixon on that last turn, leading to the scoring change.

[Associated Press; By JANIE McCAULEY]

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