KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Sunday, April 26, 2009) – Reigning IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon earned his first victory of the 2009 season, taking the checkered flag in the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway .7104 of a second ahead of Helio Castroneves.
The win was the third in a row at the track by a Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver.
Dixon entered the race 17th in points after two difficult races on street circuits to begin the season. The return to a 1.5-mile oval suited him well. After starting fourth, Dixon passed pole sitter Graham Rahal on Lap 8 and went on to lead 134 of 200 laps for his 17th career victory. The win moved Dixon to fourth in the point standings as the IndyCar Series prepares for the Indianapolis 500.
Castroneves nearly duplicated his back-to-front victory from last September at Chicagoland. In that race, Castroneves won after starting 28th. Sunday, he worked his way up from the 21st to second.
Tony Kanaan finished third. The only driver to record top-five finishes in each of the first three races this season, Kanaan moved into the points lead, one point ahead of Ryan Briscoe, who finished fourth.
Kanaan led an Andretti Green Racing contingent that placed all four drivers in the top 10 for the first time since Milwaukee 2006. Danica Patrick finished fifth, Marco Andretti sixth and Hideki Mutoh eighth.
Rahal finished seventh and two-time defending race winner Dan Wheldon finished 10th.
Also on Sunday, Sebastian Saavedra earned his first career victory in Firestone Indy Lights, winning the Kansas Lottery 100 under caution ahead of 2005 series champion Wade Cunningham.
Saavedra passed Cunningham on a Lap 10 restart and led the remainder of the 67 laps.
Mario Romancini finished third, Ana Beatriz fourth and Martin Plowman fifth. Jonathan Summerton took over the points lead with a seventh-place finish.
The race featured five cautions for 33 laps. Dillon Battistini, involved in the final incident of the race on Lap 59, was transported to KU Medical Center where all preliminary tests came back negative, however, he will remain at the facility overnight for observation.
From IndyCar
