Scott Dixon triumphs again

New Zealander Scott Dixon passed Dario Franchitti and Dan Wheldon on lap 88 and led for all but seven laps the rest of the way on Sunday to win the Firestone Indy 200 for his second straight IndyCar victory.

"That's two weeks in a row, and definitely what we need for the championship," the Kiwi driver said.

Dixon's victory at Watkins Glen last week was overshadowed by the fight involving Tony Kanaan and Sam Hornish Jr., but he had no such problems on Sunday. Not even a caution for a light rain or a restart with six laps left could eat into his lead.

His second victory this season and eighth of his career pulled him within 34 points of Franchitti with six races left.

"I like being in this position. We have nothing to lose. We can go as fast as we possibly can and go for race wins. That's something we struggled with at the first of the season," Dixon said of four second-place finishes. "Now we've got to go all out and try to get as many wins as possible."

Franchitti was second, and American Danica Patrick tied her career-best finish of third earlier this year at Texas. Sam Hornish Jr. was fourth followed by fellow American Marco Andretti.

Neither Franchitti nor Patrick was happy with having to fight through lapped traffic that kept either from making a run late. Only eight of the 18 cars finished on the lead lap, and Patrick particularly pointed out Ed Carpenter, who finished 13th and three laps down.