AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Tony Kanaan had the pole for the Indy
Racing League season opener and couldn't hold it. It took him just
three weeks to correct the problem.
Kanaan, the fifth driver in IndyCar Series history to earn
consecutive pole positions, led the Purex Dial Indy 200 for the
final 41 laps to win his first IRL race Sunday.
"When I made my decision to come to the IRL, it was probably
because of having a team that's going to give me a car to win,"
said Kanaan, CART's rookie of the year in 1998.
Kanaan got his only CART victory at Michigan in 1999 and never
placed higher than eighth in the series. Before this year, his only
IRL race was the 2002 Indianapolis 500, where he finished 28th. He
moved over from CART this season.
After a fourth in the opener at Homestead, Fla., on March 2, and
his breakthrough IRL win, he leads Castroneves 84-75 in the IRL
points race.
Kanaan drove the last 90 laps without a pit stop.
He was able to save fuel because five of the race's 10 cautions
occurred after he pitted for the last time, and he benefited from
the bad luck of close pursuers, including Sarah Fisher, Michael
Andretti and Gil de Ferran.
"Obviously, the yellows helped me out a lot," Kanaan said.
"But I didn't ask the team if I had to pit another time. I didn't
want to worry about that; I let them worry about it. They gave me
the number, and I was matching the number."
After the last caution flag, there were two laps left, and
Kanaan's Honda-powered Dallara beat Castroneves, driving a
Toyota-Dallara package, by .9328 seconds -- half a straightaway in
front.
Andretti, who moved the former Team Green and drivers Kanaan and
Dario Franchitti from CART to the IRL last winter, took out de
Ferran, Castroneves' Marlboro Team Penske driving mate, with 12
laps to go in the 200-lap race.
The tricky mile oval at Phoenix International Raceway has turns
that start wide and then narrow, and de Ferran didn't budge when
Andretti, trying to hold fifth despite damage to the front end of
his car, moved slightly down in the first turn.
Their wheels touched, and both racers slammed into the outside
wall. De Ferran's car burst into flames from spilled oil.
"I had a big understeer in (turns) 3 and 4 ," said Andretti,
who led 23 laps. "It was only a matter of time for Gil to get by
me. I saw him coming. I almost drove straight into the corner to
give him room. I don't know if he misjudged or what.
"He came right up into me before we even went into the turn."
De Ferran, a two-time CART series champion who was third in the
IRL standings last year, was hospitalized in Phoenix in fair
condition. He had a "minor fracture" of the lower back and a
concussion, IRL director of medical services Henry Bock said.
Andretti was examined at the track and cleared to drive.
Fisher, making a strong bid for the best performance of the year
in a Chevrolet-powered car, ran second to Kanaan for 32 laps.
But she pitted after Jacques Lazier's car did a 360-degree spin
in the 153rd lap, and the stop proved costly. Fisher's spotter
cleared her to start before the left front tire was locked on, and
the crew had to pull the car back into the pit area and secure
another tire.
When Fisher, who started 14th, got back onto the track, she was
13th.
"The car was excellent," Fisher said. "It got better and
better as the race went on. During the pit stop, we had a
miscommunication that led to a loss of several positions, which was
the first time that's happened to our team."
Felipe Giaffone finished third for Hollywood Mo Nunn Racing, and
Al Unser Jr. was the first non-CART racer in the money at fourth.
He qualified 20th.
The 2-4 finishers drove Toyota-powered cars.
Kenny Brack, the 1998 IRL champion who returned this season
after three years in CART, gave Honda two finishers in the top
five, while Lazier, Fisher and Buddy Rice, who were seventh, ninth
and 10th, gave Chevy its best finish of the year.
Only Sam Hornish Jr. made the top 10 in Florida. Hornish's day ended early on Sunday after he and A.J. Foyt IV made contact in the 32nd lap and Hornish spun into the wall.
Scott Dixon, who beat de Ferran and Castroneves to win his IRL
debut at Homestead, lasted only 43 laps this time.
He was leading Giaffone by about three-quarters of a
straightaway until Hornish, the two-time IRL champion, and A.J.
Foyt IV made contact in the 32nd lap and Hornish spun into the
wall.
Giaffone emerged from a group pit stop with the lead.
Meanwhile, Dixon, who led 34 of the first 35 laps, pitted again
after the restart, and a bad gear box made him the third driver
out, the first with mechanical problems.
Kanaan led a race-high 79 laps, and Giaffone led 58.