Scott Dixon beat Vitor Meira out of the pits on the last stop for fuel and stayed in front the final 29 laps to win the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. It was the first win at Indy for Dixon, who started on the pole and led most of the race despite an early challenge by teammate Dan Wheldon and a late pass by Meira. Marco Andretti was third, and two-time winner Helio Castroneves was fourth. Meira had passed Dixon for the lead after a crash by rookie Alex Lloyd, but the leaders made their final pit stops after a spin by Milka Duno, and Dixon's quicker time in the pits gave him the lead again. The green came out with just over 20 laps to go, and Dixon held off a late challenge and beat Meira to the checkered flag by 1.75 seconds.
Top 10-1,Scott Dixon; 2,Vitor Meira; 3,Marco Andretti; 4,Helio Castroneves; 5,Ed Carpenter; 6,Ryan Hunter-Reay; 7,Hideki Mutoh; 8,Buddy Rice; 9,Darren Manning; 10,Townsend Bell.
Out of race-Graham Rahal, Marty Roth, Jaime Camara, Sarah Fisher, Tony Kanaan, Jeff Simmons, Justin Wilson, Alex Lloyd, Tomas Scheckter, Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick.
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AT 400 MILES
Vitor Meira blew past pole-starter Scott Dixon and held a tenth-of-a-second lead after 400 miles in Sunday's Indianapolis 500. Ed Carpenter was in front after the leaders made pit stops during a yellow flag for a crash by rookie Alex Lloyd. But Dixon quickly passed Carpenter, and Meira then passed Dixon. Two-time winner Helio Castroneves was up to third, and Marco Andretti was running fourth. Andretti, the runner-up as a rookie two years ago, had taken the lead shortly after 300 miles and was still in front before a flurry of pit stops by the leaders after rookie Justin Wilson crashed. That gave the lead temporarily to 19-year-old rookie Mario Moraes, the second-youngest starter, who didn't make a pit stop. His lead didn't last long, though, and Andretti and Dixon passed him immediately after the green flag came out again on the 140th lap. Shortly after that, Dixon passed Andretti again and regained the lead he had held for most of the race. Dan Wheldon, Dixon's teammate and a front-row starter, led 30 laps earlier in the race but fell steadily to 17th. Seven of the race's 11 rookies were still running, led by Ryan Hunter-Reay in sixth.
Top 10-1,Vitor Meira; 2,Scott Dixon; 3,Helio Castroneves; 4,Marco Andretti; 5,Ed Carpenter; 6,Ryan Hunter-Reay; 7,Danica Patrick; 8,Ryan Briscoe; 9,Buddy Rice; 10,Oriol Servia.
Out of race-Graham Rahal, Marty Roth, Jaime Camara, Sarah Fisher, Tony Kanaan, Jeff Simmons, Justin Wilson, Alex Lloyd, Tomas Scheckter.
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AT 300 MILES
Pole-starter Scott Dixon regained the lead after a crash by Tony Kanaan and held a 0.3-second advantage over Marco Andretti after 300 miles in Sunday's Indianapolis 500. Kanaan passed Dixon and Dan Wheldon just before the midpoint of the race, but he hit the wall on the 106th lap and spun across the track into the path of Sarah Fisher, eliminating both cars. Dixon and Wheldon, teammates with Ganassi Racing, traded leads earlier in the race, and Wheldon passed Dixon to go in front on the 91st lap. The top three were separated by about a half-second at that point, but Kanaan passed Dixon for second place on the 93rd lap and took the lead from Wheldon the next time around. Kanaan now has led at least one lap in each of his first seven races at Indy, a feat no other driver has ever accomplished. Ryan Hunter-Reay, the highest among 11 rookies, was running seventh. Danica Patrick, who started fifth but dropped out of the top 10 with a rear wing problem, moved back up to eighth.
Top 10-1,Scott Dixon; 2,Marco Andretti; 3,Dan Wheldon; 4,Tomas Scheckter; 5,Ed Carpenter; 6,Vitor Meira; 7,Ryan Hunter-Reay; 8,Danica Patrick; 9,Helio Castroneves; 10,Oriol Servia.
Out of race-Graham Rahal, Marty Roth, Jaime Camara, Sarah Fisher, Tony Kanaan, Jeff Simmons.
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AT 200 MILES
Scott Dixon yielded the lead briefly to teammate Dan Wheldon but regained it just before a caution flag at 200 miles in Sunday's Indianapolis 500. Wheldon passed Dixon, the pole starter, on the 74th lap but went ahead again before rookie Jaime Camara crashed. Tony Kanaan was running third, and Marco Andretti was fourth. Dixon held a lead of more than 1 second over Wheldon after 60 laps, or 150 miles, but the yellow flag came out when Marty Roth, the oldest driver in the field, crashed coming out of the fourth turn. It was the same spot on the track where 19-year-old rookie Graham Rahal, the youngest in the lineup, crashed earlier in the race. The leaders then came in under yellow for routine pit stops, with Dixon, Wheldon and Kanaan maintaining their 1-2-3 positions and Andretti moving ahead of Tomas Scheckter for fourth. The biggest gain was by rookie Oriol Servia, who improved to 13th after starting 25th.
Top 10-1,Scott Dixon; 2,Dan Wheldon; 3,Tony Kanaan; 4,Marco Andretti; 5,Tomas Scheckter; 6,Ed Carpenter; 7,Vitor Meira; 8,Hideki Mutoh; 9,Ryan Hunter-Reay; 10,Townsend Bell.
Out of race-Graham Rahal, Marty Roth, Jaime Camara.
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AT 100 MILES
Pole-starter Scott Dixon led teammate Dan Wheldon under caution after 100 miles Sunday in the Indianapolis 500. Wheldon, the 2005 Indy winner, had led most of the way, but Dixon passed him on the 37th lap just before the yellow flag came out for a crash by rookie Graham Rahal. That put Dixon ahead of Wheldon, Tony Kanaan and Tomas Scheckter as the field slowed behind the pace car. Wheldon started from the middle of the front row and passed Dixon, his Ganassi Racing teammate, for the lead on the third lap. Within the next five laps, he built his lead to .76 seconds before the first yellow when Bruno Junqueira's mirror came off. The leaders all came in for their first pit stops during the caution, putting Junqueira temporarily in front, but he had to come into the pits for repairs and yielded the lead to Buddy Rice. Sarah Fisher, who was running third under the yellow, then spun in the warmup lane without contact and fell two laps off the pace by the time she got restarted. The green flag came out on the 18th lap, and two laps later Wheldon and Dixon passed Rice to take their 1-2 chase again. The leaders made their second stops during the caution for Rahal's crash.
Top 10-1,Scott Dixon; 2,Dan Wheldon; 3,Tony Kanaan; 4,Tomas Scheckter; 5,Helio Castroneves; 6,Marco Andretti; 7,Ed Carpenter; 8,Darren Manning; 9,Vitor Meira; 10,Hideki Mutoh.
Out of race-Graham Rahal.
