Dario Franchitti’s grip finally slipped from the IndyCar championship lead on Sunday when he finished third in the Motorola Indy 300.
He led for most of the race but in the final few laps fell behind his closest championship challenger, New Zealand’s Scott Dixon, and the Brazilian Helio Castroneves.
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As a result Dixon – who had been closing on Franchitti for several races – now leads the championship with 560 points to the Scot’s 556.
Tony Kanaan, who had been charging in recent races, finished fourth and lost a little ground on the other two. He now has 498 championship points, a lead of 84 over Britain’s Dan Wheldon who managed seventh place in Sunday’s race.
Darren Manning was a lap down in 12th place.