Scotsman Dario Franchitti seized the IndyCar season points lead Sunday despite settling for a runner-up spot in the Kentucky Indy 300 by .0098 of a second to first-time winner Ed Carpenter. Franchitti, who began the day trailing pole-sitter Will Power by 12 points in the championship chase, finished the campaign's penultimate race with an 18-point lead on the Australian with the season finale October 16 at Las Vegas. The Scotsman was second with New Zealand's Scott Dixon third, ending his title hopes, in what was the sixth-closest finish in IndyCar history and the tightest ever over the 200 laps at the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway oval. “It felt better than I ever thought it would feel,” Carpenter said. “It took a long time to get that first win but it feels unbelievable.” Power finished 19th after a pit lane crash. Brazil's Ana Beatriz struck Power's leading car as she was leaving her pit and he was turning into his, slicing a huge gash into the sidepod of Power's car. A crash by Beatriz on lap 167 brought out a caution period that ensured leader Franchitti had enough fuel to reach the finish and set up a restart with 22 laps remaining. Carpenter, who had gone 112 IndyCar races over nine years without a victory, passed Dixon and raced side-by-side with Franchitti over the final 19 laps, edging him at the finish line by a nose cone. It was a fairytale victory for US racer Carpenter, a runner-up at Kentucky the past two years whose visor was taped onto his helmet. “My visor was falling off,” Carpenter said. “I wasn't going to let a visor cost me the race. I drove 15 or 20 laps one-handed until I could get a pit stop.” Ex-racer Sarah Fisher took her first victory as a car owner, then revealed her team was losing its sponsor for next season. Carpenter is the stepson of Tony George, the former IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway presdient.
