Castroneves captures Indy 250, ends drought

MADISON, Ill. -- Hello Castroneves did it the old-fashioned way.

The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner had no in-car electronics Sunday, forcing him to change gears by feel and guess on fuel mileage and pit-lane speed as he won the Emerson Indy 250 and ended a 20-race winless streak.

Castroneves came up a few feet short of at least two other wins since taking the checkered flag at last year's Indianapolis 500, but he got a big break this time when dominating Scott Dixon dropped out with a gearbox problem while leading with 43 of 200 laps remaining at Gateway International Raceway.

"Scott Dixon was very fast, but I cannot feel sorry for him, believe me," a jubilant Castroneves said. "It's happened to me many times."

Castroneves ran the entire race with no readout on his steering wheel.

"It might seem simple, but it can cost you a race," he said, noting there is a 60 mph speed limit on pit lane. "One mile an hour too much and your race is gone.

"I think it's like flying a plane in a storm without instruments. I don't know how to fly a plane, but I do know how to drive a car."

Dixon, who came into the race leading the IndyCar Series standings by one point over Tony Kanaan, three over defending race winner Gil de Ferran and 23 over Castroneves, appeared to be cruising toward his fourth win of the season.

Dixon survived a hard bump from behind on pit lane early in the race. The New Zealander led 78 laps, was out front by as much as nine seconds and was leading by nearly six seconds when he slowed suddenly on lap 158 and watched helplessly as the rest of the field sped past on the 1.25-mile oval.

"It's so hard to have a race like this end the way it did," Dixon said.

Castroneves inherited the race lead and was less than a second in front of fellow Brazilian Kanaan, but Kanaan was never able to mount a challenge and Castroneves' Penske Racing Dallara-Toyota crossed the finish line 0.847-seconds -- about six car-lengths -- in front. It was his fifth Indy Racing League victory, including the 2001 Indy 500 when he was still a regular in the rival CART Champ Car series.

"It was a qualifying pace out there and I was not only chasing Helio, I knew who was behind me," Kanaan said of third-place finisher de Ferran.

Kanaan regained the series lead with 357 points, followed by de Ferran with 350 and Castroneves 347. Dixon fell all the way to fourth, 24 points behind the leader with five races remaining.

Tomas Scheckter finished fourth Sunday, followed by Dan Wheldon, two-time defending IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr., Tora Takagi and Greg Ray, the only competitors on the lead lap at the end.

There were no serious accidents on the track, but a crewman for Al Unser Jr. was injured in a pit accident.

Track officials said Anton Julian, Unser's left rear tire changer, was transported by helicopter to St. Louis University Hospital conscious but with unidentified injuries. He was admitted to the hospital but quickly upgraded from serious to fair condition.