IRL: Dario Franchitti wins 2009 championship

Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) has prevailed in the last moment of the IndyCar grand finale at Homestead to win one exciting race and clinch his second carrer title.

While Ryan Briscoe (Penske) and Franchitti's team-mate Scott Dixon dominated the race from the front, battling wheel to wheel for victory for most of the afternoon, the Scot saved enough fuel to avoid the last minute splash and dash stop that his two rivals both had to make.

Briscoe, as it has been the case so many times during the season because of ill-timing or issues in the pit, had to settle for second while last year champion Dixon completed the last podium of the 2009 season. The race also set a new record as it ran its full duration without a single full course yellow - a first for the Indy Racing League.

Franchitti was only really involved at the lead fight at the start and the end of the race. Ganassi had the best of the start, with Franchitti and Dixon going wheel to wheel for the lead through the opening laps, while Briscoe lost third to Vision's Ed Carpenter and then had to spend several laps fending off Marco Andretti (Andretti Green).

With no yellows at all, the two leaders were rapidly getting through their fuel and had to make their third stops 56 laps from the end, making a late splash and dash inevitable. The more conservative Franchitti stretched his fuel load to lap 149, ensuring he could get to the flag without another stop.

Dixon and Briscoe pitted on laps 191 and 193 respectively while both gained on Franchitti in the remaining laps, they ran out of laps to catch the Scot, who was ecstatic as he claimed the title in his first season with Ganassi's IndyCar team and his first year back in single-seaters after his abortive NASCAR switch.

Raphael Matos clinched the rookie of the year title as expected. The Luczo Dragon racer, already a Star Mazda, Atlantic and Indy Lights champion, was only 13th, but his rival Robert Doornbos (HVM) retired in the closing stages having run near the tail of the field.

IndyCar Homestead - Results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 1h28m28.3117s
2. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 4.7888s
3. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 6.0206s
4. Tony Kanaan Andretti Green + 1 lap
5. Helio Castroneves Penske + 1 lap
6. Hideki Mutoh Andretti Green + 2 laps
7. Mario Moraes KV + 2 laps
8. Alex Lloyd Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 2 laps
9. Tomas Scheckter Dreyer & Reinbold + 3 laps
10. Justin Wilson Coyne + 3 laps
11. Graham Rahal Newman/Haas/Lanigan + 3 laps
12. Ed Carpenter Vision + 3 laps
13. Ryan Hunter-Reay Foyt + 4 laps
14. Raphael Matos Luczo Dragon + 4 laps
15. Mike Conway Dreyer & Reinbold + 5 laps
16. EJ Viso HVM + 6 laps
17. Milka Duno Dreyer & Reinbold + 6 laps
18. Sarah Fisher Fisher + 13 laps
19. Danica Patrick Andretti Green + 15 laps

Retirements:
Robert Doornbos HVM 166 laps
Dan Wheldon Panther 150 laps
Marco Andretti Andretti Green 58 laps
Jaques Lazier 3G 23 laps