Fourth victory of season gives Castroneves eight-point lead over Hornish. source: indycar.com - By Dave Lewandowski BROOKLYN, Mich. - A mechanical malfunction and a miscalculation - plus Helio Castroneves' fourth victory of the season - gave the Marlboro Team Penske driver the IndyCar Series points lead through 11 of 14 rounds. Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Honda-powered Dallara, defeated Excite Panther Racing's Vitor Meira by 1.6229 seconds to win the Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Reigning IndyCar Series champion Dan Wheldon finished third, followed by Tony Kanaan, Tomas Scheckter, Scott Sharp and Ed Carpenter. Castroneves has 376 points heading to Kentucky Speedway in two weeks. Teammate Sam Hornish Jr. fell to second with 368, while Wheldon has 359. His Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, is 14 points behind. Meira is fifth with 320. Hornish's No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone checked into the pits on Lap 49 after falling to 10th position. He rejoined the fray in 17th spot (one lap down) before returning to the pits on Lap 59. Hornish came in for the final time on Lap 73. Running second to Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dan Wheldon on Lap 43, Dixon's No. 9 Honda-powered Dallara slowed on the course and stopped on the frontstretch deprived of fuel on Lap 44. He fell to 18th after being towed to his pit stall, and could make up only one spot the remainder of the fast-paced and caution-free race.
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