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NEWTON, Iowa (AP) -- Tony Kanaan overtook Helio Castroneves with 10 laps left and held on to win the Iowa 250 Sunday.It was the first win since 2008 for Kanaan, who last took the checkered flag in Richmond two years ago. Kanaan had crashed in each of his first three starts at Iowa, but he zipped past Castroneves on lap 240 and cruised to victory by over four seconds.
"I've had three years to think about why I didn't finish. When I came here people kept reminding me of that," said Kanaan, who led for 62 laps. "I never finished, and then I finished. I finished first, so know we have a different story."
Castroneves finished second and E.J. Viso was a career-best third. Penske teammates Ryan Briscoe and pole winner Will Power rounded out the top five.
Danica Patrick finished 10th. Dario Franchitti, a two-time winner in Iowa, had mechanical issues with 50 laps left and finished 18th.
Kanaan started the race 15th, but he moved up quickly and took the lead about halfway through the race. Franchitti took the lead away from Kanaan with a quick pit stop 70 laps from the finish, but his quest for a third win in three starts at Iowa fell apart soon thereafter.
Castroneves moved past Franchitti for the lead, and Franchitti soon went back to pit row when his gear box got stuck. That left the race up to Kanaan and Franchitti, and Kanaan easily moved past Castroneves to pick up his 14th career IndyCar Series win.
Target Chip Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon and Franchitti set the early pace. Kanaan, a native of Brazil who said he'd ask his radio crew to keep him up to date on the Brazil-Ivory Coast World Cup match happening at the same time as the race, worked his way up to third in short order. Kanaan then hit his "push to pass" button and did just that, zooming past Franchitti for the lead just before the halfway point.
Kanaan had never run finished higher than 14th at Iowa before Sunday's win.
KV Racing's Takuma Sato, an IndyCar Series rookie with just one top-20 to his credit entering Iowa, got as high as third before smacking the wall 73 laps from the finish. The former Formula One driver from Tokyo who finished 19th.
Patrick was never a factor in her final race before resuming her split IRL/Nationwide schedule. Patrick quickly faded from her starting spot, ninth, and never threatened the lead pack.
The Iowa 250's unfortunate tradition of early dustups continued, as Justin Wilson spun out late in the first lap and smacked Mario Moraes on his driver's side, sending Moraes into the wall.
The race went green 15 minutes earlier than scheduled because of some nasty spots on the local radar. The drivers and fans got lucky, though, as the rain stayed away from the track.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
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