Kolby wins Kansas Lights by a thousandth

The Dane survived a late assault from Damien Faulkner and Townsend Bell to win the closest race in motorsport history.

Kolby led the final 19 laps, which ended with a two-lap dash to the finish following a late caution period. Bell pulled to the inside as Faulkner then made a final run on Kolby's outside approaching the finish line, making it three abreast across the finish line.

The record margin of victory beat the previous closest finish of 0.002secs that was set twice in the 1999 season in both Indy Lights and the Busch Grand National series.

"The win is absolutely marvelous," said Kolby, whose last race victory was in British Formula 3 in 1998. "I started to take the outside groove, which I'd seen some of the IRL drivers use, and it worked. The grip was there and we gave each other just enough room and we got by."

Faulkner, who almost added to his recent victory at Texas, said: "Getting past Kristian was only going to happen on the last lap if it was going to happen at all. I think he may have hit the rev limiter because I started gaining on him for no apparent reason. I made my move quite early but it seemed like the best time to move.

"Townsend was close behind me. He dipped to the inside so Kristian looked a little squashed. I ended up touching Kristian as we were headed to the start-finish. His right rear and my left front touched. It wasn't a big deal, but it may have cost me the two or three-thousandths of a second that mattered most," he added.

Bell finished just 0.213secs behind in third place. He was later dropped two positions in the final results, however, for taking "unjustifiable risk" during the race. Bell, already on probation following the Portland race, also had his probation period extended for two more races and was fined $1,000.

Britain's Dan Wheldon moved up to third as a result. Despite the penalty, Bell increased his championship lead to 82 points, 11 ahead of Faulkner who has moved to second with 71 points. Derek Higgins retired with an electrical fire at Kansas but is third on 68 points, Kolby has moved to fourth with 65 points and Wheldon is fifth with 61 points.