Marco Andretti takes historic win

With fuel an ominous issue, Marco Andretti benefited from the misfortune of one teammate to beat another and win the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday at Infineon Raceway, the first win for the 19-year-old son of Michael Andretti and grandson of Mario.

"I couldn't be happier," said Marco Andretti, who clinched the IRL IndyCar Series Rookie Of The Year award by starting Sunday's race.

"We fulfilled all of the goals we set at the beginning of the year - Rookie Of The Year at Indy [500], Rookie Of The Year in the series, and now we've got the win. It's definitely the best feeling."

Andretti was leading late in the race but questionable on fuel - he'd pitted on the 45th lap of the 80-lap race - when Andretti Green Racing teammate Bryan Herta spun in Turn 7.

The two laps of idling through the 12-turn, 2.26-mile course under caution may have been just enough to get Marco to the finish line once the race restarted.

He made it, 0.6557 seconds ahead of teammate Dario Franchitti, while another AGR car, Tony Kanaan's, which had been refueled the same time as Andretti's car, ran dry on the final lap.

"The fuel light was on during the white-flag lap, so we were that close," said Andretti, who noted that team manager Kyle Moyer was telling him to press hard but save fuel.

"The toughest thing to do is go fast and save fuel. It's two different things, but we were able to do it pretty decently. The majority of the races I was saving fuel, so it was a perfect strategy."

Andretti's run to the finish wasn't the only decent race of the day.

The IRL points battle tightened even further, with Sam Hornish Jr. surrendering his lead by just one point to Marlboro Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, and both Target Chip Ganassi Racing drivers - Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon - pulling within 21 points of the lead with just one race remaining Sept. 10 at Chicagoland Speedway.

"It's really close," Castroneves said. "We came here to take as many points as we could. Fortunately or unfortunately, fifth is what we got. I'm happy with that. I won't deny that I'd like more, but it's part of the championship. Let's go on to Chicago. It's every man for himself."

Hornish, who came into the race with a seven-point lead over Castroneves, finished ninth. Dixon and Wheldon, who combined to lead 50 laps, finished fourth and sixth, respectively. Wheldon is 19 points behind Castroneves, while Dixon is 21 points behind.

"The good news is that it ended up a lot better than it could have been, so I'm OK with how we did today," Hornish said. "Now we just have to focus on Chicago and see if we can bring home the championship."

Andretti, a 19-year-old rookie, is the youngest driver to win a major open-wheel race. Dixon was 20 years old when he won a CART race at Nazareth in 2001. Hornish was 21 when he won an IRL race at Phoenix in 2001.

"The way he handled himself was unbelievable," Mario Andretti said. "He was so smart and so patient. He managed his fuel and his tyres, and he was still fast. That's hard to do. He drove well beyond his age, but he has [done that] all year."

Two laps after Franchitti passed Kanaan for second place with nine laps remaining, Herta spun in a tricky part of Turn 7.

While Andretti's No. 26 Andretti Green Racing Honda/Dallara had last pitted on the 45th lap and appeared to be dangerously low on fuel, Franchitti's No. 27 AGR Honda/Dallara had been refueled on the 51st lap.

The rookie had to conserve while maintaining the lead, while the veteran could go for it.

"They said, 'Go, go, see if you can catch him on the restart'," Franchitti said. "He was quicker. I'm really proud of the job the team did today. Bryan, Tony, Marco, myself, the guys in the pits. I think it was a great team effort."

Herta's spin definitely rescued Andretti, who had enough fuel for the cool-down lap but probably wouldn't have made it to the end had the race gone green to the finish.

"We were going for it," Michael Andretti said. "He was going to go for it no matter what. The thing that's good is that he did make it in on the cool-down lap, so we did have enough fuel for that.

"Would he have made it (under green)? I don't know. He definitely would have been driving a lot harder and burning a lot more fuel if he wouldn't have had the yellow. We'll never know for sure, but he was not going to pit."

Vitor Meira finished third, followed by Dixon, Castroneves, Wheldon, Jeff Simmons, Danica Patrick, Sam Hornish Jr. and Herta. Meira jumped three positions when he passed Dixon and Castroneves in Turn 12 as Kanaan - who was third at the time - headed to the pits for fuel on the 79th lap.

"From the beginning of the race, we saved a lot - not just fuel, but brakes and everything," Meira said. "That's one way we were able to do what we did at the end. We had good brakes, we had full fuel, and everybody else was starting to save stuff."

Castroneves said he didn't challenge the double pass by Meira and Dixon because he didn't want to risk a crash that could have been disastrous to his chance to win the championship.

Instead, He went from third to fifth, a decision that cost him five points and - ironically - might threaten his shot at the championship.

"I didn't want to take a chance," Castroneves said. "Vitor came hard, taking every chance he could. I let him by, and Dixon also took the opportunity. Instead of losing a lot of points, I decided to lose a few. I hope I don't regret that in Chicago."

Rivaling Andretti's drive was Dixon's. He charged from 12th to fourth in the final 29 laps after a problem in the pits while he was leading.

The airjack on Dixon's No. 9 Ganassi Honda/Panoz malfunctioned, preventing his left front tyre man from a clean change. Had Dixon won, he would have been within three points of Castroneves heading into the Chicago finale.

"That pretty much blew our chances for the win and likely the championship," said Dixon, who led 40 laps. "I did what I could to make my way back to the front, but it's hard to pass on this track.

"My car was set up to run up front, so it was a bit trickier in traffic at the end. Not much you could do about it."

Instead of this one being Dixon's day, it belonged to the youngest Andretti, who could be the best Andretti of them all. If you ask the other Andrettis, anyway.

"He's way ahead of where I was at 19," Michael said. "His biggest asset that I didn't have is patience. He drives with a lot of patience and yet with a lot of aggression. That's a great quality.

"I look back on my career and wish I would have had that quality. I would have won a lot more races. He's already got that at 19. It's going to win him a lot of races, I can guarantee you."

Pos  Driver             Make      Laps
 1.  Marco Andretti     Dallara   80
 2.  Dario Franchitti   Dallara   80
 3.  Vitor Meira        Dallara   80
 4.  Scott Dixon        Panoz     80
 5.  Helio Castroneves  Dallara   80
 6.  Dan Wheldon        Panoz     80
 7.  Jeff Simmons       Panoz     80
 8.  Danica Patrick     Panoz     80
 9.  Sam Hornish Jr     Dallara   80
10.  Bryan Herta        Dallara   80
11.  Tony Kanaan        Dallara   80
12.  Ed Carpenter       Dallara   79
13.  Kosuke Matsuura    Dallara   79
14.  Scott Sharp        Panoz     79
15.  Buddy Rice         Panoz     75
16.  Ryan Briscoe       Dallara   67
17.  Tomas Scheckter    Dallara   44
18.  Jeff Bucknum       Dallara    9