Kanaan sweeps to Phoenix win

Kanaan had easily the smartest car around the tight tri-oval on an afternoon when most contenders were struggling for grip. None of the major series players could mount any sustained challenge, until the closing laps of the race.

"I kept myself calm," said Kanaan of the closing stages. "I said to myself, 'Come on, you led the whole freaking race. You're not going to lose it on the last six laps.' I got myself to concentrate and I got a good restart. After that, it was just about controlling him."

Scott Dixon tried to press Kanaan during the final laps couldn't close ground and settled for second place, 0.5344 seconds behind. Afterwards, he agreed with Kanaan's assessment that the final yellow, for a three-car crash with 20 laps remaining, might have been more advantageous to the leader than his closest pursuer.

"It's a shame that we had that yellow at the end, because I think his car would have fallen off a little more," Dixon said. "But overall it was a good day, and it was good for points."

Wheldon dropped back into the pack as the race progressed, although his steady pace was rewarded when late retirements allowed him to claim third place behind Kanaan and Dixon.

The Penske team had a bad day. Helio Castroneves had a massive handling failure in the latter part of the first stint, going a lap down. He later managed to get the lap back and come in sixth. But team-mate Sam Hornish was the first to hit the wall, on lap 82 of 200. It was the lightest of touches on the rear wing, but the need for repairs put the Homestead winner out of contention.

Thomas Scheckter and Dario Franchitti ran near the front all day, but were both eliminated late in the race when they got caught up in Robbie Buhl's accident. This was what allowed Wheldon up into third.

Alex Barron and Darren Manning completed the top five.