Texas: Ward breaks his duck

"That was great," said Ward. "We hung in. With two laps to go, they told me P2, and I couldn't believe it."

Ward made his move for the lead going through Turn Three of the 1.5-mile oval, and went around the outside of Unser on the exit of Four. The pair then raced for the line and the Chip Ganassi G-Force-Chevrolet took the flag by the narrowest of margins.

"I don't know how I did that around the outside," Ward added. "I hadn't done it all night."

After the final round of pitstops Helio Castroneves held the lead, but the Penske driver was closed down by Unser, who had Ward and Dare in tow. Veteran Unser moved into the lead on lap 197 (of 200), while Ward and Dare moved ahead of the Indy 500 winner on the penultimate tour to set up the grandstand final lap.

In the early stages polesitter Tomas Scheckter was the man to beat and the South African led over half of the first 159 laps. Unfortunately his Dallara-Infiniti stalled as he tried to exit the pits after what ought to have been his final stop. Unfortunately his clutch had failed and once again he went home empty handed.

The second Cheever Racing car also failed to make it to the flag after owner/driver Eddie Cheever clashed with Sam Hornish Jr on lap 127. The incident occurred in Turn Three as the pair worked their way through traffic. Cheever attempted to go under the Panther Dallara-Chevrolet of Hornish when they touched, sending both cars crashing into the wall. Fortunately neither was injured in the only major incident of the race.

Castroneves' fourth position means that the Brazilian has extended his lead over team-mate Gil de Ferran to 44 points. Castroneves has 227 points, de Ferran 183, while Hornish is third on 171.