Wheldon takes Richmond win

A final-lap pass by polesitter Castroneves of Vitor Meira for second place and another that sent Tony Kanaan ahead of Bryan Herta for fourth place were disallowed by IRL IndyCar Series officials after the yellow lights inadvertently flashed while the green flag waved. Meira therefore held onto second place ahead of the Penske driver while Herta kept fourth ahead of Kanaan.

The unusual win from 20th on the grid - and after falling a lap behind - was Wheldon's second victory of the 2004 IRL IndyCar Series season. It pushed him to within 17 points of series leader and team-mate Kanaan.

"I don't think I had the quickest car today, but what helped me was that I could run a lot of laps on the tyres," Wheldon said. "With the team-mates I have, when you qualify 20th and you come through and win, you get a lot of help. I had a lot of help tonight."

Wheldon was the recipient of several remarkable breaks as he led the final 58 laps. Foremost among them were two caution periods that allowed him to save fuel and tyres and maintain track position late in the race. The second of those yellows, a quick two-lapper that ended with one lap remaining, may have kept Castroneves from catching Wheldon.

On a bizarre restart with one lap remaining, Castroneves blasted past second-place Vitor Meira as the yellow lights continued to blink while the green flag waved. Castroneves then began bearing down on Wheldon, but ran out of room. Wheldon, his fuel tank nearly empty and his tyres badly worn, won by a miniscule 0.2 seconds.

"I was 200 per cent confident that I could catch him," Castroneves said. "When I passed Vitor, I was confident. There was no way he could have stopped me. I was flat out in turn one when I passed him on the outside. I went flat out to catch Dan. If the finish line had been on the back straight, that would have been perfect."

IRL officials met after the race to discuss the mistake with the lights. Meira indicated that he saw the flashing lights, but Castroneves said he didn't.

"After they dropped the white and green flag, the yellow lights kept blinking for a half a lap," Meira said. "But the last lap is not a lap where you think a lot. I was thinking too much on the last lap, and that's what happened."

Brian Barnhart, the IRL's vice president of operations, called an inquiry immediately following the race. He met with representatives of Andretti Green Racing and Rahal Letterman Racing, the two teams involved in the final-lap passes, and rendered his decision.

"It was something we saw from the control tower," Barnhart said. "The lights are controlled by a switch in the flag stand. In the confusion, and in trying to get a restart quickly, the track lights stayed yellow. As much as we hammer these guys to pay attention to safety indicators, we can't have them passing each other when one of those indicators is on. If a guy sees a yellow, he's supposed to abide by it."

Surprisingly Wheldon didn't need any help from the ruling or the controversial ending. He just won with a car that wasn't the fastest on the track.

"These are the weekends that really make championships," said Michael Andretti, co-owner of Wheldon's team. "When you think you're down and out, don't count yourself out."

Buddy Rice finished sixth, while Adrian Fernandez was seventh, Scott Dixon eighth, Scott Sharp ninth and Felipe Giaffone 10th.