Helio Castroneves holds off Scott Dixon to win inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Helio Castroneves wins Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Spiderman was at it again, only this time with a chubby-cheeked little twist to his celebration.

Helio Castroneves won the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on Sunday after expertly conserving fuel and then holding off Scott Dixon after a caution with two laps to go.

After that, he celebrated with the trademark fence climbing that earned him the Spidey nickname. The twist was a different kind of photo finish, posing with his daughter Mikaella, who was born on Dec. 28.

“It was great to see my daughter there,” he said. “I wanted to take a picture with her on the podium, so when she grows up 20 years later she can look and be proud of dad that we were sharing good moments.”

The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner took over in the stretch run when Marco Andretti headed to pit road with seven laps to go.

“I felt like I had a better car than Marco but, unfortunately, I just couldn’t pass him,” Castroneves said. “And I was just patient and waiting for an opportunity. I guess we were able to be smart enough to save a lot of fuel.

“Towards the end, we just had a yellow flag. I didn’t ask for that, especially when you have Scott Dixon and those guys behind you. I just decided to make sure not to give any opportunities for those guys, and that’s what I did.”

He beat Dixon by just over half a second and nobody else was closer than 7 seconds to the lead, making it a two-man chase at the end. He didn’t offer any opening for Dixon to get by him on a narrow track that offers few easy spots to pass and makes fuel strategy as important as any daring on-track maneuvers.

“The only thing you can do is try to push the guy as hard in front of you to make him keep looking in his mirrors and overshoot a corner and make a mistake,” Dixon said.

The savvy veteran Castroneves didn’t bite.

Dario Franchitti was third. Will Power had won the first two races and was dominant in qualifying and practice but had to settle for fourth, still comfortably hanging onto his points lead. He came in with a 44-point lead; Castroneves earned 50 points to move into second place, ahead of Franchitti, Justin Wilson and Dixon.

Power pitted first while Castroneves waited. His patience paid off late as well.

“The only way to stop Power was trying to do something different,” he said. “Today was an opportunity to do that, and it worked out perfectly.”

The race marked the first time since the Indy Racing League was formed in 1996 that every driver who started the race was still running at the finish.

It was another big day for Penske Racing even with Power failing to become the first driver to win the opening three IndyCar races. Castroneves, Power and Ryan Briscoe made up half the top six.

“It is great having Helio win, which makes it three wins to start the season for Team Penske,” Power said.

Danica Patrick continued to struggle, finishing 19th — right where she started.

Marco Andretti was fifth, and left an impression on the winner.

“He was driving more patient and reminded me of his father, Michael Andretti,” Castroneves said.

Castroneves had plenty to celebrate, winning for the third time since returning from his acquittal on tax charges last year. It was the 17th career victory for the charismatic Brazilian and former “Dancing with the Stars” contestant.

Power started on the pole and led 12 laps before taking a pit stop. Andretti was up front for 58 laps, raising hopes of his first win for team owner and father since his rookie season in 2006 at Infineon.

“He pretty much set the pace for most of the race, so it was kind of a situation where you knew he was kind of dead in the water if he didn’t get another yellow (flag),” Dixon said.

The race had no significant mishaps. Both cautions, totaling five laps, came because of mechanical troubles not dustups. Running such a fuel strategy-based race only looked easy.

“It takes a lot of discipline,” Franchitti said. “You’re lifting on the straights and you’re carrying speed into the corners. So you end up hustling the car through the corners and you’re asking it to do things you didn’t set up for because of the lack of straight line speeds. That makes it quite interesting.”