Full Throttle

Helio Castroneves was trying everything to squeeze every drop of ethanol out of the No. 3 Team Penske car in the final five laps of the Meijer Indy 300 presented by Pepsi and Edy’s.

Castroneves was working 50-plus laps since his last pit stop, while the string of other contenders had pitted under green between Laps 189-194. That’s how Castroneves inherited the point, and he would have peddled the 1,600-pound car it into Victory Circle for the first time this season if necessary.

“You got to go. You got to go,” race strategist Tim Cindric implored Castroneves over the radio as he saw Scott Dixon close from 6.1403 seconds behind to 2.1338 with two laps remaining.

Dixon, who took a splash of fuel as the leader on Lap 194, cut the gap to 0.6241 of a second as the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car crossed the start/finish line for the white flag lap.

It appeared Castroneves would be able to hang on, but as the car exited Turn 4 it slowed and Dixon went to the outside for the pass and victory by 0.5532 of a second.

In a season of superlatives for Dixon, who tied teammate Dan Wheldon (2005) with his series record-tying sixth victory, this one erased memories of the fateful day last September at Chicagoland Speedway.

“It was nice to get it the way we did,” said Dixon, who took a commanding lead in the championship standings with three points-paying races remaining. “I think about the run that Dario had for the championship last season and it’s nice to be able to be in that position after how we lost it last year.”

Needing to finish ahead of Dario Franchitti to win the series title, Dixon’s No. 9 target Chip Ganassi Racing car ran out of fuel in Turn 3 and he coasted to a runner-up finish in the 200-lap and season-long race.

“What a day,” said Dixon, who takes a 78-point cushion to Infineon Raceway - where he won last year. “I think we tried to play it kind of safe and just be conservative. Even in traffic we really didn’t rush things. The car was fantastic. It was strategy in the end. It was crazy.”

Dixon, the pole sitter, led a field-high 151 laps to surpass 2,000 for his career. He picked up the lead when Marco Andretti pitted on Lap 189 and squeezed 58 laps out of the 22 gallons of ethanol before ducking onto pit lane on Lap 194. Castroneves had pitted under yellow on Lap 143 and, despite trying to conserve fuel with a lower fuel setting and downshifting, looked poised to hold on.

“There was no way we were going to catch him,” Dixon said. “He was half the track ahead of us. I knew our car was probably quicker than his, but not 20 miles per hour faster.”

That’s what Castroneves thought, too.

“It was just 200 yards short,” said Castroneves, who was runner-up for the sixth time. “I have to give this to Cindric. It would be second place or we would be in 10th place (if he pitted late), so right now I have to say that the team did a great job.”

For the 33-year-old Castroneves, it was the seventh second-place finish of the year and third in a row. The last triumph on the race track for the former “Dancing With the Stars” champion came in April 2007 at St. Petersburg.

Marco Andretti finished third, while Vitor Meira was fourth. Tony Kanaan, last year’s winner, was eighth.

Forced to start last in the 26-car field due to a practice-session crash that prevented her from making a qualifying attempt, Danica Patrick finished 11th.