Franchitti wins Grand Prix of Long Beach; Castroneves takes seventh

Dario Franchitti (right), who spent last season in NASCAR, earned his first open-wheel win since Sept. 9, 2007. AP

LONG BEACH, California (AP) -- Dario Franchitti has won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

The Scot, returning to the IndyCar Series this season after spending 2008 trying to transition to NASCAR, dominated Sunday's 85-lap event on the temporary street circuit in downtown Long Beach, finishing far ahead of runnerup Will Power, the pole-winner. It is his ninth IndyCar win.

Franchitti said he felt as if the seaside circuit in downtown Long Beach owed him after finishing second to Alex Zanardi and Juan Pablo Montoya during his days in the now-defunct CART series. But he dominated this time, beating Power by 3.318 seconds -- half of the final straightaway.

"That was a lot of fun," said Franchitti, who dedicated the victory to actress wife Ashley Judd, who celebrated her 41st birthday watching the race from the pits.

Helio Castroneves, who got back in his Team Penske car Saturday after being acquitted of federal tax evasion charges, started eighth and finished seventh.

"I'm so happy to be back," said the Brazilian, who even led a handful of laps despite not even driving a race car for the past six months. "I thought I was going to be really tired, but I'm ready for the next race. I was sore this morning. My muscles were hurting. But this is what I love and I'm so glad to be back."

Franchitti said his team gave him the win with a near-perfect pit strategy, starting the race on the softer and faster optional Firestone tires and bringing his No. 10 Dallara in for his first pit stop before any of the other contenders.

"The timing of that first stop, they called it perfectly," Franchitti said. "After that, we were saving fuel and still making good laps times."

Franchitti, who left IndyCar after winning both the 2007 Indianapolis 500 and the series championship, lost his Sprint Cup ride midway through the season when team owner Ganassi was unable to find sponsorship for his stock car. But Ganassi decided to team Franchitti with 2008 Indy winner and series champion Scott Dixon and the move has paid off this season with a fourth-place finish in the opener at St. Petersburg and a victory.

Tony Kanaan, another former champion, was third, followed by Danica Patrick, getting her best ever finish on a road or street course, former series champion Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti.

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