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Rookie rides to win 20-year-old Dixon pulls off stunner at Nazareth
NAZARETH, Pa. (AP) -- Scott Dixon, a 20-year-old rookie, became the youngest winner in major open-wheel racing Sunday when he held off Kenny Brack to capture the Lehigh Valley Grand Prix. The New Zealand driver eclipsed the CART record of the late Greg Moore, who was 22 when he won for the first time in 1997. Sam Hornish Jr. was 21 when he won this season in the Indy Racing League. The victory Sunday was particularly emotional for PacWest Racing Group, which had to withdraw one of its cars because driver Mauricio Gugelmin's son died Thursday. Dixon displayed the kind of talent he used to win six races and the Indy Lights developmental series title last year. He never wavered after taking the lead when Tony Kanaan pitted on lap 191 and stayed ahead of Brack for the last 36 laps at Nazareth Speedway. "This was amazing, especially because this was a difficult week for all of us," Dixon said. "I just kept looking up at the board to see how many laps were left. I had a mirrorful of Kenny over those last laps." Dixon's only close call didn't matter. It came on the cooldown lap when he ran over the left rear wheel of Max Wilson's car. "I thought I was racing for position, but I'm 20, come on," he said with a laugh. But he wasn't heading for the finish as he originally thought because the victory was already in the book for his Reynard-Toyota. And owner Bruce McCaw was able to relax. "We're so thrilled," said McCaw, whose team last won when Mark Blundell -- whom Dixon replaced this season -- got the last of his three victories in 1997. "It's been a long weekend, but it's a great way to come out of it." Only Nigel Mansell, who won in his first start in 1993, was faster. Juan Montoya also won in his third start, in 1999. Dixon and beat Brack by .366 seconds. The win from the 23rd spot on the 25-car grid was the second-greatest advance to victory in CART history. After the Lola-Ford of Brack came the Reynard-Honda of Paul Tracy, and the Lola-Toyotas of Jimmy Vasser and Christian Fittipaldi. Defending series champion Gil de Ferran, who won this race last May, six weeks after it was snowed out, wound up 23rd. Cristiano da Matta, who shares the points lead with Tracy, finished 10th. Two-time Nazareth winner Michael Andretti was sixth in the final race in his hometown. CART has not included the 15-year-old event on the 2002 schedule. About half the 42,000 seats were filled. Like Tracy, Andretti was trying to tie Emerson's Fittipaldi's record of three Nazareth victories. The race was the first in a month for CART, which postponed the Firestone Firehawk 600 on April 29. Drivers worried they could pass out because of the G-forces during turns at Texas Motor Speedway.
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