Dario Franchitti might become known as ‘The Mile Meister’ after he claimed victory yesterday at the IRL Honda Indy 225 at Pikes Peak International Raceway, earning his second IndyCar Series victory of the season and his second win on a one-mile oval.Franchitti started the event from fourth place, having earned the position based on practice speeds as Saturday’s qualifying session was rained out.

Franchitti began his assault on lap 131, passing four cars to take the lead, one he wouldn’t relinquish as he went on to pace the final 63 laps. Franchitti led for 128 of 225 laps and now moves into fifth place in the IndyCar Series point standings, just seven points shy of fourth place Helio Castroneves.

Dario commented:  “We were strong here last year and we were very strong on the mile at Milwaukee, so I hoped we could have another good run at Pikes Peak. The engineers at Andretti Green Racing have worked very hard to give us a good one-mile car and obviously we have an advantage with the Honda engine. I had a good rhythm out there and these low-grip situations definitely suit my driving style. The ArcaEx guys were lightning in the pits today and that’s exactly what we needed.” – 23 August 2004