HOMESTEAD, Fla., March 2 (UPI) -- Rookie Scott Dixon of New Zealand won Sunday's season-opening Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, becoming just the third driver to claim an IRL IndyCar Series race in his first start.
The 22-year-old Dixon, driving a Panoz G Force/Toyota combination for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, took the checkered flag by 0.5725 seconds over the Dallara/Toyota of Brazil's Gil de Ferran.
The other drivers to win their IRL debuts were Buzz Calkins in the inaugural IndyCar Series race in January 1996 and Ganassi Racing's Juan Montoya in the 2000 Indianapolis 500.
Dixon led 53 laps and averaged 153.710 miles per hour. De Ferran was in front a race-high 92 laps.
De Ferran's Team Penske teammate and countryman Helio Castroneves was third, followed by pole sitter Tony Kanaan, also from Brazil. Scott Sharp rounded out the top five.
Two-time defending IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr. finished 10th after starting third. Hornish also was the two-time defending champion of this race.
