NASHVILLE, July 17 (UPI) -- Dario Franchitti captured the Firestone Indy 200 Saturday night at the Nashville Superspeedway.
His No. 27 AGR Honda passed Patrick Carpentier with seven laps to go and went on to win the race easily. He crossed the finish line 1.3163 seconds ahead of runner-up Sam Hornish Jr.
It was Franchitti's first of the season and third of his IndyCar career.
The race started with pole-sitter Tomas Scheckter leading the field to the green flag. Franchitti began an immediate challenge from his fourth-place starting position.
He quickly passed Buddy Lazier and Danica Patrick for second place. By lap four, he grabbed the lead for the first time.
Franchitti now lives about 30 miles from the speedway.
He and AGR teammate Tony Kanaan traded the lead back and forth for the next 100 laps.
On lap 75, Bryan Herta complained of a bad vibration and after he brought the car in, never returned to the track.
