Scott Dixon scores controversial IndyCar win

AP

TICKER TAPE: New Zealand's Scott Dixon celebrates his controversial win in the IndyCars Edmonton event.

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New Zealand's Scott Dixon has won the latest round of the IndyCars championship in controversial circumstances.

Brazilian Helio Castroneves actually crossed the line first in the Honda Indy Edmonton in Edmonton, Canada, but was penalised for blocking his teammate Will Power.

Castroneves was issued a drive-thru penalty for blocking entering turn on on a Lap 92 restart but failed to take the penalty and drove through to be first across the line.

He was later placed at the end of the lead lap (10th). A black flag cannot be appealed, according to Indy Racing League rules.

"I can't believe we won. It's fantastic," Dixon was reported by AFP as saying while adding he was sure Castroneves would be punished for his move.

"I definitely didn't think they were going to treat each other that way," AFP reported Dixon.

"We're told every week you can't go in there blocking. You could definitely see something was going to happen there. It was a tough day."

''All in all, not what I expected to happen at the end. In some ways, I knew those two, Will and Helio, were fighting pretty hard. You could see that the first time Helio passed Will.  But to go that far to the right I think in turn one, I just continued on with the regular line where it's nice and clean and figured or hoped that they picked up a lot of debris and were going to make it tough through 1 and 2. That's kind of what happened. 

"Pretty strange to not lead a lap and actually win the race.''

IndyCar.com reported that Dixon overtook Power for second in the apex of the turn, but race chief steward Brian Barnhart immediately called Castroneves for blocking his Team Penske teammate in a move that actually allowed Dixon to sneak through.

''I got a run on him and he blocked me," Power, who continues to lead the standings from Dario Franchitti and Dixon, said on IndyCar.com.

"I would say a black flag is a pretty harsh penalty, but it is what it is. It was just one of those racing things. When you’re leading on the last restart you want to keep the lead.''

Castroneves countered, however, by claiming "I never moved my line. I actually did move him outside. When you go side by side like that with your teammate and they just take it away from you, it's just absurd.''

All drivers had been warned by Barnhart during the morning drivers meeting regarding blocking.

''You have plenty of options on where to put your car and we should not have any defending or blocking,'' he said in the closed-door meeting. ''Again, we will be visually dividing the braking point through the entry into the corner in half. You can only be on the inside half if you are attempting to pass someone. If you are on the inside half because you are under attack from someone else, it is blocking. Don’t move your car in reaction to a following car and don’t impede the progress of a car with a run on you.''

Dixon's Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dario Franchitti finished third and Ryan Briscoe was fourth.

Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay finished fifth.

Points: Power 420, Franchitti 370, Dixon 349, Briscoe 324, Hunter-Reay 316, Castroneves 305, Kanaan 291, Wilson 252, M Andretti 244, Wheldon 243.

- © Fairfax NZ News