INDYCAR: Carpenter earns first win, at Kentucky

SPARTA, KY - Ed Carpenter was thankful he had one Honda push to pass available on the final lap of the Kentucky Indy 300. The extra horsepower boost was crucial in the Sarah Fisher Racing driver's 22-lap duel with Dario Franchitti, and most important as he exiting Turn 4 of the 1.5-mile oval side-by-side with the IZOD IndyCar Series championship front-runner.

He pushed the button and pushed the No. 67 Dollar General car to the start/finish line to edge Franchitti by 0.0098 of a second -- the sixth-closest race in IZOD IndyCar Series and the closest ever at Kentucky Speedway.

Scott Dixon finish third to wrap up the A.J. Foyt Oval Trophy and rookie James Hinchcliffe was fourth. Ryan Hunter-Reay, the winner at the last oval race (New Hampshire Motor Speedway in mid-August) finished fifth.

Will Power, who entered the penultimate race of the season with an 11-point lead over Franchitti, started from the pole. But contact with the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing car driven by Ana Beatriz on pit lane on Lap 49 put a gash in the left sidepod of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car.

Power had to pit twice more and fell back to 23rd -- the last car on the lead lap. He soldiered on and finished 19th, but is 18 points behind Franchitti entering the IZOD INDYCAR World Championships Presented by Honda.

Also on Oct. 2, Josef Newgarden clinched the Firestone Indy Lights championship by taking the green flag in the Kentucky Indy 100 at Kentucky Speedway.

Stefan Wilson still has something to shoot for -- the championship runner-up -- and he took a big step in attaining that goal with a 3.1136-second victory over Newgarden in the 67-lap race on the 1.5-mile oval.

Wilson, who earned his first Sunoco Pole Award a day earlier in the No. 5 Andretti Autosport car, overtook Esteban Guerrieri in the standings with one race remaining in the season.

Jorge Goncalvez finished third in the No. 4 Belardi Auto Racing Special and Brandon Wagner was fourth in the No. 22 TMR-Davey Hamilton Racing entry. Bryan Clauson, who started 11th in the No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/CURB Records/SSM car, finished fifth.

Guerrieri, along with the cars of Gustavo Yacaman, Anders Krohn, David Ostella and Jacob Wilson, was eliminated in a Lap 1 incident in Turn 2.

From Amy Konrath / IndyCar