Dario Franchitti hoisted a celebratory glass of red wine to his lips in a long-awaited moment for the IndyCar driver at Infineon Raceway.
Such is tradition for the winner in a race set in the heart of Sonoma County's wine country.
Franchitti finally won on a challenging course where he's been so close before, leading from start to finish to capture his first Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday in the final road course race of the year.
And the Scotman's victory sent the IndyCar points race into a serious sprint for the finish.
"Great to finally get one here at Sonoma," Franchitti said in the winner's circle.
Franchitti took the pole and led all 75 laps, topping runner-up and new points leader Ryan Briscoe on the way to his fourth victory of the year. Franchitti and Briscoe avoided a multiple-car crash early in Lap 1 on the tough 12-turn, 2.303-mile road course. Rookie Mike Conway finished third.
"I couldn't do anything behind Dario. It was really difficult," Briscoe said.
Scott Dixon, the points leader coming in and Franchitti's teammate with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, finished a disappointing 13th after stalling in the wreck. He fell into third place in the points race at 477.
At least seven cars crashed in an accident heading into Turn 2 of the race, including '07 Sonoma champion Dixon after he started 10th. There's a quick 104-foot elevation gain from the starting line to Turn 2. Debris was strewn all over the track.
Franchitti, who moved into second in points at 493 and four behind Briscoe, became the first flag-to-flag winner in an IndyCar race since Dixon did so in 2003 for 206 laps in a rain-shortened event at Richmond.
"The Firestones were pretty much as good on the last lap as they were on the first," Franchitti said. "It was a great day. I guess it wasn't too eventful for everybody out there. I was just trying to be inch-perfect, not make any mistakes and keep everybody in the rearview mirror."
All the top drivers know the 2009 title will come down to the wire with three races to go. The four points separating Briscoe and Franchitti ties the closest margin in IRL history with three weeks remaining. The race also was that close in 2002.
This marked the 13th time in 14 races that the points leader has changed.
"It's so difficult with the competition level," Franchitti said of holding the lead. "It's not that nobody wants to. ... It's so competitive you can't afford mistakes. We've all made them this year and we've all had bad luck as well."
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