Dario Franchitti claimed his first IRL IndyCar Series victory winning the Menards A.J. Foyt Indy 225 July 25 at The Milwaukee Mile.

Franchitti, who took the lead from Sam Hornish Jr. on lap 155, led the final 70 laps of the 225-lap event and held off Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice by .6590 of a second for the win.

“I thought we had the car today to beat (Rice),” said Franchitti, driver of the No. 27 ArcaEx Dallara/Honda/Firestone. “I just wanted to make sure I got that last restart right, and we did. The car was fantastic all day. It went off a bit as the run went on, but not as much as other people. I think the engineers got it right. Nothing went wrong today.”

Franchitti became the fifth winner in the IndyCar Series this year, joining his Andretti Green Racing teammates Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon, Rice and Hornish as 2004 race winners.

Defending IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon did not compete in the Menards A.J. Foyt Indy 225 on the advice of Dr. Henry Bock, IRL senior director of medical services.

Dixon sustained a chipped bone in his right thumb and a severely sprained left ankle in a pair of accidents on July 24. Dixon, who is currently sixth in IndyCar Series points, qualified 14th and will be credited with a 22nd-place finish.

In the Milwaukee 100 held prior to the IndyCar Series event, Paul Dana captured his first Menards Infiniti Pro Series victory to end points leader Thiago Medeiros’ four-race win streak.