Tony Kanaan claims 1st victory of season

He had to hold off season point leader Sam Hornish Jr., to do it.
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) -- Tony Kanaan didn't really worry as Sam Hornish Jr. passed two of his teammates to pull into second place with 14 laps to go in Sunday's IndyCar Series race at the Milwaukee Mile.
But when Kanaan's car started sputtering with five laps to go, he figured he was headed for another bout of the bad luck that has kept him out of victory lane this year.
"I was more concerned about my car stopping, just because I was paranoid," Kanaan said.
Kanaan's car held up, allowing him to win the ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt 225.
With the victory, Kanaan and his Andretti Green racing team broke the stranglehold that Marlboro Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing have held on the series all year.
The Andretti team hasn't been as competitive as they have in recent seasons, and came into Sunday's race without a victory or a driver in the top five in points.
New team winner
It was the first victory by a non-Penske or Ganassi car in 2006.
"It feels good," Kanaan said. "We're not here just to beat them, but they're obviously doing a better job than us."
Kanaan and his three AGR teammates took up four of the top five positions for much of the race, but Penske's Hornish -- who qualified second but faded and fell a lap behind the leaders in the first half of the race -- suddenly found speed when it counted.
Team owner Michael Andretti said he had a bad feeling that Hornish was going to be fast in the closing laps.
"Unfortunately, the feeling was right," Andretti said. "But it was fun while it lasted."
Hornish passed AGR's Dario Franchitti for third place after a restart with 16 laps to go, then passed AGR rookie Marco Andretti for second two laps later.
Hornish couldn't catch Kanaan at the end and finished second, retaining the series points lead on a day where his three closest championship pursuers struggled.
With four races remaining in the season, Hornish extends what was a five-point lead in the standings to 25 over Scott Dixon.
Hornish's car had a vibration in the closing laps and he didn't want to push it to try to catch Kanaan.
"I didn't know what was wrong," Hornish said. "I didn't want something to happen and end up in the wall."
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