The drought is over.
Marco Andretti picked up his first Izod IndyCar Series win in almost five years Saturday night, edging former Andretti Autosport teammate Tony Kanaan to get only his second series victory -- and this one came 78 races after the first one.
The Nazareth native, whose best previous finish this season was a fourth, worked hard with his pit crew to maintain track position, and when it counted, he won a wheel-to-wheel battle with Kanaan to take the lead 30 laps from the end of the Iowa Corn Indy 250.
"Some good racing with T.K., it was good fun, but the Venom boys were on tonight," Andretti said in Victory Lane. "I made it difficult on him. No mercy at this point; I needed it."
Kanaan came into Victory Lane to congratulate Andretti and told him, "If it wasn't for the win, we we're gonna talk about it."
Kanaan crashed three years in a row at Iowa before winning in 2010.
"It was a great battle, a fun race," Kanaan said. "It was crazy at the end. I loved it,"
Points leader Dario Franchitti was leading much of the race before fading following a restart 51 laps from the end. The Scot finished fifth, though he grabbed sole possession of the points lead from Will Power.
Scott Dixon started 23rd and finished third, followed by JR Hildebrand.
Power, the co-points leader entering the race, hit the wall just 90 laps in. He suffered a minor concussion and will have to be cleared by doctors to race in Toronto in two weeks.
This was the first IndyCar night race in five events at Iowa. The switch produced the most exciting race yet at Rusty Wallace's speedy little oval.
Franchitti jumped in front eight laps in and held a comfortable margin over a handful of challengers for the first 150 laps. Andretti completed his long journey from 17th to pass Franchitti, but it didn't last as the Scot went high and back ahead a few laps later.
Franchitti won two of the last three races at Iowa, but he didn't have enough late to challenge Andretti or Kanaan.
Takuma Sato became the first Japanese driver to win an IndyCar pole, then nearly became the first one to lose it when he collided with Alex Tagliani in a late practice run long after qualifying.
Sato's KV Racing Technology-Lotus team was able to put his primary No. 5 car back together in time for the race, and Sato hung close to the leaders for much of the race.
But Sato, like many drivers before him, lost control through an increasingly bumpy second turn and drilled the wall.
Danica Patrick opened the race second, her best starting position since Nashville in 2008.
She was hardly much of a factor once the green flag dropped.
Patrick quickly fell back as Franchitti maneuvered to the front, and she slipped back into ninth after James Jakes hit the wall for the night's first caution flag.
Patrick finished 10th.
Power's problem's began shortly thereafter, as he ran into Charlie Kimball as he was leaving pit row and Kimball was coming in. Kimball sustained heavy damage to the side of his No. 83 car, while Power stayed on the lead lap — though way back on that lap.
Power's night would only get worse. The rear end of his No. 12 Team Penske car flew open and smacked into the wall, ending a tumultuous night in painfully fitting fashion.
Power left Iowa in second place, 20 points behind Franchitti. But five of the next six IndyCar races are on road/street courses, and Power's proven to be the best on those since the start of last year.
But he'll have to pass medical evaluations by the IndyCar medical staff first.
The victory was a perfect belated father's day gift for Marco's dad and team owner, Michael Andretti. "I didn't get him a card, so I guess this will have to do," Marco said.
Former Morning Call sports editor Paul Reinhard and Associated Press writer Luke Meredith contributed to this story.
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