Dario Franchitti win fuels title challenge

Dario Franchitti catapulted himself into major contention to win back-to-back IndyCar Championships when he won the latest round in Chicago by just 0.0423 seconds from England's Dan Wheldon.

Starting from second on the grid at the high speed 1.5-mile Chicagoland oval, the 37-year-old Scot opted not to change tyres at the final pitstop and he emerged ahead of the Penske of his main championship rival, Will Power.

The Aussie's race was wrecked a few laps later when his car began to run out of fuel. This allowed Wheldon to mount a last-gasp charge in his Panther to overtake Franchitti.

"Wow, that was close," the Scot, who started the day 51 points behind Power in the championship but who now heads to Kentucky this weekend just 23 adrift, admitted yesterday. "We made a brilliant call at the final pitstop with 23 laps left and the guys were perfect to get me out in front of everybody; but boy was it tight."

Now Franchitti, who won the Indy500 for a second time earlier this year, has three races left to seize the title.