New Zealand's Scott Dixon won the Edmonton Indy crown after last-lap leader Helio Castroneves of Brazil was penalized for blocking Australian teammate Will Power.
The final mess began with a restart with Castroneves leading. He took a line entering a sharp right turn, then moved left as he was being passed on the outside by Power, his Penske Racing teammate.
Dixon snuck between the rivals and overtook Power for second, putting himself in the winning position moments later when IndyCar officials decided to punish Castroneves for what they caled blocking.
"I can't believe we won," Dixon said. "It's fantastic."
Castroneves had to be restrained by crew members and security when he learned that what appeared to be a victory was being taken away.
"It's just ridiculous," Castroneves said. "I never moved my line. I actually gave him room outside. When you go side by side with your teammate and the guys literally take it away from you, it hurts."
Power, who increased his season points lead with the runner-up showing, said after the race he considered Castroneves' move a block.
"I understand Helio's position," Power said. "I made a run on him and he blocked me. I would say a black flag is a pretty harsh penalty.
"He blocked. It's one of those racing things. You have the lead on the last lap, you want to keep the lead."
Dixon, who collected his 24th career open-wheel victory, said he was sure Castroneves would be punished when the move was made.
"I definitely didn't think they were going to treat each other that way," Dixon said. "We're told every week you can't go in there blocking. You could definitely see something was going to happen there. It was a tough day."
Scotsman Dario Franchitti, the Indianapolis 500 winner, was third with Australian Ryan Briscoe fourth and American Ryan Hunter-Reay fifth.
Power improved his season point total to 420 points, 50 ahead of Franchitti and 71 ahead of Dixon with Briscoe fourth on 322 points.
Copyright 2010 AFP Global Edition
