Castroneves Finally Gets Richmond Win

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Helio Castroneves didn&#39;t let this one get away. One year after losing with the dominant car because Dan Wheldon&#39;s gamble on fuel paid off, Castroneves dominated again Saturday night to win the Indy Racing League&#39;s annual visit to it&#39;s shortest, diciest track.<br> <br> But danger chased &#34;Spiderman&#34; all the way to the end.<br> <br> With nine laps to go, he was leading by about three seconds when Darren Manning and Roger Yasukawa made contact just ahead of him.<br> <br> The contact sent Manning&#39;s car skidding quickly into the outside wall, and then Yasukawa&#39;s followed, but not before Castroneves was able to squeak by, with Yasukawa&#39;s car missing Castroneves by mere inches. <br> <br> It took eight laps to clean up the track, leaving just one for a green-flag finish, and Castroneves made easy work of runner-up Dario Franchitti, beating him to the checkered flag by 0.5588 seconds.<br> <br> Rookie sensation Danica Patrick, who started 21st after a difficult first day on the three-quarter-mile oval, was never a factor but avoided the many mishaps that took out numerous top drivers and finished 10th.<br> <br> Patrick Carpentier was third, followed by Tomas Scheckter and Wheldon, the points leader and defending race champion who never really contended.<br> <br> Castroneves&#39; victory, the first for Marlboro Team Penske in the hometown of cigarette-maker Philip Morris, came after he was leading when he saw teammate Sam Hornich Jr. spin into the wall with 85 laps to go. <br> <br> &#34;We both had killer cars,&#34; Castroneves said.<br> <br> It also came with Castroneves nursing a deep bruise in his left shoulder, the product of a crash during a test here eight days earlier.<br> <br> But the crash came at the end of the test, after Castroneves had already turned record-setting laps on the oval, and he and Hornish both took advantage with the top cars in the field.<br> <br> Castroneves&#39; injury, treated with patches that helped manage the pain, didn&#39;t seem to bother him when he made his traditional fence climb, his way of celebrating his first victory since last October in Texas.<br> <br> © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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