Tony Kanaan wins Dan Wheldon Memorial Pro-Am charity kart race

Tony Kanaan figured out the fast line on the last lap and held off James Hinchcliffe to win Saturday’s Dan Wheldon Pro-Am Memorial go-kart race at Mark Dismore’s nifty road course in New Castle, Ind.

Watched by Dan's widow, Susie [ABOVE, with their son Sebastian], 13 former or current IndyCar drivers participated for the second year in a 15-minute sprint benefitting Alzheimer’s research. And Wheldon’s longtime friend and former teammate claimed his second straight victory.

“It was a lot of fun and I want to keep racing,” said the 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner who also captured the Verizon IndyCar season finale at Fontana last month. “It’s great to see all the guys turn out for this and honor Dan’s memory. He loved karting and I think he’d be happy to see all his buddies out here.”

Hinchcliffe, currently being pursued by Schmidt-Peterson and KV Racing for 2015, led about half the race before T.K. got by and he refrained from using the “chrome horne” to get a win although it was close [ABOVE].

“I thought about parking him, of course,” said the 27-year-old Canadian breaking into a grin, “but I was thinking I could pass him clean on that last lap because I’d been running flat out and he hadn’t figured it out. At least I didn’t think he had but he did, dammit!”

Scott Dixon finished third and praised all the participants, which included Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter, Ryan Briscoe, Josef Newgarden, Sebastian Saavedra, J.R. Hildebrand, Sage Karam, Conor Daly, Jay Howard, P.J. Chesson plus Matthew Brabham, Spencer Pigot and Mark Dismore Jr.

“It’s a fantastic event and a great way to remember Dan,” said Dixon. “It didn’t get as ugly as I thought it might on the last lap but it’s always fun.”

Holly Wheldon [RIGHT, with Robin and Dixon], sister of the two-time Indy 500 champ who lost his life in 2011, flew in from England to drive in her brother’s honor and did him proud by knocking a couple of fellow karters out of her way.

“Yeah, I think DW would have approved,” she smiled. “It means a lot to see all the support this race gets and I’m just thrilled we’ve had it two years in a row and I hope it keeps going.”