INDYCAR: Dixon plays it cool in Phoenix

He started sixth, passed one car early and then jumped from fourth to second on his first pit stop. When leader Juan Montoya's right-front tire blew out on lap 96, he assumed the top spot.

And when Scott Dixon gets a hold of the race it's a like an alligator clamping on to a helpless creature in the swamp.

The 35-year-old veteran never let go of Saturday night's Desert Diamond 250 at Phoenix International Raceway – leading the final 155 laps in his Target Dallara-Chevrolet to score the 39th victory of his amazing career.

It tied him with Al Unser on the all-time win list for fourth and put him within three of Michael Andretti.

"It's mind-boggling to be named with those guys and I just feel privileged to be an IndyCar driver and be on such a great team," said the four-time IndyCar champion who took the first-ever checkered flag for Chip Ganassi under the caution ahead of Team Penske's Simon Pagenaud and Will Power. "But this is a team sport and tonight I can't say enough about this team. I had great pit stops, good setup and perfect strategy."

After an 11-year absence, IndyCar's return to the oval built in 1964 was better than expected going up against the NCAA Final Four as an estimated 15,000 people turned out.

And the racing wasn't wild and crazy like Fontana or Indianapolis, but there was quite a bit of passing on restarts.

"I think for our first time back it was good, the track changed a lot since the last time we were here and I think we learned a lot," said Dixon. "I think it will be a better show next year."

Polesitter Helio Castroneves led the first 39 laps before his right front went flat and that put teammate Montoya on top until his problem. "It just vibrated really bad and then popped," said JPM afterward.

With Dixon on point, Power moved into second ahead of Tony Kanaan with a good pit stop on lap 150 but he never really threatened the Kiwi who has now won a race in 12 consecutive seasons.

Dixon never got to far ahead of Power or Pagenaud, who jumped his teammate into second on the final stop on lap 199. He simply maintained his composure and his advantage.

"I was content to finish second after my guys did such a fantastic job in the pits," said Pagenaud, whose back-to-back runner-up finishes put him in the Verizon points lead after two races. "Don't get me wrong, I was trying and I was pushing but there's only so much you can do."

Power missed the opening race at St. Pete with an inner-ear infection but drove a tidy race to earn a podium, while Kanaan battled back to take fourth and Graham Rahal charged from 19th to finish fifth.

Rahal was the highest finishing Honda as Chevrolet completed its dominating weekend by taking eight of the top 10.

Ryan Hunter-Reay should have been Honda's top dog and had a shot at a podium until he got hosed by two yellow flags just after pitting. "I couldn't believe that happened twice and it's a shame because we were pretty strong," said the 2014 Indy 500 winner whose restarts and overtakes with the highlight of the race.

But rookies Max Chilton and Alex Rossi also did a superlative job in their oval-track debuts. Chilton started eighth in his Gallagher Special for Ganassi, ran as high as fifth and mixed it up all night with his experience competition to secure seventh place.

Rossi started and finished 14th but kept his nose clean and finished on the lead lap for Michael Andretti.

Ed Carpenter was running fourth when he crashed coming out of Turn 4 on lap 196 but escaped injury while Carlos Munoz made contact and was eliminated on lap 116.

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