Indianapolis, IN (My Sportsbook) - Scott Dixon led 115 of 200 laps, but still needed a great final pit stop from his No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing team to capture the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500. Dixon took the checkered flag 1.7498 seconds ahead of Vitor Meira, but the outcome was in doubt until the final few laps.

It was the Auckland, New Zealand native's first Indianapolis 500 victory and the second win for owner Chip Ganassi.

"What a day, I just couldn't believe it," said Dixon. "You just thought something was going to go wrong...but it never did."

On the last pit stop, Dixon was running in second place but his crew put up a lightning 7.0-second stop and he beat Meira to the end line for the race lead which he would never give up.

Meanwhile, Ryan Briscoe and Danica Patrick collided and both were knocked out of the race. By the time the track was cleaned up the green flag dropped with 24 to go. There were four cars within one second, realistically vying for the win - Dixon, Meira, Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti.

Twenty laps to go and Dixon's margin was 0.2315 seconds. It was half-a-second one lap later after being told by his pit crew he could run "full rich" the rest of the way.

Dixon wasn't saving anything or hiding anything anymore. Fifteen laps to go and he built the lead to 0.7564 seconds. Meanwhile, Andretti moved around Castroneves for third place.

But this was Dixon's race to win and he made no mistakes down the stretch to win the Indianapolis 500 for the first time.

Dixon brought the crowd to its feet as he led the 33-car field to the green flag to start the 92nd running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing."

Dixon and teammate Dan Wheldon quickly hooked up but on lap three, Wheldon slipped underneath Dixon to take the lead as the No.9 was already in "fuel conservation mode." Two drivers looking strong early on and moving through the field were Tony Kanaan and Tomas Scheckter. They slid into third and fourth, respectively after just five laps.

A caution flag on lap eight for debris slowed the race and sent almost everyone to pit lane for fuel and tires. Two drivers stayed out - Buddy Rice, the new race leader and Justin Wilson. Wheldon was third, but the first driver off pit lane.

The race restarted on lap 17 and it took just two laps for Wheldon to retake the lead from Rice and he did it pretty easily. Dixon followed his teammate through and they were once again one-two. Wilson was third and the only other car within two seconds of the leader.

Wilson and Rice finally pitted on lap 33, but it left them well back in the pack. Meanwhile, Kanaan and Scheckter inherited third and fourth place.

They were still the leaders when Graham Rahal, the 19-year old who won at St. Petersburg earlier this year, slid off line and into the Turn 4 outside wall to bring out a caution flag on lap 37.

Dixon would lead the field back to the restart on lap 45 with Wheldon, Kanaan and Scheckter all comfortably nose-to-tail.

Then Marty Roth crashed on lap 61 in a similar manner to Rahal. They both got off the "racing line" into the "marbles" and lost all grip ending with the car in the wall. Castroneves caught a piece of the Roth accident and needed a long pit stop to replace the nose piece along with fuel and tires. He returned in 14th place.

The two Ganassi cars continued to show the way as the field approached the 100-lap mark, but at lap 94 Kanaan made a move past both Target cars. He charged past Wheldon in Turn 1 and the lead was his.

Then just as suddenly, on lap 105 Kanaan began to slow and Dixon flew around the outside. AGR teammate Marco Andretti also slid underneath him and it forced Kanaan up into the marbles. When he came back down the track, he collided with Sarah Fisher and both Kanaan and Fisher were knocked out of the race.

Dixon, who had just passed the slowing Kanaan before the accident, was the new leader as they went back to green with 83 laps to go. Behind him, Andretti, Wheldon and Scheckter were keeping pace.

Andretti not only kept pace, but with 79 remaining he charged around Dixon in Turn 1 and took the lead. He was still in first when Wilson spun out just 67 laps from the finish to bring out the caution flag and send the field down pit lane for fuel and tires.

With a 7.3-second stop, Andretti maintained the lead of those who stopped, ahead of Dixon and Scheckter. One pit crew that did the job perfectly was Helio Castroneves' No.3 Team Penske crew that picked up three spots on pit road.

Rookie Mario Moraes stayed out and inherited the lead, but he only had about 10 laps more of fuel. His lead didn't even last through Turn 1 as Dixon charged from third to first on the first green-flag lap.

Alex Lloyd brought out the next caution flag, but it came too early for anyone to make a final pit stop. Still, all except Ed Carpenter came in. Carpenter inherited the lead with Dixon, Meira and Castroneves behind him with new tires and full of fuel. Andretti fell to fifth and Wheldon had problems on pit lane and came out 19th. Scheckter never even made it out pit road with a broken driveshaft.

On the restart, Meira, who has never won an IndyCar race, jumped from third to first and then Dixon got around Carpenter with 40 laps to go.

"Right there I saw an open gap and thought 'I'm not lifting anymore'," said Meira.

Then with 30 laps to go Milka Duno spun to slow the field. They were now within reach of the checkered flag on one more tank of fuel.

It was there that the No.9 Target pit crew made the decisive pit stop that put Dixon out front and helped win him the race.

"The Target guys did a fantastic job," said Dixon.

"We finished second, but this is a very good result compared to the struggles this season, Panther Racing is back," said Meira.

The win also gives Dixon the 2008 IndyCar championship lead.