Finally, the open-wheel gods blessed Tony Kanaan.

The Brazilian, whose season had been stalled by a multitude of mishaps and bad luck, dominated the beginning and end of the SunTrust Indy Challenge last night at Richmond International Raceway to win for the first time this season.

Kanaan, who led 166 of the 300 laps, won with an average speed of 108.790 mph in a wreck-filled IndyCar Series event that had a record-tying nine cautions. He finished 4.76 seconds ahead of runner-up Helio Castroneves.

For Kanaan, this was a sweet victory, considering he came to Richmond with a bitter taste lingering in his mouth after controlling much of the race last week in Iowa before crashing on Lap 211.

This time, Kanaan escaped the demons that haunted him in Indianapolis and Iowa. He regained the lead on Lap 206 when Andretti Green Racing teammate Marco Andretti pitted for fuel.

He never was challenged the final 94 laps. He didn't give fate a chance to keep him from victory lane.

"I feel bad about Marco, because he had as good car as I had," said Kanaan, who earned his 13th career IndyCar Series victory. "We've done it. We've turned this situation around.

"We don't stop working. We didn't let ourselves get down. We had to do better."

Kanaan was particularly sharp in traffic. He avoided the accidents that collected most of the field, leaving only 12 of a record 26 entrants running at the finish.

While Castroneves couldn't chase down Kanaan, points leader Scott Dixon overtook his Chip Ganassi teammate Dan Wheldon to secure third place. Wheldon finished fourth, followed by Oriol Servia and Danica Patrick.

Justin Wilson, who had four career wins in the Champ Car Series before the Indy Racing League unification, finished seventh. Townsend Bell was eighth, with Marco Andretti and EJ Viso rounding out the top 10.

Dixon has a 43-point lead over Castroneves, with Wheldon and Kanaan third and fourth, respectively in the IndyCar Series points standing.

Castroneves insinuated that Wheldon let up at the end to allow Dixon, his Team Penske teammate, to finish third. It was a result that earned Dixon several points in the battle for the championship.

"Once again it was a very tough pass here," said Dixon, who has a series-best three wins. "We dropped back to eighth or ninth, so it was good to come away with third."

Castroneves, though, didn't have a good enough Dallara-Honda to pressure Kanaan at the end.

"We did all we could to try to find some grooves that didn't exist," Castroneves said. "I guess I had a lot of chances to pass some cars, but unfortunately the car was loose [late in the race].

"I was squeezing every second out of the car. I was trying a little too hard when we were three-abreast [on Lap 91]. It was a little short, but second is still good."

Predictably, with a record 26 cars vying for space in the narrow corners of a tight, unforgiving .75-mile oval, pieces of metal were scattered about so often that only half the field remained midway through the race on Lap 150.

"The trouble with these cars is when they go you can't catch them," said rookie Graham Rahal, who completed 131 laps in finishing 18th. "Unfortunately, this turned into a demolition derby."

The racetrack record for cautions didn't stand a chance. The ninth yellow flag was waved on Lap 217 as rookie Jaime Camara -- who had fashioned a career-best performance as he dueled with the leaders -- slammed into the wall while exiting Turn 3.

"I'm sorry about the yellows," an apologetic Kanaan told a crowd of more than 60,000. "But it was boring for us, too, at some point."

Kanaan, becoming only the third driver to win from the pole, would have sealed the deal if only the race had gone 250 laps as it did in the past. But even with the race stretched 50 laps, Castroneves, Wheldon and Dixon couldn't reel in Kanaan, who had a clear track over the final 40 laps.

He peered into his rearview mirror to catch a glance of Andretti, who instead of trying to force himself back onto the lead lap, opted to hang loose and escort Kanaan to the finish line.