NEWTON, Iowa — Dario Franchitti hung around the lead as car after car ran into trouble on the Iowa Speedway's new short oval. He made a daring move to grab the top spot as soon as he saw an opening, then kept it by using his head.

Franchitti, the IndyCar Series points leader, survived a slippery track and a furious late charge from teammate Marco Andretti to win the inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250 on Sunday.

Franchitti, whose other victory in 2007 came at the Indy 500, held the cherished bottom line on the final laps to win by 0.0681 seconds. The victory helped Franchitti open a 51-point lead over Tony Kanaan in the overall standings.

"I knew if I stopped at the yellow line, Marco was going to have a hard time getting around me," Franchitti said. "He was very smart."

Scott Sharp was third, followed by Buddy Rice and Darren Manning. Eight of the top 10 drivers in the points standings, including Kanaan and Sam Hornish Jr., were either involved in crashes or had mechanical trouble through the first 100 laps.

Unseasonably cool weather left the drivers with cold tires coming out of pit stops. That led to three accidents that knocked out seven cars on the 0.875-mile track, which ran fast and offered very little room to maneuver.

Franchitti went high up the steep banking to pass Rice on lap 151 and take the lead. He was quickly joined by Andretti, and the pair took a sizable edge over the rest of the field. Franchitti made his final pit stop with 35 laps to go, refusing to take new tires and opting for fuel only.