Darrell Ingham / Getty Images

Dario Franchitti drives during the Toyota Grand Prix on Sunday.

Power said that without the communication problem, he might have been able to challenge Franchitti at the end.

It was because of fuel,” he said. “Believe me, Mate, I was saving like you would not believe and driving as hard as I could through the corners to make up for it. ... The car was there. If I were able to go (all out) we would have been on it.”

The winner, who led 51 of 85 laps on the 1.97-mile, 11-turn course, including the last 30, disagreed.

“At one point,” Franchitti said, “(the team) came on the radio and said, ‘What is the car doing? What changes do you want?’ I said, ‘I’m not pushing the car hard enough to know what the car is going to do on the limit.’ That tells the story.”

Tony Kanaan, another former IndyCar champion, was third, followed by Danica Patrick, getting her best ever finish on a road or street course, former series champion Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti.

Dixon, who finished 16th at St. Petersburg, continued to struggle, finishing 15th here. He was involved in three separate accidents, bumped E.J. Viso into one of the concrete barriers that line the wall, getting caught up in a chain-reaction collision that damaged several cars and put Justin Wilson out of the race and getting hit from behind by St. Petersburg winner Ryan Briscoe during a caution period.

“It was just a bad day,” Dixon said. “I love the road courses but we’ve just had a rough time. It’s just fantastic that Dario had a great finish for the team. We’re looking forward to Kansas (next Sunday).”