INDIANAPOLIS -- Dario Franchitti's pit stop immediately following the end of a rain delay might have looked peculiar, but it helped him win Sunday's abbreviated Indianapolis 500.

Franchitti was in fifth place when he cut a tire -- apparently by running over debris -- as racers headed toward a lap-114 restart following a three-hour delay. He had to pit, putting him on a different pit schedule than the rest of the race leaders.

The altered schedule meant he was in front when a second round of rain ended the race at about 6:50 p.m. with 166 of the scheduled 200 laps completed.

"(The cut tire) put us on the strategy that won us the race. Pretty happy right now about that," the Scotsman said to laughter at a news conference Sunday evening.

Scott Dixon finished second, followed by polesitter Helio Castroneves and defending champion Sam Hornish Jr.

Had the race lasted much longer, Franchitti would have needed to refuel again and relinquish the lead. But he was ahead at the right time.

Franchitti inherited the lead as the two drivers ahead of him, teammate Tony Kanaan and Hornish, pitted during a caution on the 156th lap. Franchitti didn't need to pit then because he had done so 13 laps previously.

"(My team) just called a great race, and I was saving fuel under yellow. I was saving so much fuel," Franchitti told ABC's Jack Arute.

Franchitti benefited from two more caution periods -- one that started on about lap 157 when Jaques Lazier hit a wall and caused Kanaan to swerve and blow a tire, and another that started on lap 163, when Marco Andretti's car flipped after touching Dan Wheldon's car.

Kanaan Was Ahead After Rain Delay

Kanaan appeared to have the race won when rain poured the first time on lap 112, just four laps after he took the lead with a pass on teammate Michael Andretti.

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The rain stopped the race at 3:02 p.m., just less than two hours after the start. The leader needs to finish only 101 laps for the event to be official, so had the race not resumed, Kanaan would have won.

But the rain stopped and the track dried, so the race resumed at 6:01 p.m. with Kanaan in the lead. At that point, Andretti, Danica Patrick, Vitor Meira, and Franchitti were second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

With the exception of Meira, the top five at the rain delay were Andretti Green Racing teammates.

Andretti retook the lead on lap 116, though Kanaan soon overtook him. Franchitti took the lead on lap 137 when Kanaan pitted, and Franchitti pitted just six laps later, setting the stage for his victorious run.

Andretti, who lost last year's race as a rookie when Hornish passed him on the final straightaway, was OK after his lap-163 crash.

"I'm one lucky guy," Andretti said. "I'm so proud of Dario Franchitti."

Franchitti was ecstatic after the win.

"I can hardly believe it. Who'd have thought it? I've got to thank my team," he said.

Franchitti became the first Scotsman since Jimmy Clark in 1965 to win the Indy 500. Sunday's race had nine leaders and 24 lead changes.

Kanaan, Castroneves Swapped Lead Early

By the time of the 3 p.m. rain delay, the race had seen eight leaders. Five drivers -- Roberto Moreno, Jon Herb, rookie Milka Duno, John Andretti and Giebler -- were out of the race, all because of wrecks.

In the race's first 30 laps, polesitter Castroneves and fellow Brazil native Kanaan, who started second, were involved in six lead changes.

On lap 38, Moreno became the first driver to leave the race. Moreno, who started 31st in the 33-car field, entered a turn too high and struck a wall. He already was a lap down at the time.

During a caution period for Moreno's wreck, race leader Castroneves had serious pit-stop problems. His crew had trouble fueling the car, and by the time he got back onto the track, Castroneves was in 29th place.

Herb hit a wall on lap 52, and Duno -- one of three women to start Sunday's race -- exited with a solo crash on lap 66.

Sam Hornish Jr., last year's Indy 500 winner, led for two laps shortly after Duno's wreck, but his chances for a repeat were damaged when he and Tomas Scheckter -- running second and third at the time, respectively -- bumped into each other on a straightaway on lap 87.

Both Hornish and Scheckter had to pit because of the incident. They returned to the track, but by the time of the rain delay, they were 15th and 19th, respectively.

John Andretti -- who already was about four laps down -- hit a wall going into a turn on about lap 99. After a series of pit stops during the subsequent caution period, Marco Andretti had the lead, followed by Kanaan and Patrick.

Then Kanaan passed Marco Andretti on the restart, and Kanaan held the lead until the rain delay.