GLADEVILLE, Tenn. -- Scott Dixon passed Dario Franchitti and Dan Wheldon on lap 88 and led for all but seven laps the rest of the way Sunday to win the Firestone Indy 200 for his second straight IndyCar victory.

He also became the first driver to repeat at the Nashville Superspeedway.

"That's two weeks in a row, and definitely what we need for the championship,'' the New Zealander said.

Dixon's victory at Watkins Glen last week was overshadowed by the fight involving Tony Kanaan and Sam Hornish Jr., but he had no such problems Sunday. Not even a caution for a light rain or a restart with six laps left could eat into his lead.

His second victory this season and eighth of his career pulled him within 34 points of Franchitti with six races left.

"I like being in this position. We have nothing to lose. We can go as fast as we possibly can and go for race wins. That's something we struggled with at the first of the season,'' Dixon said of four second-place finishes.

"Now we've got to go all out and try to get as many wins as possible.''

Franchitti was second, and American Danica Patrick tied her career-best finish of third earlier this year at Texas. Sam Hornish Jr. was fourth followed by fellow American Marco Andretti.

Neither Franchitti nor Patrick was happy with having to fight through lapped traffic that kept either from making a run late. Only eight of the 18 cars finished on the lead lap, and Patrick particularly pointed out Ed Carpenter, who finished 13th and three laps down.

"You need to let the people at the front have their race,'' Patrick said. ``That's what held me up the most. Carpenter was not cooperating, and we'll address that. There's no doubt about it.''

For Franchitti, protecting his position atop the points came into his mind as Dixon drove up beside him for the key pass.

"I could've maybe tried to make an outside pass. The marbles are so bad here at Nashville ...,'' the Scotsman said of the bits of rubber chewed off the tires by the concrete. "I couldn't afford to do that in the position for the championship, so I had to back off.''