Paul Dana stayed clear of trouble and drove into Victory Circle for the first time in his IRL Menards Infiniti Pro Series™ career.

Dana, driving the No. 91 Ethanol Hemelgarn/Johnson Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone, inherited the lead on Lap 76 when runaway leader Thiago Medeiros retired because of a broken right wheel bearing and went on to win the Milwaukee 100 at the historic Milwaukee Mile on July 25. Rookie P.J. Chesson was 1.2033 seconds behind.

"An old driver coach of mine used to say, 'Those are lapping sessions but with flags,' " said Dana, runner-up to Medeiros in the past two races. "Obviously, Thiago took off like a shot and he was gone. It would have been nice to be up there with him early. Everybody seemed to be running into problems, but we were able to keep it underneath us all day. It was real slick. I almost crashed it about 50 times, but managed not to."

Dana, who started on the pole in the season-opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, recorded six top-10 finishes in 10 races on the Menards Infiniti Pro Series last year. He shared the victory with team co-owner Ron Hemelgarn and dedicated it to co-owner Roger Johnson, who recently had kidney surgery.

"It's been a long time coming," Dana said. "We'd been real close, knocking on the door all year. It's good to get it out of the way. Especially a short oval. It's the toughest track we go to, so I'm proud to do it here."

Until he came down pit road, it had been a Sunday drive for Medeiros.

Medeiros, the Menards Infiniti Pro Series points leader and race pole sitter, paced every race lap and led Dana by more than 15 seconds until he ducked into pit road on Lap 76. Medeiros, who had won an IRL-record four consecutive races, led 249 laps in a row since his pole start in the Futaba Freedom 100 in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"We were on a race pace with Thiago," said Dana, who started on the inside of Row 2 and is second in points. "But he got a gap on an early run and we weren't going to catch him. But we led earlier this year and we ran into some bad luck, so it comes around, and we'll take them any way we can get them."

It was the first DNF this season for Medeiros in the No. 11 Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry.

"We did our best," said Medeiros, whose sixth-place finish was his lowest since winding up ninth at Chicagoland Speedway in 2003. "We led the biggest part of the race, but unfortunately, the front wheel bearing broke. Sometimes the parts fail. It's just disappointing.

"We know how we quick we are and we've been quick everywhere we are going. We know we have a great team. We have been quickest everywhere we've been, so I'm just looking forward to Michigan because we still have a big advantage in the championship."

Rookies P.J. Chesson and Al Unser finished second and third, respectively, after separate late-race incidents. The No. 64 Team XBOX/Pollard Racing entry driven by Brad Pollard spun exiting Turn 4 on Lap 97 and slid to a stop against the attenuator at the end of pit road. He had been running second.

Jesse Mason, who started on the front row in the No. 3 Segway Human Transportation entry, was following Pollard and lost control in the same spot. The car spun and made contact with the outside wall on the frontstretch. Chesson and Unser were able to make it through cleanly.

"Our laps got better and better and better and better from the time we rolled out until I guess today," said Chesson, who was making his third Menards Infiniti Pro Series start in the No. 76 Mo Nunn Racing entry. "So I'm really proud of my guys. They stuck with it, kept their heads in there, and we got better as the weekend went on, so it was good."

Unser, son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr., also was making his third start. He has finished in the top five in each race.

"The race was pretty bizarre," he said. "I told P.J. after the driver's meeting, 'All we have to do is finish this thing and we'll have a good finish.' I didn't think I'd be on the podium."

The opening lap was marred by a three-car incident when the No. 24 Team ISI entry driven by Billy Roe slid up the track in Turn 1 from his inside Row 3 starting spot. His right front clipped the left rear of the No. 5 Sam Schmidt Motorsports entry driven by Arie Luyendyk Jr., sending both cars in to the wall.

"I broke into the first corner and turned in on the high side," Luyendyk said. "Then I was clipped by Billy Roe, so I guess he pushed up into me. It's unfortunate. It's the type of luck we have had this year. I didn't expect anything to happen in the first corner as I was trying to take it easy, but then I was collected. We need to get everything back together for Michigan and hopefully our luck can turn around."

The No. 33 Skip Barber Racing School entry driven by Leo Maia was collected and made contact with the wall. Maia was able to rejoin the race 13 laps down, but retired after 26 laps because of handling problems.

"It's really tough," said Maia, whose best finish this season is third at Phoenix. "I think we had a good racecar. I was driving around with flat spots all over the tires, with pretty much a wrecked car, and we were able to put in some good laps.

"It's unfortunate for the Brian Stewart team and the Skip Barber Racing School car that we couldn't finish the race."