Paul Tracy left dust, debris and drivers in his wake.

And when his dirty day of racing was over, Tracy showered with a few celebratory blasts of champagne.

Using years of driving experience -- and his front end -- to intimidate and push his way to the front, Tracy held off rookie Robert Doornbos on a frantic final lap to win his third Grand Prix of Cleveland yesterday, ending Sebastien Bourdais' three-race winning streak.

Tracy's 31st career victory, and first in the series since winning this event in 2005, came after he was involved in two early accidents, mishaps that forced his pit crew to change his front wing twice in the first seven laps.

"It was by no means a nice, comfortable, easy, pretty win," Tracy said. "It was ugly. It was messy. It's not the way I would have liked to have won a race."

Rookie Graham Rahal, trying to win on the same track where his dad, Bobby, finished first in 1982, was critical of Tracy's tactics. Rahal was clipped from behind by Tracy on the 10-turn airport layout.

"He tried to put me in the grass," Rahal, 18, said. "Tracy just punted me. ... He's wild and he'll put you in the fence and doesn't care about it."

After starting seventh and falling back in the pack because of the wrecks, Tracy worked his way through the field and finished 0.513 seconds ahead of Doornbos and another rookie, Neel Jani, who was 5.405 seconds back in third. The victory made Tracy, 38, the third three-time winner in Cleveland, joining Danny Sullivan and Emerson Fittipaldi.

Tracy's 2007 season had been slowed by a back injury, the result of a practice crash in Long Beach, that forced him to miss two races. He finished 10th in Portland two weeks ago.

Other race

Iowa Corn Indy 250: Dario Franchitti hung around the lead as car after car ran into trouble on the Iowa Speedway's new short oval in Newton. 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.

Franchitti, whose other victory in 2007 came at the Indianapolis 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. Scott Sharp was third, followed by Buddy Rice and Darren Manning.