Most people think of their 30th birthday as a milestone to forget. Dan Wheldon spent his in Victory Lane. Wheldon turned the big 3-0 in style yesterday, winning the Iowa Corn Indy 250 in Newton for his second victory of the season. Wheldon plans to donate his winnings to the victims of Iowa's recent floods and tornados.

"What a great day for Target Chip Ganassi Racing and a great birthday present for me," Wheldon said.

Indeed it was -- especially after Wheldon's risky decision not to pit for the final 90 laps paid off.

Wheldon took the lead out of a caution flag 60 laps from the finish while almost every other driver took a pit stop. Wheldon guessed correctly that his old tires would do the trick, and he then held off Andretti Green drivers Hideki Mutoh and Marco Andretti down the stretch.

The Ganassi duo of Wheldon and Scott Dixon have five victories in nine IRL races this season. Wheldon's previous victory came in Kansas in April.

"My car was just so loose with new tires," Wheldon said. "Staying out was important. I had good restarts on the older tires."

Mutoh, the current rookie leader, picked up his career-best finish by crossing the line in second. This Tokyo native earned a ride with Andretti Green after finishing second in the IndyPro points race in 2007, and he keeps getting better. Mutoh has finished seventh or better in four of his past five races.

"I am very happy to finish second," Mutoh said. "I am almost there, so maybe next time."

Andretti pulled off his best finish since also placing third in the Indy 500.

The first 190 laps were essentially a duel between Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves, IRL veterans in search of their first win of the season. But that all changed when Enrique Bernoldi spun out, drawing a yellow flag.

Wheldon, Mutoh and Danica Patrick decided to forego new tires and fuel and came out in the top three spots. Patrick quickly fell back, finishing sixth, while Wheldon opened up a lead over Mutoh and Andretti that he never relinquished.

Pole-sitter Scott Dixon, winner of two of the past three races, fell back early and finished fourth. Dixon knew he was lucky to earn the pole because rain washed out qualifying, and concerns about his No. 9 car became reality when Castroneves zipped past him for the lead on the opening lap.

Other races

• French Grand Prix: Felipe Massa of Ferrari won the Formula One event in Magny Cours, France. Massa overtook teammate and pole-sitter Kimi Raikkonen with 32 laps to go and held on for a 17.9-second victory. It is the second consecutive Ferrari sweep at the Circuit de Nevers. Massa leads F1's overall standings by two points over Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber, who finished fifth. Raikkonen trails Massa by five points in third. Jarno Trulli of Toyota finished third.

• Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals: A day after Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta was killed in a qualifying accident, five-time world champion Tony Schumacher raced to his first Top Fuel win in 12 tries in Englishtown, N.J. The event was overshadowed by the death of Kalitta. He died from multiple injuries after his car went out of control in the fourth round of qualifying Saturday. Schumacher had a 4.589-second run at 325.06 to defeat Brandon Bernstein for his 46th win, moving him within six of Joe Amato (52) for most Top Fuel wins. Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Chip Ellis (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won in their divisions.