HOMESTEAD, Fla. — It was a heady way to win a series championship, a heartbreaking way to lose one.

The fuel strategy employed by Dario Franchitti’s IndyCar Series team enabled him to stay on the track longer than his rivals Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, earning him trophies for both the race and the season.

Ryan Briscoe departed in disbelief, having done everything within his power in the Firestone Indy 300. He led the most laps (103) and finished ahead of Scott Dixon, who entered the race with the points lead. But it wasn’t enough.

Briscoe had to pit for fuel with six laps left, handing the lead to Franchitti, who won by 4.788 seconds. It was classic tortoise versus the hare, but it wasn’t by accident.

Franchitti and Dixon are teammates at Ganassi Racing, so the Indianapolis-based organization split their strategies. As Dixon battled Briscoe for the two bonus points that go to the driver leading the most laps, Franchitti paced himself. It was a trick Dixon often employs.

Slow and steady won.

“They did everything right and we did everything right; we just had different strategies going on,” Franchitti said. “I guess we outfoxed them, and we got some luck, too.”

The scenario was created by a lack of cautions in the 200-lap race. There were none, a first for the series that completed its 15th season.

Briscoe noted his car handled poorly early in the race, and Team Penske decided to bring him into the pits a couple of laps earlier than Dixon and Franchitti. That set the stage for the rest of the race.

Briscoe ran as hard as he could, chasing down Dixon, who had the race’s fastest lap, and lapping everyone but the other title contenders. The exchanges between Briscoe and Dixon were as furious as they were fast.

“Probably the best race I’ve ever run,” Briscoe said.

Dixon thought he had made a case to be champion, too. He won five races during the season and led most of the first half of the race. He never let Briscoe out of his sight, which was on pace to be the right strategy.

“We probably forced each other into the race we ran chasing those bonus points,” Dixon said. “(Franchitti’s crew) played the smarter strategy.”

Franchitti went four laps farther than Briscoe on the first stop, and he still had the advantage after the second. After the third, Franchitti eased up even more to conserve fuel, allowing him to complete the final 51 laps and pull off the unthinkable.

“Luckily we had two cars in the championship (chase),” he said. “Good for me. My one worked out.”

Team owner Chip Ganassi said the decision was made easier by the fact only the three contenders were on the lead lap after lap 80. But he said most drivers couldn’t have executed the strategy with so much at stake.

“It takes a level of maturity and a level of confidence in yourself and being a champion before and knowing what it takes to be a champion,” he said. “That’s how you win races like he did (Saturday).”

Franchitti won his second IndyCar championship in three years, but it was his second in succession given a year away to try NASCAR. That experiment included a broken ankle, the disbanding of the team due to a lack of funding and a bruised ego.

“It was a good lesson to see what the other side of the fence looks like,” he said.

At 36, he became the oldest driver to win an IndyCar Series title, and it quieted some critics who thought he was past his prime for such a plum ride.

“It adds a certain level of sweetness,” he said.

Two years ago, when Franchitti used fuel strategy to swipe the IndyCar title from Dixon, the Kiwi refused to meet the Scot for a beer after the race at Chicagoland Speedway. Dixon vowed to show up Saturday night. Briscoe promised to join them.

“It’s an honor to win a championship against guys like we have in this series,” Franchitti said.