KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Uncle Sam couldn’t have scripted it any better Sunday afternoon at Kansas Speedway.

American Buddy Rice’s red, white and blue No. 15 car crossed the finish line ahead of teammate Vitor Meira by the length of a firecracker to claim victory in the Argent Mortgage Indy 300. Rice, a Phoenix native, won the Indianapolis 500 in May.

“It’s fun being able to race like that and being part of a historic moment, especially on the Fourth of July weekend,” said Rice, who defeated Meira by just .0051 seconds — the second-closest margin of victory in Indy Racing League history. “This is an American series, so it’s nice to be able to carry the colors for the U.S. in our home country.”

In 2002, Sam Hornish Jr. beat Al Unser Jr., by two-thousandths of a second at Chicagoland.

Sunday’s 200-lap race started much like Saturday’s caution-flag-filled NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event when Scott Sharp slammed into Tora Takagi on their way to the first-lap green flag.

But after that, the race was clean for an IRL-record 169 consecutive green-flagged laps.

Then, on lap No. 175, Kosuke Matsuura and Jeff Simmons were racing side-by-side into the second turn when Darren Manning pushed alongside Simmons, who lost control and pushed Matsuura into the retaining wall.

The wreck set up the dramatic finish.

Buddy Rice hoists the trophy after winning the Argent Mortgage Indy 300. Rice won the Indy Racing League event Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

Rice, who started the race on the pole, remained ahead of Meira when the race was green-flagged 10 laps later. With 11 laps to go, the duo locked up an intense side-by-side battle that flip-flopped five times before the photo finish.

“It seems like it was a hundred laps or something,” said Meira, who tentatively took a .0108-second lead by passing Rice on the outside on the penultimate lap.

“It’s your teammate. I mean, one mistake would cost a lot, would cost the whole race. I respect him a lot, and he respects me a lot. It’s just the teamwork. So he won, I was second. Doesn’t really matter for the team if I won or he come second, of if he won or if I come second. I mean, it’s the team effort, everybody’s happy.”

Especially Bobby Rahal, the co-owner of the Rahal Letterman Racing Team, who said he had no clue from his vantage point who actually had won.

“From where I sat, I thought Vitor had done it,” Rahal said. “I was happy either way. I didn’t care. All I knew is we were 1-2.”

A combination Rahal credited to his teammates’ communication on and off the track.

“That’s what we work for,” said Rahal, whose two drivers each sit in the top 10 of the IRL points standings. “The success that we’re having as a team is, in my mind, absolutely because of the cooperation and the real teamwork that Buddy and Vitor exhibit. Nobody’s playing games. It’s truly a team. The results are a reflection of that.”

Buddy Rice, in the number 15 car, edges Vitor Meira for the win at the Indy Racing League's Argent Mortgage Indy 300. Rice, the 2004 Indianapolis 500 champion, won by the second-closest margin of victory in IRL history Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.

Sunday’s third-place finisher, Tony Kanaan, increased his series points lead over Andretti Green Racing teammate Dan Wheldon, who had a rough pit stop on the 54th lap.

Dario Franchitti finished fourth, followed by last year’s winner Bryan Herta. Honda engines took the top six spots.