LEXINGTON, Ohio (Ticker) -- The CART series may have a championship race after all.

Patrick Carpentier of Canada took the checkered flag Sunday at the Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio for his second victory in the last three races and closed within 27 points of series leader Cristiano da Matta, who finished in 13th after spinning out into the gravel on lap 69.

Just three races ago in Cleveland, where Carpentier won, da Matta had a 50-point lead on the rest of the drivers in the field. After failing to finish in his third successive race, without points in two of those, the Brazilian remained first in the standings with 122 points, but the title chase may have just opened up with eight races left.

"I've seen guys win championships like this and some guys that have won championships with seasons like this," da Matta said. "I'm hoping to be in the latter group. We lost an easy chance to score 16 points but it went up in the cloud of dust. It cost us a lot of points, so I am really disappointed."

Christian Fittipaldi of Brazil finished 3.213 seconds behind, followed by Michael Andretti, Brazilian Bruno Junqueira and Scott Dixon of New Zealand.

"I'm happy to finish second and score the points," Fittipaldi said. "Especially after two DNFs (did not finish).

"I am a little disappointed with our first stop. Before our first pit stop, I was able to close the gap on Patrick so that we would stand a better chance of passing him in the pits, but we had a 14-second stop and that didn't do us any good."

Carpentier had reason to celebrate as he swept the maximum 23 points available for winning the pole after both qualifying days and leading most laps to score his third career victory in his 100th CART race. He averaged 106.680 miles per hour in a Ford-Cosworth/Reynard.

"I've been very happy with my Bridgestone Potenza tires at this track," Carpentier said. "They've been consistent during the weekend racing. The tires really held up at the end of the run."

Junqueira also is in the mix for the championship with 86 points for third place. Dario Franchitti of Scotland, who retired with mechanical problems on lap 38, is fourth with 84 points.

"All of a sudden the engine cut off coming out of Turn 9 and the first thing I checked was the ignition switch, but that wasn't it," Franchitti said. "The championship is still within reach, but it's getting more difficult."

Team KOOL Green partner Paul Tracy fared no better as he dropped out on lap 23, also with a mechanical problem.

The only time Carpentier was not at the front of the pack was during his pit stops when Fittipaldi led for a lap, da Matta for one and again Fittipaldi for a tour. Carpentier led four times for 89 of the 92 laps.

Da Matta has won five races this year and has led a series-high 467 laps. But he has never finished better than ninth in four starts at Mid-Ohio.

"I wasn't trying to pass Patrick, I was just trying to put pressure on him," da Matta said. "He made a small mistake on the previous lap that allowed me to close the gap. When I tried to put my nose alongside his car, he braked for the corner and turned in.

I think that made me lose air and I locked up my rear tires and went off course. I made a mistake but I feel like we still have some credit in that department because we haven't made any so far."

Other top-10 finishers were Kenny Brack of Sweden, Alex Tagliani of Canada, Jimmy Vasser, Shinji Nakano of Japan and Oriol Servia of Spain. Michel Jourdain Jr. of Mexico finished 11th to earn points in all 11 races this year.

"We have been strong on several road circuits this year but not here," said Jourdain, who stands fifth with 76 points. "At least we got some points. It was a very long race and very tough for us."

Andretti and Fittipaldi are tied for sixth with 74 points.