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Racing Roundup: Franchitti wins 3rd IndyCar race of year
AP Photo
Dario Franchitti celebrates his victory in the Honda Indy race in Toronto.
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Published: July 13, 2009
Honda Indy: Dario Franchitti easily held off Penske drivers Ryan Briscoe and Will Power on a late restart for his third win of the season yesterday in Toronto.
It was the first race in Toronto for the IndyCar Series. Starting from the pole, Franchitti was both lucky and good in regaining the series points lead over Scott Dixon, a Target Chip Ganassi teammate.
Franchitti is seeking his second series championship in three years after racing last season in NASCAR's Sprint Cup series. Penske and Ganassi drivers have won 16 of 18 races dating to last season.
Dixon was fourth, followed by Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing, who won a week ago at Watkins Glen. Briscoe was second for the fifth time in six races.
Franchitti easily took the lead at the start and led the first 23 laps as chaos erupted behind him on the tricky 11-turn, 1.75-mile course. It is bumpy and treacherous because its patched sections of concrete become slicker with each lap.
Three drivers found early trouble. Power, Briscoe and Graham Rahal were involved in separate collisions on the first lap, allowing Tagliani to slide from fifth to second. Power was starting on the front row in just his fourth race of the season.
Briscoe, Power and Rahal all pitted for tires, and Rahal replaced the nose of his car.
Franchitti's first pit stop was slow when a tire changer stripped a rear lug nut, dropping him deep in the field. But he caught a break when he was allowed to pit under caution while running in the top five on lap 58 because he was already committed to the stop.
Franchitti also was allowed to resume his spot on the grid just ahead of Tracy, who had already made his final stop.
Tagliani then gave up the lead to pit during the caution, giving the top spot to Castroneves, but with fresher tires Franchitti quickly moved back to the lead.
Results
1. (1) Dario Franchitti, 85. 2. (11) Ryan Briscoe, 85. 3. (2) Will Power, 85. 4. (8) Scott Dixon, 85. 5. (4) Justin Wilson, 85. 6. (18) Danica Patrick, 85. 7. (12) Ryan Hunter-Reay, 85. 8. (17) Marco Andretti, 85. 9. (5) Alex Tagliani, 85. 10. (9) Raphael Matos, 85. 11. (13) Mario Moraes, 85. 12. (22) Hideki Mutoh, 84.
13. (16) E.J. Viso, 84. 14. (21) Dan Wheldon, 84. 15. (19) Ed Carpenter, 82. 16. (14) Tomas Scheckter, 74, contact. 17. (20) Tony Kanaan, 70, contact. 18. (10) Helio Castroneves, 65, contact. 19. (15) Paul Tracy, 65, contact. 20. (3) Graham Rahal, 57, contact. 21. (23) Richard Antinucci, 41, mechanical. 22. (6) Mike Conway, 32, contact. 23. (7) Robert Doornbos, 26, mechanical.
German Grand Prix: Red Bull's Mark Webber won his first Formula One race after overcoming a penalty yesterday in Nuerburgring, Germany.
Webber beat teammate Sebastian Vettel by 9.2 seconds despite a drive-through penalty for bumping Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello out of the start while defending his pole position.
Webber's euphoric screams were heard over the team radio after he crossed the finish line in his 132nd race.
It was the second straight 1-2 for the Red Bull team and third overall after nine races.
Felipe Massa gave Ferrari its first podium finish of the season by coming in third.
Results
1. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 60 laps, 1:36:43.310, 119.053 mph. 2. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull, 60, 9.252 seconds behind. 3. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 60, 15.906. 4. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 60, 21.099. 5. Jenson Button, England, Brawn, 60, 23.609. 6. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Brawn, 60, 24.468. 7. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 60, 24.888. 8. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren Mercedes, 60, 58.692. 9. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 60, 1:01.457.
10. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW Sauber, 60, 1:01.925. 11. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Force India, 60, 1:02.327. 12. Kazuki Nakajima, Japan, Williams, 60, 1:02.876. 13. Nelson Piquet Jr., Brazil, Renault, 60, 1:08.328. 14. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW Sauber, 60, 1:09.555. 15. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 60, 1:11.941. 16. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland, Toro Rosso, 60, 1:30.225. 17. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 60, 1:30.970. 18. Lewis Hamilton, England, McLaren Mercedes, 59, +1 lap.
Mopar Mile High Nationals: Antron Brown picked up his third Top Fuel win of the season, beating Doug Kalitta in the NHRA finals yesterday in Morrison, Colo.
Ron Capps won the Funny Car race, Allen Johnson won in Pro Stock and Eddie Krawiec sped away with a victory in Pro Stock Motorcycles.
Brown and Krawiec added to their leads in the overall points standings. Capps' victory was his fifth of the season and allowed him to make up ground on Ashley Force Hood, the Funny Car leader.
Results
Top Fuel: 1. Antron Brown. 2. Doug Kalitta. 3. Spencer Massey. 4. Cory McClenathan. 5. Larry Dixon. 6. Tony Schumacher. 7. Morgan Lucas. 8. Shawn Langdon. 9. Brandon Bernstein. 10. Mike Strasburg. 11. Clay Millican. 12. Todd Simpson. 13. Steven Chrisman. 14. Joe Hartley. 15. Terry Haddock. 16. Rob Passey.
Funny Car: 1. Ron Capps, Dodge Charger. 2. Ashley Force Hood. 3. Robert Hight. 4. Jack Beckman. 5. Cruz Pedregon. 6. Tony Pedregon. 7. Bob Tasca III. 8. Matt Hagan. 9. John Force. 10. Jeff Arend. 11. Mike Neff. 12. Del Worsham. 13. Tim Wilkerson. 14. Grant Downing. 15. Jerry Toliver. 16. Gary Densham.
Pro Stock: 1. Allen Johnson, Dodge Stratus. 2. Jason Line. 3. Jeg Coughlin. 4. Rickie Jones. 5. Greg Anderson. 6. Johnny Gray. 7. Warren Johnson. 8. Mike Edwards. 9. Ron Krisher. 10. Larry Morgan. 11. Rodger Brogdon. 12. V. Gaines. 13. Greg Stanfield. 14. Kurt Johnson. 15. Danny Gruninger. 16. Mark Buehring.
Pro Stock Motorcycle: 1. Eddie Krawiec, Harley-Davidson. 2. Andrew Hines. 3. Hector Arana. 4. Craig Treble. 5. Matt Smith. 6. Steve Johnson. 7. Douglas Horne. 8. Michael Phillips. 9. Karen Stoffer. 10. Matt Guidera. 11. Jim Underdahl. 12. Junior Pippin. 13. Mike Berry. 14. Bailey Whitaker. 15. David Hope. 16. Shawn Gann.
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