Racing Results: July 28-30, 2006

 

The NASCAR Nextel Cup got a rare weekend off, their last of the season, but most of the other major series were busy. Open-wheel fans had plenty to watch, with Formula 1 at Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix, Champ Car and the Atlantics on San Jose’s street circuit and the IRL at Michigan International Speedway. The Grand-Am was back in action at the beautiful Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, along with the Grand-Am Cup Series, and the NHRA finished up its western swing at Infineon (nee Sears Point) Raceway. Stock car fans had to settle for a Busch Series race in the shadow of St. Louis’ famous arch, at Gateway International Raceway.

Formula 1: Schumacher Leads Another Ferrari 1-2 in Germany

Seven-time World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher led teammate Felipe Massa home at Germany’s Hockenheim circuit on Sunday to score Ferrari’s second 1-2 finish in the last three races, closing the points gap on defending series champion Fernando Alonso.

McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen started from pole but wound up third in the race, forced by a fueling error during qualifying into a three-stop strategy that gave him light weight to qualify fastest but cost him time in the race. He finished ahead of Honda’s Jenson Button and Alonso. Alonso’s fifth-place finish equaled his worst result of the year to date, and pared the margin between him and Schumacher in the championship chase to only 11 points. Renault seemed to struggle all weekend, placing most of the blame on their Michelin tires, while the Bridgestone-shod Ferraris were so strong they admittedly ran at less than 10/10ths during the race.

Alonso’s teammate Giancarlo Fisichella finished sixth, with Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Red Bull Racing’s Christian Klein filling out the points-paying positions. Trulli’s teammate Ralf Schumacher and Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Vitantonio Liuzzi (one lap down) completed the top 10.

This was Michael Schumacher’s third straight win, and what looked like a long shot for an eighth World Championship now looks much less so. Renault and Michelin are going to have to get their act together if Alonso wants to score a second title, but in any case it’s shaping up to be a fight to the finish.

No rest for the weary this week, as the teams have to turn the cars around and be in Budapest on Thursday for next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring.

German Grand Prix Top Five:

1) Michael Schumacher, No. 5 Ferrari, 67 laps

2) Felipe Massa, No. 6 Ferrari, -0.720sec

3) Kimi Raikkonen, No. 3 McLaren/Mercedes-Benz, -13.206sec

4) Jenson Button, No. 12 Honda, -18.898sec

5) Fernando Alonso, No. 1 Renault, -23.707sec

Driver’s Championship: 1) Fernando Alonso, 100; 2) Michael Schumacher, 89; 3) Felipe Massa, 50; 4) Giancarlo Fisichella, 49; 5) Kimi Raikkonen, 49.

Complete Race Results

NASCAR Busch Series: Edwards Takes Popular Win at Home

As the NASCAR Busch Series race at Gateway International Raceway progressed on Saturday night, it was apparent that Denny Hamlin was the man to beat. Home state favorite Carl Edwards gave chase for all he was worth, but things looked futile until the last round of pit stops.

Edwards pitted early, taking on two tires, and was able to make up a lot of ground before Hamlin, who led 169 of the 200 laps, came in for his final stop. When he finally pitted, Hamlin was forced to take fuel only to preserve his track position. That left him vulnerable to Edwards’ fresher right-side tires, enabling Edwards to run him down and make the winning pass with eight laps remaining.

Hamlin hung on to second until Clint Bowyer snuck past to take the runner-up spot on the last lap. Reed Sorenson took fourth, with points leader Kevin Hamlin completing the top five. Scott Wimmer, David Green (one lap down), Kyle Busch, Kenny Wallace and Kevin Grubb filled out the top 10.

This was the first race for the Busch teams to use unleaded fuel, one of four races that have been mandated by NASCAR this season as the sanctioning body evaluates the use of unleaded in all its top series in the future. No teams reported any problems from using the new fuel.

The series heads to Circle City next weekend, where it will join the Craftsman Truck Series at Indianapolis Raceway Park while the Nextel Cup Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400.

NASCAR Busch Series Top Five:

1) Carl Edwards, No. 60 Roush Racing Ford Fusion, 200 laps

2) Clint Bowyer, No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, 200 laps

3) Denny Hamlin, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, 200 laps

4) Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge Charger, 200 laps

5) Kevin Harvick, No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, 200 laps

Driver’s Championship: 1) Kevin Harvick, 3437; 2) Carl Edwards, 3119; 3) Clint Bowyer, 3050; 4) Denny Hamlin, 3007; 5) J.J. Yeley, 2826.

Complete Race Results

IRL: Castroneves’ Luck Turns at Michigan

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves’ luck hasn’t been all that great lately, but everything came right today at Michigan International Speedway. The affable Brazilian scored his fourth victory of the season and, thanks to bad luck befalling Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr. and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, found himself leading the championship standings at the end of the day.

Following a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay Castroneves started from pole, his fifth of the year, but Hornish, who entered the race with a 25-point lead on Dixon, got out in front early. Unfortunately, Hornish encountered electrical problems and retired, relegated to a 19^th- (last) place finish. Meanwhile, Dixon, who had a five-point lead on Castroneves coming into Michigan, ran out of fuel while trying to stretch his first stint and lost two laps, winding up 17^th at the finish.

That left underdog Vitor Meira, driving for the underfunded, single-car Panther Racing team, out in front. Meira led 75 of the 200 laps, leading Castroneves most of the race, but the Penske team laid down a world-class pit stop on the final round of stops and put their man out front, enabling him to lead to the finish. Meira hung on for his third second-place finish of the season, ahead of defending series champ Dan Wheldon, Tony Kanaan and Tomas Scheckter. Scott Sharp, Ed Carpenter (one lap down), Marco Andretti, Kosuke Matsuura and Jeff Simmons completed the top 10.

As a result of the mixed fortunes among the front-runners, Castroneves jumped from third to first in the standings, leading Hornish by eight points with three races remaining. Wheldon moved from fourth to third, 17 points out and 14 ahead of Dixon, while Meira holds down fifth, another 25 behind. It’s going to be an interesting championship run.

After three races on consecutive weekends, the teams get a brief break now before returning to action at Kentucky Speedway in two weeks.

IRL Indy Car Series Top Five:

1) Helio Castroneves No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda, 200 laps

2) Vitor Meira, No. 4 Panther Racing Dallara/Honda, -1.6229sec

3) Dan Wheldon, No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda, -6.2259sec

4) Tony Kanaan, No. 11 Andretti-Green Racing Dallara/Honda, -6.9874sec

5) Tomas Scheckter, No. 2 Vision Racing Dallara/Honda, -27.9005sec

Driver’s Championship: 1) Helio Castroneves, 376; 2) Sam Hornish Jr., 368; 3) Dan Wheldon, 359; 4) Scott Dixon, 345; 5) Vitor Meira, 320.

Complete Race Results

Champ Car: Bourdais Wins San Jose Street Fight

Two-time and defending series champion Sebastien Bourdais claimed his fifth Champ Car World Series victory of the year on Sunday on the vastly improved San Jose street circuit, but most of the excitement was behind him.

On the initial start, 2003 champ Paul Tracy passed Bourdais before the start-finish line, and as the pack reached the first corner Tracy’s teammate A.J. Allmendinger clouted the rear of Bourdais’ car, breaking his front wing. Allmendinger headed to the pits for a new nose and rejoined in 10^th, resigned to spending the rest of his day trying to fight back on the tight street circuit. When the first caution flew on Lap 3 due to an accident between hard-luck Bruno Junqueira and Oriol Servia, Champ Car officials moved Tracy back to second behind Bourdais for the restart.

Tracy’s day went from bad to worse, with braking problems causing him to nose into a tire wall on Lap 30, albeit without damage, and then taking to a runoff in Turn 1 on Lap 50, just as rookie Dan Clarke rolled to a stop after running second. Tracy came back onto the track just as fellow Canadian Alex Tagliani was coming around the corner, and the two crashed together, putting both out. Tagliani confronted Tracy in the pit lane and the two came to blows, an incident that will be reviewed by Champ Car for possible punishment.

The race settled down after that, and 2002 series champ Cristiano da Matta wound up second ahead of teammate Justin Wilson. Nelson Philippe finished fourth ahead of Mario Dominguez, with Will Power, Allmendinger, Servia, Charles Zwolsman and Nicky Pastorelli completing the top 10.

The San Jose race staff obviously put a lot of work into the 1.443-mile downtown circuit, which last year featured trolley-car tracks that launched the sensitive Champ Cars airborne like rally cars. It was much improved this year, and the drivers unanimously praised the work done by the organizers.

The series heads to Denver in two weeks for another street race.

Champ Car World Series Top Five:

1) Sebastien Bourdais, No. 1 Newman-Haas Racing Lola/Ford-Cosworth, 97 laps

2) Cristiano da Matta, No. 10 RuSport Lola/Ford-Cosworth, -6.686sec

3) Justin Wilson, No. 9 RuSport Lola/Ford-Cosworth, -8.100sec

4) Nelson Philippe, No. 4 CTE Racing-HVM Lola/Ford-Cosworth, -11.058sec

5) Mario Dominguez, No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Lola/Ford-Cosworth, -12.146sec

Driver’s Championship: 1) Sebastien Bourdais, 255; 2) Justin Wilson, 224; 3) A.J. Allmendinger, 210; 4) Mario Dominguez, 141; 5) Paul Tracy, 137.

Complete Race Results

Grand-Am: Braun and Bergmeister Win Again

Jorg Bergmeister and Colin Braun won their second consecutive Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series race on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park, further extending Bergmeister’s lead in the points championship. It was the third victory out of the last four races for the team, but Braun was replaced by Boris Said at Watkins Glen in June when the 17-year-old Braun was sidelined due to age restrictions imposed by the Indy Racing League, who were racing the same weekend.

Braun started the No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford/Riley from pole and led for his entire stint before handing off to Bergmeister. Bergmeister got past the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche/Crawford, which had run second in the early laps, in traffic and was in position to reassume the lead when all the cars in front of him pitted. Bergmeister held off a hard-charging Max Angelelli, who shared the No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac/Riley with Jan Magnussen, to the checkered flag just ahead of the AJR entry co-driven by Mike Rockenfeller and Patrick Long.

Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty were fourth in the No. 99 Blackhawk Racing Pontiac/Riley, at the back of a four-car pack battling for the lead at the end of the race, with the No. 12 Fernandez Racing Pontiac/Riley of Adrian Fernandez and Mario Haberfeld completing the top five, 11sec further back.

In the GT class, Andy Lally and Marc Bunting scored their fourth win of the year in the No. 65 TRG Pontiac GTO.R in 19^th overall, ahead of the No. 72 Tafel Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of Wolf Henzler and Robin Liddell, who had to start from the back of the grid after a Saturday-night engine change. The sister No. 64 TRG GTO of Paul Edwards/Kelly Collins finished third in class.

The series makes its second appearance of the year at historic Watkins Glen International in two weeks, in conjunction with the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch series.

Grand-Am Rolex Series Top Five:

1) Jorg Bergmeister/Colin Braun, No. 76 Krohn Racing Ford/Riley, 97 laps

2) Max Angelelli/Jan Magnussen, No. 10 SunTrust Racing Pontiac/Riley, -1.327sec

3) Patrick Long/Mike Rockenfeller, No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche/Crawford, -1.912sec

4) Alex Gurney/Jon Fogarty, No. 99 Blackhawk Racing Pontiac/Riley, -2.512sec

3) Adrian Fernandez/Mario Haberfeld, No. 12 Fernandez Racing Pontiac/Riley, -13.976sec

Complete Race Results

NHRA: Todd, Medlen and Line Win at Sonoma

The National Hot Rod Association’s three-race mid-season western swing came to an end on Sunday at Infineon Raceway, and it was a weekend for the youngsters as J.R. Todd shocked the Top Fuel community with his second win in three outings, Eric Medlen scored his first Funny Car victory in a year and Jason Line scored his third win of the season to extend his Pro Stock points lead.

Todd is perhaps the biggest surprise of the year. In only his 11^th start in Top Fuel, the youngster won his second “Wally,” having defeated three-time champ Tony Schumacher on both occasions. Once again he won it fair and square, overcoming a .024sec reaction-time disadvantage to post a 4.619sec run at 309.27mph to Schumacher's 4.679/316.01. To get to “Sarge,” Todd rolled past Alan Bradshaw, Bob Vandergriff and Doug Kalittta, while Schumacher beat Steven Chrisman, “Hot” Rod Fuller and Hillary Will in the prelims. Kalitta continues to lead the points, 82 ahead of Melanie Troxel and 126 ahead of Schumacher, who moved up from fourth.

Eric Medlen drives for John Force, and talks almost as much and as fast as his boss. He had plenty to say after winning his first Funny Car final since last August, defeating Tony Pedregon 4.854/316.30 to 5.021/271.62 after Pedregon smoked the tires mid-track. Medlen trailered Cruz Pedregon, boss Force and Whit Bazemore to get to the final, while Tony P. defeated Tommy Johnson Jr., Scott Kalitta and Mike Ashley. Ron Capps still leads Force at the top of the standings, although Force did trim 18 markers of his deficit, which is now down to 70 points.

Jason Line grabbed a huge holeshot, .045sec to .076sec, to propel him to victory over V. Gaines in the Pro Stock final. The difference was enough to trip the lights with a 6.672/207.15 that enabled him to beat Gaines' quicker-but-losing 6.668/207.05. Line’s prelim victims were Mark Pawuk, Tom Martino and Jim Yates, while Gaines motored past Larry Morgan, Mike Edwards and Allen Johnson to get to Line. With the win, Line now leads teammate Greg Anderson by 64 points in the championship standings.

After three races in three weeks, the teams get a two-week break before resuming the battle at Minnesota’s Brainerd International Raceway.

Complete Race Results

Miscellaneous:

Atlantics: Raphael Matos made up for his miscue in Edmonton, where he hit the wall while leading the race, by winning Sunday’s Champ Car Atlantic Championship race at San Jose. Matos started from pole finished ahead of Ryan Lewis and Danilo Dirani to score his first victory of the year. Edmonton winner Simon Pagenaud finished eighth and leads the points by 27 over Graham Rahal, who finished 12^th after hitting the wall while chasing Matos.

Grand-Am Cup: What was scheduled to be a 200-mile race for the Grand-Am Cup Series at Barber Motorsports Park was shortened to 126.5 miles when torrential rains hit the park-like circuit just outside Birmingham. Michael McDowell and Rob Finlay took the win in the Grand Sports class in their No. 15 Playboy Racing Ford Mustang GT, ahead of the No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT of Dean Martin and Roy Mason, with the No. 90 Automatic Racing BMW M3 of Jeff Segal and Terry Borcheller taking third. In the Street Tuner class, brothers Hugh and Matt Plumb captured their first win of the season in their No. 27 Bill Fenton Motorsports Acura RSX-S ahead of the No. 111 ICY/Phoenix Performance Subaru Legacy of Chuck Hemmingson/Kristian Skavnes and the No. 12 Performance Motorsports BMW Z4 of David Tuaty and Jason Potter.