Motorsports

Castroneves escapes trouble for IRL victory

RICHMOND, Va. - Helio Castroneves has been there before, running away from the field at Richmond International Raceway with ease.

But when he found himself in the same situation again Saturday night, he didn't let this one get away, avoiding trouble with nine laps to go and winning the IndyCar SunTrust Indy Challenge.

In 2004 Castroneves lost with the dominant car because Dan Wheldon's gamble on fuel paid off and Castroneves ran out of laps.

With nine laps left he led by about three seconds when Darren Manning and Roger Yasukawa made contact just ahead of him. Manning's car skidded into the outside wall, then Yasukawa's followed, and Castroneves squeaked through by inches.

"When I saw both cars touching, I saw one going down and one going up and I said, "Okay, there's only the middle here,' " Castroneves said.

Castroneves beat Dario Franchitti on a final-lap restart by 0.5588 seconds.

Wheldon, the series points leader and a St. Petersburg resident, finished fifth. Rookie Danica Patrick, who started 21st of 22 on the 0.75-mile oval, was never a factor but avoided the mishaps that took out numerous top drivers and finished 10th.

BUSCH: Pole-sitter Johnny Sauter won the rain-shortened SBC 250 at the Milwaukee Mile, overcoming a penalty from NASCAR.

Sauter was penalized for rough driving in Lap 113 when his Dodge tapped the lapped Chevrolet of Tony Raines. Sauter was sent back to the rear of the pack on the lead lap. At the time he was the only car on the lead lap. The ruling gave Randy LaJoie the lead but only for two laps before Sauter took it back.

Sauter, from Necedah, Wis., led 162 of the 200 laps. The race was shortened from 250 to 200 miles after a storm dumped heavy rain on the track.

Martin Truex Jr. was second, followed by Paul Menard, J.J. Yeley and David Stremme.

CHAMP CAR: For the second straight year, Paul Tracy will start from the pole in today's Grand Prix of Cleveland. Tracy blazed around the 2.106-mile road course in 57.419 seconds to secure the pole.

Cristiano da Matta (57.424) starts second, earning his front-row spot with the fastest time in Friday's provisional qualifying.

Two-time defending race champion Sebastien Bourdais (57.559) is third. The Tampa resident and series points leader was upset at Tracy, who spun out and slowed the Frenchman.

"Paul is really selfish on the racetrack," Bourdais said. "He doesn't care about what happens around him."

Also, a helicopter crashed on an airport runway only a few hundred yards from thousands of fans. The pilot was not hurt and walked away, and there were no injuries on the ground at Burke Lakefront Airport, the site of the race.

NHRA: Doug Kalitta earned the top spot in Top Fuel qualifying at the Sears Craftsman Nationals in Madison, Ill., with a quarter-mile run of 4.564 seconds with a top speed of 325.85 mph. Gary Scelzi (Funny Car, 4.797 seconds, 325.14 mph), Kurt Johnson (Pro Stock, 6.750, 204.14) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle, 7.114, 192.71) also led their classes. Eliminations are today.

PIKES PEAK: David Donner won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado Springs, finishing the 12.4-mile sprint in 11:15.68. Racing in the open-wheel car class, Donner was more than a minute off the race record for reaching the 14,110-foot summit, but beat unlimited class winner Koichi Horiuchi, who finished in 11:34.5.

TRANS-AM: Randy Ruhlman, who started from the back row, won in Cleveland to extend his points lead to 22.

[Last modified June 26, 2005, 01:00:05]