Motorsports

Alonso extends F1 points lead

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 26, 2006

MONTREAL - This was the race Michael Schumacher was supposed to close the gap on Fernando Alonso in the chase for the Formula One title.

After all, Schumacher had won the Canadian Grand Prix seven times. Alonso never had anything but trouble.

None of that mattered Sunday - Alonso drove his Renault to his fourth consecutive win. The Spaniard has six victories this season and 15 straight top-three finishes.

"All the victories are nice," Alonso said, "but this one after the last two or three years having a chance to win and then mistakes or mechanical problems, this is one of the races we should have (won) in the previous years."

Alonso had failed to finish the Canadian GP in three of his previous four races, including last year when he crashed while leading. This time, his only problem was staying focused despite leading by almost 25 seconds in the closing laps.

The reigning world champion stretched his lead to 25 points over Schumacher, who passed Kimi Raikkonen with one lap to go to finish second. Raikkonen wound up third.

CHAMP CARS: A.J. Allmendinger won his second straight race Sunday, avoiding major trouble in the Grand Prix of Cleveland in which points leader Sebastien Bourdais was knocked out during the first lap.

Allmendinger lost a front wing when he went into the grass on Lap 1 and had to pit, but he stayed clear the rest of the way to finish 3.213 seconds of Bruno Junqueira.

Only 11 cars from a field of 18 finished. Bourdais was done after a crash in which Paul Tracy got sandwiched and went airborne, the left side of his Forsythe balanced on Bourdais' roll bar. Bourdais was released from the hospital after tests showed no serious injuries.

NHRA: Defending Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher raced to his first victory of the season, beating Brandon Bernstein in the O'Reilly Midwest Nationals with a quarter-mile run of 4.565 seconds at 327.59 mph. Tony Pedregon (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Chip Ellis (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won their divisions at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill.

IRL-CHAMP TALKS: The Indy Racing League and Champ Car have taken steps toward unifying the two open-wheel series. Champ Car World Series boss Kevin Kalkhoven told the Associated Press there is no written agreement, although the sides have reached an understanding. He said there are many issues to resolve, but he is "very optimistic" the deal can be completed.

BUSCH: Paul Menard shook Kevin Harvick in the waning laps of the AT&T 250 late Saturday night with some help from J.J. Yeley. Yeley nudged Harvick from behind, touching off a seven-car melee with three laps left, and Menard held off Denny Hamlin to win at West Allis, Wis.

[Last modified June 26, 2006, 01:19:08]