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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Briscoe holds off Dixon for IRL win

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

Ryan Briscoe held off Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon and barely slipped through a late-race crash to win Sunday’s IndyCar Series race at the Milwaukee Mile at West Allis, Wis.

A week after an embarrassing pit lane accident that took out fan favorite Danica Patrick at Indy, Briscoe redeemed himself with his first victory for Team Penske.

“It’s nice, I’ll tell you,” the 22-year-old Australian said. “The car was just magic today. We just came through the field and it felt so good.”

It appeared for most of the 225-lap race that Dixon would run away to another victory, but Briscoe caught the leader and passed him on lap 177. All the drivers up front made green-flag stops before the finish, but Briscoe came out of the fuel stops back out front on lap 207 and stayed there despite heavy pressure from Dixon in the closing laps.

Patrick was never in contention, finishing a lap down in ninth.

NHRA

Hillary Will became the 11th woman in NHRA history to win a national event when she raced to the win in Top Fuel at the OReilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Topeka, Kan.

John Force won for the first time this season in Funny Car and Ron Krisher took the Pro Stock at Heartland Park Topeka.

Will drove her dragster to a 4.744-second run at a top speed of 304.53 mph, beating No. 1 qualifier Larry Dixon for her first career win in Top Fuel.

Defending series champion Tony Schumacher kept his points lead over Antron Brown by 109 points.