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Bourdais holds on

Frenchman wins laid-back IndyCar race at Milwaukee Mile

Sebastian Bourdais, of France, goes all Wisconsin with cheesehead and trophy after Sunday’s win. (Associated Press)
Ap
Sebastian Bourdais, of France, goes all Wisconsin with cheesehead and trophy after Sunday’s win. (Associated Press)

Sebastien Bourdais pulled away following a late caution to win Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile, his second IndyCar victory of the season.

Bourdais was dominating before the caution flag came out on Lap 222 after Justin Wilson’s car stalled. He held on when racing resumed for an 18-lap sprint to the finish, turning aside a brief challenge from second-place Helio Castroneves to win by 2.2 seconds.

It was Bourdais’ 34th career victory, and first at an oval since winning at Milwaukee in 2006.

Castroneves had a remarkable run after starting last in the 24-car field. Graham Rahal was third.

Bourdais won what overall was a relatively clean race – far less stressful for drivers than the frantic, five-wide scrums two weeks ago at the superspeedway in Fontana, California.

Points leader Juan Pablo Montoya was fourth. Penske teammate Will Power, who won at Milwaukee last year, got knocked out in lap 131 after appearing to get clipped around Turn 4 by Ryan Briscoe’s spinning car.

Briscoe, who started second, said traffic around the third turn took away his air.

Power was among the leaders after a restart two laps earlier off caution. Second in the driver standings coming into the race behind Montoya, Power will fall back on the leaderboard going into next week’s race at Iowa after finishing 22nd.

Chevys held the top two spots and six of the top seven, with Rahal’s Honda being the exception.

NHRA

Tony Schumacher earned his 80th career victory when he won the Top Fuel category at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Illinois.

Schumacher secured his third win of the season with a 3.844-second pass at 320.20 mph, beating Larry Dixon’s 3.932 at 298.93 in the final round.

Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won at the NHRA series stop right outside of Chicago.