Mother Nature Helps Martin Win Devilbiss 400

Auto racing

Mark Martin was lucky enough to have his bad lucky early. And his car was just good enough to overcome it - with a little help from above.

Martin lost two laps because of a flat tire. But rain-induced yellow flags positioned him to roar back and win the DeVilbiss 400 in Brooklyn, Mich.

He beat Winston Cup points leader Jeff Gordon - driving the only Chevrolet to seriously contend - by 2.009 seconds Sunday at Michigan Speedway.

Ted Musgrave finished third, beating fellow Ford driver Ernie Irvan, in a race hampered all day by rain that caused three cautions for 46 laps.

Fords have won the last four Winston Cup races at Michigan. Bobby Labonte was the last Chevrolet driver to win at the 2-mile superspeedway, in August 1995. He was sixth, this time in a Pontiac, behind the Chevy of Dale Earnhardt.

Pennzoil 200

Robbie Buhl swerved into the lead when Eddie Cheever had a gearbox problem with two laps to go, and then outraced Vincenzo Sospiri to the finish for his first Indy-car victory in the Pennzoil 200 in Loudon, N.H.

Buhl, coming back from head injuries that kept him out of the last two Indy Racing League events, had been stalking Cheever since the 157th lap, and was within two car lengths when the dramatic finish unfolded.

Cheever came barreling out of the fourth turn at the New Hampshire International Speedway and suddenly lost power on the straightaway. Buhl barely swerved to avoid him and took the lead at the start of the 198th lap.

Texaco-Havoline 200

Italian Alex Zanardi took the lead with a fast pit stop and pulled away to his fifth victory of the season in the Texaco-Havoline 200 at rain-soaked Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Zanardi leads runner-up Gil de Ferran by 38 points in the PPG CART World Series standings.

Zanardi drove across the finish line 6.148 seconds ahead of Mauricio Gugelmin.