Justice prevails as Johnson wins wild Pocono 500

LONG POND, Pa. – Utter confusion, but at least the fastest car won.

For the second week in a row, NASCAR had its race finish with just about everyone mad at someone. Jeff Gordon was ticked at NASCAR; Matt Kenseth was ticked at Kevin Harvick; Harvick was ticked at Kenseth; and the fans, well, they were once again wondering what the heck was going on.

Jimmie Johnson won the Pocono 500 under caution, the 11th caution of the day, which is about the only thing that kept the rest of the field within eyeshot of Johnson’s No. 48 car. He dominated all afternoon and, at times, was so far ahead he looked like a lapped car running by itself.

“Jimmie had the fastest race car all day,” said Bobby Labonte, who finished in third behind Johnson and Jeremy Mayfield. “If Jeremy had taken (Johnson) out, that would have been my only saving grace.”

It was actually Labonte who inadvertently started much of the confusion. With 45 laps to go, Labonte blew an oil line, spewing oil on the track, which brought out the sixth caution of the afternoon.

Per NASCAR’s new rules – established on Friday – pit road is to remain closed until the leader passes it for a second time. But when Johnson came around for what would have been his first pass, a NASCAR official opened pit road. Johnson didn’t pit, but most of the rest of the field did, including Gordon, who knew it shouldn’t have been open but nonetheless was forced to pit with the rest of the field.

That threw Gordon off his normal pit schedule and meant he couldn’t finish the race without topping off for gas one more time. Had the field been forced to wait one more lap, Gordon could have finished the race without pitting again.

“We were taken out by NASCAR,” said an irate Gordon, who wound up in fourth. “I don’t know why they opened (the pits), but it was a mistake—a huge one. That threw our fuel window out the door.”

Rookie Kasey Kahne started from the pole, but it was clear early on that the Hendrick-owned cars of Johnson, Gordon and Brian Vickers (13th), another rookie, were the class of the field. Johnson took the lead on the 11th lap and, except for pit cycles and a brief stint from Gordon, led the rest of the way.

“Every Hendrick car out there was faster than everyone else,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who struggled all afternoon but managed a sixth-place finish.

Johnson pulled within 58 points of Earnhardt in the Nextel Cup standings. Gordon (-239) took over fourth place, passing Tony Stewart (-259), who spun out on Lap 177 and wound up 27th.

Labonte moved up two spots to sixth, 301 points behind Earnhardt.

It’s Schumacher again

Michael Schumacher is just as happy to outsmart the field as he is to dominate it.

He and his Ferrari team won the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal for his seventh victory in eight races, using a two pit-stop strategy to perfection to overcome a season-worst sixth-place start.

“Everything worked to plan and our competitors had some problems,” Schumacher said. “We thought we had no chance for the pole position and sort of went for a strategy we thought would work in the race.”

The German, who holds just about every major record in the globe-trotting Formula One series, also picked up his third straight victory and fourth in five years on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. His seven victories in Montreal are a Formula One record for wins at one track.

“I have no special reason for all the races I’ve won here,” Schumacher said, shrugging and smiling. “We just have a good package here.”

Schumacher, well on his way to a seventh world championship and fifth in a row, added to his career victory mark with his 77th Formula One triumph.

He built his season points lead to 70-52 over Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello entering this Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis.

For the second straight year, Schumacher finished just ahead of younger brother Ralf’s Williams-BMW. Barrichello wound up third after late-race brake problems ended a strong challenge.

Audi wins 24-hour Le Mans race

Audi driver Tom Kristensen of Denmark won a record-tying sixth Le Mans 24-hour race at LeMans, France.

Audi, which won the endurance race from 2000-02, recaptured a title it lost to Bentley last year. The German manufacturer dominated the competition from start to finish and put three of its cars on the podium.

Kristensen, Seiji Ara of Japan and Rinaldo Capello of Italy completed a record 379 laps in 24 hours, eclipsing the previous mark of 377 laps set by Bentley in 2003.

Capello had a scare about three hours from the finish when his car was engulfed in flames during a pit stop. Ara held off a late challenge by Johnny Herbert of Britain in the closing laps.

Herbert, who partnered with Jamie Davies and Guy Smith, finished second. J.J. Lehto of Finland, Germany’s Marc Werner and Italian Emmanuele Pirro placed third.