Castroneves uses mistake by rival to win at Texas
Helio Castroneves scaled the fence for the third time this season, stealing a win from a disgusted Dan Wheldon Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway at Fort Worth.
Castroneves, nicknamed Spiderman for his fence-climbing victory celebrations, grabbed the lead during a series of green flag pit stops late in the race. Then the Marlboro Team Penske star easily held off one final challenge from Wheldon’s Target Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon on the last lap.
With only two caution flags and no crashes, the unusually clean race was the third fastest in IRL history with a winning average of 185.7 mph.
Wheldon, the defending IRL IndyCar champion, looked like a sure winner most of the night, leading 171 of the 200 laps. It was a dominant but fruitless performance with a familiar ring for the Englishman, who led an incredible 148 laps in last month’s Indy 500 before a tire puncture cost him the win.
A slow pit stop just 15 laps from the end cost him a shot at the Texas victory. After finishing third, a steaming mad Wheldon, as hot as the temperatures in the 90s, stalked away from his crew and made a beeline for the garage area.
“We gifted another one to Penske,” Wheldon said, “and we can’t afford to do that.”
The two elite teams have overpowered the rest of the IRL field this season, splitting all six races between them.
Castroneves owns three victories this season and leads the points, while Wheldon, Dixon and Hornish, the Indianapolis 500 winner, all have one victory and remain in the championship hunt.
NASCAR
Carl Edwards won the Busch series Federated Auto Parts 300 at Nashville Superspeedway at Gladeville, Tenn., closing the gap on series points leader Kevin Harvick.
Edwards dominated the race, unofficially leading 70 of the last 85 laps, and beat Clint Bowyer to the finish by .920 seconds.
It was Bowyer’s sixth top-five finish in as many Busch Series starts at Nashville. Harvick was third, followed by Denny Hamlin.
• The Nextel Cup Pocono 500 runs today in Long Pond, Pa., with Hamlin on the pole. He will be joined on the front row by Kurt Busch.
Kasey Kahne starts third, Brian Vickers fourth, and Jeff Burton fifth.
Formula One
World champion Fernando Alonso won his fourth straight pole position of the season with a blistering lap during qualifications for today’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone, England.
It was the 13th career pole for Alonso, who has won the last two races and four of seven this season. The Renault driver was timed in 1 minute, 20.253 seconds on the 3.2-mile Silverstone circuit.