Waving the red, white, and checkered flag

As the only American racing in the Champ Car Series, A.J. Allmendinger figured it was his national duty to keep a French driver from clinching the championship in the United States.

After waiting out a 42-minute red-flag delay in the aftermath of a frightening accident involving rookie Katherine Legge, Allmendinger held on to win the Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America in Elkhart, Wis.– and, in the process, kept Sebastien Bourdais from clinching his third straight series championship.

“I’m not letting a French guy clinch on American soil,” Allmendinger declared in victory lane, after becoming the first American to win a Champ Car race at Road America since Michael Andretti in 1996.

Allmendinger passed Bourdais with seven laps to go, only to have Legge crash one lap later. Legge would be OK, but the accident brought the race to a halt for nearly an hour.

Legge’s car lost its wing and veered out of control, slamming into a fence at speeds approaching 180 mph. The car burst into pieces, sending the cockpit portion tumbling down the track. But Legge was fully conscious and was able to walk into the infield medical care facility on her own.

”(I’m) a bit shaken, but I’m OK, as you can see,” the 26-year-old rookie from England said in a television interview. “All my bits are intact.”

Bruno Junqueira recovered from a crash in the first turn of the first lap to finish second.

Bourdais finished third, expressing frustration that another driver, rookie Juan Carceres, held him up at a critical point in the race.

Oriol Servia finished fourth, followed by Justin Wilson.

With two races remaining, Bourdais holds a commanding 58-point lead over Allmendinger and 67-point advantage over Wilson but has not yet clinched the title.

NHRA

Brandon Bernstein and Robert Hight made up ground in the their NHRA POWERade Series championship chases with convincing victories in the O’Reilly Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas.

Bernstein is 40 points out of the Top Fuel lead, while Hight closed within 93 of the top spot in Funny Car.

Bernstein’s fourth victory of the season came at the expense of Rod Fuller, while Hight pulled away from first-time finalist Mike Ashley.

In Pro Stock, Richie Stevens raced to his first victory in more than five years.