In brief: Wilson gives owner first IndyCar win
Motorsports: Justin Wilson passed polesitter Ryan Briscoe early, then dominated the IndyCar Series race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International to give team owner Dale Coyne his first victory after 25 years of trying.
Penske and Target Chip Ganassi drivers had won the previous eight races this season, including 10 straight and 15 of 16 dating to last year. Coyne’s victory came in his 558th entry as an owner-driver.
“It took too long,” Coyne said, smiling, in his pit stall.
It was Wilson’s second IndyCar win. His first came at Detroit on Labor Day weekend last year, making him the only driver to break through against the Penske and Ganassi juggernaut in that span.
Wilson started on the front row of the Camping World Grand Prix alongside Briscoe and had the strongest car from the outset. He attempted to pass Briscoe in the sweeping, high-speed esses on the second lap and failed.
Briscoe was warned for blocking and Wilson slipped past him on the next lap in the same place and went on to lead nearly the entire race.
After the final full sequence of pit stops was completed with 15 laps remaining, Wilson regained the lead by 2 seconds over Briscoe. Hideki Mutoh brought out the fourth caution of the race with seven laps remaining to give Briscoe one final chance, but he was no match for Wilson and his sticky red tires, losing by nearly 5 seconds.
Ganassi’s Scott Dixon was third, followed by Penske’s Helio Castroneves and Marco Andretti. Series points leader Dario Franchitti was involved in an early crash and finished 15th. That dropped him into a second-place tie with Briscoe, 19 points behind Dixon.
Noriega leads Mexico in Gold Cup play
Soccer: Luis Miguel Noriega scored his first international goal on a penalty kick in the 45th minute of his national team debut, and Mexico defeated Nicaragua 2-0 in Oakland, Calif., in the first round of Gold Cup play in Group C.
Pablo Barrera, a second-half substitute, added a goal for El Tri in the 86th minute. He one-touched the ball into the net from 7 yards after a perfect cross from Alberto Medina on the right flank.
The young and inexperienced Mexican team will use this tournament – a 12-team regional championship of North American, Central American and Caribbean countries – to try to find consistency leading up to a key World Cup qualifier Aug. 12 against the United States in Mexico City.
•Guadaloupe edges Panama: Loic Loval had a goal and an assist and David Fleurival also scored to lead Guadeloupe past Panama 2-1 in Oakland, Calif., in the Gold Cup opener for both clubs.
Both Guadeloupe goals came in the first half, with Loval connecting in the 33rd minute. Panama defender Armando Gun tried to chest the ball back to goalkeeper Jaime Penedo, but Loval intercepted and one-touched it into the net from about 6 yards. His assist came 10 minutes later on a pretty goal by Fleurival in which he lofted the ball from about 35 yards over Penedo’s head into the top right-hand corner of the net.
•Egypt beats Rwanda: Mohammed Abu Treka scored twice to help Egypt to a 3-0 win over Rwanda in a World Cup qualifier in Cairo.
Hosni Abed Rabbu also scored for the Pharaohs, who jumped from last to second in their group with four points, three back of Algeria. Winless Rwanda, which hasn’t scored a goal in three qualifiers, went to the bottom of Group C with one point.
Knowles, Groenefeld win mixed doubles
Miscellany: Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany won the mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon by beating top-seeded Leander Paes of India and Cara Black of Zimbabwe 7-5, 6-3.
Knowles has won the men’s doubles titles at the other three Grand Slam tournaments, but he had never before won at Wimbledon.
“I’ve always wanted to win Wimbledon. It’s the most important tournament in my mind,” Knowles said. “Like everybody, it’s the tournament we all look up to. It’s extremely special.”
•U.S. wins football gold: Bryce Petty threw three touchdown passes without throwing an incompletion and the United States won the gold medal at the Junior World Championship in Canton, Ohio, with a 41-3 victory against Canada.
Virginia Tech running back David Wilson rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown to help the U.S. win the first world tournament of American football for players age 19 and under.
•U.S. women beat Poland: Team USA used an 11-0 run spanning the second and third quarters to take control as the Americans beat Poland 75-67 at the Women’s World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia.
UConn’s Tina Charles scored 12 points with 10 rebounds for the United States.
•Germans win triathlon: Germans Timo Bracht and Sandra Wallenhorst withstood 86-degree heat to win the Frankfurt Ironman triathlon.
Bracht completed the 2.4-mile swim, 111.9-mile cycle ride and 26.2-mile marathon in a course record of 7 hours, 59 minutes, 15 seconds. He shaved 39 seconds off the mark set last year by Australia’s Chris McCormack, who finished third. In the women’s division, Wallenhorst finished in 8:58:08.