Johnson wins at Indy

INDIANAPOLIS – Jimmie Johnson cashed in on the most expensive speeding ticket in NASCAR history, grabbing an improbable third victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when a penalty to Juan Pablo Montoya blew the race wide open.

In a performance that mirrored his dominating Indianapolis 500 victory nine years ago, Montoya was in cruise control as he led 116 laps and built a 5-second lead over the competition. Then NASCAR flagged him for speeding on a routine pit stop with 35 laps remaining, and the driver became unglued.

“I swear on my children and my wife that I was not speeding!” he shouted over his radio. “There is no way! Thank you NASCAR for screwing my day.”

Crew chief Brian Pattie begged his driver to calm down and focus on salvaging a solid points day, to no avail.

“Don’t tell me to relax, dude!” Montoya yelled. “We had this in the bag.”

Indeed he did, but the penalty took him out of contention and relegated him to an 11th-place finish. Montoya, who had moved as high as sixth in the Sprint Cup standings as he ran out front, instead lost a spot and is now 10th in the race for the Chase for the championship.

The difference in his paycheck was severe: Johnson earned $448,001 for the victory, while Montoya’s share of the purse was knocked down to $224,048.

The performance was reminiscent of Montoya’s win in the 2000 Indy 500, when he led 167 of 200 laps in his first race at the storied track. His team celebrated his return Sunday with a retro paint scheme that duplicated that winning car, and as he clicked off lap after lap, it was deja vu for the Colombian driver.

“I was cruise(ing). I was super fast,” a calmer Montoya said after the race.

Too fast, actually.

NASCAR said the electronic timing system caught Montoya twice exceeding the limit as he drove down pit road.

“There’s nothing to prove wrong,” said Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition. “It’s about as simple math as you can use.”

The penalty opened up the race for anyone else to claim, and overshadowed Johnson’s third win in the last four years at Indy. Johnson, who won for the third time this season, also became the first driver to win in consecutive seasons since Indy opened to NASCAR 16 years ago.

Current points leader Tony Stewart, a two-time Brickyard winner who finished third, wasn’t sure anyone could beat Montoya. A victim of his own Indy heartbreak, Stewart could commiserate with Montoya’s disappointments.

“He never really was challenged all day,” Stewart said. “He did a great job. I know what he’s feeling like — he’s got to be sick inside. He had the car, he had the talent to do it, he just made a mistake and it cost him.”

Johnson had to hold off Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin to get it, though. After Montoya’s penalty, Martin moved into the lead for the restart with 24 laps to go and Johnson lined up on his outside.

Johnson sailed to the front and pulled away, only to have to hold off Martin over a nerve-racking final five laps. Martin, who at 50 became the oldest polesitter in Indy’s 100 years, finished second and moved up two spots in the standings to ninth.

Greg Biffle was fourth and followed by Brian Vickers and Kevin Harvick, who grabbed his best finish in 15 races.

Kasey Kahne was seventh and followed by David Reutimann, four-time Brickyard winner Gordon and Matt Kenseth.

Formula One

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton won a Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest that was overshadowed by the absence of Felipe Massa.

The Ferrari driver remained sedated in a hospital with multiple skull fractures after a crash in his Ferrari during qualifying on Saturday.

Hamilton, Formula One’s defending champion, picked up his first victory of the season to snap a streak of 11 races without a top-three finish, dating to his win at China last year.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was second and Red Bull’s Mark Webber finished third to move into second in the overall title race, after teammate Sebastian Vettel retired with an engine problem.

Massa, whose place on the grid was left vacant, was listed in life-threatening but stable condition on Sunday.

Safety also became an issue in Sunday’s race when Fernando Alonso’s right front wheel came off his Renault and bounced wildly down the track as he rounded turn No. 9.

After the race, Renault was suspended for the upcoming European Grand Prix by governing body FIA, which said the team failed to advise Alonso that a nut on the wheel was not properly secured.

IRL

Will Power led almost the entire way to capture the Rexall Edmonton Indy in a race marred by a pit fire that burned driver Tony Kanaan’s hands and face.

Power, the first-year driver for Penske Racing, finished 1.094 seconds ahead of teammate Helio Castroneves.

Target Chip Ganassi driver Scott Dixon was third.

Kanaan, the Brazilian driver for Andretti Green, was injured on his first pit stop when the ethanol fuel hose filling his car appeared to not shut off properly, dousing him and his car in fuel.

Seconds later the car caught fire, with Kanaan frantically struggling to free himself as crews doused his No. 11 Dallara Honda with water. Kanaan later waved to the crowd as he was led away for medical tests.

NHRA

Antron Brown completed a sweep of the NHRA’s Western swing, racing to a victory in Top Fuel at the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won their categories.