Power gets Sonoma win when Dixon penalized

Scott Dixon pulled in for his final pit stop with victory nearly in his grasp. When he left a few seconds later, two members of Will Power’s crew were sprawled on the asphalt, a tire bouncing wildly in his wake.

Although everybody involved had a strong opinion about what happened, Power knows one thing for certain: He’s leaving wine country with yet another trophy.

Power won at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway for the third time in four years Sunday, earning his first victory of the IndyCar season by taking advantage of Dixon’s penalty for making contact with Power’s Team Penske pit crew.

“I don’t like to see the call that had to take place, but everybody saw it,” Roger Penske said. “It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way racing is.”

Dixon led until he received a drive-through penalty with 15 laps to go for clipping a tire in the left hand of Power’s tire holder when Dixon’s Honda left his pit directly behind Power’s Chevrolet. The tire holder went flying into another crew member, and a third member was injured by an air gun or hose.

Dixon thought Power’s crew got in his way on purpose.

He finished 15th and lost a bit of ground – eight points – on overall IndyCar leader Helio Castroneves, Power’s Penske teammate, who finished seventh.

Formula One

Sebastian Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton on the first lap and held his lead to win the Belgian Grand Prix and extend his overall championship lead.

It was Vettel’s fifth win of the season.

Fernando Alonso drove brilliantly from ninth on the grid to take second place ahead of Hamilton and move back into second overall in the title race.