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Auto Racing roundup: Jimmie Johnson takes record sixth victory at Fontana

Associated Press

Jimmie Johnson pulled away in overtime to beat Kevin Harvick on Sunday for the Southern California native’s record sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at Fontana, California.

Johnson was third on the late restart, but surged past leader Denny Hamlin while giving a little bump to Harvick. He side-drafted Harvick and easily got away for his 77th career victory.

Johnson clocked his fastest lap of the race to claim his second win of the young season, adding Fontana to Atlanta. The six-time series champion has won three of his last eight races after a 20-race winless skid.

Harvick was in position to win for the second consecutive week when second-place Kyle Busch blew a tire with two laps to go, forcing the race into overtime.

Formula One

Nico Rosberg beat teammate Lewis Hamilton in Formula One’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

The Mercedes cars recovered from a slow start to finish ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who took third.

The race was suspended for 20 minutes after a frightening high-speed collision between Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez, and after it resumed, the two Mercedes benefited from a better tire strategy than Ferrari, overtaking Vettel and recording a one-two finish, just as they did repetitively over the previous two seasons.

Local favorite Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull was fourth, falling just short in his bid to become the first Australian on the podium at his home race.

Williams driver Felipe Massa was fifth and Romain Grosjean sixth to give American team Haas an impressive points finish in its first race.

NHRA

Brittany Force won her first NHRA Top Fuel event, beating Terry McMillen in the final at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida.

Robert Hight gave John Force Racing its first double victory by winning the Funny Car class.

But Brittany Force was the story. One of 16-time world champion John Force’s three racing daughters, Brittany was winless in her first seven Top Fuel finals. She ended the skid with some favorable matchups at one of the NHRA’s premier events.