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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ The tension in this Chase for the
championship was evident after the first pit stop at Dover, where
title contender Tony Stewart angrily bumped Paul Menard because the
rookie crowded him.
By the time Round 2 was over, an incensed Denny Hamlin wanted to
fight Kyle Petty after an on-track accident led to an off-track
confrontation.
Emotions nearly erupted at Dover International Speedway, where
the top half of the Chase field left Sunday's race ...
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NEW DELHI (AP) _ India will hold its first Formula One race in
2010, the head of the Indian Olympic Association said Monday.
``Formula One's architects visited New Delhi and saw several
sites in the National Capital Region. They did an aerial survey and
selected two sites _ in Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh and Sohna in
Haryana,'' IOA chief Suresh Kalmadi told reporters.
Both areas are suburbs of New Delhi and it's been left to ...
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ Singed eyelashes were the least of Jimmie
Johnson's problems after a fiery crash knocked him out of the race
at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The race roared on without the defending Nextel Cup champion, and
if his luck doesn't change real soon, so will the Chase for the
championship.
It was the second consecutive DNF for Johnson, who has dropped
from fourth to ninth in the season standings the past three races.
With only six ...
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SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) _ It seems you need more than three
Formula One titles to be considered a good driver in Brazil.
Former race car driver Nelson Piquet _ Formula One champion in
1981, '83 and '87 _ is being forced to undergo an intensive driving
course after losing his license because of speeding and parking
tickets.
The 54-year-old Piquet and his wife, Viviane, both exceeded the
limit of fines allowed by Brazilian law and must ...
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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) _ Australian Grand Prix organizers have
resisted pressure to stage a night Formula One race next year
leading to the event losing its place as the season opener.
While ruling out a night race held under lights, which would
better suit northern hemisphere television broadcasters, the
Australian Grand Prix Corporation on Monday said race will start at
a 3.30 p.m. local time _ one-and-a-half hours later than usual.
The new start time will enable ...
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NUERBURG, Germany (AP) _ The rain that threw the European Grand
Prix into chaos at the start gave Fernando Alonso the edge he needed
to win at the end.
The two-time defending Formula One champion had the better setup
for the wet conditions during the final laps of the race Sunday, and
took advantage to squeeze past Felipe Massa of Ferrari on the
Nuerburgring circuit.
For Massa, finishing second eight seconds back left a ``bitter
taste'' after an ...
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NUERBURGRING, Germany (AP) _ Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello
were confirmed Thursday as the Honda drivers for next year's Formula
One season.
Button and Barrichello have earned just one point between them
after a series of mechanical problems.
Button's best result was an eighth-place finish at the French
Grand Prix. Barrichello was ninth at Silverstone.
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Just two years ago, Jeff Gordon and his famed No. 24 Hendrick
Motorsports team were struggling, his crew chief was on the verge of
leaving and doubts were beginning to creep into the mind of the
four-time NASCAR champion.
All that is behind him now as Gordon is just past halfway through
one of his best seasons yet. And that fifth championship may be
there for the taking.
After 19 of 36 races this season, Gordon has ...
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MARANELLO, Italy (AP) _ Ferrari has fired a British technician
following an internal investigation into attempted sabotage before
the Monaco Grand Prix.
``All I can say is that Nigel Stepney is no longer our
employee,'' Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni said Tuesday.
The Italian Formula One team has also filed a criminal complaint
against Stepney, who was responsible for team performance.
Later Tuesday, McLaren said it had suspended a senior member of
its technical staff.
``The team has learnt that ...
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SONOMA, Calif. (AP) _ Juan Pablo Montoya might be a NASCAR
rookie, but he is a road-course master.
Not known for his patience, the Colombian driver showed plenty of
it Sunday. He used his well-honed road-racing skill to save his
tires, stretch his fuel to the limit, and win the Toyota/Save Mart
350 for his first NASCAR Nextel Cup victory.
Team owner Chip Ganassi, who lured Montoya back to America from
Formula One, was as impressed as ...
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MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) _ Dale Earnhardt Jr. is joining Hendrick
Motorsports, hopefully moving one step closer to a championship that
has eluded him while driving for his late father's company.
Rick Hendrick said Earnhardt will replace Kyle Busch on his
star-studded roster of drivers. The announcement Wednesday ended
five weeks of recruiting for NASCAR's most popular driver, who
became a free agent May 10 when he said he would leave DEI at the
end of this season.
His ...
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MADRID, Spain (AP) _ Two-time Formula One champion Fernando
Alonso complained Tuesday that rookie teammate Lewis Hamilton is
getting preferential treatment from the McLaren team.
Two days after the 22-year-old Englishman won the Canadian Grand
Prix in Montreal to move into first place in the F1 standings, the
Spanish driver sounded off.
``From the first moment I wasn't comfortable with everything,''
Alonso said on Cadena Ser radio. ``It's an English team, with an
English teammate. You know that ...
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MONTREAL (CP) _ A day after a spectacular crash totalled his
Formula One car, Polish driver Robert Kubica walked out of hospital
admitting he was ``very lucky.''
Kubica, who suffered a minor concussion and a sprained ankle,
said Monday he hopes to be back behind the wheel for next Sunday's
race in Indianapolis.
``I feel very good,'' the 22-year-old told reporters as he
emerged from Sacre-Coeur Hospital. ``I was very lucky.''
Kubica's car went off the track on ...
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VALENCIA, Spain (AP) _ Valencia will stage the European Grand
Prix starting next year after Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone
signed a seven-year contract with event organizers Friday.
The Valencia regional government confirmed that Ecclestone signed
the agreement with Valmor Sport, which owns the rights to organize
the street circuit race. The regional government has a 25 per cent
stake in the private business.
The agreement to bring a second F1 race to Spain _ after the
Spanish ...
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PARIS (AP) _ The McLaren Formula One team is being investigated
for a possible rule breach at the Monaco Grand Prix.
World motorsport's governing body, FIA, said in a statement
Monday that it was reviewing evidence from Sunday's race after
Fernando Alonso finished first ahead of McLaren teammate Lewis
Hamilton.
Without elaborating, FIA said Monday that McLaren was being
investigated for ``a possible breach of the International Sporting
Code.''
The code prohibits attempts ``to prevent or impede a competition
or ...
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ As the minutes ticked away Sunday, the final
day of qualifications for next week's Indianapolis 500, Roberto
Moreno and his team took stock of their situation.
With less than an hour to go until the 33-car field was set for
the May 27 race, the 48-year-old Brazilian, hoping to drive in his
third 500 in 21 years, was ``on the bubble,'' the slowest qualifier
in the lineup at 216.229 m.p.h.
Moreno said he was ...
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SHANGHAI, China (AP) _ The head of Shanghai's multimillion dollar
Formula One auto racing track has been fired as part of an
investigation into the alleged misuse of city pension funds, Chinese
state media reported Monday.
Yu Zhifei, a former city government official and general manager
of the Shanghai International Circuit, was also expelled from the
Communist Party and handed over for prosecution, the Shanghai Daily
and other newspapers said.
Yu had been a key force behind Shanghai's ...
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MOORESVILLE, N.C. (AP) _ Dale Earnhardt Jr. will leave the company founded by his late father at the end of the year in a shake-up certain to ignite a bidding war for NASCAR's most popular driver.
He told Dale Earnhardt Inc. on Thursday that he had decided to make the switch to another team when his contract expires, intent on going to a more competitive team.
``At 32 years of ...
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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) _ Fernando Alonso arrives at the Spanish Grand Prix in a fight for the Formula One championship.
The two-time defending champion will line up on the Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday atop the driver's standings, just as he did in 2006 when he easily won his home race for the first time with Renault.
Now, the big difference is that the championship race is wide open. And ...
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LAS VEGAS (AP) _ Sebastien Bourdais thought it might be his day after all when he found himself running third Sunday despite having two flat tires in the first 23 laps of the inaugural Vegas Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, for the three-time defending champion of the Champ Car World Series, another flat tire knocked him back to the pack and then a collision with one of the concrete barriers lining the ...
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MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) _ Jimmie Johnson withstood teammate Jeff Gordon's bumping and banging for much of the last 53 laps Sunday and held him off by a front bumper to win for the third time in six NASCAR Nextel Cup races this year.
The teammates with Hendrick Motorsports provided a stirring duel at the end of the second Car of Tomorrow race, one that was mostly devoid of the destructive ...
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MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) _ Dale Earnhardt Jr. seemed on the verge of a big day Sunday, one that would have ended his 31-race winless streak and allowed him to mark the 28-year anniversary of his father's first win with one of his own.
Then came the rain, and his chances at victory flew into his window.
``I got something in my eye before we went back out after the rain,'' ...
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) _ This much Jeff Gordon knows for sure: His life will change dramatically when his daughter is born this summer.
And maybe, just maybe, his NASCAR career won't seem quite so important.
``I think it's going to be one of two things: It's either going to make me work that much harder and appreciate racing that much more and enjoy it that much more,'' Gordon said. ``Or ...
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He hasn't driven a race car in years, but time has not cooled A.J. Foyt's competitive fire a bit.
Last Saturday at Homestead, Fla., hours before the start of the season-opening IndyCar Series race and the beginning of Foyt's 50th season in racing, ``Super Tex'' sat in his team's transporter watching a sports car race on TV.
``Knock him off the track,'' Foyt bellowed at the set as the second-place ...
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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) _ Felipe Massa would like to forget his effort at last year's Australian Grand Prix. It lasted less than a minute.
But the Brazilian used that experience as a starting point to go on and become key to Ferrari's resurgence in 2007, even winning two of the last five races.
Last year's race was a disaster for Ferrari, when Melbourne was the third race of the season. ...
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Former Daytona 500 winner Ward Burton landed a full Nextel Cup ride Wednesday, signing a deal to drive the State Industries-sponsored No. 4 Chevrolet for Morgan-McClure Motorsports.
Burton, the 2002 Daytona winner, competed in three races last season for Morgan-McClure _ his first Nextel Cup action since 2004.
``There's finally a light at the end of the tunnel,'' Burton said. ``I am committed to a season of success for State ...
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Jimmie Johnson was ``horsing around'' on top of a moving golf cart when he fell off of it and broke his left wrist, his team told The Associated Press on Monday.
The version clarifies what happened during the celebrity tournament in Lecanto, Fla., one day after the initial account from Hendrick Motorsports implied that the Nextel Cup champion had fallen out of the cart.
Although Hendrick officials gave no details ...
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Nextel Cup driver Greg Biffle was in a fiery crash Thursday while testing tires at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and was helped from his burning race car by Kyle Busch.
The two drivers were helping Goodyear test tires on the remodelled speedway when Biffle apparently blew a tire, causing him to hit the wall between the first and second turns. The accident broke the fuel pump and caused his Ford ...
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Times Square has never seemed quite so vibrant to Jimmie Johnson.
A short drive through the central part of Manhattan by NASCAR's top 10 drivers in their race cars has already become part of ``Champion's Week'' in New York _ a celebration of the new Nextel Cup champion.
Johnson, who finally won the title after four years of flirting with the honour, was at the head of that parade Wednesday ...
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Alex Zanardi never lost the ability to
drive a race car.
Zanardi, who lost both legs in a crash five years ago, completed
his return to Formula One on Saturday by becoming the first double
amputee to test drive an F1 car.
The 40-year-old Italian drove 14 laps in a modified BMW-Sauber
C24-B car at the Cheste circuit.
``Alex felt comfortable from the word go, which has also been
proved by his lap times,'' said BMW Motorsports director ...
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